SHAWN STEVENSON: Fortunately, there's a lot more work being done around positive psychology. Most of medicine, including mental health has been focused on the residual problems that humans tend to have, but there's so much right about us as well. And so positive psychology is really looking at what are the conditions, what are those ingredients that really help us to be healthy, well adjusted, and to be able to deal with life's inevitable challenges. But sometimes struggle just hits different. When we're dealing with difficult times, when we're dealing with tragedy in our lives, the advice to just don't worry, be happy doesn't cut it. And so today, especially with all that's going on in the world right now, I wanted to provide some insights, some truly powerful and empowering insights that we can carry with us when life's difficult times do show up because truly it is part of the human condition.

And I feel that we are more than well equipped to weather those storms. And not just that, to build a better world, to build a world that works for everyone. And so I reached out to the person that I tend to seek guidance from. The person whose voice I often listen to. Or things that he's told me that I'll tend to bring up and to remember and to seek solace in when I'm dealing with my own challenges. And I'm telling you right now, this is one that you're going to want to save to listen to again and again, that you're going to want to pop on in those challenging times for a reminder of all the power that resides within you. And this conversation is with none other then Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith.

Now, before we get to our special guest, this episode is brought to you by the incredible team at Organifi and their phenomenal superfood blends. Green powders are all the rage right now. They're out there on the streets heavy. This is something I've been talking about for almost 20 years. And Organifi is one of the leading brands. Their formulas have some of the most science backed green superfoods ever discovered. All organic and also making sure that it actually tastes good. But not only does their best selling green juice have the most powerful green superfoods, it also has a therapeutic amount of ashwagandha. And a double blind randomized placebo controlled trial published in the Journal of Psychological Medicine had test subjects with a history of chronic stress to consume ashwagandha or a placebo.

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ITUNES REVIEW: Another five star review titled "inspirational" by girl mom, Nikki. This podcast has changed my life. Shawn and his guests deliver powerful and bite size information that has helped my family and I in so many ways. And his cookbook is amazing. We enjoy his meals and advice weekly. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you so much. I really did. Oh my gosh. Wow. That means something. When you say from the bottom of my heart, that really does mean something. It's not just a general, it's, you know, that's really felt deeply. And I thank you so much for sharing that message and sharing your heart over on Apple podcasts and wherever you can share your voice, I'm listening. I appreciate it so much, whether it's on Apple podcasts or if you're listening on Spotify, if you can rate the show, leave a review, leave a comment on YouTube. Please share your voice. It really does mean a lot. And without further ado, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. 

Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith is a visionary leader, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center, and host of the Take Back Your Mind podcast. Dr. Beckwith is also a sought after speaker and meditation teacher who has received numerous humanitarian awards for his work, one of which I was recently there for when he received an award from Martin Luther King, the third. And it was a great experience to be there and have my son there as well to witness, you know, the history and also to affirm Dr. Beckwith's work. He's been featured on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Larry King Live, and many other leading media shows, as well as his own PBS special, The Answer Is You. Let's dive in this conversation with the incredible Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith. My friend, mentor, the one and only Michael Beckwith, good to see you.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: It's always good to be with you, Shawn, always. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right now, as of this recording, there's, there's always a lot going on, as you know.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Always. In the world of phenomena, changes are always happening. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's, that's facts. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: But sometimes when things are closer to you, that proximity, it really does Irritate you more and get your attention. And we're experiencing right now some terrible fires took place here in Los Angeles and Again, that proximity is extremely close. A lot of friends colleagues lost their homes or they're displaced. Schools were shut down. The list goes on and on . You know, we just had a friend who just left the studio who shared his daughter's home. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Was was burned to the ground. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so what I wanted to do today was to share your wisdom and your insights because sometimes larger things that affect a lot of people happen. Sometimes it's just an individual thing where tragedy takes place in our lives. And I wanted to ask you about how do we deal with difficult times? How do we deal with tragedy when tragedy strikes in our life? And it's so difficult just to pick ourselves up. What are some of the things that we can do? What are some of the mindset shifts for us to deal with tragedy? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. Now, I appreciate that you, you're bringing up this particular topic because I, like you, know so many people who have lost their homes. A lot of good friends in Altadena, you know, a place where I used to play as a kid. Those houses are gone. Malibu, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades. Just at Agape, two weeks ago, I had everyone who, his house burned down to stand up in the sanctuary so that the congregation could, could hold them in prayer. Over 40 people stood up in one service. So the ramifications and the connections is, is very real.

And so as a community, I've invited people not at this point, not to get caught up in who's to blame. Any of the conspiracy theories that are going around about who did it and why and arsonists and whatever. There's all kinds of stuff that always jumps up on the social media about what's really going on. And I teach people that's not the time to ask those questions. The questions that we need to ask right now is how can we serve? How can we make a difference in people's lives? One of the things that we did was, obviously we vetted. different organizations that would serve people in terms of the first responders, in terms of getting goods to people who need it, finding housing.

We, we have people on our staff that vetted, you know, what were the best organizations for that. And then we invited the global congregation to actually, don't donate to Agape. You can still make your donations to Agape, but donate to these places. We vetted them. They're real. Then we did an evening where we had all of our spiritual therapists, many of them, under the aegis of, we have what is called a common unity ministry. And people like Aisha Mason, David Silverstein, Amy, a bunch of people organized an evening where people could zoom in and just be embraced by the community in love, in prayer, in just acknowledging what has happened.

So, back to your question, the idea is we don't ask why and who did what, we ask how can we serve. And everybody can't do everything. But everybody can do something. And so if the larger community realizes that the people whose houses were burnt down, you know, spiritually, we teach that they are us where there's, there is no other. You know, governments and the news reels try to make people other. Those people in that country, those people with that color skin, those people with that culture that they're other than us, you know, and even now with this isolationist spirit, this isolationist pseudo patriotic vibrations going on, there's all kinds of other ring happening. Oh, they're other, they did go back across the border and all this kind of stuff.

There is no other, you know, spiritually, we're one for real. It's not even, it's not even a philosophy. You know, in terms of deep mysticism and quantum physics, you or me and I am you, we're all springing from the same source. So I try to remind people that if somebody's hurt, that's us. And so we have to ask, what is it that I can do? Now, obviously we can't do everything. But if you ask the question, what is it that I can do? Something will spring up in your awareness. It may be small to you. But there is, if everybody does something small, it becomes big, you know, a bunch of little, little tiny raindrops eventually become a flood, you know. And so I, I, I invite individuals to realize that whatever's going on, whether it's Altadena, Palisades, or anywhere in the world, that's an extension of who we are. You know, don't let governments shrink your mind and, and say those are other people.

They're not. They're us. So I think if people grow in that way, and we come together as community, how we can serve, we can make a big difference. Not just in this particular tragedy, but we can make a big difference just in terms of the evolution of our communities that those questions need to be asked.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. What I admire about your work is that you bring together Ancient wisdom, you know, modern insights as well, but also science. And, you know, when you, when you say that we are one and we're all connected. This is also coming from a place of truly today, we have technology that demonstrates if there's a tragedy that happens on the planet, we have technological advances that let us know, like there's a spike in energy. And also it happens. Like some of these things like the global consciousness project. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Pick up the data before it happens. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes It's already something's already been set in motion. So even before it manifests it's already set in motion It's like curly and photography can take a picture of your auric field or take a picture of a tree and the tree doesn't show any sign of disease yet. But in the, in the field, you can see the disease that will show up in months or a couple of years. So you're right. The science is showing that we are connected. Things are set in motion. And it also shows, and you may have done a lot of research on this, that when people are doing an altruistic act, generosity, helping, and people see it, it builds, it boosts their immune system. It makes coherence of the brain. Just seeing somebody do good, or hearing about somebody doing good, affects our life for the better. We're all connected. And so I try to keep people out of the, the pollution of othering and blaming. Not to say there aren't nefarious people out here doing nasty things. But it's not going to help.

Only thing that's going to help is how can I serve? How can I help? Even if it's minuscule. And then if someone hears about it or sees it, it's going to affect them. It's going to make them more expanded to want to assist. And if, why not create that kind of contagion? The contagion of good works, the contagion of prayer, contagion of holding each other high. Why not have that kind of contagion on the planet and use social media for that kind of contagion, rather than for creating division and separation and hate? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Sounds good, ref. But it's so easy. It's so easy to get tied up in the negativity. It's so easy to blame. It's so easy to get, start pointing fingers and to, to be angry and upset.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Why not do that? I mean, it's just it's, it's right there. It's so tangible and visceral. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: With the ego gets juice from being angry and blaming and it gets being and being right. That's the ego. 

And so what happens, you know, tonic chemicals start to flow through the body. When you, when the ego is juiced up, those chemicals flow and people become addicted to those chemicals. So they feel alive when there's drama. They feel alive if they're right. They feel alive if they're blaming or putting somebody down. And so, as one grows spiritually, your aliveness feels more like joy and bliss and ecstasy. It's not that hard tonic chemicals of, I'm right. Let's go get them. Oh, let's go kill them. You know, it's a different, different feeling. It's lighter. It's more blissful. But eventually, people begin to realize that adds to your longevity. It adds to your creativity. It adds to your coherence of the brain. 

You start to think more properly. But as you say, it's very difficult because the ego clutches on people, feeds them with this juice of chemicals that individuals become addicted to. There are people on the planet, as you know, that they're addicted to being mad. You know, they're addicted to being angry. They're addicted to being right. And eventually there's a toll, you know, disease or symptoms or something to that effect. And so running a spiritual community, I'm always trying to help people come out of that addictive behavior and come into a higher space. And, and eventually people don't recognize themselves as to how they used to be. You know, they, instead of being a reactionary, they become responsive to a higher, higher frequency. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. So we've got fields of psychoneuroendocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And just understanding, again, when you mentioned witnessing an act of kindness, an act of service, and how that affects your immune system. Truly, it's our perception. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? So our psychology. And it happens on the other side as well, if we're witnessing or focused on negativity and the blame and all the things going wrong,

that's going to suppress the immune system. It's just, it is what it is. This could be temporary, can happen to all of us. But if you habituate that, this is why we see higher rates of, you know, all manner of chronic diseases, in particular heart disease and things like that. We're chronically angry and stressed and all these different things. We know how today, again, our thoughts create chemistry in our bodies. And somewhere along the way, we outsourced our ability to think. Would you agree with that? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Oh, absolutely. Most people don't think. They call what I call mentate. That is, they keep repeating the same thoughts that are of negative nature every single day. It's not called thinking. Thinking, there's a word in the Japanese language. That word is Kangae. And that's the word for thinking, but the actual translation is returning to the realm of God. That real thinking is inspiration. Real thinking is returning to this, this space of inspiration and wisdom and transformational knowledge. That's thinking. Mentation is a masquerade of thinking. So people, so what happens is people have their opinions, which are often times emerging from their egoic perception or some brainwashing that they've had.

You know, they have these opinions that they hold very strongly to and they'll fight for this opinion. But it's not thinking, you see. And so, so they become, if somebody doesn't agree with that opinion, then they're mad, and then they're reacting. So it goes back to what you're saying. So they're producing all of these chemicals based on an opinion. And listen, do you have the same opinions you had when you were 13? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Oh man. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Or 15. Or 20. So, you know, in the Zen technology there's a statement that says, above all, cherish no opinions. Realize you're not. If you're really about growing and unfolding, your opinions are gonna change. You know, you don't have the same opinions you had about stuff when you were in your 20s, when you were in your 30s, if you're maturing, that it keeps changing. And so as individuals become more responsive, use the word habituate. You know, I, I often say that everyone is the same. The only thing that makes us different are our habits. You know. And so, if you have a habit, And develop a habit of being open minded, open hearted. You have a habit of meditation. You have a habit of introspection.

You have a habit of having a real intention, backed by spiritual practice, to become a better version of yourself. You're going to be different six months from now. A year from now, six years from now, you're going to be a different being because of your habits and if someone maintains their habit of limitation, arguing for their limitations, arguing for their opinions, they're going to pretty much be the same. Six years from now, you'll run into him. He said, Oh wow, this guy hasn't changed. He's spouting the same nonsense. He was spouting six years ago, you know, and so we want to habituate the inner fire and desire to be a better version of ourselves. And what is that? It's not having power over people. It's tapping into that inner power.

And so that intelligence flows through you and wisdom and kindness and generosity. The strongest people on the planet are people who can carry the frequency of compassion and love. It sounds wimpy to people who are in their ego. But love is the most powerful force on the planet. You see, compassion, kindness, that's where real people hang out at. You know, the people that we admire on the planet, you look at, you know, Nelson Mandela or Dalai Lama or Kuan Yin or, or King or, you know, they emulated the desire to hold those frequencies. No one's perfect, but that's what they sought to do. So we, we look at those people, we say, wow, they're, you know, Bishop Tutu, he was a cool dude, you know. But our society, they'll go out and build statues to military might. They're not building statues to teachers who helped you read or become a better person. So the whole society is kind of bizarre to keep people in that, that hyper masculine fight or flight state rather than honoring people that are holding a higher frequency. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. You know, you mentioned this, and again, during this time, and this is something we're, we're living in this life, things are going to happen. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is not the last time. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah. Oh, no. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so, being equipped with an awareness and a strategy, a different come from, a different foundation, is important for all of us moving forward. And you mentioned when these types of tragedies happen. For us to number one ask, how can I serve? Right. And you also mentioned how your community in particular was just coming together in prayer So I want to ask you Why is prayer so powerful? Why does prayer work? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah, people have a misunderstanding of prayer How we pray is based on what we think this presence of God is There's a presence of life and of love and of beauty and intelligence. That's everywhere and when one prays One is seeking to be in alignment with that Rather than God, please come save me. That's , you know, that's a prayer of, of an immature being. We don't put it down. It's just immature. It's not evil, it's just immature. What mysticism and what quantum science is showing us that there's a unified field that is aware, that's conscious. And in this unified field, it is con what's integrated into it is what we would call love.

It's not sentimental, it's not romantic. It's a total givingness without any sense of withhold, peace, which is the dynamic of harmonizing good, order, harmony, beauty. So when one prays, one is seeking to have an inner realization of one's oneness in this field. And what does that do? That then determines my thought, my speech, and my actions. It moves through me. So I'm able to be, I'm not reacting to circumstances. Conditions and circumstances and situations are going to happen all the time. But now, what am I responding to? I'm not a reactionary, I'm a responder. I'm a first responder, spiritually. I'm responding to the ineffable field. So now I'm an instrument of love.

I'm an instrument of compassion. I'm an instrument of generosity. I'm an instrument of asking a higher question, How can I serve? So that I'm used by this presence. So it's not begging and beseeching God to do something. Because you cannot change the nature of this presence. Thank God you can't. You can't manipulate it. You can't influence it. It is what it is. But if you turn yourself to it, it influences you. You change, not God, you know. And so, when a group of people come together and hold a vibrational field of prayer for another person or for a circumstance or a condition, again, this can be measured now. You know, years ago it couldn't be measured.

But you can actually measure the field that's emitting from that individual or from that group of people that's actually changing the dynamic of what's happening in the world. So, small groups of people that are holding that high awareness are making a difference on the planet. Some lady sitting in her house, knitting, and closing her eyes, and having a moment of devotion, and praying for her grandson, or for some situation that happened in the community. She may not be on the front page of the newspaper, but she's making a vibrational difference. And somebody that's picking up that gets to be activated. You know, they're about to do something bad, and for some reason they decide not to do it.

It might be because that woman is sitting in her room just praying for the neighborhood. You know, so now years ago, when I woke up spiritually, I used to go over to UCLA had a parapsychology department. It's not, doesn't exist anymore. But a lot of people that we know came through there, you know, Mitchell May, Judy Orloff. It's a bunch of people that we know about that had strong psychic abilities. They would be measured. And they would do experiments. on non local prayer. So they would have instruments somewhere miles away, and they'd have a person sitting in the booth and just thinking, like, good thoughts about something or someone.

And then they could measure the field with those plants or those people miles away that was coming from the people sitting in this booth. So, we now have the technology to show that if a group of people is sitting here, and we're thinking about the people in Palisades, or Israel or Palestine or the Congo or Rwanda, wherever stuff is going on, we can make a difference. You know, but it's not begging or beseeching. It's not my God versus your God. It's not our religion versus your religion. It's, it's where religion takes us. Religion takes us beyond religion to having an insight into our oneness with the ineffable. You see. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back.

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SHAWN STEVENSON: I think a lot of people would be surprised to know, even at this point, that even the U S military has been studying some of this stuff and non local response, you know, having people come together and create a little bit of rapport, for example. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And then placing them in different rooms. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And seeing, putting them under, you know, what they termed as like stressful conditions.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: One of the participants and the other person who's in another room, their brain responding and their body responding as if that stimulation or that stressor is happening to them. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Just because they're connected. There was like an entanglement. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? And these are things that. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Quantum entanglement.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Absolutely. Einstein talked about it, you know. And so, it's so fascinating that this is like really Those who know, know. Right. But whether you know it or not, this is happening all the time. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah, it used to be pseudoscience. I used to call it pseudoscience. It was not real science. Now, it is science. As you say, the military is involved. I know of a, of a branch of the military that has paid millions of dollars to be a part of the SOAAK technology. You know, S O A A K.Com. These are frequencies. That can be used to curate your brain to come into harmony. Eliminate depression, eliminate anxiety, have better sleep, things like that. The military is investing a lot of money and having their particular soldiers have this technology they can be more efficient. I know another technology is called BioCybernaut. I go there every couple years to tune up my meditation practice, and they had a contract with the Green Beret. Where the Green Beret did, what you're talking about, they have what they call shared, shared experience. 

Where they learn how to be with each other telepathically. So they would go on assignments, they wouldn't have to talk, you see. The particular ramification that occurred that was unexpected was that they became less violent as well. They, they stopped, they started losing, you know, their soldiering. They wanted to like bring peace to the world, you know. But yeah, this, we're all connected and now science is showing. Take a small group of people, hold the thought, hold an inner feeling. You can literally change the world. Now that may sound woo woo. But people don't know what the world is. The world is the condensation of beliefs, perception, points of view, positionalities, opinions, that has coagulated itself into a worldview and an experience.

So it's not like, here's the world, it's hard and it's. No, the world is just an idea that we're broadcasting, you see. So when we break free from that world, and we start to do some type of inner introspection, meditation, contemplation, etc. We're coming into a different world. We're not in that world anymore. I don't live in that world. I'm living somewhere else. I see it. I can see the world. I can see the effects of that world. But I'm living in a different frequency. You see, so more and more people are opting out of that world. Just like, just like you get stuff in the mail and say, opt out anytime. I tell people, opt out of that world.

Turn off the news. You know, be informed, but opt out and come into a higher frequency. And now what are you? We say you're a beneficial presence. In the world, because you're not in it. You're in it, but you're of a higher frequency. So the world, you know, I'll tell you an experiment we used to do, when I was attending Morehouse College many years ago, we would take a book of matches, light a match, blow it out, and then go touch a person with a cold match. They thought they were being touched with a hot match, and they would form a heat blister on their hand. They'd get mad and we'd say, no, we touched you with a cold match, follow us. We'd go to another person, strike a book, touch them really quick with a cold match. They would form a heat blister. So what does that say?

They were producing the experience in their mind. So the, I sometimes say that the world is full of individuals who have swallowed a nightmare pill and they're having the experience of that belief right now. There is enough for everybody on the planet right now. There's abundance everywhere. Right now, there's technologies to heal any disease. Right now, there's technologies to give you, give everybody free energy, water. All of that already exists. But, everyone is in a nightmare of scarcity, lack, and not enoughness. That doesn't even, that's not even real in our universe. But people believe that.

Now, a lot of the belief is because nefarious individuals have agendas for people to control, and to, you know, to turn people into consumers rather than creators. We, you know, I'm not, I'm not getting into that right now, but the fact is that people have a belief. That there's not enough to go around, a belief in scarcity, a belief in limitation, a belief that they're powerless. And so what happens? It's just like touching that cold match. They have a belief that's producing that experience. We're here to wake people up. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: You know. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. I remember something along the lines that I learned from you of, you know, people, it, they're not necessarily believing what they see. They see what they believe. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? Yeah, and that example with the match. Yeah, and forming a blister again based on our beliefs they reminded me of a study that was done by Ali Akram and researchers at Stanford and they did a skin prick an allergy test using a you know, creating a histamine reaction. And people would form a rash. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Very predictably and now the researchers using a totally inert cream, right? It had no therapeutic effects Some of the people, they said this was a histamine agonist. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And other people is told it's a histamine antagonist. So some people, this is going to make your rash worse. This is going to make your rash better. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Better, right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And without fail, across the board. Based on what they were told, even though this was a totally inert cream, within a matter of like 10 minutes people's rash began to go away significantly or to get worse significantly. Now here's. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Based on their belief. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Based on their belief because the cream did nothing.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: But here's what they found. The more dramatic effects that people got was based on what they believed about the doctor who told them about the cream. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: How, how much they believed that the doctor was competent. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Led to dramatic, more dramatic results. So that talks about our belief and our beliefs in people of authority.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yep. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: But it's still happening within us. We're the one doing the job internally. It's an inside job. And it's based on our choice of what we believe about that thing that we're being told. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Absolutely. I call, sometimes I'll call doctors MDs, minor deities. Because people look at them that way. You know, and so if, if the doctor has not grown and continue to study and add more to their practice and all they have is what they got when they got out of med school, people call them hacks because they're doing the same thing 20 years later. But if a doctor has opened up. And it opened up in discovering real healing modalities. They're not a hack, they're a real doctor. I tell you, recently, you're talking about belief. My, Lee, my, you know, she's allergic to mangoes. And so, you know, she'll get little bumps on her, on her mouth.

And so I made this smoothie at, where was we? Oh, Costa Rica, somewhere I made a big smoothie. And I was putting in papaya and all this stuff. And I actually put, instead of papaya, put all these mangoes. And I didn't realize it till later, so I brought her smoothie to her, and I didn't tell her. I mean, when I walked away, I was gone. So I know she was already drinking. I said, Ah, I gave her mangoes. So I purposely did not say anything. She's believing. She's eating papaya, pineapple, avocado, and my green stuff. So I just monitor her for a while. And I didn't tell her for two days later. I said, you know what you had a whole Mango smoothie and nothing happened to you. You believed it was a papaya, you know, but I was watching so man I'm gonna have to tell her if something goes down so she can take care of this. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I remember that we were having dinner and she mentioned that she was allergic to mango, right, you know. And that's so again it's just how much of this is based on our belief and our reaction to things that we're exposed to. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right, right. So she may have outgrown it or it may have been such a part of her belief growing up. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: That it's just I'm staying away from angles and I'm not gonna ever do that again. But But I did monitor in two days late I had to wait for a couple of days just to make sure there was no adverse reaction. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: And I said. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Our bodies are always reacting to things our body is a great thermometer in a way. You know, reader of things in the environment is giving us feedback, but a lot of it is based on our perception, our stress level, our association with the thing. You know, a lot of work's being done now around our perception of stress. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so a stressful event might happen. But if our belief is like, this is killing me, this is breaking me down. I can't take more of this, and we're again, we're associating producing chemistry that might affect our skin, It might affect our you know, cardiovascular system our immune system, whatever the case might be. So there's so many layers our body is so intelligent. So our thoughts are such a powerful driver. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah, we can have a stressful situation and train ourself to feel that it's gonna make us stronger. That we're gonna come out of this. I wish when this was a occurring That the fires as well as a lot of people were under stress around the last election and things of this particular nature. And I basically said to the congregation I said, you know, I was tongue in cheek, but it was also very truthful I was saying listen, Hey hang around with some people of color, some black people, some Mexicans, some queer people, because they've been through everything, and they know how to survive, you know.

It's like, we've been through Jim Crow, we've been through lynching, we've been through last hired, first fired, we've been through redlining, we've been through everything under the sun, and there's still a continued growth. 

I said, hang around with some, some Jewish folks, hang around with some oppressed people, and you'll get a feeling that whatever's going on in the world, you're going to make it through. You know, and that, and that's an inner belief we have from our grandparents and great grandparents. You know, it's like, there's tough times, but there's something in us that's bigger than the times, you know, and so you can use a negative situation and say, this is going to kill me. Or you could use a negative situation that says, I can't wait to see the blessing that comes out of this. It's, it's, whew, I can't wait. There's going to be something so deep. With that mindset, you become available to insight and wisdom that you won't get if you're in blame, shame. This is going to kill me. You know, it's not going to happen. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is exactly what I was going to ask you about was when the situation happens personally, you know, like there's a tragedy in my life. It can be obviously difficult to just grab my mind and to put it on the blessing potential in a situation. So what about when the tragedy strikes us personally?

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: How can we get through that? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Well, first of all, I've answered in two ways. One, if someone already has a practice. And I'm not talking religion here. I'm just talking about a mindful, meditative prayer. It sounds religious, but it's really not. It's really very scientific. Then when something does happen, you have a go to. If a person doesn't have that, it's a little bit more difficult because their mind hasn't been trained yet. Their mind is still controlled by the news media or opinions or the points of view your father had or something like that. You haven't learned to think for yourself. So when something strikes you very hard, you know, it is good to find someone that can assist you back into an awareness that, you know, this, this is a negative thing that happened.

However, there's something about you that this didn't touch. Let's see if we can find that. So there are spiritual practitioners and there are spiritually inclined therapists that can help an individual find their way back to the place within us. And everyone has it that's not touched by time or experience. And again, it comes back to the universe. I teach that the universal presence, again, not a man in the sky, answers every question through law. Answers every question that you ask. So most people, when they are unconscious, ask, what's wrong? Who's to blame? Or why me? That's where they live. Who can I blame for this?

You know, why, why is this happening to me? You know, or what's wrong? And you know what? By law, those questions could be answered. Well, this person is to blame, this is what's wrong, the reason it's happening to you is because, you know, it's in your ancestral code or whatever. But if you get, if you get used to asking a different question, you know, what good is here that I presently cannot see? You know, what if there's a blessing in all of this? You know, you start to ask a different question, your mind will start to shape shift, new chemicals will flow through you, you start, your perception will change, answers will come. I'm not saying that that's easy, particularly if you've never practiced it before, it may sound like woo woo. But as we've just talked about, there's science now backing the shifts that take place within you if you change your perception.

And so if you ask, I tell people to ask all the time, what good is here that I presently can't see? I can't see it right now, but what good is here, you know. Or here's another question. How can it get better than this? So you're in the midst of some negative stuff and you ask, how can it get better than this? Answers will start to come. And if something's going on, that's really good. Instead of superstitiously thinking, Oh, this is going so good. I know something bad's about to happen. But instead you say, this is, this is really cool. How can it get better than this? Since the universe is infinite. It can get better.

So I think that people need to develop different habits with their mind. You know, my podcast is called Take Back Your Mind. So I want to help people develop different ways that they can take back their mind so it's just not running amok. Just not doing what it wants to do. You're not your mind. Your mind is a tool. But it's been trained by society. It's been trained by religions. It's been trained by miseducation. It's been trained by the superstitions of your family. You've got to take it back. It's like your body temple. You've got to train it. You've got to train your mind with different questions. And when those questions become embedded, unconsciously you start to ask, how can it get better than this?

What good is coming out of this? Now, you're available to answers that sometimes come like a thief in the night. You start to get insights in your dreams, when you're not even daydreaming, suddenly you have a great idea. Where does that come from? It's coming from the universal mind, but you're receptive to it. Every great invention, every great song that's ever been written, people have tapped into a whole different space. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Hmm. I learned something from you. To give words or description to something I experienced on what I felt to be on accident. You know, when I was trying to Get my health together, you know, just it was chronically why me? Why me? Why is this happening to me? why won't somebody help me. And eventually just like if switch was flipped in my mind and I started to ask what can I do to feel better? Right. And that evolved, as I shared with you before, to how can I be the healthiest person in the world? These audacious questions.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And more recently, and I've embedded this into some of my recent books as well, because you know, you know my mind, I'm looking for like the, the why behind it. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And there's this phenomenon in the human mind called instinctive elaboration, right. So, and basically this is that mechanism of anything that you pose, that question you pose. Your mind is, is obsessed with finding the answer to it. Alright, so whatever question you post. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: You're going to hunt. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You're going to, your brain is going to be attuned to, your mind is going to be attuned to finding the answer to that question. Right. So we all have a dominant question that we're asking often unconsciously as well. And so starting to train yourself through practice to ask an empowering question habitually, but also understanding that this is something that, with instinctive elaboration. You can change this and you mentioned this a couple of times. This is what I want to ask you about you've mentioned the importance of practice, right?

It's difficult to start a practice when everything is going wrong around you Yes, so my encouragement today is for folks to get proactive in a practice. But I want to build on a foundation of where is my life headed in the first place? What direction do I want to go? What do I choose? What are the thoughts that I choose? And how you helped to anchor me with that was years ago before I met you. Through the life visioning process, right? You know, I had the CDs, you know, this is when you get the CDs in the mail. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Those are collectors items now. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You know. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: And it was so powerful. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: It changed, it changed my life, you know that led to me meeting you right, you know for sure You know just being a part because one of the things that I learned from you is what you focus on expands what you focus On will show up in your life in some form or fashion And so you became my my teacher, you know virtually and just going through but you know the thing about me was I practice.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? So once I got that information, that knowledge in my hand, I put it into place and I worked on it and I worked towards it. And the life visioning process, which is, that's what I want to ask you about. Can you talk about the life visioning process and what it is? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: So, two things. One, everyone knows what visualization is. Those are the primary steps of meta physics, that which is beyond the physical realm, where you visualize, you see mentally what you want to bring into manifestation, you feel it emotionally, you describe it. You know, and eventually if you hold that space for a period of time, it will begin to manifest sometimes beyond your imagination. 

That's, that's the beginning. Now, visioning is the next step. Visioning, you're not visualizing. You're actually asking a question, what is it that's within me that's, that's trying to emerge? I teach that everyone has a meant to be. It could be called a destiny. Not a should be. Should be comes from authority figures outside of yourself.

The government says you should be this. Your parents say you should do this. Your schooling may say you should do this. But there's something within all of us that's trying to come forward. You're not attracting it. It's not the law of attraction. It's the law of emergence. For instance, an acorn, when planted in the proper soil, doesn't attract an oak tree. The oak tree emerges from the acorn because the oak tree's already in there. The idea, the energy, the intelligence of an oak tree is already within the acorn in the right condition. It emerges. So there's something within us that's already here. Don't attract it. It emerges from us. So in the visioning process, it's a meditative process in which people go into a state of calm, assurance, feeling tone of love and of peace, either through memory or imagination.

And you ask the question. What is it within me that's trying to emerge? What gift am I to contribute to this planet? If they like to use the word God, what is God's idea? Again, not a man. What is God's idea of itself as my life? What is that vision? So when you ask that question sincerely in your sitting, you begin to activate your spiritual faculty that may be latent because you've been living life primarily through the five senses, navigating through this world. But when you ask that kind of question, you start to open up your spiritual sense and you start to catch a vision for your life.

It doesn't come from society, it comes from your soul. And then you ask the question, what is it that I must become in order to bring this vision into manifestation? That's my growing edge. So I start to catch where I need to, where do I need to grow? Where do I need to change? Not what needs to change out there. What needs to change here? And then thirdly we ask, what is it that I already have that can be in service to this vision that I'm beginning to articulate? What does that do? I start to place my attention on what I have. What resources do I have? Who do I know? What inner talents do I have that may be taken for granted?

What does that do? It makes me start to feel a high state of being and a feeling of having. Now there's a law in a scripture that says, to he or she who has more is given. To he or she who has not, even that which they have shall be taken away. It's not personal. It's just a law. If you walk around thinking that you're in a field of abundance, that you have, you, More shows up. If you walk around thinking, little old me, I don't have anything, all my attention is focused on what I don't have, then that which you do have will be taken away. It's just law. It's not personal. So we start to feel what we have, and then we ask, what is it that no longer serves me that I'm willing to let go?

It could be conversations, habits, gossip. Bad, you know, certain things that we know aren't good for us, that we just do it anyway. What can I let go of now? And this is not a judgment exercise. It's an awareness exercise. She starts to become aware. Oh, you know, I can let go of that now. I can let go of that complaining. You know, so, and fifthly, we tap into the feeling of willingness. If there's willingness, there's a way. If there's willfulness from the ego, you create a vibrational wall. So we go from trying to make it happen to making it welcome. So that's a brief analysis of the vision process. All those things are meditative processes.

So the individual ends up learning to articulate the vision and then that starts to become more real. Then obstacles, hindrances, obstructions, and you start to be pulled by your vision. You're no longer pushed by your pain. You're pulled by a vision. And that's, that's the vision process. That's now, I mean, it's used everywhere now. Corporate America is using it in board meetings, spiritual communities are using it to get a greater definition of their spiritual community. It's now a part of the metaphysical teachings that I was attacked for years ago. Now people just use the word visioning, you know, it's now a part of the language.

So anyway, that's the vision process, that's the analysis of it. The idea is if a person makes that a part of their spiritual practice, they're basically combining meditation with asking empowering questions. And so literally, it is a transformational technology. You're not staying the same and trying to change the world. You're actually changing, and your world changes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's so powerful, but we, unfortunately, I know that I grew up, I was very externally directed. You know, and we have the ability to change our reality right now, right now. And being able to have guidance along the way is one of the great gifts of being connected with you. You know, I get to be there in person now, you know, but you know, you and your whole family. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. It's always great to see you guys. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: We're, we're, we're family, you know, and. You know, but we also, again, for those who are resonating with this, and also just again, to live more intentionally, to live your life on purpose, like you, that's why you're here, you know, stop acting like you're an accident, right? You know what I mean? Is getting connected to inner technology like this. So I highly recommend the life visioning process where, where can people get access to that? 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Well, actually they can get the book. It's called the Life Visioning Process. They can get it from the Agape website, agapelive. com and go to the bookstore. It's sold everywhere where books are sold. But it's used, it's used in so many places now. You know, there, there are college courses around it now in certain universities. And as I said earlier, there are corporate America. And they're doing it because what they discovered. And after The Secret was released many years ago, I was in that movie.

They're discovering when their staff and their employees are at a higher level, they're more productive. So they're bringing it in more as a profit thing. You know, when the staff is much more coherent and they're living at a much dynamically higher purpose. They become better employees. So it's being used for different reasons. But yeah, they can, they can get the life visioning process right off our website or anywhere books are sold. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And also you have a great gift that you're providing people with on a regular basis now. New content, interviews, teachings from you. Through take back your mind podcast you mentioned a little bit earlier, but big shout out to the take back your mind podcast. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yeah, and you were one of my first guests on there. And Take back your mind that name and that's the it's actually a name of a book. I've written I haven't released it yet because I still am fooling around with it. But you know, it's it's it really took off really fast. And so I have guests on there every week. Sometimes I do solo shows and the different guests are showing their own ways in which they have taken back their mind and become a more of a creative energy in the world and not succumbing to circumstances or situations. So it's, it's a very popular, growing podcast. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And this is available wherever you're listening to this podcast, of course, you can find take back your mind if you're watching on YouTube, right? Shout out to everybody watching on YouTube, but leave a comment below. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Definitely. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Share some love.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Share some love. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: With Michael Beckwith. Listen. Alright. Share, share what you, what did you pick up from this episode? Share your heart. Yeah. I want him to be able to see this. Share, share that love. Share your heart down in the comment section. If you listen to the audio. Go over to the YouTube channel. All right, subscribe to the Model Health Show.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Subscribe, subscribe. It helps the algorithm so that people will find it better. And you'll become a part of a larger group that's asking higher questions. And you'll be making a difference on the planet just by subscribing. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's facts, that's facts. And also, Take Back Your Mind is on YouTube as well. So people can find your work, incredible videos and talks that you've done. Agape. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Also live streams. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So many great resources Will put everything for you in the show notes. You're one of my favorite human beings. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: You too, man. You and your whole family we're like tight. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. So I appreciate you so much for coming to hang out and share your wisdom and listen again, if you're not already subscribed to take back your mind, pop over there, subscribe. It's one of the few shows I pop on. I literally is just listening to an interview that you did this week actually, with Greg Braden. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Oh, yes. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You know, and so just, I'm always tapping in. Especially, it's really good food for your soul. Yeah, really it truly is and so again I appreciate you so much for coming to hang out.

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: Hey, this is my joy man. The model health show. It's where to go. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Let's go. That's what I'm talking about. The one and only Michael Beckwith. 

DR. MICHAEL B. BECKWITH: My joy. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today I truly do hope you got a lot of value out of this. Please make sure to share this episode and also save it. Save the episode to come back to. If you find yourself struggling to remember some of these powerful Mindset shifts. This is the great use or the right use of technology today is that we could just pop on conversations like this, insights like this just by pushing play. So make sure to save this episode as a reminder, when you need it. We've got some amazing masterclasses and world class guests coming your way very, very soon. 

So make sure to stay tuned. Take care. Have an amazing day. And I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow. com. That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you've got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome. And I appreciate that so much and take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.