Defining Hospitality

This week’s guest helps people detox, destress, and discover while surrounded by nature. Through meditation, breathwork, yoga, workshops, and more, he creates an environment of rejuvenation. Joining the show this week is Founder of Onze Retreats, Leon Emmett!

Leon dials in from the Jungle to join Host Dan Ryan on a journey of hospitality and self reflection. Leon shares the importance of motivating others through action, the need to trust the process, and why everyone should spend time outside of their comfort zone. 


Takeaways: 
  • The deepest feeling of hospitality can be felt when you are in someone’s family home. When someone opens their home to you, they are opening their heart to you and showing warmth and unconditional love. 
  • Healing retreats allow people an opportunity for more than just a relaxing day of yoga and meditation. Creating a welcoming space allows for guests to self reflect and realize their own potential for growth. 
  • Despite motivational words, many people need to make the decision to change of their own volition. Rather than merely provide motivation, living your values and inspiring others through your own actions can help them take the next step. 
  • Hospitality attracts people from all walks of life, and having services to reflect that is important. Having a written list or experience portfolio allows guests to customize their ideal retreat. 
  • As life ebbs and flows, it’s important to trust the process. As there are highs and lows, observe what is happening and choose to be in the middle. Making the best of your situation helps keep you grounded. 
  • It’s only when you’re out of your comfort zone when you start to experience what’s possible. Through guidance, you can try new experiences and open yourself up to vulnerability, paving the way for improvement. 



Quote of the Show:
  • “Where do we spend most of our time and how much of our time do we spend on the periphery of our comfort zone?” - Leon Emmett


Links:


Shout Outs:


Ways to Tune In: 
Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419

Creators & Guests

Host
Dan Ryan
Host of Defining Hospitality

What is Defining Hospitality?

Welcome to Defining Hospitality, the podcast focused on highlighting the most influential figures in the hospitality industry. In each episode we provide 1 on 1, in depth interviews with experts in the industry to learn what hospitality means to them. We feature expert advice on working in the industry, behind the scenes looks at some of your favorite brands, and in depth explorations of unique hospitality projects.

Defining Hospitality is hosted by Founder and CEO of Agency 967, Dan Ryan. With over 30 years of experience in hospitality, Dan brings his expertise and passion to each episode as he delves into the latest trends and challenges facing the industry.

Episodes are released every week on Wednesday mornings.

To listen to episodes, visit https://www.defininghospitality.live/ or subscribe to Defining Hospitality wherever you get your podcasts.

Dan: Today's guest has an incredible retreat sanctuary called Onse Retreats in Eshpuha, which is situated between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. in the Yucatan. They help people detox, de stress, and discover while surrounded by nature.

Through meditation, breathwork, yoga, workshops, and more, they create an environment of rejuvenation and reconnection. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Leon Emmett. Welcome Leon.

Leon: Thank you. What a beautiful introduction. Thank you, Dan. How you, how you doing? You well?

Dan: Everything is wonderful here. Um, I just wanted to share with everyone.

The reason why we're speaking is I was just down at Onsei with you and Sophie and Billy and three other friends of mine, actually three other friends with kids and couples with kids. And I think we had,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: I

Dan: don't remember how many, I can't even count all the kids. There were 13, I believe, 13 or 14 children.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: and one, I don't know.

Dan: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 adults. So parents and kids. And we went down there, flew into Cancun because we had people, two, two groups in the West coast, two from the East coast. And what's so incredible about Cancun is you could all fly nonstop and land there. And then within an hour, we're, we're at, your incredible sanctuary that you built.

And what I love the most about it is I've been very involved in this entrepreneur's organization and there's always coaching and retreats. And I learn about breathing and yoga and breath, breath, work, all the things I said in the meditation, in the intro. And then I come home all energized and excited.

And then Alexa and my kids are like, you are so weird. Like, what are you doing? And what I'm so grateful. for with you and Billy and Sophie and Anse is that we all got to come together and do all those things together as a multi generational family. And everyone loved it and got so much out of it. And we'll talk about all that in the future as we continue talking, but I'm just eternally grateful that going down there.

Not only do I feel rejuvenated, aligned and energized. I also just feel, um, vindicated that my family now sees why I'm so passionate about all of this stuff. So thank you.

Leon: It makes me so happy. It makes me so happy. I'll be honest, um, you guys that I said to you before, and I'll say it again, you really inspirational group with the way that all you guys as you, you know, the adults grew up from childhood and now your children are getting to spend a lifetime of growing up together.

That's deeply inspirational. So, like, spending some time with you and, and the family is, was, was fantastic, and I'll be honest, seeing 18 as, uh, from, from, I don't know, how old was the young girl? She was, uh, maybe 10? 11?

Dan: Yeah, 10 or 11.

Leon: Yes. All laying down on the grass, going through some really beautiful breathwork sessions, and then, you know, everybody's feeling ecstatic, and then we get in the ice bath, and everybody's kind of facing some challenges, and everybody's supporting each other.

It was stunning, you know, and to be able to create that for you guys, and and for you guys to receive it that way. Is the most important thing for us here, really. Um, so I'm happy for you that you've got the, uh, recognition that, and, and the work gets the recognition that it deserves because it's simple and it's powerful and everybody can do it if they, if they, if they choose to.

You know, I, so hopefully that open the door for them to have their own practices or, you know, maybe you can take them along to some breathwork sessions.

Dan: I completely agree. And I think also just the, the thought and memory of all of us around in a circle, lying down, doing the breathwork around the ice baths, which we all went into,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: all

Dan: of that wouldn't have been possible.

And really Sophie helped organize it the morning that we were doing it. I didn't even, I wasn't even going to bring it up because I just thought everyone would be like, no, we don't want to do that. We want to, Lie by the pool and read, or we want to go play pickleball or basketball. Um, but I think what was so incredible and allowed that to happen.

Was the environment that you all created and you just opened in October and it's a stunning place But I think all of that wraps into this idea of hospitality and making all everyone Feel comfortable and at home. So I start off every one of these conversations By asking the guest how do you define hospitality or what does it mean to you leon?

Leon: So when I contemplated that question, um deeply because hospitality is my background so It hadn't Even thought about the concept, but I've traveled the world. I've moved around a lot. I've experienced five star hotels and six star hotels in Dubai and you know But what really struck me was when I've thought about the deepest kind of memories and what hospitality meant to me was We traveled, my, my wife and my three daughters, we traveled the world for a year in 2018 and we went east and west, but we spent two months in India and during that stay there, we were, we did a lot of homestays, which is where you basically rock up and you move into somebody's, a family's home, essentially, but it was so inspiring to us individually and as a family, because so much of the time time we were spending, uh, our, these, these experiences with multi generational families.

So you'd see this, you know, babies crawling around, but great grandparents, and you'd see like how the young have got the, the energy, but the elderly have got the wisdom and not so much energy and this beautiful balance. And that's for me is that what it means to The most impactful hospitality I've received is from that family environment, that warmth and unconditional love and welcoming into any space.

Because when somebody opens up their home, their private space to you, they're opening, they're exposing themselves, they're opening their heart to you. And we spent a lot of time in these situations and It inspired me to be able to open up my heart and have a space of unconditional love and treat people that way whenever we're together.

So that's, I don't know if it's unconventional. I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer, but that's when I sat with it, that was the most meaningful thing that I could, that I've experienced.

Dan: Well, I'm going to say,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: gonna,

Dan: my thoughts are, I hear, I heard you say you don't have a background of hospitality, but The way that we all felt surrounded by you as like our guide through breathing, ice baths, a Temescal, which is like a sweat lodge, um, and just us taking us through that with Maha.

Maha? Maha. She was the one that walked us through that. But the whole process, because it's, it's all about getting uncomfortable with breath.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Breath

Dan: is so simple, but so powerful and it can make you feel uncomfortable to go into a freaking ice bath for three minutes

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: um,

Dan: And then to go into basically a dark sauna where you can't see the hand in front of your face Those are all very uncomfortable Places at face value, but I would say that with your guidance As a coach, as a guide, um, I felt supremely comfortable.

Now, I also had done much of this stuff, not the temescal, but all of the kids and, and the, and other parents who had never done it, who may have been apprehensive. They were, they were all in hook, line and sinker. So. And that's why I think this podcast also keeps growing because hospitality, whether we, you don't have a background in it, it's, it's as old as humanity.

And it really makes us all, we, we experience it and give it all in every way imaginable. Thank you.

Leon: Ah, I appreciate that. And it means a lot. And, you know, that stems, I think, when I contemplate the word hospitality, I think about, you know, hotels, four, five star hotels. But what, what my gift is, my, my, my passion is, is love, if I'm honest, like just holding people, being with people, and, you know, Um, so I've got a background in running retreats.

I've run, uh, many kind of healing retreats and, you know, was, uh, used to face more, based more on that, like trauma releasing kind of, um, deep healing retreats. So being with people and holding people when they desperately need help is, is where I've spent a lot of my days in holding people with love and, and the deepest compassion.

So. You know, being around people is, is a gift of mine because I love people. I love to be around people and especially people that are, have an awareness that they're, incomplete but perfect. There's, there's always room for growth and we don't take ourselves too seriously and, you know, it's, it's. That for me is the most meaningful.

I have the most respect. I have the most respect for people that are willing to constantly understand that they're learning and growing and they take every single opportunity to, to create that learning

Dan: and growth. So to basically, as you were speaking, the metaphor that I envisioned as someone was releasing a trauma, um, was like a blanket, right?

So you're basically enveloping this person, with love as they're experiencing some trauma or at least I don't think any of us released trauma, but maybe that's how we got through all of those, uh, the different stages of, of our breathing and ice and heat. But how did you find your way?

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: into

Dan: that? Did you always know that you had that gift?

Or was there something that's like, how did that light bulb come off? Because to me, that's the ultimate wrapping someone in a blanket of love is like the ultimate form of hospitality. Um, more than probably any other conversation I've had

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: on

Dan: this show. Um, but have you always known that? Or how did you figure that out?

Leon: Wow, that is a, it's a long story like they all are. Um, but I had a very challenging childhood and from a very young age I was, uh, I was, I was gifted, um, some knowledge and, uh, an ability to take care of myself. And where in London or around London? Yes, I was, yeah, I was born in London. I grew up in London in England for, for most of my life.

Um, and, um, So, yeah, there was a lot that happened in my younger years. My, my parents were heroin addicts and I spent most of my younger years in, in, uh, like, uh, care in, in foster care. So there was, there was a lot of challenges when I was younger, but there was something that struck me when I was super young and it was, and it was this.

A voice that came to me and it was like everything that is happening is happening for you. It's not happening to you. This is, this is, you are here to overcome this challenge. And I was around seven or eight and it completely changed my perspective of my environment. And it then became a game almost. It became, I understood an ability that I can turn everything is just a perspective.

So, um, as I grew up, um, as I, as I grew up, I became, I became, you know, Heavily interested in material. I, I, I thought that material wealth was the measure of success and coming from, um, a pretty traumatic childhood, I thought that that was how you show that you have succeeded in life. So I spent all, pretty much my whole adult life and, um, I had a construction business in London for many, many years.

So What happened was though I realized when I was around 30 that actually the material wasn't making me happy There was something that I haven't I hadn't kind of answered within myself so I started to go on my own healing journey and that's when I discovered breath work and and many other modalities that I went on to learn and it I had to cleanse myself as a, as an adult to understand how to do it.

And then I learned how to show other people to do it. So it was, I had, it was my own journey that turned into helping other people. And now it's transitioned into, you know, You know, I don't work so much with the trauma anymore, but I love, I love taking people on a transformational journey. So I've worked a lot in the kind of the shadowy world and now I'm, I'm like, I want to be in the light and the flowers and the sunshine and the creativity and the dance and the sing and the song, you know.

So it's, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's been a, it's been a incredibly fascinating journey. I could tell, I could talk about, there's so many, so many lessons amongst it all, but that's the short version. So

Dan: in this discovery, this self discovery for yourself, which also like it's, I, I mean, I can't imagine like my, my, uh, we all have our own, Stories and upbringings and trauma, um, on a, on a spectrum.

And I can't even imagine what your childhood was like, but you did share an incredible, like a little snippet. I don't know if you remember sharing it with me, but it was one of your daughters. I don't know which one, um, was riding on a, on a bike, a motorcycle with you from point A to point B after she had just seen you practice your gift.

amongst a group of people. And then there was this realization that she was like, Oh, see dad, I just thought you were like a hippie. I didn't know that you like did this. And so can you share that with everyone? Because that was like really, really meaningful. And I think we can all learn from that because that this is like the whole, what we do versus why we do what we do.

Right. And oftentimes people know what we do, or sometimes they don't really know what we do. They're like, But it's really the why that drives us. So walk us through that, um, kind of epiphany that your daughter had while riding on the back of a motorcycle with you.

Leon: Yes. So I've been a breathwork practitioner for many years and I had one of my most amazing, uh, mentors, Dan Brule.

He's been, uh, in, into the breathwork scene since the sixties, early seventies, and he's got a master. So I've been practicing my own breathwork and holding groups and holding retreats. And my daughter, she's from the age of maybe, she's 16 now, so from the age of maybe 13, she had this idea that I was a cult leader.

So she, she used to have to hear about all of these things that I'd be doing and not really understand it with a kind of an immature mind. And anyway, so one day, maybe two years ago, two and a half, a year and a half ago, I asked her to come and help me support. I had a big group that was planned and I said to her, please, could you come and help me support these guys in their processes?

Penelope, she came along and she, you know, she helped out. I told her what to do. I told her how to act, you know, she's a natural as well. So it was nice for her to really feed into her gifts. But it was a big session. There was a lot of catharsis. There was a lot of, you know, a lot of, uh, a lot of things being released.

Uh, and a lot of laughter and happiness and tears and everything that can happen when you are, when you are in these states of mind. So afterwards, um, we packed up and we drove home on a motorbike. We, we ride, rode her home on a motorbike and she was giving me a big cuddle it was touching.

for me to allow her to experience what's possible because we only know what we know, right? It's only when we're out of our comfort zone is when we start to experience what's possible. And these are, and these are the, these are the realms that I like to play with is like, how, where do we spend most of our time and how much of our time do we spend on the periphery of our comfort zone?

And how often do we, are we, Do we dare to step over that line? And for me, it's, I love to hold people's hand, stepping over that line and supporting that. So yeah, so, and now she's helped me. She's helped me at many of my retreats now. She helps me at some of my other sessions. So like she's getting, she sees it now.

She gets the, she's got a bit of a buzz for it herself. So yeah, it was a very special moment. And she's helped you with your ear

Dan: pods too. Exactly. Yeah. So thank you. Thank you Penelope for saving us with your, with your earpods. I don't know if you know your dad is using them, but I appreciate you and

Leon: thank you.

Well, she probably had problems with me because she complains about how, how dirty they may get.

Dan: Okay. So

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: I've known of

Dan: I've known of Breathwork. Other, the other people in our group didn't know about it, but If there are other people out there listening that maybe have heard of Wim Hof or Breathing, but they just haven't tried it, how do you get those people who might be apprehensive?

To try these new things and these new modalities and you could use breath work or another one But give us an example of someone how you make them feel comfortable and then kind of get over whatever that block was to try This new thing because I think that's an interesting mode of Hospitality to it to gently well to meet someone where they are, but also Bring them on and experience.

Do

Leon: you know, it's super interesting because this comes up a lot. And my theory about this and many other things is that people kind of have to find it themselves. You know that old saying, you can lead a horse to water. If you're doing the work, it sometimes it doesn't have the same impact. People kind of, they have to be willing to be open to these experiences.

Um, so, in terms of, I feel like we,

it's, it's, what is the, what is the saying is, you know, we, We are what we do. Okay. So like if we practice breath, if we are, uh, if we behaving in a way with a clearer mind and we are calmer and we manage our stress levels better and we breathe in and we're meditating and we've got the, our own practices, then we, we are the, we are the experience.

my theory is, is that we have to, uh, inspire people by what we do. If, if, if you, if, you know, you can talk to people about certain things, but they have to be willing to, to go on that journey. But, it's interesting because you said something to me about, I think, one of your colleagues or one of your friends or family said like, I just, that, that people think it's just woo woo, they think it's just like You know, that's nonsense.

That can't be true. Let me tell you, it is true. It is possible. You can change your life. If you, if you chose to take 15 minutes out of your day, two, three, four times a week, you can dramatically change your life. You can dramatically change your, your stress levels. You can control your immunal functions.

You can control, uh, your focus, you know, We can, we know, there isn't, as far as I'm concerned, it's irrefutable nowadays that breathwork and challenging environments like going into the ice, cold exposure, um, and being outside of our comfort zones is, is beneficial for us. You know, when I always, I always contemplate on this, where we are as a, as a species nowadays, okay, like this, this, what we're experiencing, being able to fly around the world and be in different climates and talk like this, it's incredible, but for the most part, of our evolution.

We've been in one place and we've had a very simple, uh, uh, life and we would be, we don't think we've ever been in a sedentary, you know, and it impacts our body. It impacts the way that our body reacts and behaves. So that I always think that we need to return back to, you know, like if we're sitting down all day, we need to be standing up more.

We need to be more aware of our breath. I don't, you know, when I think about how many. How many things that we do during the day? How many things that we juggle in? How many plates that we spin in? You know, it's, it's, we need tools to be able to manage these, this new experience that we're having. And Breathwork is one of the most powerful, simplest, free, Uh, modalities that can bring instant change.

Uh, and that's the, that's the, that's the truth of it.

Dan: I agree. And I was going through some traumatic, um, business experiences a couple years ago, and the breathwork literally, I think, saved, like, it saved me. I would just have to do my breathing exercises every day. Maybe sometimes a couple of times a day through this one, one month period where I just, I couldn't, you know, people say day by day.

I was like, it's hour by hour right now. And, um, it really, it really got me through. But I also think that much in the same way that breath work is something that is there. It's free. It's changeable. It connects us.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: us.

Dan: I also think that cold exposure. If you really look at the, the, the arc of humanity for whatever the past 10, 000 years or however long people have been around, I would say for the vast majority of that 10, 000 years, people were fucking cold.

Right? And we just learned how to fucking deal with it. And I think that much in the same way that getting up and walking to, to counteract the, the, um, the sedentariness, I don't even know if that's a word, our sedentary lifestyles, um, I think exposure to coal also gets us to some kind of a base platform of where we were as people.

And it's, it's a really good reminder that cold is, it's uncomfortable, but once you get used to it, either it's just a cold shower for 30 seconds at the end of your regular shower, or you get in for the full shower, or you go into an ice bath, there's a whole spectrum. I think it's just, it's a really good way to kind of check yourself, if you will.

I don't know the science or anything, but I think it gets us back to our foundation as people.

Leon: And

Dan: it reduces,

Leon: yeah, it brings us back to our baseline, and I think that that's You know, we live a very, very, very comfortable life, you know, like you look at what, how we're, how we're protected in our bubbles and our central heating systems and, and like you say, for the longest time in our evolution, we've been exposed to all of the elements and now we're wrapped up in cotton wool.

So I think it's, you know, like the challenge is, is to, is to make yourself uncomfortable, is to take yourself into challenging, controlled. stressful experiences, because I believe that there's And elements of controlled stress in the body are actually healthy because if we don't, it's like exercise you, I love the analogy of the muscle, right?

The muscle doesn't grow unless it's, it's, it's tears, its fibers. And only then does it grow. We need that. We need that resistance to be able to grow and, and And I feel like more and more of us are realizing that nowadays. We're understanding that, you know, we started to look at wellness tourism charts and everybody's like, okay, I need to start to use this body for what it's designed for. It's not designed to sit tapping keys seven days a week. It's designed to breathe, to move, to, to lift, to.

To experience, uh, the challenges.

Dan: You said something that really resonated with me earlier in the conversation, where it's like you had this childhood where things happen to you, but really you, you shifted your perspective.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: to say,

Dan: Actually, these experiences are happening for you, right? Because I forget what that saying is, but we're basically spiritual beings having, that's it.

We're having, we're spiritual beings having a human experience, right? And so all these things are happening for us if we're open to them. Um, so Onsei Retreat Center has been open only since October, right? It's incredible. It's awesome. Um, if you were to think about an ideal retreat center, family or group of colleagues or a group of people either that know each other intimately, multi generational or know each other collegially.

Um, what's the best possible happening for those groups that you could say, like, from the time that they arrive at Onsay to the time that they leave? What's like, what's a, What's success for you look like there? For what you can have happen for groups that visit you?

Leon: So, we have a experiences portfolio, which is a list of all of the things that we do here, and it goes from yoga, um, you know, aerial yoga, um, we do, uh, ice baths, breath work, rebirth in breath work, the Temaskal, we use that as a masculine sweat lodge.

We do, uh, obviously you know about the cenote, we have a private underground cenote here. So, you know, what we would generally do is we would arrange a shuttle from the airport, bring the, bring the team in, we'd have some introductions.

And what's an ideal,

Dan: what's an ideal team or family or group size? Because I know you had, I want to say it's like, 10 to 20 people. I forget what the accommodations were, but like, we were super comfortable. The accommodations are great, but like, what's an ideal size group for you as well? Um, okay.

Leon: So it was interesting because you guys were families, you were able to maximize the, um, the room, uh, configuration.

So generally speaking, if there was, uh, say an executive or an entrepreneur's team building exercise retreat that we had set up. We sleep a maximum of 18 people, and that would be a mix of a single occupancy, twin occupancy, and we've also got some really beautiful, uh, we call them, you know, we've got the cottage, which is what we call the female dorm, and we've also got the lodge, which is, we call the masculine dorm.

Um, so there's a maximum of 18 people from, from single occupancy, twin occupancy, and, and, and some shared, uh, Some shared environments also. We actually have seven, uh, villas or, or lodge, uh, villas or apartment, you know, so if it was ultra exclusive, we would only be able to sleep seven to eight. If everybody wanted their own, um, single occupancy, we could, we, we can maximums eight people.

Dan: Okay. So then, okay, so now they land the group, let's say a group of eight or whatever the group is. It doesn't matter whoever's comfortable coming. The group lands, you pick them up at the airport, you bring them to Onse and then walk us through like a great couple of days. Okay.

Leon: Mmm. Okay. Well, you experienced the food here.

Sophie, who's in charge of the kitchen, she's passionate about food. She's passionate about flavors and colors. So, you know, we really work around the food. So what we would do, we'd have an introduction. We'd take you obviously around our huge fire pit and talk about who we are, why we're here, what we're working towards, what we'd like to get out of this experience.

Um, so then what I'd normally like to open with Some Wim Hof breathing, because it's a really good way to ground into the space and it really opens us up into, into what's possible. So if we arrived in the afternoon, we'd have some really beautiful dinner in our, in our kitchen lounge area. And then we could, um, you know, we have a fire in the evening, fire it, a fire pit in the evening is always really lovely.

Um, the following day we would probably do What I would suggest is we get up nice and early. We can do some meditation in the cenote, which is really beautiful. Um, uh, it's, uh, underground open bodied water is the most beautiful, uh, of

Dan: places. So we'll stick photos of that in, in the YouTube version, but I agree.

And if you go to the Instagram, it's freaking awesome. So

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: yes.

Leon: we are blessed. We are really blessed. I know, yeah, it's always good to get the fun and the laughter in there. It can be a serious place, uh, but When the kids are in there laughing and having fun is when it comes alive. Um, so yes, we could start in the morning with some meditation in the cenote, and then we'd like to have a snack, and then we'd go on to the grass, and we'd do some breath work, we'd do some cold, uh, exposure, we'd get in the ice, and then we'd, as you experienced, we'd probably go in the swedge and do some chanting and make it really beautiful in there.

And then what we would normally do is we go straight into the cenote to cool down. How was that? How was, how was going into the cenote to cool down

Dan: after the sweat lodge? Oh my God, it was amazing. And to, and it also just going into the cenote, which is basically like this big underground cave with beautiful lighting and stalactites, stalagmites.

It was like, uh, it was part of the journey as well, you know, from just, it felt like you're going into like the underworld, right? And it's like, it's from Greek mythology. Roman mythology. Just, there's a whole,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: it

Dan: it made the most sense. It was, it was perfect.

Leon: Yeah, yeah. So that journey with the breathwork, ice bath, sweat lodge into the cenote is a really powerful process over the course of a, you know, two and a half hour period.

So that, that would really be nice on the second day. And then we'd have lunch, some free time, some dinner and a workshop on day two would probably be nice. We've got some really powerful, uh, So we've hand selected all of the most amazing musicians, um, facilitators, artists, uh, you know, we've built them all into our portfolio.

So, you know, we can lean, we've got some really good relationships with people locally that we bring in to hold workshops. So whether it be team building or, you know, managing stress at work, we've got We've got people that we can call in to, to, um, help to run workshops and get people kind of understanding new things.

Dan: I guess a lot of that would also depend on what the intention is. Like, I was just completely blown away because we were just looking for a place that was like in the middle of everyone and where we could go and we knew that there were all these offerings, but I just, I had no idea. And then, but I imagine going there with the intention of change, group, build, team building, relationship building, strategy thinking, I don't know, breathing, wellness, um, that you could really flex that.

what you have going on there to really suit anyone based on what their intention was. Our intention was just to get together, but then we were just so incredibly surprised, um, which is, and blown away. And I'm still blown away. That's why I really wanted to have you here. Um, but to, to just share it. So, so basically as you're tailoring this for everyone, um, and as you've done this since you've been open, What are the people, like, I was just surprised and blown away, but the people who go there with the intention of wellness or breathwork or trauma release or, or, or, or whatever they were, the groups that you've had, what's, what's some of the feedback that you've gotten?

Leon: well, I think the food is always a winner. Um, our team, like, obviously, I'd love for you to be doing another one, hopefully in time, and you'll have Sophie and Billy on, who are the, the, the visionaries here. And I'm, I'm just lucky enough to be along for the ride and support these guys. But, I mean, the, the food, the, the love, the attention to detail.

Like, this place has been created, so Sophie doesn't like it when I call it a visionary. I say to her, this is a visionary, she's like, oh, I'm not really, and, but there aren't many of these around, Dan, I can assure you, right? Like, there's not many people that can do what they've done here, and it's, and it's spectacular.

So the attention to detail, the comfort, the rusticness in areas, um, The pool, the exclusive location, the privacy. These are all really unique points for us. Um, and obviously having the ability to be able to. You know, action, whether it's, you know, transformational processes from Breathwork, iSparse, all of the things we've spoken about.

We are here as a team to support people as they come through. So like you guys, you came on a vacation, you came here to just kind of be with the family, and we were able to respond and make something happen. And that's what, that's, that is what hospitality is. That is the, being, being part of the team. And holding people the whole time for us, uh, the feedback.

Yeah, there's so many. I think one of the ones for me that is unconditional love. Like I talk about it a lot, but it's real. Like, uh, I feel so passionately about holding people. I feel so passionately about You know, seeing you guys with the kids, seeing you guys and the kids and, and the inspiration that you are showing them by really close relationships and, and supporting loving relationships as parents is just the most beautiful thing.

You know, what, what's happened in one generation from how I grew up to how I bring my children up is a testament to what's possible if we have awareness. Of

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: if I think about, I've been, I mean, I've traveled, I've stayed at all of these, at hotels all over, I've gone on retreats, I've done, been to, I don't know, meditation retreats, uh, business retreats, and, but I've never seen or experienced a place like what you have there, what you all have created.

built and are continuing to operate. So again, and you think about just from an experience of travel and hospitality, it was like, it was an incredible and profound experience for me just to be able to do all that stuff, the quote, woo woo stuff that I love,

um,

with my family and I, and I, and friends. And I really hope that they'll be able to, to take that with them to many places as well.

Thank you. Um,

Leon: for me, it was, you know, It was really beautiful working with young adults, teenagers, you know, I, like I said, at the time, I wish I knew, I wish I knew, uh, about breath work and these simple but most powerful practices when I was that age. You know, dealing with exams and, and kind of getting, starting to get into the high pressure world of expectations, what the world is expected of you and how we deal with those challenging in, you know, uh, times in our lives.

Mm-Hmm. . I could see, I could see that holding them in the breath, I could see their bodies changing, I could see them lighting up, I could see that they were being inspired by what is possible if we just

So, having those opportunities to, to work with people, especially young adults, you know, it's such a beautiful gift. So, I, you know, I appreciate you guys coming. You guys made it happen, you know, we were just here to hold you.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: well yeah. And then just from just being able to make our,

Dan: wishes

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: come true. Like I didn't even know we could do all of that stuff. And it was just for you being there to be able to facilitate it. And Sophie and Billy, and I mean, and Maha to come by really at a moment's notice was just an incredible experience of hospitality for me.

So thank you. Thank you. Um, I want to, I want to go back to, um, when did you start your construction company? How

old were you?

Dan: it has been, I don't know. So, uh, I first,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Or when did you

start working

in that?

17 or

Leon: Yeah. When I was about 17, 18,

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: in London,

Leon: in London. Yes.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Okay. So

growing up with parents who were addicts, going out and working, and then finding, like, the materiality is not

what

it's all about, and going on a journey with your children and your wife. And experiencing all the different forms of hospitality. If you, the Leon I know that I'm talking to now, were to magically appear in front of your 17 year old self.

Who's swinging hammers, cutting timber. I don't know what you were doing in construction, pouring concrete. You were probably doing all of that stuff, right?

Dan: Uh, it wasn't

Leon: in that kind of construction, but yeah, it's, yeah.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: What

kind what kind of construction?

Leon: So I had a business with sprinkler fire protection. So it's

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Oh, fire protection. Okay.

Leon: pressure plumbing, but yeah, hammers and saws.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: You're cutting pipes, you're laying it up, you're testing them, you're getting all the joints fitted, you're reaching up, your shoulders are getting exhausted, you're, it's, it's hard work. Um, if the Leon I'm talking to now magically appeared in front of that Leon,

what

advice would you have for your younger self?

Leon: Trust the process. Trust the process. Like, do you know what? The analogy of the breath comes back to me again is because, you know, we have these expansion and contractions like, like the diaphragm, like the body and like the universe. The whole thing is just a constant movement and change. And we go through phases in life where we're contracting and sometimes things are challenging and they're difficult, but what all we're doing is preparing for the next expansion.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Mm,

Leon: you know, we have these phases in life and sometimes they're expanding for a long time, but all we're doing is preparing for a level of contraction again. So, when you look at it, we're doing this, right? It's an up and down, it's an in and out, it's constantly in flux. But the, trust the process is observing what is happening, but choosing to be in the middle.

Don't judge when it goes up, don't judge it when it comes down, don't judge the expansion too much, judge the contraction too much. There's a line somewhere that's a shallower way that we can kind of focus on. And, um, that for me has been one of the, my own teachings, my biggest teachings, but also one of the things that I teach so many people about is, you know, we can be attached to so many stories and, and so many, you know, wins and losses and everything in between.

But, you know, if we trust the process, end of the extreme, the spectrum, it's, are home, we have arrived. So, um, what happened to me was that, In pursuit of happened to me when I was younger, I had this mantra that I created in my mind and it was, I will never repeat history, I will never, I'll never treat my children the way, I would never bring children into this world unless I could take care of them, you know, I would never do what my parents did to me and I will be successful and this just, this was from the age of sort of 10.

Well, my brother died of a heroin overdose when I was 12, that was when there was a big catalyst for me because it was like, This, this is, I'm not, I'm not going to repeat. I'm not, this is not going to happen to me.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: mm,

Leon: this is, this is all, this is all lessons for me to grow out of. so it was the mantra. It was a mantra about not repeating history and, um, you know, like, don't never bring children into this world unless you can take full care of them.

But what happened was, that mantra stuck, it's like everything, right? Everything in the right, Dosage is toxic. Love in the extreme dosage is toxic. Everything the right dosage can be harmful. So with this mantra of positivity, I was so driven to create a life that I'd never had, and for my children that I'd never experienced.

Built a really big successful business, but to be able to cope with the stress of managing that, I was drinking alcohol a lot and into other things that I shouldn't have been into. And what happened was, the realization for me was that in the pursuit of creating the thing that I was, that was, I was going to be different from what.

parents were actually what I was doing was using tools and slowly get on the path, which led my parents to where they went. Right. So this kind of like, wow, what can happen in pursuit of certain things? And that was a big realization for me that I had to pay more attention to my choices.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: I I love that, that mantra that you had. I appreciate, I appreciate it, but it also can,

like, It's

very binary, right? It's very black and white. And I always find when I'm in a time of stress and I need, or I call it the crucible moment where I see, I, I need, I'm stuck. Something's not working right. It could be in anything, life, work, love,

family.

And I see an out of It's a black or white, it's a left or a right. And what I've learned is that when I see that there's only a black or white situation, I'm like, I'm not looking at this the right way, because there's always another way. And just when, when you, when you put that fork in the road, so to speak, or when I do, I'll speak from my experience.

When I put the fork in the road, Oh, it's, it's black or white or one or zero that builds so much stress and kind of puts me on the wrong path. And I need to, and I'm good. I'm, I've gotten much better at this, but just really slowing down and being like, okay, there's has, I'm seeing this as only

two

sides of a coin.

There has to be another way.

Hmm.

Leon: So I would just say that these, these mantras were created in me when I was a child.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Hmm.

Leon: These were, these were observing a decaying world around me where there was no love, light, food, you know, my people dying, that meant a lot to me. What do you do with that? And it's, there's these, another thing that is binary also, but like our experiences, they can either create victims of us, or they can create heroes.

And it was like at some, if you have the right perspective, you can choose what you do with certain, certain things that happen in life. And I chose to be the hero in my journey the whole time. It's just like, I'm, I'm. You know, it's okay to be sad, it's okay to mourn, it's okay, like, all of these, we're designed with all of these beautiful emotions, and we should experience all of them, that's what we're here to do.

But, was able to choose to Help me grow. And, um, so I had to, this, this, this, these mantras that were black and white. It's just like, not this, all of this. Uh, I've realized that they were not serving me anymore as an adult. And that's when I had to deconstruct them and build this, how, how I've, how I navigate the world now is trust the process

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Hmm.

Leon: that that is what it is.

It's much more. Try not to judge too much of what's happening on the highs and the lows and try and find the middle ground somewhere.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: And I think it all goes back to what you said in the beginning where it's all these things

are

happening for us.

Dan: The

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: good, the

bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the pleasurable, the painful, they're all happening for us, not necessarily to us. And we just have to be open to those teachings.

Leon: Yeah, exactly.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: All right. Well, thank

Leon: them. We have to welcome all of the teaching.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: you. Yeah. Well,

Leon, this has been just incredible. And I wanted to, yeah. do this quickly after, um, our experience, which was a surprise that happened for us. Um, so I just, I thank you. Um, if people wanted to learn more about you or Onse Retreat Center, where can they, how can they find out?

Leon: Yes, perfect. So we currently, our website is in construction. Uh, we've got a beautiful website that's been designed and built, but in the meantime, you can find us on Instagram, uh, on say retreats, uh, on say retreats.

Hopefully you can create a

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Yeah. Yeah. We'll put that in the show notes.

Leon: highly visual, uh, space and uh, yeah, connect with us there. And in the meantime, will have a website up and running hopefully in the next month

Dan: or so.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Great. Well, Instagram is pretty fantastic and again, it just doesn't do it justice, but just go check it out. It's awesome. Um, But Leon, I thank you so much for getting to know you and developing a friendship with you, and I just want to give you a heartfelt. Thank you for coming here, dealing with all the technical, everything, and just being out here and sharing your learning.

So I appreciate you and thank you.

Leon: Uh, bless you, brother. I appreciate you too. Thank you for being open to all this beautiful work. And it's all lessons. It's all it is. It's all lessons. All of this, all of this technical stuff is just lessons and, uh, we grow and learn from these. It's all we can

Dan: do.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Yeah. And again, that's one of the things that I love doing this show, this podcast about, because there's so much learnings that I learn, and I just want to share it with everyone and shorten everyone else's journeys or help to shorten their journeys. But they are trusting the process. I don't want to The journey

is part of the process, but I, so

it's, sometimes it's not good to shorten it, but there's so many

things out there that

we, if we're just open, we, they can happen for us.

And thank you for that. I'm going to use that a lot. I'm going to rip off and duplicate that from you and use it all the time, but thank you to our listeners. I appreciate you. And if you check it, I highly recommend

having a

get together at Onsey Retreats. Um, thank you.

Leon: We'll be looking forward to welcoming you. Thank you for having me, Dan. And, um, congratulations on, uh, your 150th, uh, uh, episode recently as well, brother. Well done. Congratulations. It means that you're doing a great job, well done.

DH - Leon Recording - Dan RX: Thank you. Thank you.