Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Johnny Longinidis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Johnny, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I first understood resiliency from my father. An immigrant who came to America with little more than a suitcase filled with cloths from war torn Greece, my father exemplified a ‘survive at all cost’ spirit that resonated with me at a young age. We had a string of family restaurants from the time I can remember and by the age of 9 I began to wash dishes. Missing time with friends on the weekends was tough at the time, yet provided a valuable lesson later in life.
The challenges I began to face in my later teen years truly allowed my resiliency to flourish. My father was diagnosed with cancer in early 1997, months after we had opened a new restaurant venture. I was 17. I faced a rough patch at the time suppressing the pain of watching him suffer for almost 3 years before his passing. Balancing a typical teenage lifestyle as an athlete and restauranteur provided enough heat to mold the durable fabric of my resiliency, yet not without it’s misfortune. I was kicked off my high school baseball team during my senior year of high school after getting arrested for marijuana possession. I lost scholarship opportunities and watched my baseball team win a state championship without me. It took me years to overcome the pain of losing my father and watch my dream of becoming a professional baseball player go down the drain.
All of these early hardships lead me to adopt a fighters spirit; tough, resilient and resourceful. I wouldn’t have found my way in the healing space today and have had all the success in business if it wasn’t for the challenges I had faced at an early age in my life
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a Breathwork trainer, Transformational Coach and Spiritual Retreat Curator guiding high level performers, spiritual leaders, coaches and entrepreneurs to their connection to Spirit, Intuition and Purpose. I specialize in recognizing and helping others move through any subconscious limiting beliefs and nervous system dysregulation to align their beliefs with their vision. My purpose to raise the level of consciousness through sharing healing practices and principles of breathwork, meditation and yoga are very clear. How I am doing so is continuing to evolve. From online training programs, 1:1 coaching and retreats around the world
I have developed my own methodology of Breathwork, the Re-Inspire Breathwork Methodology. This methodology provides a full spectrum and understanding of breathwork from functional breathing principles, pranayama, emotional release and breathwork to integrate peak experiences. I have trained others to learn this methodology through my training courses 16 week training course last year. I am currently working on expanding this training by offering it online with support through my Re-Inspire Breathwork Community which I’ll be launching in October of 2023.
Hosting retreats in my home state of Connecticut along with Egypt and Greece have become my deeper immersive experiences. I look forward to these experiences more than anything else for sure!
Egypt is an intensive 2 week spiritual pilgrimage every May where we travel through the chakra system of the land of Egypt. Through the Alkhemy Journey, we have exclusive visits to the ancient temples and sites throughout Egypt where we engage in ritualistic practices to enhance our intuitive capabilities. From private visits to Isis Temple in Phillae, the Great Sphinx and The Great Pyramid to a 5 day private sail up the Nile river, our trip is curated with a level of intention that will forever change the way you experience life again. Infusing breathwork, meditation, yoga and ritualistic practices to open our senses to the energies available at the sites and within ourselves is the key to unlocking the magic of this journey. From our top of the line accommodations to the most experienced tour guides in all of Egypt, this experience is unlike any other you’ll find to this sacred land
Greece is near and dear to my heart as my parents migrated from Greece and my family is still living there. This 8 day retreat in September includes visits to the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, the ancient city of Delphi and 4 nights in the beautiful and historically rich island of Naxos. We infuse the nature of the Greek culture of hospitality, play with our intentional practices to create a once in a lifetime experience. With the local connections I am able to bring, this retreat is a bit different than visiting Greece as simply a tourist. My intention is to provide a ‘local’ experience through Greece that will be challenging to find elsewhere!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Resiliency. Whether it was a controlled environment through sports or through the unforeseen challenges life had thrown my way, learning how to navigate through challenges is one of the most important aspects of life. I’ve learned that we cannot always control our environment and the stimuluses that come our way. What we do have control of is how we Respond. Yoga, breath control and learning how to manage my energy have been some of the most powerful skills I have acquired along the way. These practices will look different for everyone.
2. Communication. Connection and relationships is at the core of not only curating a successful business but a more fulfilling life. I’ve learned that the art of listening and being fully present with another person is one of the most powerful gifts we can provide to each other. I think we often think of communicating as only speaking and articulation, which are certainly skillsets which I believe are critical, yet learning how to listen is an undervalued skill that I believe yields even more powerful relationships and business than anything else
3. Meditation. Early on, I found it challenging to find practices that helped me understand my mind and emotions here in the West. The focus is so much on the physical and what we can see and touch. Of all the practices I have, my meditation practice is my number 1 non-negotiable. Whether its 5 minutes because I am running late or an hour in the morning, which is more common, my time to clear out the mental chatter and connect with my inner guidance and spirit everyday is something I cherish. I don’t look at my mediation practice as something to do to make me a better business person or focus more for work, this is the opportunity to connect to our Divine nature every single day.
Learn how to release suppressed emotions and regulate your nervous system. From here, trusting your body and intuition over an incessant thinking mind will lead you to places you’ve always dreamed of!
Start somewhere and that somewhere might not be ‘the thing’. Who cares. Try any practice that may be out of your comfort zone and it more than likely will inspire you to take another direction in life!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed this is generally a sign of one of two things: 1. I haven’t managed my energy properly. 2. I haven’t organized my tasks efficiently.
Let’s start with one first. Movement is a key component to managing my energy properly and not getting to a place of overwhelm. From resistance training, yoga, pickleball or jiu-jitsu. Sometimes I fall off my routine and I miss days of a conscious movement practice. This will almost certainly lead to a feeling of overwhelm. The basics are always the first place to look. Move your body, get a sweat going and 99% of the time that feeling of overwhelm will be reduced dramatically for me
Number 2.
Taking on too many tasks, projects or clients or leaving tasks unfinished. Having ‘too many tabs open’ in my mind. I have struggled with this in the past and this is still an area I work on. What has helped me with this is
-leaning on others to delegate tasks to
-having a calendar and work flow app with all of my tasks, projects and meetings
-automating as much as possible
– Clean my exterior environment. When my house is clean and organized, so to is my inner world
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pranayamact.com
- Instagram: @johnnylonginidis
- Facebook: Johnny Longinidis
Image Credits
Caleb Steele John Spinnato Antonella Alberti
