How To Unleash Your CREATIVITY Into The World & Raise Your SELF-ESTEEM | Jhené Aiko & Jay Shetty

Jhené Aiko 0:00 I remember when she passed, our whole family would have to get together and practice the ceremony with, for the offering of the incense and everything. And one day we were all doing that, and I remember I went outside and I saw, like, butterflies flying around, and I was, like, talking to the sky. Like, I literally remember being this little baby and, like, talking to God and saying, you know, "You can bring my grandmother back. Like, it's okay. I won't be scared, like, if she falls from the sky," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Jay Shetty 0:30 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 0:31 And then I saw two butterflies go by, and I was kinda like, something about that moment kinda made me feel like, "Oh, okay, she's here." [upbeat music]

Jay Shetty 0:45 Hey, everyone. Welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thanks to each and every single one of you that come back every week to listen, learn, and grow. Now, I'm really, really looking forward to this next conversation because it's with someone who's been pouring their heart into making music about meditation, making it an opportunity for revelation in our own lives, and making it about healing. Today, I'm talking with Jhené Aiko about the sound healing and creative intention she pours into her music. Jhené is a six-time Grammy-nominated R&B performer, and addition to her music career, she's a Barnes & Noble best-selling author and mother. Her new album, Chilombo, is absolutely phenomenal. It's a work of art, and it's truly been the album of the year of helping people this year get through their struggle, their pain, and their challenges, and I'm so glad to have this conversation and share this space with her right now.

Jay Shetty 1:48 I wanna start with asking you probably something totally random, but I saw the other day you posted something on Instagram, which is where we connected-

Jhené Aiko 1:55 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:56 ... and you posted "adventure" in your caption, and then you were, like, what looked like next to an unearthed tree, or it was, like, this crazy barrier.

Jhené Aiko 2:05 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 2:05 Can you tell us about what that place was?

Jhené Aiko 2:07 Yeah, so I was in Point Lobos, which is in Carmel. Um, I think they call it the Central Coast. It's, like, up the California coast. It was, like, a hiking trail, and literally while I was walking, I was looking at the roots. And I've been, like, obsessed with roots lately, like actual roots of, of trees and my own personal roots as well. [laughs] And I saw them coming out while we were walking on the trail, and they were so smooth and shiny and strong. And I was just like, "Wow." And then we just came upon this, like you said, it looked like a, almost like a tree had gotten, like, ripped from the ground and all the roots were exposed. And they were like, it was like a wall of roots. And I was just like, "Wow, this is cool." And I first, I took a picture just of it, and then my boyfriend was like, "Do you wanna be in the picture?" I actually didn't want, I just wanted a picture of that, but then I was like, "Okay, cool." And so yeah, that's what it was. And I, I just thought it looked really cool. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 3:18 It did. It looked amazing. I, I, it caught my eye straight away, and I, I couldn't wait to ask you about it because it looked like an incredible experience. And I'm more fascinated now because of what you just said of your fascination with roots.

Jhené Aiko 3:29 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 3:30 Uh, tell us about both your fascination with the roots of trees-

Jhené Aiko 3:33 Yeah

Jay Shetty 3:33 ... but then tell us about your own roots as well and-

Jhené Aiko 3:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 3:36 ... what formed you into who you are.

Jhené Aiko 3:37 The past maybe three, four years, I have been studying my family history. And I feel like most of us sort of just, we only know what our parents and grandparents have told us. And, you know, some families, they do have more, um, information about, you know, the family and the roots and, like, where everyone comes from. But my family is from all over, and I just remember hearing so many different things. You know, like I said, maybe four or five years ago, I was like, "I really wanna figure out for myself, you know, and really study my family history." And so I did the DNA thing on ancestry.com, and the results were like, what? Like, these are, you know, like, it was things I didn't know that I had that, um... The results basically, I didn't know a lot of that information. So within that site, they take you to different, um, records of the people in your family, and then it just keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper. And so those roots, I, of course, got super intrigued by, and I just felt more of myself, you know, learning about and seeing pictures of, you know, these relatives that I knew nothing about, you know? And even more so, they, they pull up people that share your DNA. And so they'll pull, you know, first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, fourth cousin, fifth, sixth. And you see these people, and you get to message each other. And they all look different, you know, and they all, but then it just, I don't know, it's just such a fulfilling feeling to connect with people that are your family that you didn't know about, you know? And just learn about family. And I think part of me feeling more grounded today is discovering that my roots are so deep and so widespread. And so now when I look at trees and I see the roots, I'm just like, "Oh, this is, like, I'm a tree."

Jay Shetty 6:00 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 6:01 And [laughs] and my family, you know, the, and tho- those are my roots, so yeah.

Jay Shetty 6:06 Yeah. I love that. Yeah, it's such a Grounding feeling.

Jhené Aiko 6:10 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:10 It's such a centering feeling-

Jhené Aiko 6:11 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:11 ... of realizing that your roots are ancient and old-

Jhené Aiko 6:16 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:16 ... and you've survived, and your family's like-

Jhené Aiko 6:19 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:19 ... thrived for this long, and the amount it's got through. I remember doing the test too-

Jhené Aiko 6:24 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:24 ... the, the ancestry.com test, and I remember finding out I, I was 77% South Asian, which is what I expected.

Jhené Aiko 6:31 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 6:31 But then I saw that I was 1% Native American.

Jhené Aiko 6:34 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 6:34 And that for me was just ... I, I didn't realize that there was any part of me-

Jhené Aiko 6:38 Right

Jay Shetty 6:38 ... that was from anywhere else. And I agree with you. When I started tracing it too, it's, it's phenomenal to see how interconnected we all are.

Jhené Aiko 6:46 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Jay Shetty 6:47 I, I don't know if you've heard about my ... One of my teachers, one of my monk teachers always talks about, uh, the redwood forest and the redwood trees, and I don't know if you've heard about their roots.

Jhené Aiko 6:57 No.

Jay Shetty 6:58 So, so their roots do something really interesting. You've just sparked this.

Jhené Aiko 7:01 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 7:01 They don't grow down-

Jhené Aiko 7:04 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 7:04 ... and far. They actually grow across and wide.

Jhené Aiko 7:08 Nice.

Jay Shetty 7:08 And they intertwine with other trees. And so the other redwood trees that are like baby redwood trees-

Jhené Aiko 7:15 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 7:15 ... they tie up with the big redwood trees.

Jhené Aiko 7:18 Oh. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 7:18 And then all the trees share their nutrients through their roots-

Jhené Aiko 7:22 Wow

Jay Shetty 7:22 ... across the whole network, which I think's-

Jhené Aiko 7:24 That's amazing.

Jay Shetty 7:25 Yeah, it's unbelievable. So yeah, your fascination with roots is very, uh, it's very justified.

Jhené Aiko 7:31 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 7:31 There's, there's, there's, there's a lot to learn there. But I, I was speaking to you earlier when we were just chatting briefly before about how you've really been bringing this spiritual energy into your music.

Jhené Aiko 7:44 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 7:44 And, and I, I've really genuinely admired and had so many amazing meditative experiences listening to your work.

Jhené Aiko 7:50 Oh, good.

Jay Shetty 7:51 Uh,

Jay Shetty 7:52 and, and, uh, I want, I wanna start with where did your spiritual journey begin? Where did that-

Jhené Aiko 7:58 Mm

Jay Shetty 7:58 ... journey for you kind of ignite-

Jhené Aiko 8:01 Right

Jay Shetty 8:01 ... before you even thought about bringing it to your music?

Jhené Aiko 8:05 My spiritual journey was ignited when I was, I think I was like fi- four or five. Miyoko, do you remember when, um, [lips smack] Grandma passed away? Right? I was maybe like four or five, I think. I j- I was, I was really young. And I had ... I f- it felt like I had just met her maybe. You know, your baby mind is, like, the time is a little different. So in my ... The, my memory is that I just got to know her, you know, maybe like ... It was probably I knew her for, like, a year, at least in my memory of being, you know, such a young baby person. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 8:51 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 8:52 Didn't get to spend that much time with her, but I fell in love with her immediately. She, um, this little Japanese lady, we- she used to let me play with her wrinkles. Um, she didn't speak a lot. Very quiet, very just, like, cute to me. She was like a kitten. And she passed away, and I was just like, "Hmm?" And I remember asking my dad, my dad, who is a pediatrician, he would always explain things to us in a scientific way. So I'm like, "Well, where did she go?" He's like, "Well, she went to sleep and she didn't wake back up." And I'm like, "Okay, so, and, and then what about, like, her body?" And he was like, "They burned her body." And so in my, in my mind I'm like, "They burned her body. Huh?" You know? So I'm thinking of all of these things, and at the same time we were preparing for her funeral, which was a Buddhist funeral. And I guess that was my first, um, that was my first funeral for sure, but my first sort of spiritual encounter. And at the same time, my, my grandmother would take us to Sunday school, um, to a Christian church. And so I would hear about, you know, how ... I would hear about praying and praying to Jesus and God. And so I was like, you sh- so m- you know, I, I knew the story of Jesus, and now I'm learning about Buddha, and I'm five. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 10:27 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 10:28 And my grandmother has passed away and they said that she's burned. You know, they burned her body and ... But I'm like, "Mm, but I don't think that she just went ... You know, she's not gone." So just from that moment I was, like, almost even fascinated with death, you know? And like, okay, not e- not even necessarily trying to figure it out, but just kind of like ... Yeah, fascinated is the word. And loss as well, just, you know, always trying to figure out what different feelings mean. And I remember when she passed, I think one day after, 'cause we ... Our whole family would have to get together and practice, um, like, the ceremony with, for the offering of the incense and everything. And one day we were all doing that, and I remember I went outside and I saw, like, butterflies flying around, and I was, like, talking to the sky. Like, I literally remember being this little baby and, like, out loud saying, like, you know, talking to God and saying, you know, "You can bring my grandmother back. Like, it's okay. I won't be scared, like, if she falls from the sky," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Jay Shetty 11:44 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 11:45 And then I saw two butterflies go by, and I was kinda like ... And when they flew by, I looked up, um, in the window, and my cousin, my older cousin, was looking at me talking to myself. [laughs] And so I was like, "Oh, okay," but then I saw the butterflies and it ... Something about that moment kind of made me feel like, oh, okay, she's here, you know? She didn't have to, like, drop out of the sky type of thing. And just from that moment on, I don't know, I've always been- Contemplative. You know, I've always, when I was little even, I'm the youngest of five, or I grew up in a household of five older s- I mean, four older siblings. And so it was really loud. [laughs] And, uh, most of that time I would just be, like, observing and just, you know, f- trying to figure things out or just staring at things and just, like ... I feel like really I was, like, meditating on them, [laughs] now that I think about it. But yeah, so it, it really started at that moment.

Jay Shetty 12:44 That was a wonderful story and, and a wonderful sharing of that experience.

Jhené Aiko 12:48 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 12:49 And, and it's amazing to see how much you remember from when you were that young.

Jhené Aiko 12:54 Yeah, that's one of my most vivid memories, and I've written it down a few times throughout my life to see, like, if it ever, you know, if it changed. But it doesn't. It's ... I think it's, I think that was a real one. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 13:05 That's wonderful.

Jay Shetty 13:06 And, and I guess when was it where you started to realize this connection between your spiritual interest and music? Was that always there from the beginning of when you started your music journey, or was that more when you felt a certain level of-

Jhené Aiko 13:22 [clears throat]

Jay Shetty 13:22 ... personal growth and, and personal confidence in what you were finding?

Jhené Aiko 13:27 When I first started my musical journey, I was 12 going on 13, and it was just fun. It was ... You know, I, I was traveling and meeting new people, and it was just more so fun for me. I didn't really start to incorporate my own personal story into my music until I was started going through my first little heartbreaks, you know? And then when I had my daughter, by that time I had been through a few things and I was really, um, focused on putting my real story and my personal story into the music. And, you know, as, as you get older, you know, the more things that you go through, um, so obviously having my daughter was a spiritual experience, so I started, you know, making songs about that and just my love for her. And then when my brother passed in 2012, that was like a ... That was probably, like, the most pivotal moment, um, in my life, but, uh, also in my, you know, music because I had so much to express, and it was such a, it was soul-changing. You know what I mean? It was something that really reworked my whole being and my whole perception of life and, you know, family and love and all of these things. And so as I started trying to figure out my emotions and how I felt about losing the closest person to me, I started, you know, like, self-medicating and trying to escape and, like, trying to forget about it. And then obviously I'm, like, really small, and [laughs] I'm also just really sensitive. Um, and so that took a toll on me for sure, like mentally, physically, spiritually. And having a daughter and watching as she got older, it was, you know ... I, I recognized the responsibility of having, you know, a, a whole human being that I was really solely responsible for, you know? Feeling f- physically and mentally not all there because of what, how I had been trying to, uh, heal myself with these substances, um, I realized, "Okay, that's probably [laughs] not the best way to get through this." And so, you know, throughout my life I've read books about meditation and I've, you know, tried it and all these things, but once I got to that point where I really was like, "Okay, this is, like, a life or death situation," then I really, really got into it. And, you know, my music is just a reflection of me and what I'm going through at that time. And so, you know, for the past several years, that's what I've been going through, you know? Um, trying to heal and just evolve and ascend and, you know, be my highest form of myself. And so yeah, I don't know if that ans- Did I, did I stray from the question? [laughs]

Jay Shetty 16:52 No.

Jhené Aiko 16:52 No? Okay.

Jay Shetty 16:53 You answered it. You, you answered it.

Jhené Aiko 16:54 Okay. Okay.

Jay Shetty 16:54 I, I, I wanna be honest with you that sitting here listening to you, it's transforming internally for me. Like-

Jhené Aiko 17:00 Oh

Jay Shetty 17:00 ... it's, it's wonderful to hear you think through and hear about reflecting on pivotal moments in your life because none of them sound easy.

Jhené Aiko 17:10 Mm.

Jay Shetty 17:10 And you're going through them so young. And so to hear you actually share them in this way, I'm hoping that everyone who's listening and watching right now is feeling the same way.

Jhené Aiko 17:21 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 17:21 That, that they're feeling like they can reflect on their own life-

Jhené Aiko 17:24 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 17:25 ... and, and find how these moments have made them stronger or made them more reflective or more meditative or more introspective because, as you said, all of these things that are happening are just trying to help us learn something and help us find-

Jhené Aiko 17:42 Right

Jay Shetty 17:42 ... something more about ourselves.

Jhené Aiko 17:43 Right. Right.

Jay Shetty 17:44 And so when I hear you say that it was that moment when meditation became more real for you, uh, what else do you think happened at that moment that you feel like at such a young age you've been able to develop that curiosity but also resilience and that strength of-

Jhené Aiko 18:01 What else?

Jay Shetty 18:01 ... who you are?

Jhené Aiko 18:02 I think a very pivotal moment in my life was ... And I don't even remember. I think I was just in a bookstore, and I liked ... I was probably in the astrology section, and right across from it was the Eastern religion And I saw a Thich Nhat Hanh book, Peace Is Every Step. And a- at that point, I was probably, like, 17 or 18, and I j- I think I just liked, I just liked, I just liked that, you know, um, that title. And I read it probably in two or three days. And when I was younger, I used to read books like that. But at that age, 17, I wasn't reading books, you know, especially in two or three days. And it was so simple, so poetic, and I applied it immediately, and I just, oh, I just felt, I just felt good, you know? I felt good. I felt happy. And from thereon, I would always get his new books and give them to people. And I think with meditation, it was the same thing. When I s- when I felt how it made me feel, then I was like, "Okay, this is something that I want to exercise. I wanna practice this," because I can feel, you know, physically, mentally, spiritually, everything, I, I just feel better. The reason why I love Thich Nhat Hanh, he states things so simply that anyone could, can understand.

Jay Shetty 19:41 Mm-hmm.

Jhené Aiko 19:42 And h- the beautiful stories he tells to arrive to the lesson that he's teaching, it just makes it so much more impactful for me. And I love his meditations as well. They're so simple, you know? The red light meditation, take that moment to, to breathe into your belly. Um, things like that, that have helped me practice more of a meditation as more of a way of living and not just, like, meditate every day for this amount of time. It's more like breathing through every moment, difficult or not, you know? And, you know, it's something that I'm not perfect at or the best at or even may- even in the top, you know, percentage of people that are great at it. Um, but it's something that, like I said, as I get older and things get even more real, it comes in handy for sure. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 20:46 [laughs] Can you share with our listeners the red light meditation so that they understand it more, and then-

Jhené Aiko 20:50 Yeah

Jay Shetty 20:51 ... they can apply it, too?

Jhené Aiko 20:52 Okay. So Thich Nhat Hanh says, um, "Instead of viewing it like you're in traffic, you have to understand that you are the traffic." When I read that, I was like, "Oh, man."

Jay Shetty 21:05 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 21:06 And I personally love to drive. Um-

Jay Shetty 21:10 Me too

Jhené Aiko 21:11 ... I view it as a sort of a meditation and 'cause I'm just in that moment driving. I'm not thinking of anything 'cause I'm a safe, a really safe driver and probably a slow driver, [laughs] too. So the red light meditation is every time you arrive at a red light, you come home to yourself. Uh, you take that red light as a bell of mindfulness to, you know, center yourself instead of viewing it as, "Oh, this red light is making me late," and letting it frustrate you. Um, it's more it's a moment to take for yourself and just breathe.

Jay Shetty 21:53 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 21:53 Or that's how I take it. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 21:54 Yeah. That's wonderful. We definitely share a love for Thich Nhat Hanh in, in a special way. I think he's absolutely phenomenal in the, the books that he's written, the work that he's done. And that example is a perfect synopsis of why he's so powerful-

Jhené Aiko 22:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 22:09 ... because it takes a very simple concept and something that we all deal with on a daily basis-

Jhené Aiko 22:15 Mm-hmm, mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:15 ... and turns it from how we usually view it to something that's-

Jhené Aiko 22:18 Right

Jay Shetty 22:18 ... so much more profound and meaningful for each and every one of us. And I think that's almost like what, what all of us need to become, is every day we need to be able to take these very ordinary daily things-

Jhené Aiko 22:32 Right

Jay Shetty 22:32 ... and turn them into these extraordinary experiences-

Jhené Aiko 22:35 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:35 ... uh, rather than the other way around.

Jhené Aiko 22:38 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 22:38 And so, yeah, thank you for sharing that. I love that. I, I hope everyone's gonna try that-

Jhené Aiko 22:42 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 22:42 ... especially in LA traffic.

Jhené Aiko 22:44 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 22:45 Uh, I'm, I love driving, too, so I, I feel, I w- you know, when you said that, I was like, I feel the same way. I can go on a long drive for hours-

Jhené Aiko 22:52 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:53 ... and just feel completely-

Jhené Aiko 22:54 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:54 ... you know, satisfied and fulfilled and hit as many red lights as I have to.

Jhené Aiko 22:59 Yes, exactly.

Jay Shetty 23:00 [laughs] And I loved what you said then. By the way, there's no one who's the perfect meditator-

Jhené Aiko 23:05 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 23:06 ... or, you know, we're, we're all learning and working and figuring it out. And, and what I love about meditation is that when you feel you've reached a level, there's just another level-

Jhené Aiko 23:15 Yeah

Jay Shetty 23:15 ... and there's just always this continuous awakening.

Jhené Aiko 23:18 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 23:18 And I wanna talk about how you've put so much intention into your creative expression because you're not just making music. You're actually creating art to help people heal.

Jhené Aiko 23:30 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 23:31 I was watching this video on YouTube, and anyone who's listening or watching right now, you can go and check it out. Uh, it was your experience. You, you designed an immersive experience, uh, Wisdom LA.

Jhené Aiko 23:43 Yes.

Jay Shetty 23:44 And I loved it because you had everyone, like, lying down-

Jhené Aiko 23:49 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 23:49 ... and, and looking up and these absolutely phenomenal designs that-

Jhené Aiko 23:55 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 23:55 ... look like the inside of someone's mind.

Jhené Aiko 23:57 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 23:58 Uh, and then you were playing the sound bowl and the harp and chanting and, and, uh, and singing. And I was just like, wow, like, this is a healing experience.

Jhené Aiko 24:08 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 24:09 Tell us about how, how you came to create that and feel-

Jhené Aiko 24:12 [sighs]

Jay Shetty 24:12 ... that that was how you wanted to share it.

Jhené Aiko 24:14 Yes. That was a dream come true that hopefully I can take on tour sooner than later. So When I was probably around the same time I started reading Thich Nhat Hanh, there was this store that my father loves that's... It's not there anymore, huh, in Santa Monica. But they have, you know, a bun- lots of sound bowls and i- it's like a spiritual, you know, new age store. And there was a Tibetan singing bowl. I picked it up, started playing it, um, not to its full sound, I guess, 'cause the, the owner came up to me like, "Oh, let me show you how to do it." I'm like, "Wow." And then I immediately understood what he was saying and I was just like, "Oh my God, this is the best feeling ever." Literally, like, I loved the feeling of my wrists going in a circle, and obviously loved the sound and how it was making me feel. So I bought one and then I kept buying them. And I would just y- you know, play them when I was feeling a way or just when I was bored even, just 'cause I loved how they sound and how they make me feel. And fast-forward, um, to maybe five years ago, my friend Chrissy sent me a picture of this woman with all of these really pretty crystal bowls. And I was like, "What?" Like, "What are these?" 'Cause I've seen the big white crystal bowls, but I had never seen them, like, so-

Speaker 25:50 Mm

Jhené Aiko 25:50 ... iridescent and just, like, in all these colors and sh- and sizes. And so I looked it up and I found the company and at the same time, you know, have been working on music. And I guess even my, my album before Chilombo, I wanted to incorporate more acoustic instruments, um, you know, live drums, live flute, live... And I would collect these instruments from, like, different festivals and different places that I would travel 'cause I just felt like you could feel them more than the, the, you know, computer sounds. And so, so I'm already incorporating those into the music, and then now I f- find these bowls and I'm just like, "Duh," like, "This is, this is what I have to..." They're, they're so easy for me to play, and I thought they were easy for everyone to play, but I've actually seen... you know, or have friends try and they're like, "Ugh." And I'm like, "Oh my God, maybe this is my instrument," you know?

Speaker 26:55 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 26:56 And so of course, yes, I'm gonna put it in the music. So people would always come up to me and let me know, share stories about how my music helped them get through something or helped them, you know, make a decision or just, you know, all of these things that felt so much more than just someone saying, "Oh," like, "You're a great singer," or, "Oh, you're so pretty," or whatever. It would always be s- you know, we would, like, a lot of times end up crying together 'cause we... you know, the s- their stories are so, like, um, touching to me and they're always, they'll always say, "Your m- your music really helped me." And when I'm creating the music, it's really just to get through, you know, what I'm going through and helping me, you know, express myself and transform whatever the feeling is into some type of art. Um, and it's a release for me. So I started to realize that the reason why I'm so compelled to share that is because I think the pur- my purpose, or one of my purposes, is to help people deal, you know, to, to... and, and heal, you know? Deal and heal.

Speaker 28:12 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 28:12 And when I discovered these crystal sound bowls and started playing them and then seeing how beautiful they were, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into my live shows. The thing is, they are not just for any type of show, any type of setting. Um, you have to be indoors so that you can, you know, feel-

Speaker 28:36 The acoustics

Jhené Aiko 28:36 ... the acoustics. Exactly. So I was doing a lot of festivals at the time, and then there was, like, certain theaters that I would perform in, and it just, the, the venues were not equipped for these bowls. And I'm like, "How do I, like, take this on the road?" Like, you know, "Am I gonna do small shows in just little yoga studios? Like, what's, how am I gonna do this?" And my sister, right, I think my sister, she sent me a link to Wisdome. We went there, and the owners ended up being there, and then they're like, "Oh," you know, they knew who I was. And I'm like, "Oh my God, I wanna do something here. I wanna do, like, a sound bath slash, you know, concert slash, like, visual thing." And like you said, they have these, like... It's an immersive experience where you just lay back and it feels like you're in virtual reality, but you're... It's, it's real. [laughs] It's reality. And because you're in a dome, it feels like you're tr- traveling through whatever you're looking at. And I'm like, "This is perfect for the bowls," because that's how the bowls make you feel even without having a visual in front of you or even when your eyes are closed. So we got together and we put this show together. I forgot to mention my sound bowl mentor. Her name is Jeralyn Glass. She's like, she's amazing. She basically started to teach me about the healing aspects of these bowls, and just music in general and sound in general. Something I am, I'm still learning. I am [laughs] still studying. And this experience, I knew that I wanted to travel with, and I just wanted it to be a part of all of my shows. So I started to bring, like, other, um, smaller bowls to venues. Even when they said, like, "This is probably not gonna sound good," I'm like, "Let's just try."

Speaker 30:35 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 30:35 Like, "At least we tried-"

Speaker 30:36 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 30:36 "... and we can say that we tried." Um- But yeah, I've, I started having these i- uh, this idea of like a lot of people listen to other, a lot of other types of music to like distract themselves, but that is no solution, you know, to distract yourself. So I'm like, if I can give people experiences like this and music like this that, you know, you, maybe you do wanna just put it on to forget about what you're going through or whatever, but when you're listening, there's that intention there and that real healing in there that is really gonna resonate within your body and your spirit and actually help, you know, and help center you or ground you or, you know, whatever it is really that you turned on the song for, that's what, that it's gonna, it's gonna help.

Jay Shetty 31:29 Yeah. I, I recommend everyone go and watch the video and try and imagine you're in the experience.

Jhené Aiko 31:36 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 31:37 Because I think, like I was saying this to you before we started, and, and I really do mean it, that when I started coming across mantra and frequency-

Jhené Aiko 31:46 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 31:47 ... and vibration and these conversations around how healing could take place through music-

Jhené Aiko 31:54 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 31:54 ... and through words and through language, now I can't sing to save my life, so I've always deeply prayed and wanted for incredibly talented musicians, uh, to hopefully one day use their platform to do that because I just think that music's the most powerful thing in the world.

Jhené Aiko 32:11 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 32:11 And as you said, it's, it can just be a distraction or it can truly be something that deeply touches the heart and-

Jhené Aiko 32:18 Yeah

Jay Shetty 32:18 ... and heals the heart even more than just touching. And, and, uh, to see you do it is just extremely hope giving for me.

Jhené Aiko 32:25 [laughs] Thank you.

Jay Shetty 32:26 Uh, and, and I, and by the way, and it's different for different people. Like, and this sounds totally random and strange, but like for me growing up listening to rap music-

Jhené Aiko 32:35 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 32:35 ... was extremely healing.

Jhené Aiko 32:36 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 32:37 Uh, because for me, being able to listen to someone who had a tougher experience than I did, but giving me the permission to be able to express how I felt-

Jhené Aiko 32:47 Mm.

Jay Shetty 32:47 And so I would sit and write poetry or spoken word when I was younger. Again, I can't sing, but I would, I would write and I would share, and I would think, and I think even now when I journal or when I wrote my book, or even when I do the podcast, for me, language is so powerful and words is so powerful, and when you put that to music or you put that to sound-

Jhené Aiko 33:08 Right

Jay Shetty 33:08 ... it's, it's out of this world. And so yeah, I felt like that was a universal experience that you were putting people into. There was, there's also the other one that I've used of yours before, which was the, uh, the one that was for triggers.

Jhené Aiko 33:21 Yes. Yes, yes.

Jay Shetty 33:22 And, and that's a g- another great example of how you're creating stuff that's very specific for people.

Jhené Aiko 33:27 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 33:27 Tell us about, tell us about why you created that one and where that one came from.

Jhené Aiko 33:30 Okay. So I was working on my album, which just means I'm living life and [laughs] creating music at the same time. I was going through a period of time where I felt very triggered, and when I was at the peak of feeling triggered, I recorded a song called Triggered, and it was a freestyle, and I was just kind of just like l- let it all out. And immediately after I felt, you know, a release and I felt calm, and I was working with my sound bowls at the time as well, and I'm like, I'm gonna do a mantra or a song, we call it modern mantra-

Jay Shetty 34:19 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 34:19 ... that can hopefully help people not reach that point of feeling enraged or chaotic or, you know, out of control. Because I know for me, I can create a song when I'm feeling like that, but f- you know, other people need other outlets or a lot of the times they'll, they will turn to, um, music. My intention was to have it be, when you feel triggered, turn this on. And I use it for myself too, like I still do, like on the plane and stuff like that where if I just need to calm down for anything, um, I'm like, "Oh, this, this actually is working." 'Cause I got with my sound bowl teacher, Jerilyn, and picked bowls that were very intentional, you know, picked notes and alchemies of the bowls that were really gonna aid in how it resonates within everyone that listens to it, so.

Jay Shetty 35:15 Yeah. Yeah, no, it works. It's, it's awesome.

Jhené Aiko 35:17 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 35:17 Like I said, I've, I've used it, I've shared it with people. I, I, I think it's beautiful. And again, if you're listening or watching, we'll put the links to all of this-

Jhené Aiko 35:24 Yes

Jay Shetty 35:25 ... uh, that I'm recommending 'cause I'd love for you to use it and I'd love for you to share with Jhené and I on Instagram how you're finding it, uh, because I think these are just really powerful tools. Like we always need something. I, I often say to people like, when you're hungry, you don't panic because you know if you eat that you'll be satisfied.

Jhené Aiko 35:42 Mm.

Jay Shetty 35:43 But when we're anxious or when we're triggered or when we're nervous or when we're stressed, we just create more panic because we haven't yet found the tool, the substance, the mindset that satiates that hunger.

Jhené Aiko 35:58 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 35:59 And so, but we have to view it the same. There's, there's no need to panic. It's about finding that-

Jhené Aiko 36:04 Yeah, for sure

Jay Shetty 36:05 ... it's about finding that, uh, connection of, of what activity or mindset can help, help with that.

Jhené Aiko 36:12 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 36:12 Kind of circling back to you talking about your roots and obviously this album being called Chilombo-

Jhené Aiko 36:18 Yeah

Jay Shetty 36:18 ... which is your surname-

Jhené Aiko 36:19 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 36:20 ... uh, your family name. It's, it's interesting that we started talking about roots-

Jhené Aiko 36:25 Right

Jay Shetty 36:25 ... and, and you can see that in your work again of going that. Tell, tell us about the importance of using that name-

Jhené Aiko 36:31 Yeah

Jay Shetty 36:31 ... and, and why that was so symbolic for you right now.

Jhené Aiko 36:34 Yeah. My father chose the name Chilombo for himself when he was in his 20s, I believe. And Growing up, I don't remember when I learned that, but it was, it was pretty early. And I don't know, it made me feel, like, disconnected from it. And then being in school, people would, um, not really make fun of it, but they couldn't pronounce it, and so it was kinda just like always annoying to me. And I always would say, "I, I can't wait to get married so I can change my last name." But as I got older, I really started to love it and love how it sounds and love how it looks. And I started asking my dad more questions about why he chose that name. And he has lots of different [laughs] um, breakdowns of why he chose the name, the spelling, everything. And then doing my own research, I found out it was a word, and I believe it's, uh, pronounced Chichewa. I'm not sure how you pronounce it, but it's a language. It's an African language, and Chilombo means wild beast in that language. And I was like, "Ooh, that's cool."

Jay Shetty 37:53 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 37:53 "I like that. I like that." And so for me, it was all kind of like a metaphor for me, like, accepting myself and really, um, acknowledging all the different parts of myself that make me who I am and embracing my wildness and embracing all that I am.

Jay Shetty 38:17 Mm.

Jhené Aiko 38:18 Whether people don't understand it, whether they can't pronounce it, whether they think that I'm not really connected to that last name because it's not, you know, because my father chose it himself. Um, so yeah, that was me just embracing all that I am. And the fact that it means wild beast I loved because I love dragons. I'm, I was born in 1988, which is the year of the dragon. And just dragons are, like, cool, obviously.

Jay Shetty 38:51 I always wanted to be in the year of the dragon. I'm 1987.

Jhené Aiko 38:55 Oh.

Jay Shetty 38:55 So I just missed out. [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 38:58 Almost. But no, I just... I think it's a beautiful creature, but it can be destructive, but it's also graceful. And I'm just like, yes, I feel like I'm all of these things.

Jay Shetty 39:07 Mm.

Jhené Aiko 39:07 And I feel like Chilombo represents all of these things, and I feel like the album also represents all of these things. It's not just me pretending to be perfect, and, you know, I'm this healing, this healer. You know, it's like I'm going through these real things, and I'm dealing with them, and I'm practicing, um, how to heal, and it's just, you know, all of that coming together is Chilombo.

Jay Shetty 39:33 Mm. That's a beautiful definition.

Jhené Aiko 39:36 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 39:36 I love that. Yeah, it's, it's, uh, yeah, it's, it's so interesting because I guess we live in a world of chosen names as well, whether people are actors or musicians-

Jhené Aiko 39:48 Mm

Jay Shetty 39:48 ... or, you know, and, and the fact that your father chose a name, it's... It is, it is almost powerful to come up with our own names and our own identities-

Jhené Aiko 39:58 Mm

Jay Shetty 39:58 ... or, because so often we don't feel connected-

Jhené Aiko 40:02 Right

Jay Shetty 40:02 ... or we don't have a vision or a, or a symbol for who we are.

Jhené Aiko 40:08 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 40:08 And, and it's almost like getting closer to that is such a powerful thing.

Jhené Aiko 40:11 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 40:11 Like, as we've realized that icons and symbols and visuals are so important in our lives, whether it's as simple as an emoji or-

Jhené Aiko 40:19 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 40:19 ... whether it's a real, you know, it's a real emblem of who we stand for and what we are. Like, but we see mascots. We see that visualizing of who we are everywhere.

Jhené Aiko 40:28 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 40:29 And sometimes the only visual we don't have is of us.

Jhené Aiko 40:33 Facts. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 40:34 And, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's nice to hear that definition of Chilombo, that-

Jhené Aiko 40:38 We also came up with, um, me and my dad, who I've gotten closer to as an adult, um, we came up with our own little breakdown of it. So Chi is life, energy-

Jay Shetty 40:51 Mm-hmm, mm

Jhené Aiko 40:51 ... force. L.

Jay Shetty 40:53 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 40:54 Um, so love.

Jay Shetty 40:55 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 40:56 The L is for love. Om.

Jay Shetty 40:59 Yes.

Jhené Aiko 40:59 The sound of the universe.

Jay Shetty 41:00 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 41:01 B, which comes from the foot in Egyptian hieroglyphics, is the base, foundation. And then O is everything and nothing, all-encompassing.

Jay Shetty 41:16 Circle of life.

Jhené Aiko 41:17 Yes.

Jay Shetty 41:17 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 41:17 Circle of life. And so that's how we broke down Chilombo, which you can find, uh, if you order a physical copy of Chilombo, we have, like, a little insert that, like, breaks it all down-

Jay Shetty 41:32 I love that

Jhené Aiko 41:32 ... without all my extra words. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 41:35 Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. That's so right. All of the, all of the breakdowns of it is perfect. It's got such a, it's got such a deep meaning. And I, and I, and I love that you said the physical copy because-

Jhené Aiko 41:45 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 41:45 ... I remember standing outside. We had a store in, in the UK where I grew up in London-

Jhené Aiko 41:50 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 41:50 ... called HMV, and I remember, like, standing outside HMV to buy, like, the CD when it came out, and, like, I loved looking at artwork and, and just, you know, opening it up and seeing album covers and-

Jhené Aiko 42:01 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 42:02 ... all of that. So I totally... When you said, "Yeah, get the real cover," and-

Jhené Aiko 42:05 Physical

Jay Shetty 42:06 ... yeah, the physical. There's, there's definitely something in that, but, but that definition's so beautiful. We should, we should create a beautiful Instagram. You- There must be an Instagram graphic that you've created for that. You have to.

Jhené Aiko 42:15 There is. I, I did post-

Jay Shetty 42:16 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 42:16 ... yeah, I, um-

Jay Shetty 42:16 Yeah, yeah

Jhené Aiko 42:16 ... I did post it on-

Jay Shetty 42:17 The definition?

Jhené Aiko 42:18 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 42:18 Oh, beautiful. Okay, I'd love to find that.

Jhené Aiko 42:19 Yeah. I think I posted the actual graphic of what we put in the-

Jay Shetty 42:23 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 42:23 ... but I don't know. I think there's, you know... I like to h- like you said-

Jay Shetty 42:26 Same, yeah

Jhené Aiko 42:26 ... hold things and s- feel them.

Jay Shetty 42:29 Yeah. Talk-

Jay Shetty 42:30 talking about that, when you mentioned Om there being the sound of the universe, like, what do you think is a message that the universe has had for you over and over again that you've been learning?

Jhené Aiko 42:43 Surrender. Um, let go. Probably, yeah- Which s- same thing, but let go. And I'm constantly... 'Cause that's constantly in my head, but I don't think it's in my- I think it's coming from the universe. Um, let go and love, love. It's definitely has a O in it. Let go or love.

Jay Shetty 43:13 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 43:15 Just be. I, I think, I, I think that I get a lot of messages from-

Jay Shetty 43:20 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 43:21 ... from the universe. Um, one thing that I used to do when I was younger that I didn't understand was probably considered now a meditation, is I would sit in the sun, 'cause it felt good, [laughs] and just breathe. And every time, after maybe five minutes, I would start getting these, um, very clear... In my head, they were just, like, one-liners, you know? It would be like, like, little quotes almost.

Jay Shetty 43:59 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jhené Aiko 43:59 And I would be like, "What?" You know, am I just... It didn't feel like I was thinking of them. It just felt like they were coming to me, and it's something that I still do now that just feel like little downloads from the universe, from the sun, from just the atmosphere. I don't know. Um, so yeah. When I do that, and when I'm really there in that moment breathing, it's just very clear messages that I usually write down. I used to tweet them-

Jay Shetty 44:28 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 44:29 ... um, at one point when I was younger, and then I felt like I couldn't give it a- away as soon as I got it. I had to, like-

Jay Shetty 44:38 Hmm. Process it

Jhené Aiko 44:39 ... process it and meditate on it, and, and really understand what, what does that mean. And so now I do that a lot more.

Jay Shetty 44:47 Hmm.

Jhené Aiko 44:47 I still write them down for myself, but, um, yeah. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 44:50 I love that. You- when I'm, when I'm hearing you speak today, like, I feel like... And, and obviously this has taken work, but you feel very in touch with your intuition and your, like-

Jhené Aiko 44:59 Mm

Jay Shetty 44:59 ... inner voice. Tell us about that journey because I think a lot of people who listen sometimes struggle with, like, "Well, I don't know whether this is really my intuition-

Jhené Aiko 45:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 45:09 ... or whether it's my ego, or whether it's my inner voice-

Jhené Aiko 45:13 Yeah

Jay Shetty 45:13 ... or actually is it just my mind that's just-"

Jhené Aiko 45:15 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 45:15 How... Yeah. Tell us a bit about how you clarify the difference between the two for yourself and how you've become closer to your intuition.

Jhené Aiko 45:22 Yeah. I think that is more of a recent development [laughs] um, within myself. Um, I think naturally when I was younger, in, like, grade school, it was m- my intuition a- and I knew it. But as I got older and more jaded by life, I- the voices grew, and it was, they multiplied, and I just felt like, "Oh, my God. I'm crazy," you know? And then in the line of work that I do, I just has starting to, started to get a lot of anxiety about things and just really doubt myself. Um, and I feel like people close to me recognize it [laughs] and me and my two friends, Ari and Felicia, we decided to go on a trip to the Esalen Institute. Have you heard of that?

Jay Shetty 46:15 I have. I haven't been there, but-

Jhené Aiko 46:17 It's amazing. Um, but a little retreat, and she got me this book called... [laughs] I think this, I think I remember the name of the book. Silencing Your Inner Critic.

Jay Shetty 46:30 Hmm.

Jhené Aiko 46:31 Because she was doing my makeup at the time, and you know, it would always, she would see me so stressed before shows or after shows, and I would be like, "How was it?" Like, "Oh, I felt like you..." Yeah, you know, I would just be, like, so frustrated. And she, she ne- we never talked about it. She just, like, gave me that book, so I'm like, "Oh, okay. You see that I'm dealing with something right now." Um, and really, that book had so many great, um, points and really helped me realize that I'm not these voices. I'm the observer-

Jay Shetty 47:04 Mm-hmm

Jhené Aiko 47:04 ... of these... You know, I'm the, I'm, I'm listening. I'm not the, I'm not them, you know?

Jay Shetty 47:09 Mm-hmm.

Jhené Aiko 47:09 And so from that point on of reading that book, I started listening to my thoughts differently and saying, "Oh, okay. Hi."

Jay Shetty 47:18 [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 47:18 "Okay. That's fine, but, you know, you, you don't decide, you know, who I am or how I feel." And reading more books that are, you know, um... I just started yours. Um-

Jay Shetty 47:34 Thank you.

Jhené Aiko 47:35 You're familiar with Dr. Joe Dispenza?

Jay Shetty 47:37 Yes.

Jhené Aiko 47:38 Um-

Jay Shetty 47:38 He's been on the podcast too.

Jhené Aiko 47:39 Oh, amazing.

Jay Shetty 47:40 Yeah, yeah.

Jhené Aiko 47:40 Amazing. Um, Becoming Supernatural, um, The Seven Spiritual Laws-

Jay Shetty 47:46 Mm-hmm

Jhené Aiko 47:46 ... of Success. Um, oh, gosh. There's an audiobook that I'm listening to that I don't remember the name of right now, but just practicing, 'cause I was once again realizing that the habit of, um, listening to these voices in my head and letting them control how I feel about myself and how I move daily, um, I was mindful enough to see that it was not the best, you know? It wasn't the best practice. So now I just practice, you know, the right things. [laughs] No, I practice, um, doing things that I feel like are best for me and my development as a person. Um, more audiobooks in the car opposed to music or no music.

Jay Shetty 48:48 Silence.

Jhené Aiko 48:48 Um, yeah, silence.

Jay Shetty 48:50 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 48:50 Which-

Jay Shetty 48:50 I drive in silence all the time

Jhené Aiko 48:51 ... there's never really silence also, I realized.

Jay Shetty 48:54 Yeah.

Jhené Aiko 48:54 There's always something, something going on. But that- I love, like, natural sounds. Um, yeah, it, it can be really hard though, and it's just something that you have to keep practicing.

Jay Shetty 49:09 We, uh, usually end every episode with something called the final five.

Jhené Aiko 49:14 Uh-oh.

Jay Shetty 49:14 This is a fast five round, which means every answer's either one word or one sentence maximum.

Jhené Aiko 49:22 One word or one sentence.

Jay Shetty 49:24 Correct.

Jhené Aiko 49:25 Okay.

Jay Shetty 49:26 Okay. Are you ready?

Jhené Aiko 49:28 No. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 49:29 [laughs] I love the honesty.

Jhené Aiko 49:31 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 49:31 You're the only person who's ever said that to me. I love that. I love how honest you are.

Jhené Aiko 49:35 No, let me prepare myself for fastness. [laughs] Okay, for speed. Okay. Okay. [inhales] I'm ready.

Jay Shetty 49:46 You ready?

Jhené Aiko 49:47 Yes.

Jay Shetty 49:48 Okay. Jhené Aiko, this is your fast five. The first question is, what has helped your mental health this year?

Jhené Aiko 49:56 Sleep. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 49:58 I love sleep.

Jhené Aiko 49:59 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 49:59 That is a great answer. I, I couldn't... I, I say that to people all the time. Literally, if we just slept well, so many... Go on, yeah, carry on. You-

Jhené Aiko 50:06 Rest.

Jay Shetty 50:07 Yes, rest

Jhené Aiko 50:08 So, like, sleep/rest 'cause yes, I think a good sleep is, like, when you're really resting-

Jay Shetty 50:16 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 50:16 ... and 'cause, you know, have you ever had, like, a sleep where you're, you wake up and you don't feel like you were actually asleep?

Jay Shetty 50:23 1000%, yeah.

Jhené Aiko 50:24 So, okay, rest is what I would-

Jay Shetty 50:27 Wonderful

Jhené Aiko 50:27 ... I'll change it to.

Jay Shetty 50:28 Second question, how do you personally refuel after pouring your heart into an album? [laughs] What happened?

Jhené Aiko 50:38 Sleep. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 50:39 Sleep again? [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 50:40 How do I refuel? Okay.

Jay Shetty 50:42 After you put your, after you-

Jhené Aiko 50:43 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 50:43 Because I read, I read that you were saying that you put your, you know, you were like-

Jhené Aiko 50:47 Yeah

Jay Shetty 50:47 ... physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, like, it's, it's draining to create a work of art. Like, I- you can say rest again. That's what we-

Jhené Aiko 50:54 How do I refuel? [sighs] Honestly, rest.

Jay Shetty 50:58 Great. Okay, you, you can't give rest as the answer. That's another rule I should add to the fast five, about you can't give the same answer to more than one question. All right.

Jhené Aiko 51:07 Okay. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 51:08 Third question, uh, what's the biggest lesson you've learned in the last 12 months?

Jhené Aiko 51:12 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 51:13 It's not rest. It's not... [laughs] Maybe it is. Maybe it is. It can be rest.

Jhené Aiko 51:18 The biggest lesson I learned-

Jay Shetty 51:20 Rest

Jhené Aiko 51:20 ... in the last 12 months, through difficult situations, when my energy feels all tangled up inside of me, is rather than try to get through it with that anxious energy, to slow down and to breathe through those moments. Uh, something that I've knew sort of the idea of before and, like, read about, like, okay, you know, but I think the last 12 months have really taught me that lesson because I used to get really anxious, and then it would just build on top of, you know-

Jay Shetty 52:07 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 52:07 ... the anxiety, the energy would just build on that instead of me just saying, "Okay, let's bring it in, slow down." The biggest lesson, to breathe through it.

Jay Shetty 52:22 Question number four.

Jhené Aiko 52:23 [sighs]

Jay Shetty 52:23 Uh, what's something that you're confident about that others may disagree with you on, or something that you're sure about that other people may not wrap their head around fully?

Jhené Aiko 52:34 There's nothing cuter, nothing more precious or magnificent as a cat. Cats are... And I mean felines, like lions, tigers, domestic house cats, um, jaguars, pumas, mountain lions. Um, all of the- cats are, they're the best.

Jay Shetty 53:01 Yeah. When you extended the family, I could, I could get into-

Jhené Aiko 53:04 You see?

Jay Shetty 53:04 Yeah, yeah, I could see it

Jhené Aiko 53:04 ... but, but see, and that's what people don't understand about house cats-

Jay Shetty 53:07 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 53:07 ... is that they're just little tigers and lions. Like-

Jay Shetty 53:10 Yeah

Jhené Aiko 53:10 ... who doesn't want to experience that in their-

Jay Shetty 53:13 I always wanted a little cub.

Jhené Aiko 53:14 Oh.

Jay Shetty 53:14 Like always, so yeah.

Jhené Aiko 53:16 Get a cat.

Jay Shetty 53:16 Yeah. Or a lion cub.

Jhené Aiko 53:18 Just get a cat.

Jay Shetty 53:19 Yeah. [laughs]

Jhené Aiko 53:19 Mm, probably a cat. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 53:21 All right, fifth and final question.

Jhené Aiko 53:23 Okay, I'm gonna try to do this one fast.

Jay Shetty 53:25 Okay.

Jhené Aiko 53:25 'Cause safety rules.

Jay Shetty 53:28 If you, if you could create one law that the whole world had to follow, what would it be?

Jhené Aiko 53:33 It would be to share. Share your food, share, share your home, share your ideas, share everything, and it'll be always in exchange, and no one would go without.

Jay Shetty 53:50 That's a beautiful answer, very unique. We've never had anyone say that. That's awesome. Everyone-

Jhené Aiko 53:55 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 53:55 ... Jhené Aiko, Chilombo the album, please, please, please go and check out all the links that we're gonna put into the bio here. Jhené, thank you so much for doing this.

Jhené Aiko 54:04 Thank you for having me.

Jay Shetty 54:04 Like, this was so beautiful, so special.

Jhené Aiko 54:06 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 54:06 Uh, I hope it's the start of a lifelong friendship.

Jhené Aiko 54:09 Yes, me too.

Jay Shetty 54:09 I look forward to it, and I'm so deeply grateful to have had you on the show. Everyone who's been listening or watching back at home, or whether you're at the gym, or whether you're walking, or you're walking your cat or your dog-

Jhené Aiko 54:19 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 54:19 ... uh, please, please, please tag me and Jhené on Instagram and share what resonated with you, what connected with you, what is it that she mentioned that you're going to practice or try out in your life? We'd love to hear. We'd love to see that. And again, I'll see you next week on On Purpose. Thank you again, Jhené.

Jhené Aiko 54:35 Thank you. Thank you so much.

Jay Shetty 54:37 Thank you. Hey, everyone. My name's Jay Shetty, and welcome to my YouTube channel. Every week, I'm sharing three videos that are going to help you feel more fulfilled, feel more happy, and more successful. Make sure you subscribe to this channel so that you can find out about the videos as soon as they launch. Press the like button and leave a comment, and let's keep making wisdom go viral together. Make sure you subscribe.