← Mayim Bialik's Breakdown
Mayim Bialik's Breakdown
Part Two: Yale Psychiatrist on the Science of Manifestation, The Truth of Your Intuition, Reconnecting to our Souls and Why Mental Health Needs Spirituality! | Dr. Anna Yusim
01:07:26
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- [00:05]
Jonathan Cohen
My Ambiox breakdown is supported by Helix Sleep.
- [00:08]
Mayim Bialik
Like so many of us spending a lot more time indoors as winter's in full swing, sleep's even more important. During the colder season, it's peak cold and flu time. So now's the perfect time to invest in a new mattress. I have had every sleep issue you can imagine. Night sweats, back pain, motion transfer. We are so excited when we heard that Helix wanted to partner with us years ago. After all the incredible feedback, we've heard about them over the years. I've had my Helix for about, gosh, five years now and it's made a huge change in our lives. Jonathan loves his Helix. My our kids love their Helix. We highly recommend taking the Helix Sleep quiz to find your perfect mattress in under two minutes. That's how we did it. Everyone sleeps differently. We're confident you'll find a Helix mattress specifically designed for your specific sleep positions and feel preferences. When I took the quiz, I was matched with a midnight cuz I like something a little firm and I sleep on my side. Jonathan though, is a twilight person. But both of our mattresses are a huge upgrade. Last ones, their models with memory foam layers provide optimal pressure relief and cradle your body in the areas that it need it most. It's the perfect combination of comfort and support. And Jonathan loves the cooling features of his Helix mattress. Go to helixsleep.com breakdown for 27 off sitewide exclusive for listeners of Mind Biologics breakdown that's helixsleep.com breakdown For 27 off.
- [01:25]
Jonathan Cohen
Sitewide make sure you enter our show after checkout so that they know that we sent you helixsleep.com breakdown 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. Too easy. 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.
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Mayim Bialik
Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Hi, I'm Mayim Bialik.
- [02:05]
Jonathan Cohen
And I'm Jonathan Cohen.
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Mayim Bialik
And welcome to part two of our conversation with Dr. Anna Yusom. She's an internationally recognized, award winning, board certified, Stanford and Yale educated psychiatrist and executive coach. Her book, how the science of spirituality can help you live a happier, more meaningful life is what we started discussing in part one of our conversation with Dr. Yusom. Part one of our conversation had Dr. Yusum explaining to us the foundations of why spirituality actually helps our mental and physical health and what are some of the patterns we can get out to so that we can be open to seeing miracles and spiritual progress in our lives. What are we discussing in part two?
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Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan well, mime, you have to be careful what you pray for. We're going to discuss why the Law of Attraction may not be working for you and what to do instead of.
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Mayim Bialik
We'Ll also tackle some of the pitfalls of spiritual solutions, karmic patterns and Are psychedelics the only way to get in touch with your spiritual side in order to process your trauma?
- [03:09]
Jonathan Cohen
We tackle three different types of intuitions and how to connect with your spirit guides.
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Mayim Bialik
Head over to Substack for more on our conversation with Dr. Yousum as we walk you through a practical exercise meditation from her book. In addition, make sure to check out Dr. Yusum's website, annauson.com that's a n n a y u wsim.com to learn more about her psychiatry sessions and her coaching sessions. Without further ado, enjoy part two of our conversation with Dr. Anna Yusum. Break it down since we're talking about the Akashic records, an extension of this I'm just gonna ask so the telepathy tapes, you know, came on the scene of podcasting last year and introduced this concept. And I always have to say this. We we can set aside the conversation about facilitated communication and for people who don't believe in facilitated communication, we don' have to talk about it. So I'm going to set that aside. But you know, the telepathy tapes, over the course of this season proposed that there is a a radio station that can be tuned into that there is a field of consciousness that people who are not in the same physical space can access and commune in outside of their physical body. Is this notion of telepathy an extension of an understanding that there's a field of knowledge all around us and we just need to learn to tune into it?
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Dr. Anna Yusom
I think that that could very well be However, I don't know if we have the roadmap as to exactly how to tune in. And I have very interestingly have numerous patients who tune into precisely that. You know, the hill that everybody you know who are non verbal autistics meet on in order to commune. Right? I have had patients like that who will describe going to spaces like this and being able to communicate with people like that. Unfortunately, oftentimes those very patients, it's hard to exist fully in this world because they're Very much in this other world. And so I have found that. That sometimes, if people are too tuned in to certain frequencies, it's hard to be fully grounded. This has been my clinical experience with people I have treated like this.
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Mayim Bialik
Okay, so what I'm thinking. And, you know, I've been seeing a psychiatrist since I was, you know, 15 years old. So if you go into a psychiatrist's office in most places in, you know, a materialist world, and if you were to say things, they would put you on medication that would tamp down many of your systems, meaning, you know, this would be, by many psychiatrists, classified as. As problematic. And I'm not saying that it is problematic, but to have a new perspective of mental health, of mental capabilities, and of the practice of psychiatry, I mean, it's a tremendous opening to be able to say what information is there that this person is either communicating or receiving. How do you, you know, as a psychiatrist, how do you decide? Is it your own intuition? Is it your own sense of. This is what I was trained as a medical professional to do, and this is what I've been trained as a human being to do. How do you manage something that also has tremendous cultural variation? You've spent time in, I think, over 70 countries where there are people who are given special cultural designations which we cannot appropriate. But you know a lot about these practices. Where does it fit into a Western model?
- [06:56]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, I think that's such a great question. And with respect specifically to the nonverbal autistics or individuals who can have access to an inner world or an inner world connected to many other people that others don't have, some of these cases have been, indeed, my hardest cases to treat. And the reason is because within, as a psychiatrist with a psychiatric toolbox, if people are not able to really function in this world and are having those kind of symptoms, we have, as one of the tools, one of many tools in the toolbox, antipsychotic medications. And I have had people like this who I have treated with antipsychotics. It's changed their life for the better, and they have really, really good, healthy lives now.
- [07:42]
Mayim Bialik
But you turned. You turned off the voices. Maybe there was something in there.
- [07:47]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Correct, correct. Yes. So. So that. So in the cases where people were open to that, my experience has been very positive with helping people. There are also. I have had cases where people will have the voices and they're not open to the medication. And actually, these people have been hospitalized before, and they were not open to the medication in the hospital, and they were discharged from the hospital and because the hospital got frustrated with them after months and months of trying to convince them to take medication. And these are individuals who are not sick enough to be hospitalized and not healthy enough to be functioning in society. And you can't force anybody to take meds. And so they love the fact that they have this inner world, and this inner world is what they have, but it also keeps them from being able to be fully functional. So it's a very, very complicated, difficult case or cases where you have to be in that in between space, and you have to hold the space for the patient and the family to figure what's right. And you can't force medications on anybody, nor do you want to. And you're there in case of an emergency, in which case they can be hospitalized, of course. But it's hard. It's very hard because the family would like this person functioning in the way that they were before, and this person just is unwilling and unable.
- [08:59]
Jonathan Cohen
Let's bring this to the general population. Do you believe that it's everyone's unique capability as a human being to have a sense of intuition and to connect with it in whatever format it comes in?
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Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that there's people who will value and rely on intuition much more and find much greater utility and use in their intuition and therefore seek to develop it much more because of how they're wired, because of value placement in their society and family. And then there's other people who are super rational. And even if they are intuitive, their intuitive intuition comes through their rationality. And they wouldn't even use the word intuition. It wouldn't, you know, and let's also define intuition a little bit broadly, a little bit more broadly. When I think about intuition, I would think about three types of intuition, right? The first type is type one intuition, which you can think of as what Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, who wrote Thinking Fast and Slow, described as the fast thinking system, what he described more as instinct. It's like a pattern recognition system where you know something and you don't even know why. You know, you just recognize a pattern and boom, that's type one intuition.
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Mayim Bialik
Like, I was at the doctor the other day and she was mentioning different things and like, when you make that face of, like, I don't want to do that, is that the same as intuition? Or that's just, I don't want to do that.
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Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah. And you, you know, for you, like that face, like that was, she made a face and you immediately knew what that was. You didn't think you didn't have to think hard to figure out what that face meant. You intuitively know that was like almost an instinct. Type 2 intuition is the intuition that you're sitting in a room with someone and it's kind of like what you said, Mayim. It's like you're with somebody but you know something without knowing why you know, and it's not because they made a certain facial gesture. It's like you're reading the signs, but you don't even exactly know why you know. It's like you see somebody and you just have an intuition about that person. So it's through. An example of that is there's studies that have shown that people know when people are staring at them. So someone from behind you could be staring at you, and you will know. And you don't know why you know, but you just know. You just are able to pick it up, right? So that's type two intuition. And type three intuition is like twin telepathy on the other side of the world. Or when a mother knows that something's wrong with her child 80, 100 miles away, you just feel something's wrong. Are you okay, sweetheart? You know, something like that. So three different types of intuition, all technically with similar words, but very different meanings and phenomena.
- [11:27]
Mayim Bialik
Jonathan gets intuitions all the time.
- [11:29]
Jonathan Cohen
I believe that we all have the capability to develop it. If someone wants to develop more intuition and feels like maybe they have the first experience, but they really want to get this third or fourth where it's someone across the room or someone who they want to feel connected to, who they may not be in the same physical space, or they want answers. They want intuitive guidance on what should I do with my life. And they're not sure that ChatGPT has the best answer, even though that's what it's used for. How do we begin to help someone develop their intuition?
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Dr. Anna Yusom
That is such an important question because oftentimes intuition can indeed give you those answers that reason cannot. You can make your pro con list, but actually the answer is something much deeper than your pros and cons list. The pros and cons list helps you to weigh the options and weigh the possibilities, but it's not necessarily the answer to should I marry this person? Or what kind of work should I pursue? The most important questions in life, and often those are questions of the heart and soul and not necessarily pro con questions. And so I think that to help people develop their intuition, first you help them obviously develop their reason and create their pro con list. For whatever question it is. But then you also ask the person to do whatever work they can to figure stuff out and then to please take a day or two just to put it aside. But to ask if they are open to guidance and whatever that they would want guidance from. From your ancestors, from God, from, you know, to ask for that guidance and to be open to how that guidance will present. And that guidance can present as a meaningful coincidence. It could present as an intuitive insight. It can present at starting to see something anew. It could present as advice from someone that was unanticipated. You can see a movie that will put something into a new perspective for you. So I think that those are some ways that you do your maximum work yourself through your pro and con list and your reason. And then you put you, you know, ask for help. You put forth the intention to have an intuitive insight, and then you become open to receive that insight.
- [13:40]
Jonathan Cohen
Well, I think it's important that we're not telling people to dismiss the logical mind when we think about intuition. It's in conjunction. I've heard it described that, you know, the logical mind and the rational mind can see. It's like driving at night. You can see is about that 200 meters that the headlights provide. But the intuition may be able to see multiple lengths beyond that because there's things that haven't happened yet that in the infinite field of awareness may be available to, to understand or to know.
- [14:13]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Precisely. Precisely. And these are, you know, spiritual and kabbalistic concepts. And the idea that that which we can see with our eyes and hear with our ears is only one of reality. And the idea is that 99% of reality is unseen and unheard. And this is in contrast to the scientific universe where 100% of reality is seen and heard and subject to experimentation and, you know, all sorts of replication, et cetera. And so this is a very, very different way to see life. Is this all there is or is this a little piece of all there is part of a much bigger puzzle.
- [14:47]
Jonathan Cohen
My embiolic's breakdown is supported by our ritual.
- [14:51]
Mayim Bialik
Our ritual. This is not your parents couples therapy. This is a modern approach blending weekly sessions with licensed experts and science based digital exercises that you do on your own right in the app between sessions.
- [15:06]
Jonathan Cohen
I'm gonna say right here that while I love therapy, I have always said it needs an extra component. How come we're not practicing once a week isn't enough? It's about implementing what we learn and the insights we get to expedite the change.
- [15:24]
Mayim Bialik
Well, said Jonathan. No couch, no pressure, no pretending everything's fine. All you do is start by answering a few questions and then our ritual is going to match you with an expert who actually gets your situation. You meet weekly, together or separately with your partner. And here's the thing. In between sessions, our ritual offers self guided work via the app videos. Exercises tailored just for you. Only one of you ready. I've never been in that situation. Totally fine. Busy life sessions can be 20 or 40 minutes. Experts around the world means flexible scheduling that actually works and the best part costs a lot less than traditional therapy. Starting at just $32 a week.
- [16:06]
Jonathan Cohen
I'm gonna say something that may blow your mind. Who you are most connected with is the largest influence on how your life is going to go. Why not work on it?
- [16:18]
Mayim Bialik
Learn how to communicate without blowing up. Break out of the same old conflict loops. Reconnect emotionally. Navigate parenting. Navigate being long distance from your partner. What is an emotional trigger? Learn about them from conflict mastery and emotional intimacy to rebuilding after infidelity. Our ritual helps you do the work between sessions so progress doesn't stop when the call ends. That's where the real change happens. Our ritual delivers way more than just talk. Whether you're a couple, an individual, a parent, lgbtq, figuring things out from a distance, our ritual meets you where you are. Real support, real tools, real change on your terms. Also unlike traditional therapy, our ritual app offers video series and exercises in between sessions. Members do the work make progress independently, which contributes to overall progress. The video series discusses a variety of topics, for example Love after kids, helping you navigate a new normal, growing as parents and partners. Choosing Me video series helps individuals build a better relationship with themselves. From setting boundaries and creating healthy relationship patterns to moving from self doubt to self trust. Really anything you need, please go to our ritual.com answer a short questionnaire use the coupon code breaker 20 for 20% off your first month. That's our ritual.com, code breaker 20 for 20% off YOUR first month.
- [17:42]
Jonathan Cohen
My ambialix breakdown is supported by Superpower.
- [17:45]
Mayim Bialik
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- [19:40]
Jonathan Cohen
After you sign up, they'll ask you how you heard about them. Make sure to mention this podcast to support the show. Mind Bialix Breakdown is supported by Remy.
- [19:50]
Mayim Bialik
If you've listened to our podcast, you know that Jonathan and I both have some teeth issues at night. Clenching and grinding. When we're stressed, our jaws get tired and it's really not good for our teeth. It's not a fun problem to deal with. If you're like us and 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 you 80% less, no joke, and is much more convenient than having to go into the dentist's office because you get the kit right to your mailbox, right to your door, and you follow the step by step instructions to get a perfect impression. Then Remy crafts and ships your custom fit night guard. Once you receive it, that's it, you just 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 m I.com/break with code break.
- [20:49]
Jonathan Cohen
Thank you, Remy, for sponsoring this episode.
- [20:52]
Mayim Bialik
Well, and I think also, you know, this is the time to mention dark matter and dark energy, which actually, when you take a, you know, the perspective of the universe, close to a hundred percent of what's out there is actually unknown. Right. On this kind of other scale, absolutely.
- [21:10]
Jonathan Cohen
So it brings back the idea of how much of information is knowable outside of our five senses if only 1% is knowable through our eyes and ears.
- [21:23]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Precisely. Which is why it's so important to develop our other ways of knowing. And you know, do you need to develop that? Are you going to be worse off if you don't? Maybe or maybe not. Because in the world of science, which is the currency of exchange in the Western world, this is all there is. So you don't necessarily need anything outside of it. But there are some brilliant scientists who are deeply spiritual, like Francis Collins, etcetera, Who really bring in a spiritual perspective. And if you can enhance your intuition, that often can help all aspects of your work because you can receive information in other ways other than just through rational mind.
- [21:58]
Jonathan Cohen
Tell us what you've researched or your colleagues have researched that you're aware of. You mentioned clairvoyance or people who are using mediumship. What can you tell us about those mediums modalities as it relates to, you know, accessing the infinite field of consciousness for practical and tangible benefit, whether it be material benefit or emotional benefit.
- [22:23]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, I mean, I can tell you in my own clinical practice that I have had patients who have lost loved ones, use mediums to connect with those loved ones. And oftentimes for my patients, and I've had maybe seven or eight patients like this over the course of like 15, 20 years. And those experiences have never been neutral. They've been never negative, either generally positive or very, very positive that everybody, especially the doubters, because sometimes I have a doubter who is stuck after the loss of a loved one and can't move forward. And the medium is actually the person that opens things up for them a little bit. And they've had incredible experiences that really. And let's also be clear, not all mediums are created equal, not all mediums are real. But there are some out there who are incredibly talented and are able to connect and are able to provide people with deeply healing information. And so if you are going to do that, please make sure to use a medium that's been vetted by somebody that you know and trust and, you know, somebody who's very, very good.
- [23:32]
Jonathan Cohen
Without getting into specifics, what are some of the types of information that people are getting from these exchanges through a mediumship that are offering that kind of healing?
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Mayim Bialik
I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to be a big, like, devil's advocate here. I've been to many channelers. I have. I've been to mediums. I've talked to psychics. Yes. I've gone to ones that might be more legitimate and others that might be less legitimate. I'm just here to say that usually they. They confirm that they are legitimate, which can be done any number of ways. Right. They usually tell you things that, in theory they shouldn't know. But just to be Debbie Downer here, the message is usually, I'm sorry I hurt you. You're gonna do amazing things. I release you of any connection that's painful. And I never meant to do that. It wasn't my soul's intent. You're gonna be fine.
- [24:27]
Dr. Anna Yusom
And was that when. When you have had those experiences, was that helpful to you in any way?
- [24:31]
Mayim Bialik
No. I guess my question is, like, what is the specificity that we can ask for if we're trying to access information from beyond? Because I get it. Like, love, peace, coexistence. Like, I get it. But I think people want to know personally, why am I sick? How do I get better? How does life not feel so difficult? And why is the world such a mess? Right.
- [24:59]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Those are big, big questions. Right. And I feel as though, yeah, those are. They're really philosophical questions. And I'm sure that a good channeler could give you guidance on that. But oftentimes those questions are also questions for us to answer, you know, and off. Like, we're the ones to make sense of our lives and the mess of why things happen, why things didn't happen. And could we get a elevated perspective from a psychic medium, Lee Harris, et cetera? Absolutely. Could we get an opinion from a really good elevated psychic? Absolutely. Could we also get someone to say something totally cliche that is meaningless to us? Of course, we've all had those experiences, as you have, you know, aptly pointed out, Mayim. But I feel like, yeah, oftentimes, I don't know if those are necessarily. You know, it's very interesting because I have a talk I often give on spirituality, and I talk about the pitfalls or toxic parts of spirituality. And one of them is addiction to psychics and mediums. And there are people who become addicted to psychics and mediums that for a little bit of money, you give somebody control of your life in order for them to tell you back what is true and to give you certainty about something. And does it end up being true or not? Maybe, sometimes. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, depending. And there's also some exceptionally good psychics out there. I've certainly met those. I've also met the opposite, as I'm sure we all have. But I think that our difficulty in fully owning our lives and our desire to give over control and how addictive that could be when it appears that somebody can peek into the future and give you certainty. And it's essentially an addiction to psychics is an addiction to control. So it's very important also kind of to realize now with mediums, sometimes what happens is an individual has passed on and a person could be so stuck in grief that they cannot move forward. And sometimes a medium, by enabling that person to connect with the person who has passed. And for the medium to prove the legitimacy of the mediumship, enables this person to know, wow, this person has passed. But they're still with me in some form, and I still have a form of communication with them. And that is for some people, really what they need to move forward. I've certainly had that. That's not something I advocate or. But in times when there's been a suicide, that also is very, very powerful.
- [27:40]
Jonathan Cohen
The idea of being addicted to certainty, trying to get that. Some people pursue intuition because they're like, they just want certainty and answers. And the joke is that, like, you're never going to have certainty, no matter how strong your intuition is. You may be led to the next best solution, but it still is likely not going to turn out exactly how you imagined or thought or wanted. There's always this element of surprise in the world, in the world changing and evolving that we can't escape.
- [28:11]
Dr. Anna Yusom
It's true. It's true, you know, and if you want to go even deeper into that, you know, like different psychics, like different psychics read different things. There are people who can read the Akashic records. There are people who can read you. There are people who can read you your third eye, or they can read your connection to the heavens. Reading these two different things will give you two totally different readings, you know, so it's like you don't Exactly. Know what person, what people are reading, when they are reading, when they are reading you, you know, and where they're getting their information.
- [28:40]
Mayim Bialik
We talk to a lot of different people who do a lot of interesting things in the universe. I've never learned as much as talking to you about the things that people hear and read and see. People can read. Your third eye.
- [28:55]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yes.
- [28:56]
Jonathan Cohen
Tell us the difference between reading the crown and reading the third eye.
- [28:59]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Absolutely. So when people are reading your third eye, they're essentially reading your own intuition. What do you feel? So you ask someone, what does this guy think about me? And what they're going to read. They're not going to go to the guy and to that, they're actually going to go to you and read what you think that the guy thinks about you and then reflect that back to you. So that's that as opposed to reading from the crown. And if they can also read from their own crown and get like a download from technically the divine or from their spirit guides. So there's a lot of different ways. There's a lot of different ways. And you can also have different spirit guides that might have a different opinion on a certain matter. So you might be getting, you know, different things coming in for that. So it's very interesting.
- [29:41]
Jonathan Cohen
Reading your third eye is like being in a medio echo chamber. You're just being reinforced what you believe, and then you're like, oh, my gosh, that psychic is so powerful. But all they're doing is telling you what you feel instead of what an objective reality is.
- [29:58]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, but. And to be clear, sometimes for somebody to reflect back to you exactly what you feel when you didn't tell them any of that could be so incredibly powerful, you might not even know that you feel it. And then they might reflect it back to you. And then you're like, wow, that's amazing. But that's a very different reading.
- [30:15]
Jonathan Cohen
But that doesn't make it true.
- [30:16]
Mayim Bialik
I've been accused by more than one ex of feeling like I knew them better than they knew themselves. But I still think I was right.
- [30:25]
Jonathan Cohen
Maybe you were reading their third eye.
- [30:27]
Mayim Bialik
That's what I'm saying. We call it bossy, know it all, controlling girlfriend. Maybe it's deeply, intuitively aligned with the universe. Girlfriend.
- [30:37]
Dr. Anna Yusom
I like that. That's much. Yeah. Much more catchy. For sure.
- [30:41]
Jonathan Cohen
This touches on something that we actually talked to Thomas Campbell about, the notion of where to get information from. You can get information from the larger consciousness system. You can get information from an individual's consciousness or from Your own consciousness and that information will be different. We think that, oh, if I go off and try to get intuition, that intuition will be objective. But the same tuning, placing your consciousness is. Is important because that information will be different. I'm fascinated what you said about guides and guardian angels. The first question would be, do. Does everyone have guides and guardian angels? And the second question would be, why are their perspectives different? Are they not working towards some goal that is. That is synchronized in some way?
- [31:37]
Dr. Anna Yusom
I do believe that most people have some sort of angelic or guardian angels, archangels, you know, protecting them on some level, and different people to different degrees, given what their purpose is in the world and what they're doing and how they live their life. And I guess what they need. And I think that just different guides could provide different information.
- [32:02]
Jonathan Cohen
Maybe there's a. A work guide and a love guide and like a physical health guide. And you can't ask all the guides the same questions.
- [32:12]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Absolutely. That you have different. And, you know, you can think about like everyone has different talents, abilities, interests, charms, and that. We essentially are kind of guided through that. And a lot of these things we don't develop. We just kind of are coming to the world with them. And so we have guides that help us as one way of being guides that help us to develop these ways of being in the world.
- [32:31]
Jonathan Cohen
Do you have a relationship with your guides? Did you develop that?
- [32:34]
Dr. Anna Yusom
You know, I do, and I have. I often will ask them questions, but when I get my intuition, I don't know who it's coming from. I don't know if it's from my guides, if it's from God, if it's from myself. But I definitely know when I have an intuitive hit or insight.
- [32:49]
Jonathan Cohen
What's your primary mode of knowing?
- [32:53]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Claircognizance. When I just know without knowing how I know something will just come into my mind as a thought. And I think it's because my thinking capacity is so overdeveloped relative to my other capacities that that's like the easiest way for information to come into my mind or into my being.
- [33:08]
Jonathan Cohen
You know, I've tried to develop relationship.
- [33:10]
Mayim Bialik
With guides, but you know better than all of them.
- [33:14]
Jonathan Cohen
No, it's never. I've never sort of gotten clarity when after our episode with some. Some people who have access to guides, I was like, oh, I do believe there are guides all around. And I believe that. And. And I have asked for guidance from guides, but I don't believe that that information comes from a specific guide. I don't have a sense of a council around me or different roles that they may play. But I do feel like I get information often through auditory. Often through just a knowing or an empathetic sense that the voice that I hear is a version of myself. Not. Not some. Someone else. I don't hear like a British voice communicating with me and telling me what's up. You hear voices, Jonathan, not multiple voices. I hear a version of my own voice. Some people can call that a version of themselves. Maybe others call it a higher self. I'm curious, Dr. Yousum, how do you do understand a higher self? Is it the same as a guide or an angel? Is it just another part of our knowing? What is it to you?
- [34:29]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, I love how you wrote or said another part of our knowing. I think that that's what it is. You know, we have all of our aspects of ourselves in one. You know, you can think of it in the Freudian sense, the id, ego and superego, right. The ID is our most primitive basic instincts. The superego is our morality. And the ego is sort of the intersection or the integration of those. And the higher self also is the part of us that already knows what is best for us in any given situation. And ideas that you can tap into that part even in your current form. Because, you know, there's many different notions, but some of them are that time is a little bit of an illusion. So you can go forward in time to yourself that knows the future a little bit. You can go back in time and talk to that self. There's a lot of like inner child work. There's working with younger parts of yourself. There's parts work. So all of those are ways of being able to tap into all the different parts of yourself. And so the higher self is the part that already knows the more evolved conscious part that has already lived through and metabolized and grown through what you are going through now.
- [35:44]
Jonathan Cohen
And potentially that part is outside of the influence of whatever unconscious programming we were speaking about before. It is free of some of the this lifetime karmic residue. It may have been the part of us that has stayed with us. If we believe in past lives throughout many versions of our existence, yeah, it.
- [36:06]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Could be part of the transcendent soul, the part that's transcendent that. That has gone on and on and is our solar spirit. That is the indefatigable part, the part that we will never lose and that keeps growing and expanding always.
- [36:21]
Jonathan Cohen
My imbialics breakdown is supported by Mud Water.
- [36:23]
Mayim Bialik
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- [38:07]
Jonathan Cohen
How you found them. Please show your support for the show and let them know that we sent you. My mbialx breakdown is supported by Odoo.
- [38:16]
Mayim Bialik
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- [39:56]
Dr. Anna Yusom
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- [40:15]
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- [40:49]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Ask your doctor about evglis and visit evglis.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.
- [40:56]
Jonathan Cohen
The conversation about mediumship and helping people see something differently. We spoke with Teresa Caputo, the Long island medium. And in that episode, she, you know, just had a sense of something that she shared with me that really impacted me in a way that I had never considered before. My family had a significant tragedy when I was 14 that marked the next 30 plus years of our lives. And what she discussed was something that happened in the non physical realm. For people who haven't heard the story or the episode. My older brother was severely injured in a car accident and he almost died. And what she talked about was when he was in that decision space between life and death, that my dad's father intervened and helped send him back to be, to continue to be alive in this world. And that the role that he, that my grandfather played was really to support my father. And as much as I had considered the family impact of that situation, I had mostly seen it from my brother's perspective what it would mean to be injured. I saw it from my perspective. I had seen it partly from my dad's perspective. But I never really understood the message that she provided in that moment. And imagine thinking about something, experiencing it for 35 years, and now all of a sudden, there's a new angle to it that I had never experienced before. Simply by this woman who knows where the information came from, sharing that little insight. It was very powerful.
- [42:43]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Wow, that sounds. Yes, incredibly powerful. And it's also like when you receive this information, did it feel, did you have a knowing that it was indeed true and did it fit within your scheme of how you understood the world, or was it an immediate expansion of your own system?
- [42:59]
Jonathan Cohen
I had never considered it and it was immediately integrated. Like my system did not fight against that information to say, oh, I don't know, this feels off. It doesn't like it was a. It's like I never considered it. And when I received it, it immediately plugged in and expanded my understanding of the entire experience in a way that felt much more complete and whole.
- [43:26]
Dr. Anna Yusom
It sounds so powerful. And this is, you know, we talked about the definition of a miracle being a shift in perception. And sometimes that kind of information that leads you to see something a little bit differently and changes your whole perception on something so vital and traumatic that happened in your life, changes your whole life. So that sounds like a miraculous thing that happened.
- [43:45]
Jonathan Cohen
Can you tell us a little bit about your personal awakening? Was there a time where you were purely a materialist without an experience of extra sensory abilities, intuition, without a relationship with your guides? And how did you go from pre doctor Yousome now to the version of yourself you are today?
- [44:07]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Had anyone told me that I would be a spiritual person 25 years ago, I would have laughed. Spirituality was the furthest thing from my mind. And I went through my undergraduate training, studied biology and philosophy, medical schooling, residency. No spirituality, because it just wasn't who I was. I had too many things. I was studying for medical school. I was in a relationship. I was doing normal things, you know, and. And then interesting things started to happen. Towards the end of my psychiatry residency that led me to start to think, wow, maybe the world works a little bit differently than I've always been taught. I was getting interested in the concept of a soul because I met somebody at the time who I thought was my soulmate. He did not end up being my soulmate, but it definitely got me interested in this whole process. And I remember having gone to a synagogue and was listening to a lecture on the soul, and I was walking back home, and I felt drawn into this ice cream shop to go have an ice cream. I was like, okay, eating my ice cream. This psychic and a young child come up to me, and the psychic says, I'm a psychic. I have a message for you. Can I give you a message?
- [45:08]
Mayim Bialik
No.
- [45:09]
Dr. Anna Yusom
And I said, okay, sure. Sounds relatively innocuous in New York City. So she sits down and this woman starts telling me all of these deep truths about my life that she has no possible way of knowing, including the name of the guy that I had a crush on. And it just comes out of her. And after that, I was like, what in the world happened here? Because here, up until this point, I had been taught that all of our minds are separate and distinct. And I'm living in my world. You're living in your world. And this woman, literally, I don't know if she read my mind, if she read something up there, but she knew things that she had. No. And it was. It wasn't in my journal even. It wasn't on Facebook. It wasn't. There's no way this woman could have known. And she knew.
- [45:49]
Mayim Bialik
Did you buy her an ice cream?
- [45:52]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah. No. I ended up working with her for a While to, you know, that was kind of the beginning. And it was then that I also. These messages would start coming in. I had this dream of a sign that said, kabbalah Revealed. And my mom had studied Kabbalah a while ago, and she'd sent me books. I was like, maybe this is a book from my bookshelf. No. And then a few weeks later, I'm walking to have dinner with a friend, and I saw the exact sign from my dream, Kabbalah Revealed. It was the New York Kabbalah Center. And so I walked in, and I was like, okay, well, this is for my dream. I signed up and took a class, and the Kabbalah center started to give me a new framework for how to see and understand all of this stuff that I was learning. So the differentiation between the scientific framework that I had learned in the many years prior and this framework that I was just starting to learn, so very interesting.
- [46:38]
Jonathan Cohen
Was there a moment where your intuition sort of opened? How did you go from sort of receiving and starting to receive that first reading and the signs and starting to be guided a little bit, it sounds like, through synchronicity, into what sounds like a much more integrated spiritual life where you are literally integrating spirituality and intuition on a daily basis?
- [47:04]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, that was very gradual. It was having these things happen in my life and then processing it and starting to understand what exactly is happening. How do I understand this? And then eventually, within seven years, gathering enough patient cases to write a book about it with 50 cases from my private practice, and then eventually publishing this and sort of, you know, rebranding myself as a spiritual psychiatrist, somebody who integrates psychiatry and spirituality, and then doing this at Yale to start this mental health and spirituality center there. So it was slow and gradual, and it's also continuous because there are people who are incredibly talented at receiving intuitive information. I'm intuitive, and it does come to me, but I wish that I could further and expand my capacities. And I'm always looking to do that.
- [47:50]
Jonathan Cohen
Do you believe that we have soulmates?
- [47:53]
Dr. Anna Yusom
I believe, you know, certainly that, you know, perhaps there have been past lives, and perhaps there are other souls that we've come in contact with that have been important to us. And there could be certain lessons and certain karmic patterns and. Sure. And. And a soulmate. And, you know, just because somebody is a soulmate does not mean that everything's gonna be perfect and roses with this person. It means that there is a karmic pattern, and it's an important karmic pattern to figure out and understand and so absolutely, I like, you know, the very romanticized concept of soulmates, but I also don't think it's something that needs to hold people back from having love, joy and fulfillment in their lives.
- [48:32]
Jonathan Cohen
How should people understand karmic patterns?
- [48:34]
Dr. Anna Yusom
So karmic patterns are based on the idea of lessons and lifetimes. It's the idea that this isn't our only lifetime, that our soul has come in here with, you know, many past lifetimes before us and certain things that we have done and certain karma that we have accumulated that we clear out in this lifetime through our actions, through sometimes pain and suffering, and sometimes through positive choices. And that, you know, there's also people who believe that there's no more karma, that you can just release all your karma, which is a beautiful notion if that's indeed the case. But the idea that, you know, we talked about repetition, compulsions and soul corrections and things that seem to come up in this lifetime over and over again as challenges or hardships, much to our chagrin and dismay and despite our best efforts to change it. Oftentimes those are our so called karmic patterns. They're different words to describe similar things that we have to work through in this lifetime to move beyond.
- [49:30]
Mayim Bialik
You've studied so many different kinds of spiritual and religious traditions as sort of part of the foundation for the work that you do. What do you find is universal? You know, you've studied in South America, in India, in Israel, you know, all over the world. What are the common themes that you think in many ways science might be trying to catch up with and explain, but that seem to be thousands of years old, Universal truths. If you had to say, what are the top three things that you feel the great mystical spiritual traditions have in common?
- [50:11]
Dr. Anna Yusom
So I think that the three universal truths that are across religious and spiritual traditions are, number one, the universality of love as being one of the most important things, if not the most important things in this world. And the definitions of love are varied. And that includes self love, love of others, love of God. That's number one. Number two is the importance of service and being able to give of oneself and service through all the different means and service as far as your uniqueness in this world, the way that you can be of service in a way that nobody else can, and also just a devotion to receiving for the sake of giving to others and ensuring that you have a way to create that flow in your life that you are always giving. And the third thing is purpose, which has to do with giving as well. But it's much deeper. It's also just having a sense of why you are here, one's purpose in life and the work that one needs to do in this world to actualize their. Their full potential. So I think that those are three of the top universal truths that pervade different religious and spiritual traditions.
- [51:30]
Mayim Bialik
That's really interesting and very comforting. I had a feeling you'd say love also, because from a lot of the incredible psilocybin and therapy assisted, even ketamine, there's a lot of evidence that once we stimulate the ability of the brain to let go and to kind of remove that veil of ego, remove that veil of the defenses and the organizing principles, the default mode, network, once that veil is lifted, what is there is an openness that most of us probably don't even remember, because the last time we purely felt it, we were probably babies, right? Or infants for many of us, right? So I knew that love would be there. But this notion of kind of service and purpose, I really love those two, and I know there are many others. I just asked you kind of, you know, for your top three, kind of another adjacent question, where do you see the use of psychedelics, you know, in terms of trauma processing? You know, I'm talking to more and more people who have done the medication route, and this one works. But then you don't want to have sex or you can't have an orgasm because of side effects, and, you know, you kind of like, keep going back to talk therapy. And it's kind of like, well, this is what happened this week. I don't know. And, you know, it's. It's not getting to some of that deeper stuff. Many people don't have the money to keep going to the kind of therapy or even to maintain the kind of medication regimen that many of us need if something's not working and you have to try something else. Many people are turning to psychedelics both to take. To kind of take the weight off of their existence. Right. People are experimenting with microdosing, which you can do with psilocybin or LSD or other things as well. But also people are taking larger journeys that, you know, if you read the celebrity accounts, it's like, I did ayahuasca in Ojai and my life is better, you know. But what is your perspective on. Is this a shortcut to spiritual growth? Is it a shortcut to mental healing? Is it the transformation that some people are needing and where does it fit into the practice of medicine as you were trained?
- [53:38]
Dr. Anna Yusom
So I think that psychedelics offer not just a novel neurobiological mechanism for some of the most treatment resistant psychiatric and mental health conditions like alcoholism, depression, anxiety, et cetera, but for many people, they also offer a connection to spirit and that is what makes them so unique. And in that connection to spirit, there is something very innately healing and creating of wholeness which people so desperately desire. And oftentimes they come for precisely that. And there's been many studies showing at John Hopkins that the greater the spiritual effect or connection, the greater the mystical experience, the greater the healing potential of that psychedelic journey for a person.
- [54:27]
Mayim Bialik
Can you say that again?
- [54:28]
Dr. Anna Yusom
There is work that's been shown at John Hopkins and also at NYU showing that the greater the spiritual effect or mystical experience within a psychedelic journey, and this is specifically with psilocybin, but it's possible that it also could be generalized. The greater the anti anxiety effect of the treatment or the anti. Yeah, the greater the mental health benefit to the patient.
- [54:56]
Jonathan Cohen
Why do you think that is?
- [54:58]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Because I think that we are ultimately biopsychosocial spiritual creatures, biological, psychological, social and spiritual. And oftentimes people forget the spiritual part. And when they're able to have that connection that reconnects them to spirit, they start to feel whole again.
- [55:15]
Mayim Bialik
I have a. Also, I mean, there's also, you know, mechanistic ways that we can explain some of that. You're flooding a system, right? You're flooding a system with serotonin, you're flooding a system with oxytocin, right? So you're kind of laying this, this neurochemical foundation for ease, right? So that when you'd normally go down that anxiety groove, it could be, and I haven't looked up receptors in a minute, you know, in this arena, it could be that there are more receptors available for that positivity and there are less receptors available or taken or docked to prevent that. So you're pot, you're looking to potentiate. That's what these, you know, kind of things are supposed to do. They're supposed to potentiate a longer term health outcome. And that's why it, you know, by contrast, you know, Paul Stamets has one of the most fantastic examples. You know, a lifelong stutterer, lifelong, you know, kind of troubled soul. And he accidentally took like five times a hero dose of psilocybin by himself. He never stuttered again. And like his entire life opened up and he has stayed that way. He had a profound spiritual awakening relating to that, you know, connection. For most people, it's not that significant. But that notion that it can potentiate other positive decisions, other positive experiences, you know, it's kind of like when you meet someone and they've just fallen in love and everything is amazing to them and, like, everything tastes better and they look better. You know, that's what it is. It's all of those goodies that that hormone is providing you with as well.
- [56:54]
Jonathan Cohen
And potentially sensing that there is a spiritual connection to our lives and accessing that is the key to help, helping that create all the neurochemical soup that we want.
- [57:09]
Dr. Anna Yusom
I was actually just on a cruise with Paul Stamets and Rick Doblin in Antarctica. We went on this cruise for insider expeditions, and there was 200 people all studying in some way, psychedelics. It was the most interesting experience, an amazing, amazing experience. And there was also, as one of the people, kind of as the entertainers, but also like a trainer on this trip was this incredible guy named Brandon who had. Has the world record for holding one's breath underwater. It's almost like 30 minutes. What? Unbelievable. Yeah. And he taught. He was teaching us how to do this on this trip. But Brandon, way back told me his story, which I think he'd be okay with my sharing. He's not a patient or anything. He had really, really bad ocd. And one time he took a very high level or dose of LSD and it completely did away with it. And then eventually he microdosed it for six months and completely did away with his ocd. So this is the examples that you gave is individuals with chronic lifelong conditions having healing effects from conditions that are very rarely healed. So it's very powerful. I mean, these are obviously case studies. This is not every other person, but there is very powerful healing potential here.
- [58:21]
Mayim Bialik
How long can you hold your breath underwater?
- [58:23]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Well, thank you for asking that question, Mime. I was hoping you'd ask. So I came in with about, like, two minutes. But then after working with Brandon for a few days, I'm almost up to four and a half minutes, so which for me is like, huge. Wait, wait.
- [58:36]
Mayim Bialik
So hold on. I actually want to ask about this because I was thinking about this. Someone referenced it in another podcast. So most of us think, like, I can't hold my breath for that long. Right? Like, that's what you would think. But the fact is it's kind of. And I. I equate this to, like, you know, natural labor, like giving birth without drugs. Most people, like, I can't do that. Right. It's like, well, yeah, everybody can. It's just there's Some preparation involved so you can learn to do things that seem difficult, impossible, whatever. So it has to do with basically calming your system.
- [59:11]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Correct, Calming your system and recognizing that, as Brandon said, that the urge to breathe is a biological drive to protect you, but you can overcome that with your will and with calming yourself. And he also is the kind of person, he's like, I'm okay with all options. You know, if you're doing something like that, it's invariably risky and he takes the risk. So he was the perfect person to hold this, you know, record. And it was fascinating to. And he works with Olympic athletes to help him expand their lung capacity. He's just this brilliant, amazing man.
- [59:47]
Jonathan Cohen
Why doesn't it cause brain damage?
- [59:49]
Mayim Bialik
Well, lack of oxygen to the brain will cause brain damage. Sorry, I'll let Dr. Use.
- [59:53]
Jonathan Cohen
But if you're. Yeah, and if you're not breathing for 30 minutes, explain the mechanism. Because laypeople are like, oh, we've been taught that the brain needs oxygen, and if you deprive it of oxygen for a certain amount of time, there's going to be a consequence. How is this man holding his breath for that amount of time? Is it similar to the yogis who just slow all the systems of their body down?
- [60:19]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yes, that's exactly what it is. And so you're going to have to obviously talk to him and have him on, which I would highly recommend. But as I understand it, that's exactly what is. First, he does a few exercises to maximize, to the degree that we are able, our oxygenation capacity. Through certain breath work, he puts as much oxygen into our lungs as possible. And then he does he mentally as well as physically teaches a relaxation technique to enable us to go very, very deep into this breath holding.
- [60:47]
Mayim Bialik
You're like hibernating. You're basically, you're, you're. You're metabolically hibernating. So you're not depriving the brain of oxygen in the same way. You're also not requiring that the brain do tasks. The less you are making this sort of process taxing. You know, it's like when you. If you've ever been in a critical accident, the more you freak out, the faster you're going to lose blood. Right. Like calming the system down. And it's not unlike labor. It's like any of these very, very potentially excruciating situations. There's a reframe that reframes not only your mind, but your physiology as well.
- [61:23]
Jonathan Cohen
How is it for you going those four plus minutes? Did it have a spiritual Component whereby you were transcending the perceived limits of your physical body. Body and accessing something else. Like what. What was. What did it feel like for you?
- [61:39]
Dr. Anna Yusom
You know, it was because Antarctica was that as well. Because I felt like for, you know, nine days, I was in a space that I was breathing the cleanest possible air with no industrialization, no urbanization. And it felt so connected to nature, to the divine, to these amazing people on my boat. And it did actually feel that way in concert with everything else, but it's not something I've necessarily kept up. So I don't know if today I were to do it. It continued, but it made me think that I. To work with Brandon. And this is something that one day I really want to commit to and see what is the potential for. What is the human potential for that?
- [62:14]
Mayim Bialik
Yeah, this, this leads to a question that I wanted to get into regarding Kabbalah and some of that specific spiritual tradition. But what made me kind of think of it is like, you know, when we fast in the Jewish calendar, we do dry fasts, and there are two 25 hour dry fast that we do. One is Yom Kippur and the other falls in the summer on Tisha B'Av. But people always ask me, like, how do you do? You can't live, you know, without food and water for a day. You must be starving all the time. And I remind people that when you fast like that you. You're not out, like going to work, making, you know, three meals a day and two snacks. I mean, when my kids were little, I would do that and fast. But the idea is, what if you place yourself in an environment where less is required of you metabolically so that you can focus on not the external, but the things that are inside of you. And our rabbi would always teach, like, you get to be like an angel. Like, angels don't have to eat or drink. Like, that's what the, the experience, the spiritual experience of fasting and being in prayer and meditation in that time, like that's what it's for. I wonder if you can talk a little bit specifically about. We've had people mention Kabbalah here and there, and I mentioned Kabbalah here and there. But can you tell us specifically about what the specialness is for you of that particular spiritual tradition, especially in terms of the way you kind of see the world and the information that exists for you spiritually?
- [63:44]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, and I, you know, my perception of the fasts that you describe are very similar to yourself, Mayim, in that that was what Really, I learned in Kabbalah that we don't focus on the physical meals in order to have the internal spiritual meals. And we have, you know, five spiritual meals based on like the five different prayers that you do throughout the course of the 25 hour period on Yom Kippur and then again for, you know, the other fast. And I also think it's just such a good, healthy, beautiful thing to cleanse your body of all food and water and give your body the opportunity to rest of that. And there's many different cultures and traditions that use fasting in such powerful ways that are underutilized in our country. In Russia, for instance, fasting was ways of, of getting rid of cancer and getting like it was. It was really a reversal. And dry fasts were more powerful. That with dry fast you have to be in nature. You can't even shower with a dry fast. But there's like extensive books written about this and there's a science to this. That's not something that's safely practiced here. Here we usually people will do a juice fast or those are also wonderful and healthy. But in a world where there's all of these toxins coming at us all the time through the food we eat, through our environment, et cetera, vaccine and detox in general is such an important part, I think, of mental and physical well being that's often not talked about.
- [65:05]
Mayim Bialik
What is it specifically about what you've studied through the kabbalistic traditions that have provided you with information about our spiritual existence or how we are set to function in this world as spiritual beings?
- [65:21]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Yeah, so I learned so many important lessons and so many things that I've passed on to so many patients and written about in my books. And one of the most important things is that all of us have essentially lessons to learn and I guess, certain things to get through in this lifetime. And there's two ways in which we can grow as a person. We can grow proactively or we can grow reactively. Proactively is making choices to be the best versions of ourselves, to be able to go against our nature, do that which is more difficult, have moral courage, act with integrity, look at the parts of us that maybe aren't perfect and start to, you know, make shifts in the other direction. So that is proactive growth. And whatever growth we can't do proactively, we will do reactively. And that is growth through pain and suffering. Pain and suffering are an inevitable part of life. And kabbalistically, they believe that the more proactive growth you do, the Less you have to do reactively through pain and suffering. So I thought that was a very interesting concept. It's something that I often will pass along to my clients and patients so we can think together. What does proactive growth in this situation look like? What does going against your nature look like in this particular situation? What would be your default pathway and what would be the growth pathway?
- [66:39]
Mayim Bialik
I really like that notion also because puts the power, you know, in your hands to the extent that you are able to. To have control right over your agency. You're not just allowed to say, well, whatever God wants, let's see what happens. There's legwork that we. There's footwork that we have to do to sort of meet God or meet whatever you believe in. We're partners with our higher power in this journey. I think also the notion that suffering is sometimes an opportunity or challenges are an opportunity for growth, it also removes this polarity of good and evil, which, you know, I think other traditions sometimes weigh more heavily on. But this concept, I think, introduces the fact that we don't always know what's good or bad for us, but there's a path that we're on. And challenges don't have to just be seen as punishment. They don't have to just be seen as we did something wrong or we messed up. What's the lesson to learn and what's the growth? So it's kind of like, you know, I. Whenever people ask me about prayer, and I actually just wrote a series on substack about prayer. You know, be careful what you pray for. Praying for the things that I want would be if I'm God and I know what Mayim needs. Right. What I usually try and pray for is being open to whatever's God, whatever God, God's will is for me. And I don't know what that is. You know, I. If I think I want a job, I really want that job. That may not be what is in my path. So being open to this notion of if I'm unhappy, it can be an opening.
- [68:20]
Dr. Anna Yusom
I love that. And especially recognizing that we may think that we want what we want and need what we need, and we may think that we know what is best for us, but we only see a small part of reality. And maybe there is a higher order, and maybe there is a being, God, et cetera, who sees a little bit more and can give us what we really need. Because, you know, it's the idea of a directional purpose in this lifetime that all of our souls have come in to grow in certain ways. And we don't necessarily know what our growth path is or the way in which we're supposed to open and expand and see things through a different perspective. So I, I love what you're saying. I think that's exactly right.
- [68:58]
Mayim Bialik
You talk about the law of Attraction, which we sort of talked about towards the beginning of our conversation with you, but you have really interesting reasons why the law of attraction may not work from your perspective. Right. Meaning why isn't this working? I. And what you say is that, that there are four possibilities. One is that you weren't clear about what you asked for, which I've been told is important. Another is that you didn't really believe that you could have what you asked for, which I think is really interesting. What you asked for may not be in the highest and greatest good of all involved. And finally, you weren't able to receive it when the universe was trying to give it to you. And I think of how many times I either said no when I should have said yes, or I said yes when I should have said no. This notion of what are we ready for? How do you help us frame that? You know, how do you help your, your patients, your clients frame this? You know, why do bad things keep happening to me? Can you give us a little kind of positive send off in terms of what we attract and what we can deserve?
- [70:10]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Absolutely. And, and it's true that we don't know if we want something desperately and it's not happening. There's so many different reasons why that's the case. And you have to look deep within to understand. Is it my unconscious? Is it my conscious? Is it that, you know God's will? Is it something else? And so as with everything we, you know, there's in Kabbalah, actually they say that there's three ways to manifest what you most deeply want. One is you do your maximum work in the physical world. So you want something, you figure out how to do it, you make it happen, you do your part. And number two, you also do your maximum work in the spiritual world. You pray, you ask for help, you try to, you know, change about yourself what you need to change to become the person who can receive what you need to receive. And third, you have ultimate certainty. So 1, 2, 3, if you can have those things, many people get what they want. And that's sort of the Kabbalistic formula for it.
- [71:02]
Mayim Bialik
I love that because, you know, also to go back to why we sometimes attract unhealthy people, you know, we, we also need to do the footwork. Where am I spending my time? What am I reading? What am I consuming? What am I doing with my downtime? Right. Am I drinking? Am I taking drugs? Like, am I not getting regular sleep? Am I not taking care of, like, the most basic things about my nutrition and my exercise? Right. Because sometimes we kind of want to be looking everywhere for what went wrong when there's so many things we could do to try and help us make it more right.
- [71:39]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Absolutely. Absolutely. That's exactly right. And so it's such a powerful lesson in accountability to be able to look at oneself and say, what control do I have here? And recognizing, doing everything you can control what you can, and then realizing that the control for the majority of the most important things is somewhat limited, and that to some degree, you also have to surrender and be open to receiving what that much might be in your even greater good than what it is that you think that you want.
- [72:06]
Mayim Bialik
Dr. Youssef, really, thank you so much for being here with us. And I highly recommend how the science of spirituality can help you live a happier, more meaningful life. And we didn't get to do any of the. There's incredible meditations and exercises in here. So Jonathan and I will head over to Substack and give some examples of some of the practical stuff that's in the book. The book is a really, really. It really is. It's a lovely exploration of your particular and personal journey, and I especially love hearing about patients and the. The progress you've helped them have. But in addition, it's a very practical book, and I appreciate that as well. Thank you so much for having this conversation with us.
- [72:47]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Thank you, guys. This was great. Thank you.
- [72:53]
Jonathan Cohen
I'm reading your third eye right now.
- [72:56]
Mayim Bialik
I want to walk around with a band aid over my third eye so nobody can read it.
- [73:00]
Jonathan Cohen
People are going to just be telling you what you think and feel.
- [73:03]
Mayim Bialik
They don't even need to see it. This is the thing. I'm walking around the world with people like you and her. They're just looking into my brain all the time.
- [73:12]
Jonathan Cohen
We have to teach you how to read your crown. We have to extend your consciousness. When was this? Sometimes. Here's the problem with doing so many podcasts.
- [73:21]
Mayim Bialik
Yes.
- [73:22]
Jonathan Cohen
Is that I remember us having a conversation about changing our consciousness. I actually think it was on a substack live where I tried to lead you through a meditation. And the meditation was fundamentally about what Anna was talking about, which is that we can set our consciousness to a frequency or to a location away from our own Understanding into a larger, universal understanding. And you got very upset about that.
- [73:54]
Mayim Bialik
Oh, I told you. You're bananas.
- [73:56]
Jonathan Cohen
Dr. Youssom would be like, you know what? Mime, clear yourself. Take your awareness.
- [74:03]
Mayim Bialik
You don't know what she would say to me. Get out of her head, too. I can't stop you. You're just like, mind surfing everywhere. You're everywhere.
- [74:12]
Jonathan Cohen
If anyone's listening and they want me in their head, let me know. I'm happy to take a look around and see what I see.
- [74:19]
Mayim Bialik
No, but now, honestly, true story. I am looking at a lot of this because I'm thinking of all those, like, people that I see in my yoga class sometimes. Or they walk around, they walk among us. And you can tell these people are aligned to something different. But it doesn't always seem the life is getting done the way I would think it should. But they're walking around probably feeling very overwhelmed by the information they might be receiving. It's like making me nuts. I don't know how to wrap my head around this.
- [74:47]
Jonathan Cohen
Well, you bring up an important point because people want information for themselves, but it is something that you have to learn to navigate. When you start to receive extra sensory information from one of the four Claires, it can be very disorienting. You don't know what to tune into. There's people who don't have good boundaries. Their filters are open too wide, and you just get overwhelmed. And like, how do you go and just go to the grocery store when everyone around you is like, like overflowing you with information?
- [75:21]
Mayim Bialik
Your filters open too wide. That's what I want to say to people. Get out of my third eye. Your filters open too wide.
- [75:28]
Jonathan Cohen
You just focus on your own consciousness.
- [75:30]
Mayim Bialik
You know what I was thinking about? First of all, how much we enjoy doing substack lives. Because I know that when we do the substack live for this episode this week that this airs, that y' all are listening to this, people are going to lose their minds in the best way. Also wanted to mention check out anniusom.com to learn about her psychiatry sessions and also coaching sessions. I kind of felt like I need to see her. I want her to be like my person. I want her to tell me all the things. Read my third eye.
- [76:00]
Jonathan Cohen
She pauses a lot after we speak.
- [76:03]
Mayim Bialik
Very patient woman.
- [76:03]
Jonathan Cohen
And I wasn't sure if it was the Internet, but it wasn't.
- [76:06]
Mayim Bialik
She's a psychiatrist. They teach them to do that.
- [76:08]
Jonathan Cohen
You know why you pause? You can't receive one of the four Claire's if you're rushing.
- [76:13]
Mayim Bialik
Oh my God. That's your new nickname, Claire. From our breakdown to the one we hope you never have. We'll see you next time, me and Claire.
- [76:22]
Jonathan Cohen
It's Maya Bialik's breakdown. She's gonna break it down for you. She's got a neuroscience PhD or two one fiction and now she's gonna break down so break down she's gonna break it down. New Year, new me. Cute. But how about New Year, new money? With Experian, you can actually take control of your finances. Check your FICO score, find ways to save and get matched with credit card offers giving you time to power through those New Year's goals. You know you're gonna crush start the year off right. Download the Experian app based on FICO scoring model offers an approval not guaranteed. Eligibility requirements and terms apply subject to credit check which may impact your credit scores. Offers not available in all states. See experian.com for details.
- [77:05]
Dr. Anna Yusom
Experian.
- [77:08]
Mayim Bialik
LifeLock how can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.
- [77:12]
Jonathan Cohen
One in four tax paying American Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.
- [77:15]
Dr. Anna Yusom
What do I do?
- [77:16]
Mayim Bialik
My refund though. I'm freaking out.
- [77:18]
Jonathan Cohen
Don't worry, I can fix this. LifeLock fixes identity theft, guaranteed and gets your money back with up to $3 million in coverage.
- [77:25]
Mayim Bialik
I'm so relieved.
- [77:26]
Jonathan Cohen
No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way. One in four was a fraud. Paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40 your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply.