Did you know that 4% of the population are psychopaths?

This is a consistent statistic that has been repeatedly published over different decades. Sure, the dumb ones end up in prison, the smart ones end up in finance & tech, and the vain ones find themselves in politics.

What’s the possibility that psychopaths are largely responsible for WHAT you think. Those who are responsible for what gets displayed on your smartphone every time it buzzes you? WHAT can and cannot be on certain platforms. What’s deemed dangerous for the public because they’re looking out for “your safety”.

Programs that are focused on how long they can hold your attention. That’s the end goal of the algo. 

Programs that have been written by 4% of the population. 4% who value power, and have no idea what love is.

Will you leave your mind up to them to tell you what’s important… or will you take your consciousness into your own control?

I’ve witnessed women tear each other apart emotionally in the name of “self-expression”.

Self-expression is a characteristic of “self-love” and I want everyone to experience it.

For most people, they’ve suppressed it for so long, that when it finally comes out it is jarring for everyone around them.

The pendulum swings and they could give 2 shits about how you feel about it. Self expression usually follows the deep realization that everyone is responsible for their own experience. And in that realization the person suppressing knows that they’re the one who is actually responsible for their life.

… and everyone else is responsible for theirs.

So in the vein of this partial reality, expression is unleashed on the world around them. They no longer are playing the “character” that everyone has been conditioned to know. In turn, their reality is challenged and their triggers surface.

The result? Hurt feelings, disagreement, and conflict. 

It usually takes awhile for the newly self expressed to learn how to do it gracefully. And in truth, to learn how to authentically express their heart… and not their wounds.

That’s the key. In the beginning of perceived self expression, the person expressing themselves isn’t actually their SELF. It’s a wound. It’s BS.

This is why when I’m helping someone through this phase that we are becoming objective enough to see if it’s the heart or a wound. 

Knowing this nuance will save everyone a lot of pain and suffering. The road to self expression doesn’t need to be littered with the hurt feelings. It can be done from a place of love. It can be done gracefully.

This is a mark of a good leader. Yes, authentic wounded-expression will likely get you a lot of attention, but it won’t be the attention you want in the long run.

We want to get attention through love.

Can you respect yourself by allowing self-expression while also respecting others?

We get into the nuances of this concept on today’s show of Monday Morning with Mike & Max.

One of my mentors once told me “powerful leaders hold paradox”.

As many paradoxical statements can land, I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about. I had to go look up the word. Needed the definition first. So in case you are like I was I’ll save you a google search.

From Merriam-Webster

: one (such as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases

So what does it mean to hold the damn thing? To be able to hold two seemingly contradictory qualities at the same time?

Took me years before it landed and ever since then it’s landed more and more. The mind likes to think only one way. Thinking there can only be this or that. What about this AND that?

So what happens when you take seemingly contradictory philosophical concepts that were each developed in isolation (mostly) and then introduce them to each other? That’s what we get when we look at the history of western philosophy vs eastern philosophy.

Most people see these two sets of philosophies in contradiction to one another. 

The east holds the truth of everything existing as a circle. The 4 seasons, each year returning. The revolution of time & space, always returning back to where we started.

The west holds the truth of progress. The beginning and the end. Alpha and Omega. The truth that the universe is evolving in a way that never repeats itself.

Two seemingly contradictory philosophies. Both of which most people could not hold simultaneously… but for those who can, the world is your oyster.

Checkout today’s Monday Mornings with Mike & Max podcast. We’ll do our best to tickle your brain.

The prohibition on plant medicine is slowly lifting and we find ourselves at critical crossroads.

With a lack of acceptance in the west for so long, we end up with a gap in education about traditional medicine. Medicines that used to be typical have become shrouded in mystery.

Education that was passed down from former generations has been all but forgotten. But few people have walked the uncommon path to study with elders hidden deep in the Amazon jungle.

And I’ve been able to wrangle one of these fascinating people who have been willing to put it all on the line. This man walked away from the comforts of modern American life in order to follow visions that were delivered to him deep in meditation.

No, he didn’t do a google search to find his local shaman. In fact, when he got the message there was no google to point him in the right direction.

You’ll have to watch/listen to the show to get the whole story. I didn’t know much about Hamilton before the show, but by the end I’ve made a friend that I look forward to sitting in ceremony with.

Enjoy the show,

Mike Bledsoe

P.S. if you want to book your own experience with Hamilton at Blue Morpho Tours simply click the link and you’ll be guided to right where you need to be.

Nothing better than regurgitating shit you saw on a documentary. 

That’s usually the extent of most people’s knowledge on the subject. Good thing we’re extra smart over here. The bottom line is our perception of the world shapes reality. You know, actual reality.

I’m not playing that silly game where I say “your perception is your reality”, because that’s BS. Your perception is your perception and reality is reality. You are not the Almighty Creator. If you think that’s the case, stop doing drugs. I’ve got a program for you that will get you back in alignment. 

But get this, how you perceive impacts what’s happening in and around you. If you perceive that everyone is an a-hole? You’ll likely make choices that will put you in the way of moody people, and you’ll give off the vibe that you want that energy.

You may think “Mike, who really wants to create that?” Here’s the deal, whatever you believe to be true your subconscious will fight, tooth and nail, to find/create the evidence. No matter how silly it seems to your conscious mind. That ego lurking around in the background really likes to be right. In fact, being wrong is one of the worst things that can happen to the ego. Feels like death.

So choose your beliefs wisely… and maybe try to let go of beliefs and just sit with what you know. It’s a lovely place. As I sit in that space I realize I don’t know much and I’m very happy about it.

Does spiritual development always have to be hard?

Or

Can we make it easy and fun?

Over the years I’ve found that we can access the greatest part of ourselves while accessing joy and community. And if you’ve been following me for very long then you know that it always leads to the dancefloor.

Why are we doing all this work anyway? Let’s enjoy ourselves.

Slip into a conversation about the fun side of personal and spiritual development.

Vanessa Lambert is a former CrossFit competitor, surf instructor and firefighter, turned Kundalini Yogi and founder of Bee the Wellness luxury retreats.

We dive into her upcoming Bee-Fest in Mexico (April 26-30) and discuss the power of community and integration.

And if you’re ready to go on an adventure check the Bee-Fest site and use the code “BLEDSOE” for $500 off your all inclusive ticket.