Michael Singer: “I Can Handle This”—A Powerful Mantra for Modern Life, Why We Are Addicted to Our Own Suffering, and How to Release Everything That’s Hurting Us.

Summary

Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown
Episode: Michael Singer: “I Can Handle This”—A Powerful Mantra for Modern Life, Why We Are Addicted to Our Own Suffering, and How to Release Everything That’s Hurting Us
Date: January 6, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this thoughtful and transformative episode, neuroscientist and host Mayim Bialik is joined once again by spiritual teacher and author Michael Singer (The Untethered Soul, Living Untethered, The Surrender Experiment). Together with co-host Jonathan Cohen, they explore the nature of consciousness, why suffering is self-created, and how releasing internal resistance can fundamentally change our experience of life. With Michael’s grounded, accessible wisdom and Mayim’s probing curiosity, the discussion focuses on practical methods to “wake up,” process pain, find compassion, and develop the powerful mantra: “I can handle this.” Singer also gives listeners a sneak peek into his next book, coming out March 2026.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

What Does It Mean to “Wake Up”?

00:43 – 11:40

• Michael Singer asserts that everyone is already “awake,” inherently connected to a greater consciousness—but most people do not experience this due to accumulated inner “garbage.”
  • “We are really connected. As they say, we are connected to God. We’re connected to the consciousness of the universe. So why don’t we experience that? … Because you’ve had experience in your life that have bothered you, that focused your consciousness, distracted this universal wide consciousness down to a given point of your thoughts, your emotions.” (Michael Singer, 07:17)
• Waking up, he explains, is freeing oneself from being lost in personal experiences and ego.
• He likens inner awakening to spiritual rebirth, referencing Christ’s notion of “dying to be reborn.”
• The challenge is not occasional spiritual experiences, but staying “awake” by continually letting go of past pain and internalized negativity.
  • “Anything you ever pushed away is still in there. If you did not, at some point, learn to let it go... you know it does.…That’s what it means to not be awake.” (Singer, 09:23)

The Power of Acceptance and the Mantra “I Can Handle This”

16:52 – 26:42

• Singer draws a direct line between the amount of resistance we carry and our suffering.
• The difference between handling life well or badly is not what happens, but whether we say “I can handle this,” or “I can’t handle this.”
  • “When you say, I can’t handle it, what you’re really saying is, unless it’s the way I want, I can’t handle it.” (Singer, 17:38)
• Resistance and the attempt to control the external world breeds neurosis, anger, and division.
• Acceptance does not mean approval or passivity; it's about starting from reality, cultivating calmness within, and then acting with clarity.
  • “If I'm not okay, I guarantee you what I'm doing is struggling to change the outside so I can be okay. …As opposed to I've learned to be at peace, calm, open, centered. Okay? And now I can come back down and say, how can I actually help the situation? Not help me handle the situation.” (Singer, 21:17)
• The world, Singer suggests, truly changes “one person at a time, and that person’s you.” (25:57)

Brain States: Resistance vs. Acceptance

26:42 – 28:39

• Jonathan Cohen discusses the neuroscience: resistance triggers attack and closes down creativity; acceptance opens us to clarity, cooperation, and connection.
• Algorithms and culture often reinforce a stance of resistance and “finding enemies,” worsening the mental divide.

Scientific and Spiritual Intersections: Field, Consciousness, and Reality

28:39 – 34:00

• Singer details the convergence of science and spirituality, describing the “omnipresent field” recognized by quantum physics as analogous to spiritual concepts of God or divine energy.
• Ultimately, Singer says, the senses are just input ports; our experienced reality is a projection of consciousness. The “quantum field” is made of consciousness, experienced in its pure form by realized masters.
  • “When your consciousness ceases to stare at your thoughts, your emotions, your mind… it’s liberated. And what they found out, the great ones have found out, all the stars and moons and galaxies are who they are. That’s one with their consciousness.” (Singer, 31:27)
• Human suffering, he argues, stems from “contracting consciousness” down onto our personal dramas.

The Fallacy of Contracted Consciousness

36:49 – 44:18

• The 60s idea of “expanded consciousness” is partially mistaken; Singer reframes it as releasing contraction, not expanding.
  • “Consciousness is already fully expanded. It's that you're contracting it to focus on your stuff.” (Singer, 36:54)
• Suffering arises from resisting reality, having rigid preferences, and narrowing awareness.
• Notable reframing of the spiritual teaching:
  • “The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. …The great way is not difficult for those who prefer everything.” (Singer, 43:38)

The Material World, Struggle, and Happiness

44:18 – 47:37

• Wealth and comfort don’t solve suffering; turmoil is about inner state, not external conditions.
  • “Wealthy people have just as much problems. …It’s not true that having things makes you be okay.” (Singer, 45:40)
• Historical figures like Gandhi exemplify ultimate surrender and compassion regardless of material struggle.
  • “He freed a country. You understand that, and you just realize it’s not about material wealth, it’s about your inner state.” (Singer, 47:28)

Compassion and Acceptance as Overlapping Practices

47:37 – 49:45

• Mayim and Singer discuss how acceptance and compassion go hand in hand. Acceptance does not require liking the situation but allows coexistence with discomfort and other viewpoints.
• True connection and progress, even on social and political issues, are only possible through compassion for others’ unique experiences.

Practical Approaches for Beginners and Skeptics

49:45 – 55:52

• Singer stresses that we’re all “in there,” observers of our own thoughts and experiences.
  • “Are you in there? Hello, are you in there? And every person I asked everyone, are you in there? They said, yeah, okay, you’re in there. You know you’re in there. What does in there mean? They don’t, I don’t explain it. I know I’m in here.” (Singer, 50:54)
• True transformation comes not from dogma but from gently encouraging self-inquiry.
• He shares a moving story about a former student who initially rejected his teachings but later embraced them, confirming the power of gentle guidance and timing.

Higher and Lower Self: Understanding and Releasing Suffering

55:52 – 62:22

• The “lower self” is the sum of our accumulated pain, reactive behaviors, and stored emotional wounds.
  • “Your consciousness is addicted. And that’s the right word, right? You’re more addicted to that part of you, to yourself, your disturbed self, than people are to drugs or alcohol.” (Singer, 55:55)
• The “higher self” is the observer—the one “noticing” even your negative states. By identifying as the witness, you begin to loosen the addiction to chaos and patterns of suffering.
• Letting go is a learned skill, like practicing piano; it begins with small experiences of surrender and builds over time.

Trauma, Inherited Patterns, and Release

62:22 – 65:58

• Mayim asks about trauma and “inherited” pain (genetic, cultural, even past lives).
• Singer acknowledges that some pain and fears seem larger than life or beyond one’s direct experience, but whether natured or nurtured, the key is learning to handle and release what arises within.
  • “Consciousness is the ultimate power of the universe. …Can anything that's in there be let go of? Yes. Is there any super glue in there that's holding cement in there? No. The only reason anything stays in there is because subconsciously, deeply, whatever will, the power of will, is pushing it down.” (Singer, 63:21)
• He encourages starting with minor irritations to develop the capacity for letting go, gradually working up to deeper wounds.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You have stored inside of you a lot of garbage. And the truth is, you put it in there and only you can let it out.”
  — Michael Singer (00:00 then also 55:52)

• “A great mantra would be, I can handle this. You have to start by saying, I am capable of accepting reality.”
  — Michael Singer (00:29, restated at 20:54)

• “Anything you ever pushed away is still in there. …That’s what it means to not be awake.”
  — Michael Singer (09:23)

• “If you’re not doing okay inside, it’s because you’re messed up in there. Straighten it up. So, let’s start there.”
  — Michael Singer (46:13)

• “You’re more addicted to that part of you, to yourself, your disturbed self, than people are to drugs or alcohol.”
  — Michael Singer (55:55)

• “Practice being okay with little things, with the weather, with what somebody said. You’re going to find out, you get better at it.”
  — Michael Singer (64:42)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00-11:40 — What does “waking up” really mean? Why aren’t we always awake?
• 16:52-26:42 — Resisting vs. accepting reality; “I can handle this” as transformative mantra; suffering and activism
• 28:39-34:00 — Science, spirituality, and the quantum field; the unity of consciousness
• 36:49-44:18 — The illusion of contracted consciousness; suffering, preference, and spiritual humor
• 44:18-47:37 — Material struggle; happiness absent of external conditions; exemplars like Gandhi
• 47:37-49:45 — Compassion and acceptance: two sides of the same coin
• 49:45-55:52 — Reaching skeptics and beginners; the universal experience of “being in there”
• 55:52-62:22 — Higher vs. lower self; addiction to suffering and methods for release
• 62:22-65:58 — Trauma (personal, generational, or inherited) and the gradual path to letting go

---

Tone and Style

The conversation is warm, searching, accepting, and often gently humorous. Michael Singer’s style is casual, direct, yet deeply compassionate—frequently using analogies, spiritual references from various traditions, and practical guidance. Mayim and Jonathan probe with curiosity, at times representing skeptical or overwhelmed listeners, and helping ground the discussion in real-world concerns.

---

Final Thoughts

This episode offers profound-yet-practical wisdom about spiritual growth, acceptance, and inner surrender. Michael Singer’s mantra, “I can handle this,” is explored not as passivity but as a gateway to transformative action and genuine connection. The hosts and guest weave together science, psychology, and spirituality, encouraging each person to take responsibility for their own internal world, as this is ultimately what changes the collective.

Listeners are left with encouragement and the empowering reminder: You are already awake. Let go, accept what is, and let the fullness of consciousness express itself through you—one moment, and one internal release, at a time.

Transcript

[Michael Singer]

You have stored inside of you a lot of garbage. And the truth is, you put it in there and only you can let it out. The great ones have found out you need to expand your mind and your consciousness if you can't change and bring down something more beautiful. Thanks for somebody else, too.

[Mayim Bialik]

The spiritual visionary Michael Singer is back. He's spent 50 years teaching us how to wake up and stop fighting with the universe. What does it mean to tap into a higher self?

[Michael Singer]

Great mantra would be, I can handle this. You have to start by saying, I am capable of accepting reality.

[Mayim Bialik]

The more that's happening in the world, the more it also seems that people can't handle it.

[Michael Singer]

Every single person has totally different experiences, so therefore, the way they think is going to be unique. Can I handle that? Everybody's different. I've learned to open enough to accept reality. It doesn't mean I don't do anything about it. But here's the difference. If I'm not okay, I guarantee you what I'm doing is struggling to change the outside. And I'm acting based on the reaction to that, as opposed to I've learned to be at peace, calm, open, centered. And now how can I actually help the situation, not help me handle the situation.

[Mayim Bialik]

When we tell people to be in acceptance of something, it doesn't mean you have to like it.

[Michael Singer]

You're sitting on a little planet of which 1.3 million Earths fit inside the sun. You think that you matter so much, that everything should be the way you want. When your consciousness ceases to stare at your thoughts, your emotions, your mind, it's liberated. But that's a very high state. So in the meantime, you learn to practice compassion. The world changes one person at a time, and that person's you. Hey, Sal. Hank. What's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana. And it was so easy.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Too easy.

[Michael Singer]

Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.

[Mayim Bialik]

Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

[Michael Singer]

It's a historically hideous season.

[Mayim Bialik]

It's our 100th ugly house.

[Michael Singer]

And if these walls could talk.

[Mayim Bialik]

Do you cry a lot? I do.

[Michael Singer]

Ugliest house in America. Season premiere Wednesday at 8 on HGTV.

[Mayim Bialik]

Hi, I'm Aim Bialik.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And I'm Jonathan Cohen.

[Mayim Bialik]

And welcome to our breakdown. Today we have a very, very unique opportunity to view our world in an entirely different way. Not just the world that we live in, but the world that we live in in our heads. We're going to be exploring the notion of a universal consciousness that dictates all of the things that we see and feel, the ways we react. But so many of us are looking to react less and respond more. So many of us are feeling like maybe there's something missing about the thoughts that I'm having and the way that I interpret them. What does it mean to tap into a higher self? What does it mean to have access to some sort of divine consciousness? If all of this seems like too much to handle, we're going to give you the most grounded and most practical stroll through your mind. The only person who can do this with us is Michael Singer. Now, Michael Singer is the author of the Untethered Soul. We spoke to him about three years ago. He's also written Living Untethered and the Surrender Experiment. He had a deep inner Awakening in 1971, where he spontaneously realized that there was a voice in his head that was watching everything that was going on. And it's led to an entire life of teaching people how to go about their lives, to be in touch with something that he believes has already been awakened for all of us.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We hear so much about the term awakening, spiritual awakening, becoming more aware. And what Michael teaches is that we are all already awake. We have access to infinite consciousness, the ability to feel at one with everything, to have clarity, to know how to navigate our lives. And yet we limit that. We reduce our own ability to be connected with the source of all that there is.

[Mayim Bialik]

And in case this feels heady or out there, it's actually one of the most practical conversations that I have heard Michael Singer have. Because we ask about things like belief systems, religious structures. We ask about pain. We ask about challenges. We ask about, what if I don't even have a framework for a spiritual identity? In addition, Michael decided to share with us something that we had no idea about. He gives us a sneak peek into what is going to be his next book, which will be coming out in March 2026. He reads us an excerpt and lets us into what is next for all of us on our spiritual evolution.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Without further ado, we are so excited.

[Mayim Bialik]

To bring back Michael Singer to the Breakdown. Break it down.

[Michael Singer]

Hi, Mayim, how are you? So excited to see you again.

[Mayim Bialik]

We had the pleasure of speaking to you about three years ago, and not only was it one of our most viewed, most beloved and most shared episodes that we've ever done. But it was personally one of our very early conversations that we started to have, which has become a lot more of the mainstay of our podcast. Talking about spirituality, about intuition. You really opened up, you know, so many doors for us, and we're. We're so grateful to get to speak to you again. So thank you. Since we first spoke to you, we've heard a lot in. In our culture shift in terms of people talking about waking up or having spiritual awakenings or people feeling that they're gaining access to parts of themselves that they. That they never did. Can you describe a little bit, either through your own journey or through your work? What does it mean to wake up? What does it mean to have these kinds of awakenings? What does it look like?

[Michael Singer]

That's very beautiful. And, you know, I've been doing this for 50 years more. And so I've matured at many different levels, times and so on. And what I now see, and I of course work with a lot of people, is we're all awake. We're beyond awake, like. But I've not. I'm not enlightened, you know. That's right. But my understanding and experiences show that we are really connected. As they say, we are connected to God. We're connected to the consciousness of the universe. So why don't we experience that? Because you talk about waking up. I always say, why are you not awake? Instead of, what do I need to do to wake up? What's it like to wake up? I know you are a great being, every one of you, your great beings connected to unbelievable consciousness. All right, so why don't I experience that? And the short story is, because you've had experience in your life that have bothered you, that focused your consciousness, distracted this universal wide consciousness down to a given point of your thoughts, your emotions. And what's happened to you. The ego, right. It pulled it down to that. In a short form, waking up means kind of freeing yourself from that, Getting lost in the ego, getting lost in your personal self. And then you start the more. Christ said you must die to be reborn. That's what he meant, right? You die of the personal self, and next thing you know, you're feeling spirit, you're feeling shakti. I use the word shakti. All right. No, you know it. All right? And so you're feeling this upliftment of energy. They call that waking up. Maybe have visions, maybe you literally go very, very deep and have a merger. You know, people do all kinds of things but they all come back. That's the problem. All right? So my interest is to wake up and stay woken up at whatever level. I'm not interested in quick little fixes and drugs and different stuff, all right? It's just, why are you not there now? And the answer is, because you stored stuff inside of you over the course of your life, and you know you have. Right? And suppression, repression, denial, resistance, Call whatever you want. So that when things come in from outside and they're not comfortable in here, when they get in, you tend to push them away. You understand that? Rationalization, this, that whatever, what you're literally doing is saying, I can't handle this energy. I don't like this energy. I don't want it coming into me. I don't want it in me. Forget coming into me. Or you can make comedy with a thought to be an experience, right? And what we tend to do, it's natural, but it's not good, right? Is to push it away. Anything you ever pushed away is still in there. If you did not, at some point, learn to let it go, I don't care. It's fine. I forgive you, really. Right? But if you held it in there, you push it away, it comes back up, and you know it does. And then you push it away again. All right? So that's what it means to not be awake. And there's different levels, of course. All right? You're like. You're lost in yourself. Your consciousness is lost in staring at Mayim and Jonathan. Okay? That's where we live our lives. It's just the reality. So when people are waking up and people are realizing, wait a minute, I don't need all this junk inside of me. I don't need to control the whole world for me to be okay, Okay. I can learn to work on myself, which is part of waking up. I can learn to work on my inner self, so. So that I can handle things. That's what I found it boils down to, right? Last time I did an interview with Oprah for Living Untethered, which we worked with that book, right? She said, you know, Michael, you know what a great mantra would be for the Western, Western mind? I can handle this. Instead of, I can't handle this. Why'd you do that? I can't handle this. Right? It's. I can handle this. The more you can handle what's coming in, the less you have to push it away. The less you don't have to push it away, the more it actually makes through, like white lines on the Road you drive by, they pass by. Well, the more you grow and evolve, it really is a form of evolution of the consciousness that it can handle these things. Then that is what they mean by I waking up, having spiritual experiences and so on. But remember my teachings. And what I learned is the key isn't your experiences, because they can. I had a great experience two years ago. Well, then that was two years ago. Where are you now? Why are you not there all the time? Because you haven't learned to let go of the garbage. I'm sorry to call it that, but it is right? Things from the past that aren't happening now should not be bothering you. They're not real. They're not happening. You may. You held them in your mind. All right, so there's a short. Not short. There's a foundation of our discussion of what it means to wake up.

[Jonathan Cohen]

My Mbialix breakdown is supported by Incogni.

[Mayim Bialik]

Your personal data is everywhere online. And that makes you an easy target for scammers. Websites legally publish and profit from your info. Your name, home address, even court records. Once it's out there, it is fair game for stalkers, identity thieves, or anyone with bad intentions. Last year alone, data breaches skyrocketed by over 200%. That means your private details could already be floating around. Shady directories, AI summaries and people search sites just waiting to be exploited. That's where Incogni comes in. They hunt down your exposed personal data, not just from data brokers, across the entire web. Directories, search results, company databases. Gone. Their custom removals feature takes it even further. Send them a link and your dedicated privacy expert will handle the takedown. Whether it's a random court record or a sketchy people search profile, they will make it disappear. Reduce your risk of scams and identity theft. Protect your privacy and reclaim your online solitude in just three steps. Create your account, give one time authorization. Let Incogni do the rest. Remember, they can't harm you if they can't find you. Add up to three emails. Add addresses and phone numbers to uncover even more hidden profiles. With the unlimited plan, you can send in any link and watch it vanish. Plus, it is risk free. Cancel anytime or get your money back within 30 days if you're not satisfied. Scammers are getting smarter. But with Incog, you're one step ahead. They're the only data removal service independently verified by Deloitte. Because your privacy deserves proof, take your personal data back with incog. Head to incog.com mayim use the code mayim m a y I m to get 60% off an annual plan that's.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Code [e-mail] mime Mayimbialix breakdown is supported by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack, hydration and coffee sponsor.

[Mayim Bialik]

IQ protein bars, IQ mix hydration mixes and IQ Joe mushroom coffees are the delicious, low sugar, brain and body fuel you need to win your day. The New year means a clean slate. Time to transform frustration into fuel and power your day with IQ Bar. The Ultimate Sampler Pack is a great way to try all IQ Bar products and flavors. You get nine IQ Bars, eight IQ Mix Sticks and four IQ Joe Sticks. All IQ Bar products are clean, label, certified and entirely free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs and artificial ingredients. When IQ Bar sent the sampler pack to me, I was interested in coconut chip. That's the first one that I reached for, but Jonathan reaches for all of them because he likes all of the flavors equally.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I was literally about to pull one out of my pocket and have it on air with me, but I ate it.

[Mayim Bialik]

You only ate one today.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I did eat one today. And because you say that I leave my wrappers everywhere wrote the wrapper so I can't even show you that I had it.

[Mayim Bialik]

Right now IQ Bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ Bar products, including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping to get your 20% off. Text breakdown to 64,000 Text breakdown to 64,000 that's breakdown to 64,000 Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details.

[Jonathan Cohen]

My imbalance breakdown is supported by Remy.

[Mayim Bialik]

If you've listened to our podcast for any amount of time, you've probably heard me and Jonathan both talk about teeth clenching and grinding of our teeth. When we're stressed, our jaws get tired. It's not good for teeth. Overall, it's not fun. If you're like us and you're part of the 30% of Americans who grind their teeth, your smile needs protection. In 2026, Remy's custom night guards are clinically tested to prevent teeth grinding, reduce jaw tension and facial muscle strain, and improve sleep quality. You get the same professional quality and comfort as a night guard from the dentist, but Remy costs 80% less and it is so convenient because you don't have to go to the dentist's office. Here's how it works. You get an impression kit literally delivered right to your door. The step by step instructions made it fun and easy. I got a perfect impression, not bragging. Remy crafts and ships you your custom fit night Guard. You never have to leave your house. And once you receive it, you can start protecting your teeth. Start the new year, right. Use the code break to get 50 off your purchase of a new night guard. That's 50 off at shop r e m I.com break with the code break.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Thank you, Remy, for sponsoring this episode.

[Mayim Bialik]

Here's my teeth. We're hearing it more in kind of the cultural vernacular. You know, there's workshops and, yes, everybody's doing. You know, we live in Los Angeles. Everybody's doing psilocybin and going on ayahuasca journeys, and everybody wants to get connected and all these things. So part of me wanted to ask, you know, what do you see is happening that's leading to that? But the other side of it is also. Many of us seem to be devolving in that the more that's happening in the world, the more it also seems that people can't handle it. Meaning with politics, with world events, you hear more and more people saying, I need to be on medication. My doctor doesn't know what to do with me. You know, can you talk about each of these evolutions, both an elevating one and whatever evolution is happening that's making people less resilient to being able to be in touch with that.

[Michael Singer]

Of course. And they're the same, by the way. Okay? It's like a scale. How far negative, how far positive is the same spectrum. All right? So the reason people are. I don't even use the word devolving, but the reason they are getting lost and getting angry and getting tense and anxious and all that kind of stuff, right? It's just they're not letting go. They're sitting here saying, I can't handle this, as they're saying, I can't handle this. I can't handle the politics. I can't know what's going on with racism. I can't handle this. I can't help. I. I can't handle this. All right? Stop the world. I want to get off. Okay, well, that. That's going backwards. The more you resist, the more you say, and by the way, when you say, I can't handle it, what you're really saying is, unless it's the way I want, I can't handle it. Right? If it be the way I want, I can handle it just fine. Right? So you're out there getting tense, manipulating, controlling intensely, right? And it gets worse and worse because the more you shove down, the worse it is, right? So it's really the up is when you're letting go, not saying, I can't handle it, I better go out there and manipulate everybody and everything to get it the way I want, but just sitting here saying, I can handle it. How? By working on myself inside. When you stop working yourself inside, you stop understanding that the reality, what's happening is your consciousness looking at you. Right? I, I, I often talk about, and I don't know if anybody gets it right. How small are you? I don't know. You're a great, being very popular. We love you so much, right? You're sitting on a little planet of which 1.3 million Earths fit inside the sun. Did you know that? 1.3 million Earths inside the sun. And how much of that planet do you take up this tiny minuscule thing? And yet you think that you matter so much that, that everything should be the way you want. Waking up means hello, right? That that's 1.3 million Earth inside the sun, and there's 300 billion stars in your galaxy. So why can't we just say, hey, I came down to the planet, I'm going to do a few trucks around the sun and it's cool, things happen. I can, I can handle them. I can work to, to raise them. I can work to make them where I feel the world would be a better place if I do this, but not starting with I can't handle this. So that's why the world is more and more. I don't know the world, right? But a lot of people are more and more getting closed. What does closed mean? I can't handle it. I don't want to experience it. Push it away. What does open mean? Okay. Okay, fine. It's raining. I didn't want it to rain. I can handle it. The driver in front of me is driving 15 miles an hour below the speed limit. I'm in a rush, okay? I'm on a low ball spin, middle of nowhere, scooting around. I can handle it. That's the spectrum when the Internet. And with all the difference happening, there's so much more exposure to everything, so much more communication. So there's so much more for you not to be able to handle, okay? And you just have to decide, I can handle it. I can handle it, okay?

[Mayim Bialik]

I wanna push a little bit harder on this because not because I don't think that there is wisdom here and not because I don't think that this is not the path that I would like to go down. And I think that many would, but when the stakes are raised, you know, many of Us live in cities. I'm just gonna say it where, you know, agents are coming in, taking people from their homes, taking people from their places of work. You know, the rights of women and people of color and trans people and LGBTQ community. They're being challenged by the know. I keep looking around and saying why we can't do anything to stop it. Right? So I want you to apply this to that, because obviously you're not saying, like, oh, people are being deported unjustly and held in prisons, and we never hear from them. Just let it go. How do we apply this to that kind of scale? You know, of. Of challenge.

[Michael Singer]

It's beautiful. They're beautiful. And I'm. I love talking about it. Okay, Do I like all the things that are going on? My personal position as a 60s liberal? Of course not. All right? But what I have found is that resistance doesn't fix anything. That doesn't. So the starting position is, as I keep saying it, okay, is this going on? Yes. What's my choice? Be able to handle it or don't be able to handle it. If I can't handle it, I get neurotic. I get ulcers, I get upset. I yell at the kids. You understand that? Okay, if I can handle it, which is work that. Okay. Things happen in this world that are terrible, even worse than we just talked about, aren't they? Okay, Go back to the Holocaust and think terrible things have happened. Okay? But they did happen, so you don't get to choose. They didn't. You don't get to rewrite history. All right? You have to start by saying, I am capable of accepting reality. You're a brilliant scientist, Maya. Right? I am capable of accepting reality. Is it reality? These things you said that are going on, not should they be going on, not do I like it. Is it reality? They're going on. Okay, you start by saying, I. I can accept reality. I've learned to be open enough to accept reality. Now, once I do that, it doesn't mean I don't do anything about it. But here's the difference, right? If I'm not okay, I guarantee you what I'm doing is struggling to change the outside so I can be okay. I don't want to be disturbed. I don't want them doing this. I don't want that happening, right? So I. I have this resistance and problem inside of me, and I'm acting based on the reaction to that as opposed to I've learned to be at peace, calm, open, centered. Okay? And now I can come back down and say, how can I actually help the situation? Not help me handle the situation. And I think you understand that a lot of what people are doing right is dumping. Right? Do they have the right to. Of course. There's terrible things happening in this world. Correct. I, I don't. I can't. They do. Right. But you have to be able to work on yourself to be able to handle them. Then see what Clarity says. How can I help? Some. Maybe a smile will help. Right? We talk about people that go through terrible things. How proud do you feel somebody's going through a terrible thing? And they, they, they're handicapped, but they stick their hand out to shake your hand. They don't show. That's a problem. They handled it right. If people could handle what's going on, we could get along. Right? Because I start by saying, I understand you. Psychology says, what man is the sum of his learned experiences? It's not true. You're the consciousness staring at the psyche. That's the sum of your learned experiences. The witness. Okay, fine. But if people are the sum of the learned experiences, everybody, every single person, had totally different experiences, right or wrong. Look at all the experiences you've had. No one ever had those. They're completely unique. So therefore, the way they think is going to be unique. You understand that? And the way I think is going to be unique is my way, right? Of course I'm right. But they say the same thing because their experiences support what they're thinking, because they are the sum of the learn experiences. We're talking deep, right? So you get to the point where it's not about fighting and arguing, it's about, can I handle that? Everybody's different. Can I handle. Everybody sees it different. And it's understandable if they're the sum of the learned experiences. And so now, like I said, can you handle it or can't you handle it? And more than that, are you trying to understand compassion? Are you trying to understand what Christ taught, what Buddha taught, what all the great teachers taught, which is, yeah, you, the. You, the. Without sin, throw the first stone. Forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Right. All the teachings are the same, which is if you come from a personal point of view of, this is the sum of my experiences. That's the fishbowl I'm wearing over my head. And it is different than yours. I don't care if you've been married 30 years. They are not going to think the same as you. They went to work one day and somebody fired them. They're different when they come back because they had a different experience. And you respect the fact that people have had different experiences, therefore they think differently. Are they different? No, the self is the same. When you can get back there, you start understanding. Oh, everybody's looking down at their own minds, right? But that's a very high state. So in the meantime, you learn to practice compassion. You learn to practice understanding. And if you can't do it and you both are great beings, right, how can anybody do it? Right. If you're going to get all upset and have road rage because somebody's not driving the way you want, okay, what do you expect from everybody else? And so what I've learned, it comes down to the world changes one person at a time. And that person's you, right? If you can't change and bring down something more beautiful, something with love, something with clarity and compassion, how do you straight everybody else too? And yelling at them is not going to happen. So it comes down to, yes, there are problems out there, serious problems that need to be dealt with. Okay? But I would rather have the clear person deal with them than the angry person, the upset person. The person is saying, I. When you say, I can't handle this, then you don't have the right to handle. You're the wrong person here. I have a job for you. Oh, no, I can't do that. Okay, there's somebody else.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, I think you should talk a little bit about the brain states that happen in acceptance versus resistance. We know that things calm down. We know that there's opportunity to have more openness, more clarity, more solutions. We don't attack in the same way. When we're resisting, we're in a state of attack. So the person is going to seem like my enemy who has a counterpoint. And that's a lot of what's happening right now is as we resist the algorithms for feed us opportunity to identify an enemy. And it's that person who is making me uncomfortable because I don't like their perspective. I don't like the experiences that they've had. And we've had other psychologists talk about how the brain changes when we enter a space where we feel okay enough to say, I don't like what's happening, but I can handle it. There's a solution here. And it actually leads to one of my. What you said earlier in this interview about us being connected to this larger consciousness system, and I would love for you to expand on that idea because a lot of people are like, well, I kind of Hear about consciousness and I hear about the universe, but like, I don't feel it necessarily. If we can start to paint a picture of the possibility, maybe we'll start to open people's mind to have more of the experience of it and finding those solutions that are available when we calm down. Because as we calm, my experience is that our access to the larger field of information and possibility expands and we're actually shutting it down and tightening the valve to not be able to have that flow into us when we're in this enraged state. So the question, I guess is, can you tell us a little bit more about this infinite consciousness and universe that we are all connected to and the possibilities in there?

[Michael Singer]

I have learned over my years that science and spirituality and you guys know that, all right. Are saying the same thing. They just haven't touched yet. Okay? They're close.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We're working on it.

[Michael Singer]

I know I usually do get a discussion, but let's just do it very quickly since you guys are brilliant, right? Here's this world that's coming into me, right? I often talk about. You do know, you don't look out through your eyes. You are not looking out through your eyes. Light is bouncing off of the atoms and molecules reflecting, being picked up by your optical sensors, being sent up. You study this, right? What am I telling you? Gets sent up the, the optical nerves, right? Hits the brain, right? And what they don't know, some do is that that's not the end of it. The brain is the central cpu, right? But, but the vibrations that get emanated off the brain, electronic vibrations, are called vrittis in yoga. Vrittis, they're just very subtle vibrations that hit what we call the mental plane. They hit where your mind is not in your brain, right? And it causes to render exactly what came in through your eyes into your mind. And you're looking at it in there, right? What's happening is light is coming in just like you're looking at your flat screen tv that San Francisco's the wall game United in San Francisco. It's being sent up the nervous, so to speak, wires. And then it's rendering on the flat screen that is literally happening inside of you right now. Okay? So there. So basically what happens is when science has studied, but what's actually out there? If I don't really see what's out there, I see what came in. You understand that your, your, your senses are I. O ports, they're sensors. Okay. Why? Because we don't see anything that has to come back into our Consciousness. Okay? So scientists have studied what's out there, and I'm going to do it very quickly because I. I'm not the expert anyway, believe me. Right. And they found out. No, there really are no atoms. No, there really are no protons and neutrons. There's this field. Oh, my God. There's this field. And. Omnipresent. Use the word omnipresent. An omnipresent field of. We want to say what it is. We don't know what it is. I'll call it energy, however you want. That agitates and vibrates and those wavelets that get created put themselves together to make neutrons, protons, electrons, atoms. But. So that's really what's down there. Okay, well, an omnipresent field that is the cause of all forces that exist and is everywhere is getting very close to God. Omnipresent, Omnipotent. Okay. Well, certainly very different than what we're looking at every day, right? But now, if you think about it. I make myself think about it every time, all the time, all right? I am not looking at people, places, buildings. I am looking at vibrations in a quantum field that is across the entire universe. Now, we're starting to become one, aren't we? That brings us all much closer together. We're not looking at it the way we think it is, because it isn't. All right? And when the great yogis, the great masters, went deep in meditation, they found this amazing thing. They found out what the quantum field is made of. Consciousness. How do they know? Because they merge with it. That's what yoga is about. That's what the word merger means, that Christ meant. I and my father are one. Okay, you're asking. Talk more about that state. When your consciousness ceases to stare at your thoughts, your emotions, your mind, what you come through your senses, it's liberated. It's not distracted anymore. And what they found out, the great ones have found out that all of a sudden all the stars and moons and galaxies are who they are. That's one with their consciousness. Why don't we live there? Because we are distracted by what distracts us. And what distracts us are your thoughts. Do your emotions distract you? Oh, my God. They get pulled right down. Right? The moment you have an emotion, bam, you're really with God. That consciousness is being focused, pulled down to what you're distracted by. And that's what makes a human being distracted. God. Okay, so when you talk about. How do we talk about these higher states, the great teachings of the masters say the same thing. 1 Can you cease to be distracted by what's going on outside? Not don't work with it, but you'd be distracted by it. Fixated on it. All right, then. Then you'll bother suppressing it because I handled it. So all of a sudden you're now cleaned out, you know, all the junk inside of you. You're not all sensitive to everything somebody says or does, all right? Because you let it go. So now your consciousness is liberated. We use that word to be able to hang out more in the mental plane as opposed to what's coming through physical and the emotional. And then you start realizing, why am I getting upset because the person is driving weird? Why am I screaming, oh my God, why is it raining on my birthday? It doesn't know it's your freaking birthday, right or wrong. What we do with our minds are ridiculous, right? Well, what happens? You start cleaning that up, right? Use your mind for intellectual pursuits, right? Use your mind for deep understanding instead of all this personal garbage. I don't like what she said. Oh my God, look what she's wearing.

[Jonathan Cohen]

My Imbialics Breakdown is supported by Rocket Money.

[Mayim Bialik]

Do you want to know an embarrassing fact about me? I've paid double each month for a specific streaming service, not only once, but for a full quarter of the year because I didn't know I had signed up under two separate email addresses. It was a streaming service also that I hardly use anymore, which made it all the worse. Paying double once. What can you do? Not the end of the world. Paying double four times. Time to sign up for Rocket Money, a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, also monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money tracks my subscriptions and has the ability to cancel them within the app with just a few taps, saving me time avoiding extra charges. And they even consolidate all of your checking, savings, loans and investment accounts into a single dashboard so you can get a clear view of your financial picture all in one place, all at a glance. No more guessing what one account looks like or having to hop from banking app to banking app to get the whole picture of your finances. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. [e-mail] Breakdown that's Rocket RocketMoney.com Breakdown RocketMoney.com.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Breakdown My Ambiox Breakdown is supported by Remy.

[Mayim Bialik]

If you've been listening to our podcast for any amount of time, you've heard both me and Jonathan talk about issues with teeth clenching and grinding when we're stressed or sleeping and it makes your jaw tired. It's really not good for your teeth. It's not fun overall. If you're like us and you're part of the 30% of Americans who grind their teeth, your smile needs protection. In 2026, Remy makes custom night guards. They are clinically tested to prevent teeth grinding, reduce jaw tension and facial muscle strain, and they also improve sleep quality. You get the same professional quality and comfort as a night guard from the dentist, but it's 80% less and infinitely more convenient than having to go to the dentist's office. Here's how it works. You get your impression kit straight to your door. I found it really fun to follow the instructions. You get a perfect impression that you send to them and they craft and ship your custom custom fit night guard. Here's mine. Once you receive it, you can start protecting your teeth. Start the new year right. Use Code break to get 50 off your purchase of a new night guard. That's 50 off at shop r m I.com break with code break. Thank you, Remy for sponsoring this episode.

[Brooklyn Adams]

Hey, it's Brooklyn Adams and I'm partnering with Abercrombie to tell you about the newest drop from their Active brand. Your personal best. YPB leggings are made with buttery soft fabrics that hug you in all the right places. And common Abercrombie's viral curve Love fit designed to eliminate waist gap. Paired with sports bras and super soft sweatshirts. It's activewear that supports every part of my busy lifestyle and gives me my best butt ever. Head into the new year feeling your personal best. Shop Active by Abercrombie in the app, online and in stores.

[Michael Singer]

The 60s used to talk about expanded consciousness. Right? I learned that so wrong. It's non contracted consciousness. Consciousness is already fully expanded. Is that you're contracting it to focus on your stuff. All right? When you cease to do that, you start to feel spare. You start to feel all this openness and beauty and expansiveness. Okay. And that and ultimately I started from the top. Ultimately you merge and that's very great. When I when I was young, I don't know if you ever read the Surrender Experiment, but I was probably 21 years old, 22 years old and I had this very deep experience and is more beautiful than anything that could ever exist in the history of the universe. Right? And therefore you want to go back there. And so you spend your life being willing to let go of anything that's keeping you from there. Not how do I get there how do I stop putting the blockages inside of me that keep me from going there? And this becomes. That's your spiritual journey. That's your path. And what you talk about. You know that. That those experiences mean a lot to you. So did I answer your question, Jonathan? Right? That. That's what's back there. We are the same, right? Can we be the same? And yet what we're looking at have all these differences. That's what compassion is. Compassion is sympathy. Compassion is. I understand why you're different. I understand what you've gone through is totally different than me. I don't blame you. I don't do anything right now. Can we sit down and harmonize? Find a way. Come on. It's not that big a deal, right? And the answer is yes. But not while we're down here insisting that we're right. I know it has to be. And I'm going to fight and battle and do whatever. That's the best I can do. All right? By the way, that drop from pure consciousness down to staring at you is what's meant by the fall from the garden. Literally, it says once you fall from the. You're in the garden, you're one with God experiencing creation. That's beautiful. All right? But now I'm experiencing me, this tiny little ray, all right? Of light, okay? And it says in the Bible of a nice Jewish yogi. I read the Bible once. I shouldn't say that. I read the Bible once in 1972 and has never left me. All right? I think Christ's teachings are phenomenal, right? If people understand what he's saying. All right? The deep things he's saying. All right? And he's. And the Bible, the Old Testament, says, when you fall from the garden, what happens now? You must work by the spread of your sweat of your brow to be okay. You know anything about that? Anybody working hard and getting ulcers and neuroses to be okay? That's it. All right? Where your natural state is okay? I'm fine. It's fine. It's all God. It's all a quantum field, okay? I say something. Very beautiful ones. All right? He said reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. So you think, Jonathan, every one of those wavelets, quarks, leptons, bosons, everyone, those wavelets has to behave the same. That your bedroom is there in the morning. Do you understand that? That your body is there in the morning. Wow. How brilliant is God? I mean, give me a break. And that's happening all over the entire universe. You need to expand your mind and your consciousness to be able to start with reality. Then come on down and let's. Let's dance. All right. Let's see what we can do on a little planet in the middle of nowhere for a few years. That's how I want you to think. Are you not on a tiny little planet just for a handful of years? Can you handle it?

[Jonathan Cohen]

It's amazing. And Mayim and I recently been talking about how powerful just having awe is, how much it can transform how we feel and what our experience is. Just to stop and pause and look at the intelligence in nature, look at the intelligence all around us and how amazing it is that we even exist. The fact that the light can process and I can see my hand and all the amazing things that are around us. What you describe in terms of our consciousness is expanded already. And why we don't experience it all the time is that we are limiting it.

[Michael Singer]

Yes, we're distracted.

[Jonathan Cohen]

You know, we get a lot of questions from our audience. What do I need to do to feel more. Okay, more intuitive? Well, how do I increase the synchronicity in my life and what I'm hearing? And, you know, sometimes it used to. I used to think, oh, you have to expand. But actually what you have to do is stop limiting, stop contracting.

[Michael Singer]

Very good. That's beautiful. I always use the example of a magnifying glass. Like, I live in a country. So there's fields, all right? And the sun falls pretty evenly on the field. Take a magnifying glass and hold it in one spot, and you're going to burn leaves that are below you. Right. It took the power of the sun. Right. And it limited down to this one spot. That's what you've done. That's what we've done. We've taken the power of consciousness and limited down to staring at my little thoughts, my little preferences, my little emotions. It's adorable, isn't it? And that's the cause of all suffering. That's the cause of all suffering. What did Buddha say? We talked about. Nice. We talk about everybody equal time. Right? Four Noble Truths. All of life is suffering. It doesn't mean you broke your arm all the time, Right. I mean, he's a negative guy. That's pretty negative, right? It is. You make yourself suffer through your thoughts. Right. The cause of all. All suffering is preference. If you didn't mind that it was raining, it wouldn't bother you. If you didn't mind that your wife was in a wife or husband was in a bad Mood when they came home and needed some space, you wouldn't yell at them. Don't treat me like that. You understand that you would have compassion. You're understanding it's because you have preferences. Where'd you get your preferences? Don't you dare think you made them up. Not a single one of them, right? Based on your past experiences, books you read, experiences you had, people that dumped on you, people that were nice to you, and then you form these preferences of what I want to go on and what I don't want to go on. And the Buddha teaches us to cause all suffering. It's very deep, isn't it? Because it is to cause all suffering, all right? And somebody once said to me, I gave a talk like that very wealthy person came over, hearing one of my talks, and he said, but I like my preferences, all right? I own six. Six homes in, In. Out. In. In Bel Air or whatever, all right? And blah, blah, blah, blah. And he said, I don't want to give my preferences. So I thought about a little bit and I said, okay. You know the saying for the Thursday and patriarch, the great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. I said, he gave me license, the Thursday patriarch to change what he said. Are you ready? Here's the edit. The great way is not difficult for those who prefer everything. It's deep to think about it because it's the truth. All right? It's just. Love it, man. Right? You're having the time of your life right now.

[Jonathan Cohen]

It brings up an important point that we also hear a lot from our community, which is it's easy to feel connected to the universe and everything's great when there is a certain amount of comfort. And you can. You can have an acceptance for the bad mood, but if the bad mood starts attacking you, then you're like, well, now how. How much compassion can I have? And if you don't have enough to eat, then. So how do we balance this idea of surrendering and experiencing this ultimate consciousness and increasing our connection to all that there is with the material struggle that people go through? Is it only that you'll change your perspective and that you'll feel better about your circumstance? Or is it that doing that work can also lead to material changes in our lives whereby there is more opportunity that, you know, the universe is trying to help us. Not everyone's going to have six houses, but maybe get us our heads above water and make the struggle of everyday life easier.

[Michael Singer]

Obviously, it is true that the more you have and the more comfortable you are, and it's funny because I really don't want to say it, but I'll say it right, the more you have an opportunity to let go and do these different things, guess what? They don't. Wealthy people have just as much problems. They're just as unhappy. They have just as many divorces. Do you understand that it's not true that having things makes you be okay? Now, of course there's a limit of food, clothing and shelter, right? That there's a physiological problem if I don't have those. Are there very primitive cultures that have very little and they measure their happiness? They find that the happiest people out there, you understand that, okay, they just live off the earth. They eat herbs, different things. Okay, so it's not true that you have to have a lot or both. Neither. You have to a lot to be okay or if you have a lot. Come on, we got these billionaires out there. They don't look like they're having so much fun. I'm sorry story. Do they? Okay, it's like, why do they have to fight with everybody? Why do they fight with each other? Why does it have to be this constant struggle and headache? Because having things doesn't solve the problem. The problem is how you do it inside. And if you're not doing okay inside, it's because you're messed up in there. Straighten it up. So let's start there. And then you take the great examples. I was Gandhi, I mean, he was giving a lecture, you know, the political lecture. Stand on a stage, very great being, and somebody came up and shot him, right? And so he has this terrible experience. His body's been shot, he's going to die. What did Gandhi do at that moment? Exactly at that moment, he pranamed directly to that person as an act of forgiveness as he fell to the ground and died, right? How would you like to be like that? How would you like to be able to do that? How would you like to be evolved enough. Clear enough to where you're not complaining, right? You just bring shakti consciousness, spirit, beauty, love, compassion down to this plane and set an example. Look at that man did he freed a country. You understand that and you just realize it's not about material wealth, it's about your inner state.

[Mayim Bialik]

There's this kind of overlap between a notion of compassion and acceptance. And I don't think I had thought of it as. As so strongly overlapping until hearing you talk about it. That when we tell people to be in acceptance of something, it doesn't mean you have to like means that you have to accept that other things can exist besides what makes you uncomfortable. And what you do with that tension will literally determine your own happiness. Meaning we are in this prison. Right. That we ourselves have the key to release ourselves from acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. You know, that notion of I don't like your political opinion, but you have a right to have it. It's based on your own experience, your own perspectives. It doesn't mean that we can't connect because honestly, we're all one anyway.

[Michael Singer]

It doesn't mean that you're clear and so on. That when you come back, you don't protest. You have every right in the world to take the sum of your learned experiences. And with love, with understanding, with compassion. Say you're on that side of the street. Hi, I'm on this side of the street. Hi. Right. And we at least have a chance of talking and working together. So it's not that you do nothing. Right. You have the right to express your opinions. Right. But do it with love, do it without. You say it perfectly. Do with the understanding why people have different opinions than you. Correct. And there's certain subjects that we could bring up. I don't. All right. That it's under. It's understandable why they have different opinions. You understand that I feel very strongly about the right to so. And so I feel very strongly about this. Right. And you do. All right. But who's you. Who's you in there that's looking at this mind that got programmed by your past experiences? Can you transcend that programming and then come down and express yourself and do, but do it with love and beauty?

[Mayim Bialik]

That is very helpful because I think also, you know, there's so much need for cooperation. And so much of that gets lost when there's this polarization. And I won't talk to you because you hold this label, or I won't talk to this person because they've taken this as their identity as opposed to how can we work together? Together. It's. There's, you know, the really important implications for this on a larger scale. But I. I wonder. These are all very comfortable things, I think, for many of us to talk about. But I wonder if you were to talk to someone who has kind of no spiritual framework and no sense of. Kind of connectedness with whatever this consciousness is that we're all talking about. What do you say to a beginner? What do you say to someone who is skeptical or really just doesn't know? How do you frame this for A beginner.

[Michael Singer]

What I have found. And I started this. I just woke up, if you will, back in the early 70s, and I wanted to talk about it. I realized I'm in here. Watching me, right? The witness woke up. I mean, here, watching me. Are you in there? Hello, are you in there? And every person I asked everyone, are you in there? They said, yeah, okay, you're in there. You know you're in there. What does in there mean? They don't. I don't explain it. I know I'm in here.

[Mayim Bialik]

Okay?

[Michael Singer]

I'm in here. I'm not out here. I'm in here. Okay, okay. What's it like in there now? All of a sudden, immediately, it becomes introspective. They've been forced to look in there. Not what's it like out here, what's it like in there? And the truth of the matter is, it's scary, it's jealous, it's insecure, it's this, it's that. It's all kinds of stuff. Needy. It's pretty weird in there, isn't it? Right? That's the start. No more no religious, no this, no that. No shoving teachings, right? And they wake up. I have people write me. I'll tell you a quick story, all right? I. When I first started teaching, I've been meditating a whole lot, if you remember. But you find that. And they asked me to teach at this. At this college, all right? And they just gave me a class. And they said, okay, just teach whatever you want. It's very liberal, right? And I had one lady who came most. Most of them were hippie kids or young kids would come in, they sit on the floor, you would have. That kind of stuff was going on in the 70s, right? This one lady walked in, probably in her late 20s, early 30s, three piece suit, sat straight up in a chair, okay? And she didn't like my course. She didn't like what was being talked about at all, okay? And when the class was over, course was over. But I taught the course. You want me for teacher, right? They said, what about my GR grade? I said to write me a paper, what you got from this course, and just tell the truth and I want to hear what you got, and you'll get your grade, okay? So she was afraid to write because she hated the course, and she hated the course. But she had to come, all right? It was a required course. So she went to the president of the college because she was connected. Her husband was a great surgeon or something. I don't know, right? I'm a little hippie boy. And. And when. And I get called in, right? Saying, you better deal with this because she's very upset and she's afraid you're gonna fail her. I said, I'm gonna fail her. So we had a little talk. I'll never forget it. This. This is back in 75. Right away. I'll never forget it. We have this talk. She says, I'm afraid to go. I said, just write the truth about how you do with the class. You're gonna do just fine. Don't worry about it. Okay? So that was my interaction with this lady. Two or three semesters later, I'm gonna cry. I'm teaching night class and night classes all like. I had literally 7. 60% of the people taking my class were not registered. They were from the university. They were just. There was that kind of time, all right? And I'm sitting there teaching, sitting on the desk in the load of the half lotus position, teaching this class or on the floor, okay? And somebody walks in. I didn't recognize. I just. Somebody walked in in the middle of class in a T shirt and jeans, sits down on the floor, comes up to me, Mayim afterwards, and says, you won't remember me, but I'm the person who complained about your class. And I said to you, I didn't understand a word that you were talking about, but I did. But I had a terrible marriage. I was a Stepford wife type thing, all right? And I couldn't get out of it. And I was clocked in this. And I heard every word you said, but I wouldn't let myself think about it because I knew I couldn't deal with it, right? Well, he left me, and I got upset. And whatever. I went through my thing, and one day I was. There's a true story. One day I was walking through a bookstore in Gainesville, right? And I saw this book, Autobiography of a Yogi. And you had mentioned that in your class, and I said, well, I need help. And I picked up the book. My entire life changed. I started doing yoga. I'm the happiest person that ever lived. All right, I. And thank you so much for what I didn't want to hear you say. And thank God I heard it because I brought it all back and lived the rest of my time like that. Okay? So when you ask, how do you deal with someone like that, right? You just bring love and openness and compassion to the situation. You don't push it to go too far. You understand that? You're not trying to shove Your teachings down their throat, that doesn't work in any way, shape or form. But that question, are you in there? She was obviously in there. She just didn't want to admit it, right? But the moment the dam broke, bam. All that knowledge, every word I ever said to her, all the teachings came right back and she started practicing. Okay, I told you a story. A little bit. A little bedtime story.

[Mayim Bialik]

I wonder, kind of going along this sort of path, people hear higher self a lot. Tap into your higher self, right? And I think, again, it gets kind of thrown around. Can you explain to a beginner what is the higher self? How do you get in touch with it? And why should you get in touch with it?

[Michael Singer]

You have stored inside of you a lot of garbage that I wish you didn't have to carry. You understand that? But you are carrying it. And the truth is, you put it in there and only you can let it out. You understand that it's down there because you are using will constantly, perpetually, to push it back down. That's why it comes back in your dreams. That's what all the psychology is about. The stuff you stored. If you don't store the stuff in there, they don't have a job. Hey, I can't even fix it. So it's because you store that stuff in there. That's your lower self. Your lower self is those energies that you stored inside, most of which were uncomfortable. Almost all of which were uncomfortable, right? Expressing themselves in your mind and your emotions. It's all shakti, hitting beautiful energy, hitting the garbage you store down there, and then coming up as turmoil, coming up as disturbance. That's your lower self, and that's where you end up. Your consciousness is addicted. And that's the right word, right? You're more addicted to. To that part of you, to yourself, your disturbed self, than people are to drugs or alcohol. In fact, they do drugs and alcohol to get away from stuff. Do you understand it? If you were totally blissed out inside, you would touch. What? Are you kidding? Why would I bring myself down? To make myself drunk or make myself play around? Okay, so that's your lower self. Higher self. The one who's looking at that. The witness. I don't want to use words because they. They're not ready. Right? Do you notice that you have problems? Problems? Do you notice when anger starts to come up? Do you notice when you get depressed? Right? How do you. Who notices it? Oh, doctor, I'm so depressed. I've been so depressed. If I were a therapist. You don't Want me to be a therapist? I would say, how do you know? Oh, they get mad at me. How do I know what? Right. How do you know you're depressed? Well, I'm in here. It's so spiritual. I mean, who's in there? Who's in there noticing you're depressed? Who's in there noticing to get happy? Who's in that? Your higher self. The one who's in there noticing the consciousness, right, Is looking at the lower self. That's why it's called higher. Lower.

[Jonathan Cohen]

It's a beautiful explanation. And I think we need to really take a second and talk about how we are addicted to the chaos and turmoil of that pattern you described. Like, if I think about that for a second, all the other behavior people have is coming back to the addiction to that chaos. It's a spike. It's an adrenaline. It's, I can't handle this, and this is the problem. And then the mind goes off on all the tangents to map it, to understand it, to blame someone. And if this didn't happen to me, I wouldn't have this characteristics and the thousands and millions of hours and billions of dollars spent trying to extract ourselves from this pattern of chaos. But really what it is, is an addiction to that spike of energy.

[Michael Singer]

You're absolutely correct. Right? But I. When I really get into deep description of what's going on, it's all what we call shakti. It's all spirit. It's all shakti. All right? And what's supposed to be happening is it's coming down and passing through you. And you're having experiences, and every experience you have makes you a greater being. If. If you never touched a piano and you touched one note, you're a greater being than you were before you touched that note. You now know more. Correct? Every single experience in life is teaching you, okay? But we can't handle it, so we resist. And the stuff you resist, you push down. Now, that energy can't flow freely. It can't flow up. It hits all your garbage and it hits your stuff, all right? And then it tries to find a pathway. Means things you like, things you're happy with. So it kind of curves around and says, oh, I'm happy because he said you love me. Wait a minute. He said he loved her too. Ah, okay. So if it keeps hitting stuff and you try to find a path through life. That's what we're trying to do. Find a partner, a path through life that finance a job, right? That makes it through our stuff, we're trying to get rid of our stuff, right? We're trying to create an external environment that makes it comfortable to live with our stuff. And then we feel happy if we get what we want. And we don't feel happy. We don't get. We want. That is those patterns down there. So the more you let go. I always teach this, right? Don't put more in. Any more in. Why would you do that? It's counterproductive, right? On a daily basis, don't put more down there, right? Don't resist. And as you do, you learn to knot. And then bigger stuff can come up and you'll learn to let it go. And all of a sudden that would seem like a big thing. You know, when you're 10 years old and they took your Barbie away, you freaked, right? Now I don't care. I outgrew it. Outgrow these problems that you stored when you were younger, and younger means yesterday. And you just keep letting go. And what happens now is the energy flows freely. And what happens, and that's what you really want to hear is at some point the energy coming in from below. Because it's like a cyclical flow from God. Human. God. Human. All right. What is a human being? God descended? I know it doesn't look like it, but it is. All right. What is the ray of light that is on the field I talked about? That sun that's 93 million miles away. It's that descending. It's. It's rays are coming down. All right, so this consciousness flows through and expresses itself through all these different living expressions. All right? When you clean out, that's a big thing. But when you clean up, it doesn't hit as much stuff now. It's easier to be. Okay, right again. They'll call Christ, right? Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that leaveth the mouth of the father. Man does not live by bread alone, the outside world, but by every word that leaveth the mouth of the father. What does that mean? There's shakti in there. There's spirit in there. There's energy in there that's not associated with the outside, okay, but it's being blocked. As you let go, the two merge, right? The higher. So there is no higher self or lower self anymore. There's just self.

[Mayim Bialik]

When you say that, everything that's kind of in there we've put there. And so we have the power to take it out. How do we frame trauma? How do we frame intergenerational trauma? How do we frame this notion that and it is part of the Buddhist, you know, conversation as well. What have we inherited? What is our legacy, as it were? How do we break free of that? And how much can we say, I've put this here. I want to take it out versus it feels like something was handed to me that's not mine. How do I release that?

[Michael Singer]

You mentioned Buddhist. Okay, so if you want to talk about inherited meaning genetically, or inherited meaning past lives, I'll go both. Right. So, for example, when you work with yourself really deeply, you will see that there's stuff in there that's kind of bigger than what your conscious get hands around, and you have no idea why it's in there. Like somebody's scared to death of heights. Let's use that example. All right? Why nothing ever happened to them? Then why are you okay with height and you're not okay with height? Right. Is that a physiologically genetically inherited trait, or is it past lives? I don't care. I'm up selling past lives. I'm not doing anything right. So you see, it doesn't matter. The point is, it's in there. Okay? What do I do with it? Can it be worked out? The answer is yes. Is it in there? It's not in there because you put it in there. You did, in the past lives, whatever it is. All right? But basically, you are Will. You are consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate power of the universe. It created the entire universe. You understand that? Therefore, if it's in there and it's big, and there are big things in there that people just freak to even think about it. They can't even. Don't talk about that. You know, you don't talk about that around your father. You can't handle that. Right? That means there's something in there. Why? All right. And it's trying to come up. It gets triggered, and they can't handle it. The answer is, learn to handle it. Can you learn to handle it now? You asked me that question, Mickey. Is it Michael? Mickey? Whoever I am, I don't know. All right, basically, can anything that's in there be let go of? Yes. Is there any super glue in there that's holding cement in there? No. The only reason anything stays in there is because subconsciously, deeply, whatever will, the power of will, is pushing it down. How do you know? Because when it tries to come back, I push the damn thing back down, don't I? Correct. That means. What if you don't? Well, it's traumatic. I had a traumatic experience, so don't tell me what if I don't. I know you can't do it right now, but if you can handle the driver in front of you, if he can handle hitting a tennis ball into the net every time until you're practicing it better, you can practice letting go. That's where I've gotten understanding all my teachings, right? I know it's hard to let go. I know it hurts. It's. It was stored with pain, coming back with pain. You know that, all right? But even old things down there are the same, but you resist them, you react to them. Practice being okay with little things, with the weather, with what somebody said. You're going to find out. You get better at it. Just like you practice the piano, all right? You practice letting go and all of a sudden you notice and eventually this stuff will come up. I love when people say to me, I went to work today and something happened at work and I didn't realize I was driving home that would have bothered me in the past. I didn't even notice.

[Mayim Bialik]

We're going to hit pause here on our conversation with Michael Singer. We've got a lot more to talk about. In part going to talk about how the Surrender experiment is actually the original version of what many people call let them and what Mel Robbins has popularized as the let them theory.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We talk about how identifying resistance is the first step in changing your reality.

[Mayim Bialik]

And we're going to talk about where consciousness actually lives and what happens to it when we die. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation with Michael Singer. And from our breakdown to the one we hope you never have have. We'll see you next time.

[Michael Singer]

It's Maya Bialik's breakdown. She's gonna break it down for you. She's got a neuroscience PhD or two and now she's gonna break down. It's a breakdown. She's gonna break it down.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, the holidays have come and gone once again.

[Michael Singer]

But if you've forgotten to get that.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Special someone in your life a gift. Well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited while wireless.

[Michael Singer]

So here's the idea. You get it now.

[Jonathan Cohen]

You call it an early present for next year.

[Michael Singer]

What do you have to lose? Give it a [e-mail] Switch limited time.

[Mayim Bialik]

50% off regular price for new customers. Upfront payment required. 45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months or 180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy. See terms.