Mark Kingsboro on Brain Health, Trauma Recovery, and the Aurelius Program | Security Halt! Podcast Ep. 457

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For many veterans, the war doesn't end when they come home.

The effects of blast exposure, traumatic experiences, disrupted sleep, physical injuries, and years of operating under extreme stress can follow service members long after they leave the military.

In Episode 457 of the Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero sits down with Mark Kingsboro to discuss his military journey, his own battle after service, and the experiences that ultimately led to the creation of the Aurelius Program.

Mark shares an intensely personal turning point in his life and explains how his experience changed the way he thought about mental health, brain health, and recovery.

Rather than focusing on one symptom or one treatment, the Aurelius approach looks at multiple aspects of wellness. Mark discusses modalities such as hyperbaric oxygen and TMS alongside foundational practices including sleep, nutrition, fasting, movement, physical fitness, community, and purpose.

The conversation also explores something equally important: vulnerability.

Mark and Deny discuss why veterans and first responders often struggle to admit when something is wrong, why sharing our experiences matters, and how helping one person recover can create hope for countless others.

Listen now. Follow the show. Share this with the veteran or entrepreneur who needs to hear it.
 
Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mark Kingsboro and the Aurelius Program

02:11 The Courage to Serve and Share Your Story

22:29 A Near-Death Experience and Turning Point

45:32 Progress in Emotional Processing and Mental Health

48:39 How to Access the Aurelius Program and Support Veterans
 
 

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Transcript

A Close Call And A Lifeline

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Then I was in the house alone and and luckily uh I was too drunk or too high on an ambulance or something. I short stroked that shotgun. And when I pulled the trigger and heard the click of that that trigger go off, man, then uh it snapped me into reality.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

It's not easy, but I will tell you right now your vulnerability and your strength to share the story of saving lives. This is exactly how we're able to connect with people because it's not a movie star that connects with us, it's not some action hero that's doing it through a Hollywood lens. It's a lived experience of Yeah, this program is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

It's uh it's changed my life completely. We're helping uh a lot of uh ex-veterans, special forces guys, team guys, even CIA. Yeah, we've had a lot of diversity come through the program in the last it's not even two years since this program's been up and running.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Yeah, that's the truth, man. And when you change one person's life, you're creating a walking demographic that's a billboard that's going out there, sharing the story to get more veterans involved, and that's what we need. We need more people to take advantage of this. Click that link, send them a friend request, follow them, share their content. If you're struggling and you need help, reach out today. Start living better. Don't wait, don't wait, don't put it off.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

That Security Halt Media is looking for clients that need video editing. Have them reach out to info at securityhaltmedia.com.

Welcome Mark And The Mission

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Mark Kingsborough, welcome to Security App Podcast, brother. How's it going, man? It's going great, dude.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

How you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Doing well, dude. Another uh another great busy day. I am excited for the Fourth of July weekend. Um I I'm hoping I can like settle down for like a day and get some rest. But uh looking by the way my phone's been blowing up this morning, I don't think I'll be able to. But you know what? Like I always say, when you pray for it, don't complain. Just fucking execute. Because at one point you were praying for something like this, and um, I'm just grateful for everything that God's brought on and dropped in my lap, even if I have to go without some sleep. I am grateful for it, brother. Yes, sir, me too. Dude, uh I'm excited to have you on. Anytime I find uh veterans or first responders are out there working on programs, they're helping our brothers and sisters. I want to bring them on and highlight them and talk about what they're doing. So today, my man, I want you to talk about that big sign and that uh the origin story for that program, brother. Yeah, this program is amazing. It's uh it's changed my life completely.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Um we're helping uh a lot of uh ex-veterans, special forces guys, team guys, um, even CIA. Yeah, we've had a lot of diversity come through the program in the last it's not even been two years since this program's been up and running. So it's amazing. I just want to spread the word. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

This is the perfect, perfect platform to uh to do it on, man, because we don't highlight the glitz and glamour of the the worst day of your life in Afghanistan around the beat, shooting people in the face. No, man. Those stories are a dime a dozen, and the reality is you don't really understand it. And the vast majority of people that gravitate to it, that want to hear that stuff. Like they never lived it and never experienced it, so it is exciting to them. But for a lot of individuals that are out there suffering, they hear the stories, to glamorize it, and they can do two things. It can amp them the fuck up and they can put them in that mindset, or it can say it it can speak to them in a way that says, like, well, I never did that stuff. I was just a fucking supply guy. Like, my story doesn't deserve to be told. And the truth is, it's like you're you you were brave enough to sign up, either serve in combat, serve in the military, or serve on the streets of our cities in our communities. And both of those professions are extremely admirable. You're part of the warrior tribe, and those jobs, more often than not, take more than they give. And um, on this side of the journey, it's about promoting things that help, promoting the the stories that give hope and inspiration, not just the cheap thrills of talking about the uh the worst day of people's lives. I mean, those are good. I mean, uh I I have my favorite Hollywood stories and renditions, and certainly there's a lot of individuals that are are great people with great, remarkable stories, but not every story is a remarkable, incredible story of a fight for your life. Uh more often than not on the soft side of the house. It's uh three hours in, a high five, and get back for midnight chow. It's not the the story of being an infantry kid and friggin' the worst valleys of Afghanistan and sticking in it for fucking a year-long deployment. Those are the boys we gotta support and rally. And I think what you're doing speaks to that, man. So please tell us about this program.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Uh,

What Aurelius Does Differently

SPEAKER_02 4:38

this program, it's uh a nonprofit completely that's what's most important, it's completely free to who we serve. Um they don't pay anything except for their travel to get here and then uh food while you're here. Um And what's the name of it? Aurelius. Like Marcus Aurelius, yes. Um, and it's brain health and human performance. So we focus, it's a completely holistic approach. We don't have any uh no medications, no drugs, nothing like that. It's everything from oxygen therapy, um, a magnetic stimulation we'll talk about, and uh workouts. We also have a nutritionist that'll give you a tailored workout or tailored uh uh nutrition plan for you. And her background is uh operator syndrome. So it um talk a lot about gut health and how that really impacts your brain. Um, I never realized how much those two are connected. You know, as a police officer out on the street, you grab food where you can. Uh you eat the terrible stuff uh just to get through the day. And I never realized how important my gut health was to my brain health until I got here, actually.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, man. Um and let let's uh let's take this journey and start it off with how you got involved. Like tell us your origin story of um service and uh what led you to this program.

Iraq Breaching And Repeated Blasts

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Uh so I did uh 14 years in the army. Um got out Sergeant First Class on the E8 list, though I had to do another three years to take that. Wasn't interested. Um so my background uh combat engineer. Uh then I started uh counter IED um and then became an explosive breaching instructor. Um so many repeated small blasts for the city.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Unsung heroes, man, unsung heroes. Yeah. You guys eat a lot of charges, a lot of um a lot of the innovation that we saw in Iraq, in Afghanistan came from hard lessons learned from our engineers, man. Um EOD, our our Army engineers, Navy, all you guys, you do a lot of work, and and one of the key things that has always missed out on the discussion are troops in these MOSs getting the same, if not more, blast exposure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Yeah, that uh took a lot of hits inside of a truck, so physically you seem fine. You know, you get your bell rung, you shake it off, on to the next one. I was in a buffalo a lot, um, so that big, big vehicle could can take a uh blast. Um so I mean you feel them, but you you're fine. You can move on to the next one. But then you take another one and another one and another one. It's it adds up over 15 months. I did 15 months uh in Iraq. What years were it were at uh 08 to 09. Yep, we were there same time. Were you in the uh well, were you in the 82nd or no? I was in uh 5th engineer battalion out of Fort Leonardwood. Okay. So um we were five war horse a lot. I was up in Tikrit in twos. Um moved all around the country a lot, did a lot of support uh for named operations, SF guys, um did some air assaults, cachets, you know, clearance on foot. Yeah. A lot of different missions.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

It was fun. Yeah. Yeah. We were part of the same 15-monther. Uh and then that's right. I did the one before, too. Yeah. Uh two thumbs down. Yeah, I don't recommend it. If you can avoid a 15-month, that is a long time. Dude, they didn't give a fuck. They didn't care, man. Um, and that was so in 07-08, um coming into that theater, and certainly that next year, IDs were huge, dude. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was when they were pulling the bargain EFPs. That I remember when they first came out, and I remember seeing the first truck getting brought in through Al-Assad that had gotten hit by an EFP. And to to see everybody's butthole pucker in relation to seeing that that ASV come through on the back of a hammock, and you're just like, fuck.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Yeah, because there's nothing you can do about it. It's just it's your time or it's not. I mean, the the sophistication that went into them with the passive infrared and things like that, it's it's amazing technology. Those guys are very, very bright. Yeah. We don't give them enough credit sometimes. I mean, they're very smart people.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

We say some of the most derogatory stuff about the enemy and and how dumb they were. I'm like, they were defeating us with garbage.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

They were finding outlines of trucks on walls, the the exact outline of trucks with uh laser pointer arrays to to point at drivers, gunners, things like that. That's crazy. Um that's all open source information, I guess they got, but they're they weren't dumb. They knew what they were.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

They were dumb. They weren't dumb. I remember it it came a time uh time period where we were um you were making sure you weren't throwing away any batteries. Making sure, like, hey, you have to properly turn in all batteries. And you're not throwing away any because no matter how dead you think they are, there's still a charge left. And that's that's one of the main things they were using. And it's just like, fuck, dude. Like our as young men, we were so our our egos, man, like, oh fucking barefoot, fucking blah, blah, blah. So they got nothing on us, as we're sitting there in the dumbest, the dumbest camel pattern, the A ACU. ACU, yeah. Yeah, man. The shoulder pads. Uh, I got rid of them instantly. It would have it would have stopped nothing, dude. I have no faith that those things would have stopped. But he looked looking back at all the pictures of all the PEP PPE you had you had to wear, where it's like there's no, there's no way you're you're you're not going on mission without this stuff. And um we just look ridiculous, dude. We look we look like fucking dorks.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

But I will say I wore my blast underwear. That uh yeah, I might be going out, but I'm going out with my entire package, all two inches.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

You don't have enough to spare, I get it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Uh but I digress. Uh yeah, it's good to have these connections, man. It shows how small this world is, man. Like now we didn't see each other, but knowing that we were in the same area, like you probably did route clearance for me a hundred percent. Um, and that's something we all need to remember. It's not I talk about this a lot. This is the one of the shows that I focus on, Broken Brains, uh, which I'll get you slotted to talk about that for next week if you're available. But um brain health, TBIs, and the impact it has on your entire body. It's not always the big explosions, it's not always being involved in a direct IED blast. It's the small hits, it's those the the the the control debts that you're doing, which you guys did a whole bunch of those, getting rid of all munitions, like all that stuff is insane, and people don't key in on it. Um and I just want to friggin' uh you know, get your perspective on

Policing Stress Memory Loss Family Toll

SPEAKER_01 12:06

it. You get out of the military and then you go into another high, you know, high-risk career being a uh a police officer. Like, how did you manage that and did you start feeling the repercussions of these blast exposures in while you were serving as police officer?

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Yeah, so uh after Iraq, I became an you know explicit breaching instructor, ran demolition rangers, uh, taught Cab Scouts and infantry, they have to qualify once a year on things like that. So I taught all that. So all those small, repetitive uh hits to the head, um, you're at that minimum safe distance, you know what I mean? But uh you don't account for a hundred a day over three weeks, you know, three, four times a year. So that stuff builds up, and uh at the time I was young enough, fit enough to uh to push through it. You know, I'd get confused or or start to forget small things. Um, people kept associating that with PTSD, you have PTSD, you know, this is normal. Um so then the drugs started, you know, here's a here's a pillow to fall asleep, here's a pill to wake up, here's a pill to get you through the day, here's the you know, kilonopin and things like that. And then when that starts to to normalize how you feel, you start to add alcohol to self-medicate, you know, things like that. So I I just kept going normal like that. Um, but as I got older and as I did get out, uh became a police officer and things just started adding on, you know, and and my memory started going. You know, I'm 40 years old now, so it started 30, early 30s, mid-30s, you know, started losing memory. Um, I couldn't remember, you know, really important things, or I couldn't process an emotion. Um, so I was married at the time, and that took a huge toll on my family. Um my ex-wife didn't, she didn't think I cared, she didn't think I listened, she didn't think I, you know, was emotionally available. I just I couldn't do it. Like there's like a wall inside my head. And every time something would get too emotional, I couldn't process it, and it'd feel like I hit that wall. So I'd knock out and I'd stare, you know, at the wall and I'd try to be listening, but so that's where I really started noticing like something's going on here. Or I'd arrest somebody downtown by the time I got them to the jail five miles away. I forgot what they did, forgot their name, forgot, you know. And then that starts to be uh a credibility issue. Like, you know, I get on the stand like trying to remember details about a case. Well, that's a problem sometimes, you know. I I could review on body camera footage and my my report and refresh my memory, but that it shouldn't be like that. I shouldn't be able to remember major details clearly. Um, but then when you mix in, you know, the high, the high stress environment, the low manpower, the uh constantly under you know, criticism to do everything. It was just a lot of stress, and then that compounded too. And yeah, I started to notice major issues, sleep, especially sleep, memory, um, emotional regulation. That wasn't normal for my age or normal with people around me. You know, other cops have been doing it for a while. So I knew something else was was going on.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Yeah. Yeah. It and I I certainly see my story in yours, and I know a lot of veterans are identifying with exactly what you said. Forgetting how to get home, forgetting your valuables, like, and it plays a game on you. I recently was on a trip and I got my phone stolen, and everything was telling me that I messed up, that I left my phone unsecured on on top of a car. And I was like, oh man. And then it wasn't until we searched the rest of the vehicle and saw the rest of the stuff that was taking that I realized, like, oh, wait a second. Like, no, I I left it in the bag. I left it in my backpack with all these other valuables that are now gone. So it's like, okay. So your memory will play tricks on you. And like, same with placing things around your house. Um, it's just you I'm now at the uh at a healthier point in my life where I give myself grace and I can laugh it off, but it is hard to explain to somebody how quickly your life unravels when you can't remember basic principles of like the layout of your house in regards to where you put things. But your mind is telling you that you put it there. And then the fighting and arguing with your wife and seeing her as opposition because she moved it. Your mind tells you like 100% you left it here. You left it here, 100% you left it here. This is where you last put it. But in reality, she can literally film you walking around, deliberately setting it down in the kitchen, engaging with it again, and walking away. And then five, ten minutes later, you're yelling at her because she moved your things and you can't find it. Um, and it's a completely different thing than like that short lapse of like, oh, it's here. I'm I'm just I kind of forget it. No, like the the agony of not being able to trust your own recall. Oh man, of being able to say, like, I can't trust myself on that. I gotta, I gotta develop systems. And now it's it's it's second nature. Now I have systems. I know what I leave on my desk. I know what I leave in my nightstand. And when I don't see my keys there and it's I don't see my wallet there, then it's like, all right, give myself some grace. Let's double check laundry, let's double check the car, let's um, you know, and then and then then comes the list of all the places I visited. Let's go to the gym or let's go to the Home Depot, let's figure it out. I I'm not embarrassed to say I've had to double, you know, do a double take, drive all the way back to Home Depot, go to the hardware section, there's my wallet. By the grace of God, still sitting there next to the lag screws that I was looking at. I'm in there. Yep. I did one of those. I'm like, oh yeah, that's what I want. Um and it's it's not that we we don't always live in a high trust society. Somebody's looking out for you. Um, I certainly was blessed that uh it was still there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Yeah, I've been there a few times at the uh you know hardware store gym, especially. I put my phone down to the machine I'm using, go on because my headphones still connect, and I walk outside and my headphones disconnect, and I'm like, all right, my phone's not here. Like, thank God I have my headphones on. That's the only way I would have known I left my phone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah. Shameless plug right now to a company called Rourke. They make uh incredible workout pants that have an uh uh additional zipper pocket. That's where I put my key fob because I have walked all the way out to my car. Oh, fuck. Yeah. Important lesson. Uh, if you're suffering with this, uh, build systems, give yourself grace, and know that, like, hey man, things will get better. Things will get better. You might not be able to get to where you were when you were in your early 20s, but life's not about going backwards. It's about being grateful for what you have and building systems that support you where you're at. Um you can get better. That's the thing that's missing in the discussion. You can get better. Um, you're not gonna get back um not to say for every case. You just understand you gotta be willing to give yourself grace and be willing to fight for the best, the best version of yourself. Absolutely, yeah.

Suicide Attempt And Ambien Risks

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Yep, so then um the this program, I came about this program. Um one of my sergeants is working security here at the university where his program is when it started. And uh he knew I was having a rough time, and I was at my lowest point in my life, I think, at that time when the this program came about. Um I was struggling pretty hard with uh the pills, uh, not sleeping, the drinking, um, things like that. And I uh ultimately attempted suicide in in 2023. Um, it all became too much. Um I had a hard day, didn't sleep for about three days. Um took uh about four or five ambient, drank two bottles of uh alcohol, uh whiskey, still didn't fall asleep. So I was out of my mind. Um I didn't know what I was doing, especially on the ambient. I would not recommend that stuff to anybody. Um that is scary stuff, ambient.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah. Um it's one of the the one of the drugs that we get just at it just gets handed to us on deployments. Yeah. But the thing that nobody talks about, and no, this is sort of my beef with the medical system and medical providers in the military is they don't give you an understanding or a warning that Ambient Ambient has the worst black label warning. And nobody understands that. I didn't understand it. I I s I've seen the effect on young soldiers that take it on the plane and we laugh about it. They're acting like they're doing erratic shit and they're not there. It's it's not restorative sleep. Uh I can't speak to what it does. Um, I'm not a doctor. I know that it doesn't give you restorative sleep. It's not an actual sleep inhibitor. It puts you out, but it none of the restorative effects of actually sleeping occur when you're on ambient. And that's why there's so many stories of people acting and doing crazy things on Ambien. Um, and it's really dangerous. It is not a good drug to give anybody. Um, and again, uh I'm not a doctor. I'm just a guy that has been out here. I've interviewed tons of doctors, they've all talked about it. Every sleep expert I've had on the show have all said the same thing. It's one of the most dangerous things. It has a hu a horrible drug warning. It's a black label warning that nobody talks about. And we need to uh do everything we can to advocate for bets not to take it. That's that's my honest opinion. If you want to take it up with me, please give me a call, shoot me an email, tell me I'm a piece of shit, but ambience bad for you.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

I I 100% agree. Ambience is terrible for you. Um you still, even if you do get to sleep, you don't feel refreshed, you don't feel rested. So I don't see the point in taking it. Luckily, here our uh nurse practitioner, she has a uh sleep and pulmonary health background. Um, so she she gives classes on you know great ways to to improve your sleep. It's not instant fixes, it's gonna take work, uh, like everything, but she tells you the right way to do it, and uh some of the stuff we do here reinforces that. So that that is one huge benefit of our program. Um and I've been taking her advice and it's been working.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Hell yeah, man. So tell us, you know, you you have this moment that is very relatable to veterans. You you get to your breaking point. Luckily you're still here.

unknown 23:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

What was the next step that got you into Aurelius?

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Um, I'm also a father, uh, two stepchildren and and one daughter of my own. And uh my stepchildren, they were there uh with their father at the time, but my daughter was in the house when this happened, and uh she thought I was just um drunk, you know. That's what her mom told her. Her mom got her out of the house. Um then I was in the house alone, and and luckily uh I was too drunk or too high on ambience, something. I short stroked that shotgun, and when I pulled the trigger and heard the click of that that trigger go off, man, it uh it snapped me into reality. Uh, I knew I had to do something. Um sorry it's no brother. No.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

That's hard to talk about, but um I know I've hearing your story in there. Um it's not easy, but I will tell you right now, your vulnerability and your strength to share the story is saving lives. This is exactly how we are able to connect with people. Because it's not a movie star that connects with us, it's not some action hero that's doing it through a Hollywood lens. It's a lived experience of Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

That yeah, that's my goal, man, is to help people because we have to help each other. There's so much tact against veterans and and first responders don't get enough credit or help either. Um if we're not out here helping each other, no one's gonna help, you know.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Exactly, man. Exactly. It's it's up to us, it's up to the warrior tribe, man. Um it's up to us to to circle up and share our story, share, share the worst parts of it, but also be willing to share the upswing because every, every last one of us has the ability to have that great post-traumatic growth, like yourself, to be able to be at the very, very, very bottom, the lowest, lowest, and be able to rise up and now be willing to help others, man. That that's what we need because I've it's been proven. Um I've seen it on this show, I've experienced it in in real life, in my own life and in the testimonies of other people. All you have to do is fight to get back to about 70%. Get back to about 70%. You're you're mending relationships, you're doing better, you're giving yourself grace, you're breaking old habits, you're taking care of yourself again, and you're gonna turn around and you're gonna look for those around you that are also suffering, and you're gonna reach through that void and help somebody else out. That is the most sustainable thing we can do. Help one person, give them a part of your story, inspire them to change, inspire them to take the action and the steps that they need to improve their life. And when they get involved with that program that will help them, whether it's going to uh Warrior's Heart, whether it's going to Aurelius, whether it's going to the first treatment center, whatever it is, when as soon as they get some workable tools, they're going to start walking and jogging and then running. And as soon as they start to see the benefit of living right, they're going to help somebody else. Like that's just it's ingrained in us, man. It's ingrained in us in the military, in the first responder community. You don't leave a brother behind. And if you've been to any military school, the moment you figure something out, you're immediately taking a knee and helping somebody else out. Like that just, it's part of who we are. We want others to succeed. Um, I've I've even the most selfish and and broken individuals I've seen, the moment they start getting better, it it turns from a a me perspective into an outward-looking perspective of how can I help others, man? It's so true.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Yeah, um, I try to bring a wellness committee or uh healing to the police department. I'm not gonna speak ill against the police department, but the the uh admin there wasn't interested. They're they're old school, they've been there 20, 30 years. They're still in the older mindset, unfortunately. Um, so I hit a lot of resistance there. I tried to reach out, tried my thing. Um, I was getting nowhere. So

Purpose After Service And Getting Help

SPEAKER_02 27:07

I made the choice. I let's go help people where I can. So I I quit my career. Uh I was off the SWAT team at that point. I was on patrol, just I wasn't really doing anything that I was really wanting to do anymore. And I didn't feel fulfilled. That's another big thing with guys transitioning. You lose your purpose. So I I that's very hard to do. To lose your purpose and and get out, and nobody cares what you did. It's yeah, it's hard to say. You're replaceable. Um, as much time and effort as you put into your team or your what you do, it's the next man up as soon as you're out. Um some people might tell stories about you remember you. Within three years, no, it doesn't matter. What your family matters, your relationships, um, and what you find your new purpose in, that's what matters. So I recommend guys getting out, find that purpose as soon as possible. Um, no matter what it is, volunteering somewhere, helping other veterans, that purpose is so important. Once you lose it, then you start to spiral pretty quick. So that would be a big thing for me.

unknown 28:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

100%, man. And you know, that's something that comes across the moment you connect with with uh another veteran in the space doing something. Like when we first talked on the phone, like uh you're driving, you're you're actively involved in this, getting it out to other veterans to help them out, to take care of them, like finding your purpose and your mission. And a lot of people don't understand the value in that. Um, it has to be stacked. You have to rack and stack it with your employment options, with the things you're willing to do. That's why I'm always I'm always pushing individuals towards a nonprofit space or entrepreneurial space. Because I know when you start digging into your why, you start figuring out what you're passionate about, if you're creative, if you're in in the business, business world, more often than not, you'll create something that that is valuable, that is needed for a veteran or first responder. And that's what I love seeing when you give people the the idea of betting on themselves, but on yourself. It's such a crazy thing to think that you can make your dreams happen. And they could they in and in the process of doing that, you could be helping others, man. Like just thinking of a few years back, I guarantee this was not something you would ever have envisioned for yourself. Not at all, not at all, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Um so yeah, I found this program by accident. Um, it's in the same city. I was a police officer in here in Harrisville, Pennsylvania, capital city of PA. Um a skeptical because a lot of, you know, I've tried a lot of things and a lot of things have failed. Um, I did have a lot of friends having success with like Ibogaine and and things like that, but I was a police officer. I couldn't, I couldn't do that stuff. Um, so I figured what do I have to lose? So I checked out the program.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Training Nutrition Basics

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Um, and what the program focuses on is hyperbaric oxygen therapy, um, transcranial magnetic stimulation and uh workouts and diet plans, basically. That's the program. Um there's a lot of research. Um I don't know if you ever heard Dr. Maroon. Oh, yeah. I've had him on the Brooks and Greens podcast, yeah. So he's on our our panel. He's a uh medical advisor, and uh everything we do um goes through him and uh a couple other guys on our medical board. Um so they oversee the whole program, especially the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Um so we have a lot of SWIC guys coming through. I never realized how much SWIC takes takes hits to the head.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Um freaking Lutley, and uh it's I'm I'm the same camp, dude. I didn't know it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Um so when I came through the program, it was mostly with SWICT guys, and uh I heard about Dr. Maroon and the research he was doing with us with the SWIC guys and stuff like that, sort of looking into that. Um, we have a lot of studies being published, they're not out yet. Like I said, we're only 18 months in, something like that. About 150 veterans. Yeah, 150 veterans uh helped so far. Um, but the hyperbaric oxygen therapy, it helps the inflammation. That's a huge thing. Your brain inflammation from concussions or repeated hits of the head, um, not to mention like back injuries, joint injuries, you know, arthritis, all that inflammation, um, this hyperbaric oxygen therapy, it just pressurizes your body um to get the oxygen to where it needs to get to. Because your body can only carry so much oxygen through hemoglobin, but when you're under pressure, then it bypasses that hemoglobin and pushes it out. Um, and your body can actually get more oxygen. And then what we do, we take that uh oxygen and then we do cycles. We cut that oxygen off, five minute breaks, you breathe normal air, but your your brain thinks you're suffocating um and releases uh chemicals, releases stem cells and healing chemicals and pushes it to your body. Um, you don't feel it, you're just breathing the whole time. So you can't tell, but your brain can tell that it goes from 99 to 100% oxygen down to 60%, which is about normal for atmosphere. And then those cycles just uh make your body really react uh in ways you don't feel until a few days later your mood starts to feel better. Your arthritis, I got arthritis in my hands, my back, you know, discs missing, you know, same as everybody, torn knees, everything. But all the inflammation starts to go away. And as soon as you're not in chronic pain, it's amazing how much better your mood gets right away. Um you just get out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

You said it, dude. You said it, dude. That's a lot, that's one of the things that a lot of people don't key in on is how pain is directly correlating to like your mental state and wellness. Like if chronic pain is a is a motherfucker, man, and I can't fault and I can't blame a lot of veterans that just dive into the the opiates or the pill mills because the pain is such a big problem. But you know, one of the things that you guys are doing that, you know, it's hard to explain to veterans how it's gonna help them in the long run is the physical mobility, the working outs.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Yeah, we uh myself and uh another 14-year Army veteran infantry guy named Sabir. Um, we're both uh certified personal trainers, and we will tell our workout program for each individual that comes through and meet you where you're at. We've some guys like, oh, I haven't done anything. We have 60-year-old sweat guys, you know, I I can't move. I have this surgery, that surgery. We don't care. You're gonna move. Um, as soon as you start moving, as soon as you start moving something that starts to feel better and better, we'll build a base and you'll go from there and you'll be amazed what you can do. Um, we don't treat you like a victim here, you know. Uh that's another thing. I hate that when I go to clinics or something, oh, you know, I'm sorry, it must have been so hard. Look, we signed up for it. We know, we know what we were getting into. I just want to be treated like an adult and give me a way to get better. And that's what we do. Um, we hold it everyone accountable. You're gonna be here, you're you're gonna do your workouts. Let's but if you can't do this, let's find something that you can do within the same movement pattern. All right, you can't you can't back squat. Well, you can squat without weight, you know, you can do body weight squats, you can. If you can't, let's hold on to this rope and do it. You know, we'll find a way to do it and build from there. Um, so movement, uh getting that blood flow pushes all this oxygen again through your body um and makes everything more effective. Um yeah, sometimes people just they they they're amazed. Um they'll come here, it can, you know, hard to get out of bed in the morning. By the time they leave, they're they're running a mile. It's it's crazy. I'm not running. I still don't do cardio. I might jump on the bike or the road machine.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

I'll do a road, I'll do a bike, I'll do an incline walk. One of the greatest things, my my own uh my own um position that optimizes my health. Uh the greatest thing he ever said to me is that, well, I I I do like running. Uh I do have it on my board to do and finish, finish, not just participate. I want to finish um a couple of endurance runs, but for this season and then I this year, he's okay. I don't want you running. It's too much inflammation. I'm like, well, I mean, if you're if you're gonna say it as a medical, provide medical influence. I mean, I need that down to go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Yeah, it's amazing. Um, the real machine or or we have uh salt bikes, you know.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

You know, 15, 20 minutes a day. Um at zone two cardio, we don't need to push guys that hard. Zone two cardio, we'll be able to hold that conversation um is enough. Just, you know, it's gotta be everything, everything is consistency. Find uh find something you can do for a long time consistently. Um, and then build from there. That that's the per that's the key. Everyone's like, Oh, how are you still in shape at 40 years old? Or how do you do this? Just consistency. I don't do anything. I still eat pizza, tacos, ice cream, but I do it in moderation. You know what I mean? Uh stay away from alcohol now. Um so it's everything in moderation and just do it consistently. These get you know, get skinny quick diets, or you know, trying to be jacked at 40, it's you just gotta find something you can stick with. Yeah, find something.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Is uh the diet thing was big, but fasting, fasting has been a big thing for me. Like I realized that if you work from home, if you're a vast majority, if you you knock out your workout early, replenish, refuel. If you're working in an office at home, like even if you have a walk pad, have a walk pad. I'm not burning enough calories to s to sit down and eat 3,000 calories for lunch and breakfast. No, man. Like I'd rather work out hard in the morning, fuel accordingly, fast throughout the day, and have a great meal at night with my wife and not have to worry about it and make sure it's like I'm getting the macros I need. Um, and it makes more sense for me, man. And and then build in longer fast because, you know, it's it's part of something that I realize is connected to what I want to get out of life, what I want to do. Like it's something that I get a lot of, you know, it helps with my clarity, my focus. And um, yeah, I I built it in and I have a lot of friends. Shout out to Liam, my buddy Liam Cogan. Um, he's been doing a lot with fasting and seeing a lot of the same benefits. And it's like, all right, like it's just about being able to tolerate some hunger and uh understanding that there's a greater purpose in doing it.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

Yeah, I want the other route. I eat a lot, but uh I eat in my I eat good whole foods now, uh mostly, you know.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

You got more muscles, man. You got to fuel the machine. I'm trying to get super lean. I'm trying to be a supple leopard in this phase of my life.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

My partner Sabir, he's big on fasting, 72 hours, you know, things like that. And he's he's Jack, but he's he's pretty rich defined. I I don't care about F at this age, bro.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

That's where I'm trying to go. I'm trying to get some more definition. I'm trying to, but it it's also like the the spiritual connection to it. Um, yeah, for me, I it started with this year with Lent, and I kept it up. And um I made that commitment, and I'm like, okay, cool. This is this is something for me. This is something that can tie to it with my faith. Not for everybody, but you know, for guys like myself and and my buddy Liam, um, we're finding a lot of strength and a lot of a lot of great clarity in that. Um, you know, it's for the season, it's for what I'm doing right now. I have other health goals that I'm trying to meet, and it's it's helping me right now. Um, but it also makes it worthwhile for me. Like I think of it um in the sense of like you do a little bit of suffering, and every time you're doing that, like get that hunger pang. It's like, all right, dude, like I know what I'm doing it for, and uh it's a great reminder that at the end of the day, like I'm gonna have a great feast with my family and be able to have, you know, pray over our meal and be able to feel sustained and ready to hit that next workout early in the morning, man. Um, but I certainly, it's like I said, it's something that I came through and it was calculated for me and my experience. But there wasn't a lot of people talking about that just a few years ago. Like it's it's all it's what you're wanting to do for your performance. And that's how we share people, man.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

Well, I helped my performance uh especially. Uh first thing in the morning, I get my creatine hydration, um, and uh I hit those first. Uh, you know, a packet of hydration, liquid IV, uh ghost, whatever, make sure it's a good element, it's great. Um, get that and your creatine. I I do 10 grams. I mix that first thing in the morning, and that's the first thing I do with some vitamins and a little bit of protein. And that set myself up for the rest of the day. The hydration, I didn't realize is how it was so important to your brain health, especially the creatine. Creatine is if I recommend anything to anybody, it's creatine. Um, even a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Get out of my friggin' head right now. Get out of my friggin' head. Yeah. And uh it's I have to give a shout out to this incredible company, Swick Dudes, Thumo's. It's exactly what you're talking about. The creatine, the nutritional kick in the face as soon as you wake up to get going on the right track because they're talking about the same thing that we're talking about. The the TBI, the repetitive head blast. And this is this isn't just for the military community, it's for active people. Like the ingredients, like everything that we're talking about right now, L-thanine, again, creatine, natural caffeine, like the things that all of us are are starting to hear more of on podcasts, it's right there for you. Um again. Check it out. Thumos, um, again, Swickboat dudes, some of the greatest dudes I've met through this experience. And they're not trying to push you something that tastes bad. Uh spoiler alert, it tastes really fucking good.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

What is it? Gum, is it gummies or powder? What is it?

SPEAKER_01 41:18

It's a powder, yeah. It's a powder. Yeah. Good. So I take uh a scoop in the morning and I'm gonna have to re-up now because I am almost out. But uh scoop in the morning, and just as soon as I I get up and I head to the gym. That's like what I do. That's along with my pre-workout in another bottle, because uh Papa still needs his caffeine hit.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Oh, I got white monsters first thing in the morning. That's my my go-to. I don't like that coffee stuff. I'm not old enough for coffee yet. Oh, bro, bro. I don't know. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Man, and it's like uh and the more we know, the more that I like I don't I don't drink. So that's um you know, I have that going for me. I don't do tobacco, um, but caffeine is still one of the things that I know I need to monitor and do better with. Um, but for the time being, you know, hey, like every man needs his vice. And if coffee's my vice, I'm doing something right. That's it. Well, coffee has so many great benefits for health, too.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

I've I've learned. I just can't get past them. I don't know. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

I don't know, man. I I um I I I wasn't a coffee drinker until I met my buddy Eric on my team. Like I would drink it out of necessity, but I never enjoyed it until um my buddy Eric. Eric Simcox, shout out to you, buddy. That man can make a cup of coffee, the slow press. Like, I mean, I mean, like before we would dial in to do work on our deployment, he'd be like, all right, let's make a cup of coffee, get the French press out, the bus cafe bostello, and no sugar, no creamer, just really good cup of coffee. Um, so maybe, maybe try it out one of these days. You'll be surprised. Like, you're right around that that age period, I think uh the dad mode kicks in. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

And

TMS Research And How To Apply

SPEAKER_02 43:06

then the rest of our program, um, we have a thing called transcranial magnetic stimulation. Oh, basically, what that is, it's a uh like an MRI magnet, a small magnet. Um, and then we we do some brain mapping, find find your treatment area, and what that does, um, through trauma or PTSD TBIs, the front of your brain starts to slow down. You you're not making logical decisions with the front of your brain anymore. You're not processing um a bunch of different things turn off in the front of your brain. You start to think with the back of your brain, um, your reptile brain. The lizard brain. And that's where, yeah, that's where like a lot of your anxiety comes from because it's not processing those things. So this magnet stimulates the front part of your brain and either reconnects neuron pathways. Listen, I'm not a scientist or a doctor's as a knuckle dragger, is how I understand it. Um it starts to fire the front of your brain again and makes That work and then it works its way back, and we start to so the the chamber here is fixing those small damages, the inflammation and things like that. So that's fixing your brain physically. The TMS is re-stimulating your brain to make you start rethinking with your frontal lobe and make those right decisions, uh, all those neural pathways, reconnecting. Um, we have a guy named Dr. Wakem. He's uh medical doctor leading in the TMS field. He's on our medical board too. So between Dr. Maroon and Dr. Wacum, um our medical, uh, it's fully it's gonna be fully published here in a little bit. We're working on on getting out our whole research. Um, we don't do um placebo controlled studies. We would never ask somebody to leave their support system, come here for 19 days. We know how hard that is, and then not get the treatment. Um, we don't believe in that. So we're doing you know, um studies through questionnaires, uh different, different ways of doing research. Um but it's gonna be published fully um from different kinds of guys, like I said, SWIC guys, me with demolition, um uh SF guys, CL26, Delta guys, you know, all these guys who've been through different kinds of trauma, but very similar trauma. Um, that'll be published soon. Um Dr. Maroon, right now he has a SWIC uh study published on his website. You can go look at his, and the research is very, very similar to the process we do here. Yeah. So you can look at the numbers and understand, you know, that's our program is very similar to that. Um so through the the TMS, the HPOT, the um workouts, and then like I said, we have a dietitian who understands uh operator syndrome and gut health. Our uh our nurse practitioner here on site, she comes from a sleep and pulmonary background. It's all holistic, you know, fix your gut health, fix your sleep, get your brain firing again, fix the trauma, fix, fix the inflammation, and get your body moving through that process. Um, it's not a miracle cure. It's it's to get your body and mind in a place where all these other things will be way more effective. Uh I still have my my struggles. I still isolate sometimes, but now I can pull myself out of that stuff. Yeah I can process an emotion. I can say, damn, you know, I I need to I need to stop. I need I'm gonna start to spiral here. And I I can recognize that stuff and I can work my way through it now. That's the biggest thing for me. Um, it completely changed my life because before I would hit that mental wall and I'd got spiral for days and I couldn't pull myself out of it. I don't know why, but it but that's what happened. Um now, um, yeah, I can actually process an emotion. I can have, I don't I would say I can have an emotional conversation. Um, my girlfriend might disagree, but I'm trying. I'm I'm trying to be better with that stuff. You know, you still have old habits, you're still guarding, you still but I'm trying. Um, and I can actually do a lot better, especially for my daughter. I have an 11-year-old daughter, and uh to be the father for her and be able to talk to her about and you know, all this stuff, man, it's made such I've I felt like a bad father, and that was the hardest thing I struggled with in my life. I felt selfish for, you know, uh spiraling, felt selfish for, you know, what the hell's wrong with you? Just you know, get out there, you go go somewhere with your daughter, do something, you know, but sometimes you just can't pull yourself out of it. Um you don't know why. Um, but it's the inflammation, the trauma, it it has real effects that you can't see and nobody really understands. Um and it just compounds over time. So once you start to make these small changes like we we make here at this program, it's it's amazing. Um, the things you can actually start to get back in your life.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Yeah, that's the truth, man. And when you change one person's life, you're creating a walking demographic that's uh a billboard that's going out there, sharing the story to get more veterans involved, and that's what we need. We need more people to take advantage of this program. We need more people to be willing to try, be willing to visualize a life that's better than the one they're in right now. Like give themselves hope, but also give themselves grace for the things that they've been doing for the last couple of years, which is neglecting themselves and not prioritizing themselves, thinking that it's something they can avoid. Like at the end of the day, it's your choice. Like I I can't make you go. Mark can't make you go. You have to do it. You have to find that vulnerability and that strength to be willing to try again, be willing to bet on yourself to meet these individuals, to be willing to accept their help and be willing to not be so stubborn to listen and do what they say, because yeah, we can be a hard demographic of people to help. We can be. We we just we're we're uh we're difficult as patients. Yes, yes, we are. You don't have to.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

We've been failed so many times that that rightfully so, some people are skeptical. I mean, we're not a normal clinic. Uh it's very everyone here cares. That's that's the biggest thing. Um, we could all be doing different things, making more money, or or doing, like I said, like the pulmonary experts. You can be outdoing things. We care about who comes through here. Uh, we have a very small team, and for a reason, um, we make sure everyone does care and is doing the right thing. Um and that that makes a huge difference by itself. I hear the Marcus Foundation does a great job with that too. Oh, yeah. Um so that that's I think what sets us apart from a lot of places. We work weekends, nights, call us, text us whenever. Um, guys that leave, they still call. Hey, can you help me with this workout program? Or hey, you know, um, when when should I be taking my melatonin? Or, you know, things like that. Um, we're always here. And like I said, everything's free. Um, you just got to reach out for the help and we'll get you here. We'll make sure. Um, we just want people to know about the program. It's so new, a lot of people have no idea. I lived in the same city in the program, I had no idea. So that's my goal is just yeah, spread the word. You need to help, we're here. Even if we can't get you in here, we'll we'll find something for you.

SPEAKER_01 50:11

We'll we'll make sure you get to help. I'm telling you, brother, I'm gonna get you uh next week. Next week I'll get you on Broken Brains because we're recording for that. So uh as soon as I get the schedule up for that, be ready to receive that link. But um, Mark, before I let you go, man, how do we get in touch and how do we enroll to take part of this program?

Links Socials And Final Push

SPEAKER_02 50:30

Uh there's different ways. I mean, like uh the Connecticut Care Coalition down there, um active duty guys, um, they can go through that. Uh we're actually going down to their thing in Orlando here next month. So um if any commanders are down there or have questions about the program, how to get active duty guys into the program. I know they have to go through a a place like that. Um, veterans, though, you can reach out directly to us through our website, uh, myurelius.org. Um then yeah, you fill out a form there. It's very simple. Um that goes to us. We'll we'll review your application, get you the forms, and we'll get us started, man.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

There you go, guys. Friggin' Mark, I can't thank you enough for being here, man. It's incredible what you guys are doing there. But before I let you go, just wait one second while I tell you, the audience, to pause whatever you're doing, go to the episode description. You know the spiel, it's almost over. Now it's time for you to click. Daddy brought you a good interview with some great resources. Now I need you to do something for me. Head on over to the episode description, look at those clicks, move your mouse, click them, click those links, send a request to my man and his uh you guys are on social media, right? What's uh what's your Instagram channel?

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Same, uhurillius. Just uh look up Aurelius Brain Health and Human Performance or Facebook. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Click that link, send them a friend request, follow them, share their content. And if you're struggling and you need help, reach out today. Start living better. Don't wait. Don't wait. Don't put it off. If you want to be the best version of yourself, to take care of your friends, your family, and be a better version of yourself for your community and the people that rely on you, you got to put yourself at the front. Uh, and you got to take care of yourself. You got to heal, you got to recover so you can turn around and help the next round of veterans that need help. So, Mark, again, thank you for being vulnerable. Thank you for sharing your story and being part of the coalition of veterans out there that are doing everything they can to help our brothers and sisters that are suffering. That is incredible work, man. And we need more of you guys doing it. The first step is getting better. So reach out today. Again, thank you for being here, brother, and we'll see you all next time. Till then, take care.