Pursuing the Hero In You with the Hero Tribe

The Hero Tribe's mission is to take people out of their ordinary world and send them on their personal hero's journey. We believe that everyone has the slumbering potential to be the hero of their life story, and to live their true nature.

Founded by Camilla, Sascha and Joana, the Hero Tribe started with training camps in different locations in Europe and Asia and then grew into a worldwide community that accompanies people on their journey to a greater life.

The origin of the Tribe are the different backgrounds of Sascha, Camilla and Joana.

Sascha is a lifelong martial arts researcher, trained in temples and monasteries in Asia, and is co-founder of the Missing Link Martial Arts community and the Secret Elements Qi Gong system.

Camilla came from a career in the 5-star hotel industry before deciding to go her own way and open a fitness and yoga studio in Vietnam, uniting the two worlds of business and wellbeing.

Joana is the unusual blend of scientist & shamanic practitioner. After years of studying she realized how impactful, transformative and healing a shift from pain driven to soul & purpose driven motivation really is.

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Transcript

🎶 Podcast Intro: Welcome to the pursuing uncomfortable podcast, where we give you the encouragement you need to lean into the uncomfortable stuff life puts in front of you, so you can love your life. If you are ready to overcome all the yuck that keeps you up at night, you're in the right place. I am your host, Melissa Ebken let's get going. 🎶

🎶 Episode Intro:  On this episode of Pursuing Uncomfortable. I welcome Sasha and Camila, two of the three founders of the Hero Tribe. The three met in Vietnam over 10 years ago and bonded over their shared passion for embracing discomfort, experiencing new things and connecting with others. The hero tribe was born out of their vision to inspire individuals, to acknowledge themselves as the main protagonists of their own life stories. We talk about embracing discomfort, pursuing our dreams and unleashing the hero in each of us. They have a book called the Hero's Handbook and monthly community events to inspire and empower others on their own hero's journey. Plus they organize incredible camps where you can immerse yourself in the hero's path.

Let's welcome Sasha and Camilla. 🎶

Episode:
Melissa Ebken  0:05  
Sasha and Camilla Welcome to the Pursuing Uncomfortable Podcast. How are you today?

Camilla  0:12  
Thank you, Melissa, for having us. And we are very well, today. Thank you.

Melissa Ebken  0:18  
And where are you joining us from?

Sasha  0:21  
We are in Brittany in France at the moment. Beautiful, magical region of France with a lot of standing stones from mineral lithic times and it's really beautiful here.

Melissa Ebken  0:36  
It sounds really beautiful and peaceful. You are two of the founders of the Hero Tribe. Can you tell us a little bit about the Hero Tribe and how it got started? And what you do?

Camilla  0:51  
Yes, yeah, um, as you mentioned, we're two of them. Because actually, we are three co founders or founders of the hero tribe. So the one missing is to Joanna, who unfortunately had another appointment and couldn't make it to this podcast. And, well, the three of us we met about 10, 9, 10 years ago. While actually being in Vietnam, that's where we met, I lived and worked there for four years. And Sasha and Joanna were also traveling and offering Qigong classes in Vietnam, where I joined one of these wonderful classes, and met the two and we became friends. And we noticed that we have the same passion on well, actually pursuing uncomfortable things kind of bringing us out there into the world experiencing alive, trying new things, and, and connecting with other people. And we found that the Hero Tribe as our vision or vision for humanity, as well, is that people start acknowledging themselves as the main character of their life story, because what we see is that when people really act from their soul and their heart, it radiates out to their environment to the people around them. And yeah, we believe our world can be a better place if people really live out their dreams and visions that they are having.

Melissa Ebken  2:35  
Absolutely, I would second that 100%. So how did each of you get to where you are to be a part of the Hero Tribe? What brought you to that place?

Sasha  2:50  
Yeah, maybe I started with my personal journey, because it also kind of created this, this trajectory for the Hero Tribe. Because I'm in this realm of movement training. From the beginning of my life, I started martial arts when I was very young. And then I had the calling to go to Asia and study in temples and monasteries. I studied Japanese history and language at university. And then went to Japan first and I, I got into this really sometimes uncomfortable situations, and I was seeking this master student relationship that you can see in, in a lot of movies, this approaching the mentor hour would be called in the hero's journey. And, yeah, I could, I could find for myself what I was looking for. And then I came into the position to bring it back in a way to the Western world, and to a very different lifestyle. Also, my lifestyle was always very different when I was in Asia and then came back. And I struggled very often to integrate that because as you all know, this is very different than living in a monastery.  Its also in a sense easier. It has hardship, but that's also one of the reasons I guess in all religions, people created this secluded hermit stashes because it is easier all the distractions are gone and you can just pursue your your calling. So yeah, and then the Hero Tribe now is kind of the the final bringing it all together what I found on on my journey from from my perspective, and to share it with the tribe and with the community.

Melissa Ebken  4:52  
That's a profound story. Camilla what about you? Yeah.

Camilla  5:00  
Yeah. And well, mine is also very different to Sasha's. And as well also, Joanna has a very different background. And that maybe makes it so unique as well on how we bring this tribe together. And what we can also offer to people who are joining us and working or spending time with us is, well, my background is that I come from a family where I always felt like, oh, I have to become a successful business woman, and as well as a mother of kids and family, and I don't know, handling it all. And, and I was always feeling that I would need to kind of leave as well what maybe my parents had in mind for my path. It's never, it was never that way that they really kind of pushed it on me. But there was just this kind of feeling or being conditioned that way. And so I, I loved traveling, and I loved languages. And I thought, like, okay, how can I bring that all together? And so well, why not study Hotel Management, working in the hotel industry, that is kind of a career that is accepted by the family, as well as I can travel and experience the world. And so I pursued that career. And I was then when we met in Vietnam, I worked for a five five star hotel as a restaurant manager, that I noticed that I was really unhappy and unhealthy. While being in Vietnam, I worked six days a week, nine to 16 hours. And I really, like there was this morning where I kind of typed into Google, how to be happy, like, I just didn't know any more how that feels, or if I'm happy or what am I supposed to do here. And that's what opened up the doors for me and opportunities like Sasha and Joanna coming along and showing me a different perspective. And yeah, making this decision to tap into the unknown and go a different direction.

Melissa Ebken  7:19  
I love how the universe brings us together at the right times. It sounds like that's exactly who you needed and what you needed at the time you needed it.

Camilla  7:30  
Yeah, right. Yes.

Melissa Ebken  7:33  
So what is the Hero's Journey. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there. Sasha.

Sasha  7:40  
No worries that, yeah, that's a really good question. The hero's journey, I would describe it as well, Joseph Campbell, who where this term originates from, he was looking into all kinds of religious texts, epics of Greek origins, and kind of all the literal heritage of the world and found out that there is a certain pattern in it. And that's kind of the origin of the hero's journey. And nowadays, like we apply it to personal development to life, in a sense, and I would say the hero in this hero's journey is the archetypical human, it's the, the mother archetype of the human, doesn't matter what gender it's, it's always we are the hero, but we and that signifies and tells us we have this unlimited potential, we can bring so much freedom and joy and liberation into the world. But most people are the reluctant hero. The hero story tells us, The Hero's Journey tells us we are never outside of the story. But we can be stuck in one of these positions. One of the steps of the hero's journey, and especially, I would argue most of the world is stuck in the status quo. That's the first step of the hero's journey and there things are boring, painful, so comfortable that we don't want to move out of it. So that is this reluctant hero who feels there is so much potential but the call to adventure is still not strong enough to be answered.

Melissa Ebken  9:30  
And then what are some subsequent steps in the journey?

Sasha  9:38  
Um, well we always say like, whoever that is the universe God, our own Higher Self is constantly trying to help us and lift us out of the status quo. It's sometimes even to my in my personal life, it feels like the universe is like constantly trying to help us and get us out of that step with everything it does and gives us. But we are just so reluctant and kind of marinated in our conditioning that we refuse the call. That's step number three. So that's the call to adventure. Step number two. And step number three is already inbuilt, that we will refuse the call, it's it's kind of, it tells us that it's human nature, we will refuse the call. The problem then is only how often are we doing that? And how long are we circling in this loop of the call? Because one rule is the call to adventure gets louder and harder. So the typical example would be like, I don't feel so well, in my day to day life, and I am reluctant to look into it. Is it nutrition? Is it energy levels? Is it sleep, whatever. And then there's this grows and the next knock on my door is some kind of little illness or whatever. And if we keep ignoring that, we all know what happens, it gets stronger. And at a certain point, it's something that manifested as something that is hard to get hard to deal with. So the that would be the next kind of chapter in the story. And you can see that in many movies. There's always this, this loop of answering the call refusal of the call. We just watched a movie the the other day, and there was this this loop for us it was almost too long, then it becomes really annoying when you watch like the first hour of the movie. And it's always refusal of the call the heroes refusing, refusing. And then innerly you feel like come on, just do it. Go on the journey.

Camilla  11:47  
Pursue you the uncomfortable. 

Sasha  11:48  
Yes,

Melissa Ebken  11:49  
Exactly. Thank you for that. So Camilla when our interest is piqued, and we want to see what the Hero Tribe has to offer. Your website is beautifully designed, by the way, and has many options, how can we engage with you?

Camilla  12:11  
Yeah, there are different ways in engaging with us. So one is to checking out our website, where you will also find a link to our book, we published the Hero's Handbook, which is a guide to yeah, bringing again, this heroic mindset into your life also with some practical exercises, how you can apply it to your status for your situation that you're in right now. And then also there is the option we have, every first Wednesday of the month, we have a event called Tribe Time, it's a free community gathering, or we call it around the virtual campfire because we have people joining us from all around the world. And that's a wonderful way to tap into 90 minutes of connecting with the hero's journey, we give some key notes, talk that can inspire your journey, as well as some Qigong and also sharing to connect with other people around the world. And then we have our camps, we have the spirit of the hero camps, that the next one is taking place place in Italy, this August, two weeks, and they are really, really immersed into the hero's journey. So it's a 12 day journey. And so the hero's journey that we're working with has 12 steps. So you will go through all the steps with us and get a real boost on your path. And also we have some online programs for people to be mentored through three to six months on their personal journey.

Melissa Ebken  13:56  
That's a lot of options. I love it. So if we're just curious, and friends, all of these links are in the show notes. So make sure you click these links and check out the website and the many opportunities they offer. But if you're a little bit curious, maybe sign up for a tribe time on that first Wednesday or read the book. And then I think it would be amazing to set aside a week and go to Italy. I don't know if I can swing that this August or not. But these camps sound really profound life changing type experiences. And there's always the online mentoring as the next step as well. So there are a lot of ways to engage with you in this material. I just in speaking with you and the time that we've had together even before the podcast, I can see the insp, I can feel the inspiration in your voices and in our conversations. There's just this peacefulness with you. So I can tell that it would be a real profound experience to, to engage with you all.

Camilla  15:06  
Thank you. Thank you so much, Melissa.

Sasha  15:09  
And we would love to have you in one of the camps. Yeah.

Melissa Ebken  15:12  
Yeah, I'm gonna look into it for sure. So, tell us a little bit about Joanna with her permission, of course, I know she's not here to defend herself, but I trust that you would represent her well. She brings a different set of skills and background to the tribe also.

Sasha  15:32  
Yeah, I'm sure she will give us her permission. Joanna is we always describe it, she has this very polar opposites in her background, she was always a movement practitioner as well. She has a like 10 year educational period in oriental dance, for example. But what then came along in her life was the call to study and she studied environmental science and landscape ecology and really got into the into university and into the scientific mindset of everything that is not like measurable and provable right now is not allowed, in a sense. And at the same time, she's still had that that other size lingering in her and we traveled a lot together. And one thing that happened in Australia, we met one of our mentors, Tony Riley. And she opened up a completely different world to us as well, something that I haven't experienced in my martial arts training. And for Joanna, it was really like her call to adventure to pursue her intuitive side again. And then she was drawn to shamanism and found a mentor back in Europe. And that created a lot of friction, because her very much scientifically conditioned mind, the part of her psyche, had problems with that, obviously. And so that's kind of her special flavor, in a sense. She also gets along really well with the rational people that we work with. We had scientists who went through our programs, for example, and there is an interesting touch point with Joanna then. And she can be really, really rational and straightforward. But at the same time, she is doing the shamanic ceremonies in the river and at the fire in our camps. And for us, as well. This is always like, an amazement to see these two sides. And she's really good at at bringing them together to create and have one coherent, Joanna.

Melissa Ebken  18:07  
I identify with that so much. I was a biologist, I studied genetics. I was a lab rat. And that's what I did. I did research and worked in a lab. The Human Genome Project was just getting off the ground. And I was in a lab that was working on part of that. And I had a different calling in life that just wouldn't let me go. And here I am now. But I find that having that science background, and this living by faith, pursuit, they really give a unique insight. So I really love her story. And the it's not a struggle, really, it's a complementarianism. That the two provide, that makes a unique journey. So I love that.

Sasha  19:06  
I think it's also something that then completes to two halves into a whole, in a sense, I would say everyone should learn some of this discernment of that science is supposed to apply. Very often it's not but it's supposed to do that. And at the same time, the openness of spiritual living of being open to face in whatever way.

Melissa Ebken  19:34  
Yeah, and I think you know, my biggest message is that the two are not opposites. They are not opposed to each other. They complement one another. They're two sides of the same coin. We can work on both we can pursue both and honor both. An example I like to give. We had a chemical plant in the town where I live that it had an explosion. And what I like to ask people when they're struggling with these things is, if there was a physicist and a poet that both witnessed the event, and they wrote about it, would their writings be the same? Of course not. Does that mean one of them is wrong? Of course not. It's two experiences of the same event, and even within ourselves, and I think this is part of the hero's journey is finding those disparate, separate parts of ourselves and how they work together to propel us forward. But I'm still in that resisting the call a lot times. So as we close today, what would you like to leave with the listeners? What thoughts would you like them to wrestle with and to consider in their own lives?

Camilla  21:11  
For me, if you're an our's a listener, and of feeling like you are in your status quo, and it's like, like the first time that you even heard about the hero's journey, I can just really recommend to have a look at it. And consider how does it show up in your life right now, especially if you have some sort of feeling that maybe a change in whatever area of my life would interest me, or I feel some sort of calling, and then to yeah, check out the hero's journey, because for me, I also was afraid of like the unknown, as I guess everyone is and, and then I learned about this concept. And in a way, it gave me a road map. So by just kind of taking it, okay, these are the steps and I can see it and all the stories and movies that I'm watching and also seeing it in my personal life as well, as well in the lives of my friends, is like, okay, these steps are on this journey. So if I now want to apply it for, for example, for searching for a new job, okay, this is what I can prepare for, after maybe refusing the call, then, okay, I have to take courage to go to the next step. And then I will meet a mentor, this could be a new colleague, or it could be my boss, or it's a book or so. And then I take this job, and yes, I'm going to meet friends, allies, but also enemies, and, but it will propel me farther on this journey. And I will get through the circle, and it will be a new, better status quo. And it really helped me taking away a bit this fear of the unknown, because I thought, Okay, I'll just take these steps. And this is going to happen. And so I have faith on my path, and everything will be new, better. Exciting.

Melissa Ebken  23:16  
Thank you for that. And Sasha, do you have any last words for us?

Sasha  23:22  
Well, as we were talking about the fear aspect, and also two sides of the same coin, something that that we also experienced, definitely with ourselves, but with the people that we work with. During the journey, there is reluctancy there is sometimes there's in the imagery of the hero's journey, we want to run back to the village. And the it's very important to always remind us that the dragon and the treasure, those are two parts of the same coin, you cannot get to the treasure without facing the dragon, the dragon inside of you and and that, I guess is very often then we see the dragon or we even anticipate it, we just have fear concerning the fear that might come up in the future, and we think it's not worth it. Or there will be another way round. Maybe I'd take the detour and eventually we'll arrive at the treasure but there is no other way. And that's also beautiful because we kind of have to we have to fight the dragon, then acknowledged the dragon then make friends with the dragon. Become the dragon, transmute the dragon transform it and we are the treasure. And that's that's just a beautiful story.

Melissa Ebken  24:45  
Then, kind of an obvious question I have then is how do we know when we have completed the journey?

Sasha  24:51  
That's a really good question. And no one ever asked that before to be honest. Yeah, I would say one thing we never complete the journey. So, the hero's journey is, we always call it like the onion when you peeled off one layer that's the next layer and it never stops. It just gets more profound and more beautiful like Camilla said.

Camilla  25:20  
And I guess also the moment where it starts to be very comfortable and normal again, I guess it's this moment where I don't know I still remember how I got my driver's license. I was such a exciting thing like you know, first time speeding up on the Autobahn I don't know driving 120 or more as we are allowed to in Germany wow, you know, my heart was beating and I just thought like wow, this is so cool and well now it's autopilot. It doesn't really excites me anymore. It's just normal and same when you are getting a new job at some point you are just so familiar with your surrounding and what you're doing I guess that's the point where you are back in a status quo a new status quo and and soon you will not just oh, there is another desire coming up. Will I go on another hero's journey and sometimes they come kind of back to back and you think, oh no, I thought I went through it now and I can just relax a little bit but now there is another adventure waiting.

Melissa Ebken  26:33  
I guess that's why they call it living. Well, thank you both so much. And again, if you're listening to this podcast, click the links, check out the book, engage in a tribe time and maybe book a trip to a camp. Thank you 

Sasha  26:52  
Thank you so much.

Camilla  26:53  
Yeah, thank you, Melissa.

Melissa Ebken  27:00  
The record but oh, here it is up here. It's been a while since I've used zoom

🎶 Episode Outro: Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. If this encouraged you, please consider subscribing to our show and leaving a rating and review so we can encourage even more people just like yourself. We drop a new episode every Wednesday so I hope you continue to drop in and be encouraged to lean into and overcome all the uncomfortable stuff life brings your way. 🎶