EP 42: A Life in Flow with Functional Wellness Practitioner, Eco Grower and Coach Angelo Grinceri

This week I’m speaking with Angelo Grinceri, a coach, eco grower and functional wellness practitioner. I’ve known Angelo for about five years and it’s been a joy to watch his life unfold with all of the unexpected twists and turns of a meandering stream. Angelo is someone who spent the majority of his early career in the world of fitness and personal training where appearances often mattered more than anything that was happening on the inside. He trained Victoria’s Secret models and in 2016 was named People Magazine’s Sexiest Trainer Alive, an accolade that became a catalyst for deep inner reflection and reevaluation. In 2020, Angelo left his fitness career, a long-term relationship and his home in New York City for a life in the country. He recently moved back to New York after a three month trip in Africa where he worked on a conservancy, lived in the bush, and helped build sustainable homes. In the process of living so close to the land and observing nature through tracking wildlife, Angelo re-discovered himself and what truly mattered.

In this conversation we discuss: the power of being in the present moment, how your entire life can be in flow, the difference between understanding something in the mind and a felt experience, how being named People Magazine’s Sexiest Trainer Alive was a catalyst for deep personal growth and transformation, what moving back to the country and starting a farm taught him about himself, how six weeks living in the bush changed Angelo’s perspective on life forever, and so much more.

What I appreciate about Angelo is his endless curiosity and his willingness to repeatedly go within and examine himself.

“I’ve struggled internally a lot with letting go of trying to control things and trying to get things to happen. And, the more I let go of that stuff and just kept diligently working on the things right in front of me, everything became better.” - Angelo Grinceri x Our Nature
“We go further and further away from our authentic human nature. And, we keep pretending that all of these things are great for us for the sake of efficiency, but they’re not.” - Angelo Grinceri x Our Nature
“It was wild how loud things become when you’re forced to stop.” - Angelo Grinceri x Our Nature
“I’m a really big believer that the amount of vigor that you have – like your excitement for life– comes in the curiosity of wanting to learn more and look at things in a different light…and just being present. Not assuming you know everything and not assuming that everything is always the way it has been.” - Angelo Grinceri x Our Nature

Resources

Show Notes

On the power of the present moment
On how your entire life can be in flow
Angelo’s relationship to nature as a child
What our disconnection from nature creates in us
The difference between understanding something in the mind verses a felt experience
The often surprising root of body pain and limited mobility
Why being named People Magazine’s Sexiest Trainer of the Year was a catalyst for deep personal growth
Angelo’s journey back home, reconnecting with the land
On building an eco-greenhouse and the lessons it brought
Angelo’s life-changing experience on the wildlife conservancy in Africa
What Angelo learned from the Masai people
The most surprising thing about Angelo’s Africa trip
The Last 5 Questions