My Shaman Connection

Who: Lasse Larsen, Danish viking heritage, born in Sweden, has lived most of his life around the World and the past 13 years in The US.

Where: Los Angeles

What: Free Spirit, Inspirator, fashion model

Web: www.lasselarsen.me / my.veganjourney.co / www.thesexiestnonprofitever.org

Back in December 2010 I was booked to shoot the music video for musician Pete Pidgeon. His team flew me into NYC and I spent a few days on set filming. Bonus to the job, was that my co-star in the project was the Danish model Lasse Larsen, who lived in the city at that time. What are the odds that 2 Danes are booked on the same job in NYC? It was cool because during all the waiting time we got to speak our native tongue and I learned that this gorgeous Ford model is much, much more than just an adonis in front of the camera.

Lasse told me about his years of traveling with a natural healer/shaman in Nepal, India and Europe without much connection to the rest of the world. Not the usual conversations hanging around sets with fellow models.

Quite the contrary, and his stories, his visions of the simple life and courage to change from the crazy, male model, rockstar lifestyle to become the Shaman’s apprentice in the far east fascinated me. ‘Coincidence’, has it that I recently got into contact with Lasse again after 3 years of not having been in touch at all. (I say coincidence quote unquote because I don’t really believe in coincidences). Anyways, I was researching on an article on ‘health and beauty in Los Angeles ‘ for COSTUME Magazine and found out Lasse had moved to LA and lives only 10 minutes from me. I wanted his POV on health so we met up at one of his favorite vegan lunch places Bloom so I could pick his brains for my article.

Back in the early 2000’s Lasse was enjoying life in the fast lane in South Beach, Miami where he lived and worked as a model. ”Things were insane and we partied a lot’‘, he says. ‘‘Then one night I arrived at a dinner party and I was sat next to this older guy who caught my attention. He cursed up a storm and was quite loud, which I actually loved every bit of, and he turned out to be quite an extraordinary individual.” They engaged in hours of conversation, which turned out to be the beginning of a completely new direction in Lasse’s life. ”The guy is like a shaman and he sort of allowed me to travel with him. It all felt very natural and right, its hard to explain. I moved to NYC where I was signed with Ford Models and after a short while he called me and told me to meet him in Kathmandu. And so I did”. Lasse continues.

Over the next 5 years Lasse spent a large portion of time traveling with the shaman and his entourage without much connection to the outer world. They helped Tibetan monks setting up events and Lasse learned how to help people with their health both through physical ‘massage’ / allignment’ and through diet. ”Basically it’s about learning to listen to the body and understand its needs. But we grow up and are conditioned to add so many ‘layers’ on top, that we unlearn to feel what is right for our health. The body/mind is a perfect instrument to heal and repair itself if we allow it to. And it only asks for our support.”

Fast forward to 2013: Lasse has a coaching business now, where he helps people on many levels. ”A lot of times my clients come to me to talk about concerns with their health. What they tend to miss is, that the cravings they have, be it food, drugs, sex, shopping, drama, whatever is just a symptom for something else. Something deeper that triggers us to make choices that might not be good for our health. I make it my business to help them pinpoint the issues and coach them into a healthy lifestyle on a completely holistic level. Meaning, we are not only looking into what you eat, but what is your ‘life intention’. An example: Let’s say you really wish to feel free in your everyday life. Freedom is your birthright, it is your essence, and the emotion you would like to feel on an everyday basis is your true intention. Once we find what your innermost intention is, I ask questions that will help reveal how you may be standing in your way of that pure essence, and how you may be allowing others to be the reason you’re not feeling it. As we uncover the reasons why you’ve become a sort of victim to your own game, we can start applying exercises that will allow you to feel what this essence feels like on a deep level. It takes time to get rid of old habits and my clients will have to be patient with themselves. A 90 day coaching program is recommended in order to make long lasting changes. Although this type of work can take the rest of your life, I am not in the business of making you addicted to me.”

It all make sense to me, but sometimes we all feel like we need a quick fix. Something to get us back on track fast. A tiny ‘rehab’ if you will. To me, and I guess a lot of people around me, it is a challenge to have to change our entire lifestyle all at once to be healthy. For example: Many people here in LA juice and cleanse to get rid of toxins. is that bad? Lasse nods with a smirk and says:

”There is no pressure. It’s all up to you. And when we are speaking diet it is not healthy to force this type of change completely from one day to another. The super diets and cleansings can be really bad for you because they change the environment in your system too fast. Too much acidity in your body makes your system more prone to illnesses. Therefore I always recommend an alkaline based diet. Meaning eating plant based foods and avoiding dairy and meat. You can change your diet overnight, I did, its not the change that feels natural that is the problem, it is when we try to force ourselves into new habits due to some exterior influence. If you are not ready to take the plunge, I recommend that you slowly make the transition to a more vegan/plant based diet. There’s no rush, its more important that you enjoy the journey so it will last for the rest of your life, rather than pushing so hard you fall back on old habits after a few months.”

So I guess everything in moderation except moderation still is key…?

”Your body has everything it needs to be healthy, the condition that is known as ‘disease’ are just signals that the body is taking on more toxicity than it can handle due to unnatural tendencies, diet etc. Going back to a natural lifestyle can drastically help reverse any and most disease, its really a question of willingness to change and how far into the disease one is… it’s really simple in a sense, but it requires honesty, humility, discipline and patience” Lasse retorts.

I, KK, have recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. I had blood drawn by my Beverly Hills MD and this new discovery means that I cannot have gluten whatsoever. Bye-bye pasta, bread, rice and a lot of other everyday foods that I love. But if I do consume any of those things, it will create a cancer like environment in my system. Instantly. That is how serious it is. I kid you not. However, following Lasse’s and his shaman’s philosophy, the illnesses we suffer from is something that can be reversed if caught early and taken seriously. I would like to think that they are right. And I will test their ideas on my own body from now on and let you know how it goes. Who wouldn’t want to eat home baked bread and indulge in fine Italian pastas…? 😉

So what’s scheduled next for the viking?

”I’m in Los Angeles setting up my business and Non profit, which takes quite a bit of my time. We’re also planning our documentary/road-trip called “The Caravan of Change” which is set to happen next year in spring if all goes well. Oh and then I enjoy what I do immensely, so it feels like fun always, not work. I don’t even consider when there are holidays lol I usually say, every day is like a Sunday.”

Photo Credits: Grayson Wilder