The Competitive Edge

How Vibes Shape our world. I see the world of energy (Qi) as the next frontier for many fixtures of the human experience. Many traditions, including RenXue where I have studied for the past 4 years, see Qi as the fundamental building block of reality. The more we understand it through widely accepted means like Science, the more humans will be able to work with it to create a more compelling experience. Today’s guest scientist and author Garrett Yount has been studying energy and its impact on healing for the past 20 years. His interest began when he started to experience clairvoyant phenomena as a child. This eventually led him to a career in advancing our understanding of molecular neurobiology, consciousness and extended human capacities. Through his research he has performed extensive experiments with spiritual healers and biofield practitioners from around the world. His new book Why Vibes Matter: Understand Your Energy and Learn How to Use it Wisely covers in depth his experiences as a researcher in thi

What if learning who we are creates a more fulfilling life than getting what we want? I heard this question posed on a podcast with today’s guest and it pretty much sums up the entirety of my experience over the past few years. Nothing has been more enriching than the deeper exploration of the nature of Self and learning to embody that more fully so that it can be expressed in the world.  Today’s guest is Joe Hudson, founder of the Art of Accomplishment platform and executive coach. Highlights of the episode for me were: Why making life and business spiritual practice is so compelling How you can think about creating a container in the business world that fosters spiritual growth Why many companies fail at creating thriving businesses that help employees grow The power of letting go of trying  How he thinks about the Art of Accomplishment as a platform for change and empowerment For full show notes: https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

Why is it that we can be doing something, and our mind starts to think about something else involuntarily? Is this a helpful part of the human experience? A nuisance? The nature of mind-wandering is something that scientist Arnaud Delorme has been investigating for the past 20 years. In this conversation, we explore what he has learned as well as some of the main questions the scientific community is trying to understand around the nature of mind. Arnaud recently released a book on this topic and his research called Why Our Minds Wander. For full show notes: https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

There are some people I just love listening to talk. Today’s episode is one of those people.  David Perell is an entrepreneur, writer, and creator of the renown online course Write of Passage which helps aspiring writers transform their lives by writing online.  A lot of people know David on the internet because of his prolific writing and content creation, but what I was interested in learning about is how the shifts in David’s personal and spiritual life fuel his creative endeavors. In this conversation we talk about David’s journey with his faith and how it’s empowered him to be a better leader and step even more deeply into his purpose. It feels like many people I talk to these days have difficulty feeling aligned with their purpose. A big part of my personal hypothesis is that uncovering this is a process that occurs naturally once you begin to do the inner work and remove the impediments that make it easy to embrace what you love. For full show notes: https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

Today’s guest is Stephen Zerfas, the Co-Founder and CEO of Jhourney.  Five years ago Stephen found himself crying tears of joy after stumbling into a prolonged state of ecstatic bliss on a meditation retreat.  Up until this point, most of the retreat was migraine-inducing so he wasn’t sure how he had landed in this profound place. After the retreat, he was interested in how to recreate this experience whenever he wanted. Through many months of personal experimentation and research, he realized that these states are available to all humans on demand. In fact, you don’t even need to be a long-time meditator! In this conversation, we discuss the Jhanas and how Jhourney is going about making them more accessible. Interesting ideas include: An overview of the Jhanas and why we should care How meditation as far as what has been brought to the West is still largely unexplored The history of why these experiences went from very popular to obscurity and are now emerging yet again The different schools of insig

Today’s guest Sarah McCrum is the author of the book Love Money, Money Loves You. Sarah’s background was that she studied energy with Chinese masters for 20 years eventually opening a Qigong center in London. In 2010, she experienced spontaneous contact with the energy of money and began to receive information about its essence and what it wanted to communicate to humans. She began to transcribe this information and eventually, it became the contents of her book. Although this may sound like an absurd idea to many people, channeling is responsible for many profoundly impactful books such as A Course In Miracles which we covered in an earlier podcast. The idea is that all things are made of energy, including beings and energies on higher planes, and if we can open to and connect with these energies we can begin to receive and transmit information. This is the same exact way a radio works. I’ve read Sarah’s books and the ideas are pretty revolutionary. It really makes you question everything you thought you kne

Our society is obsessed with self-improvement. This was a major feature of how I related to reality for most of my life. As helpful as self-improvement can be, it also has a major shadow side that largely goes unexamined.  Implicit in the pursuit of self-improvement is that there is a deficit; that whatever or however your being is in this moment is not whole or complete. This keeps you grasping in a seemingly endless treadmill without ever reaching an enduring sense of completion or fulfillment. Most people don’t really even know there is an alternative to the self-improvement paradigm. This is one of the main topics of today’s conversation with Steve March, the founder of Aletheia Coaching.  Some of my other favorite ideas include: Why self-improvement on its own can be a trap Striking the balance between self-improvement and self-unfoldment How to practically embody a more unfoldment experience  Understanding how solutions and support often arise when we allow them vs. exert force How shifting ou

Imagine having access to a source of guidance that could tell you exactly what’s needed at any moment for your highest good in all parts of your life. I honestly can’t think of a more valuable resource! According to today’s guest Laura Coe, this is a potential for all humans by accessing what’s called the Akashic records. The Akashic records are like an energetic database that stores all the information from every thought, emotion, and experience we’ve had in all of our lives as a soul.  In this conversation, we discuss: What are the Akashic records and how we can work with them The potentiality for anyone to access this inner technology The relationship between intuition, soul, and the Akashic realm Moving from striving to accomplishment from flow and oneness The difference between fulfillment and success For full show notes: https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

  One of those people early on in my startup journey was Leo Widrich, one of the founders of the social media company Buffer. At one point, Buffer was a darling in startup land with their great product, prolific blog and a culture of transparency that gained them lots of notoriety. I remember reading about their co-founder split and kind of never heard much about Leo again. I’m not exactly sure how, but somehow I found myself on his website 6 months ago and learned that he’s been on a similar journey of inner discovery. After “making it in startup world” Leo went to live in a Buddhist monastery for a few years. In this conversation, we talk about his experience going from the frenetic world of startups to living a monastic lifestyle. He shares a lot about the experience of facing his unconscious inner material which I related to immensely. Post monastery life, he found himself coaching startup founders who were experiencing similar challenges and dissonance that he had gone through. This article on less

Ryan is an accomplished entrepreneur who spent 10 years building VNN, the largest, fastest-growing high school sports marketing and media network in the United States. He’s since moved into the world of executive coaching starting his firm Inside-Out Leadership which is the only coaching firm that I know of completely comprised of exited founders who also integrate consciousness work. I find Ryan to be an incredibly thoughtful guy and compelling speaker which is why I was excited to have him on the show. In this conversation, we unpack how and why developing a more effective relationship with shame can be such a profound unlock for improving your life and leadership ability. This exploration bleeds into how to increasingly move towards emptiness so that you can meet life as spacious awareness.    For full show notes: https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

Today’s guest is a fascinating and inspiring example of expanding beyond an old identity to step into something deeper. Mona Sobhani was a hard-charging neuroscientist who at one point looked at spirituality as a coping mechanism for people who couldn’t cut it in the real world. Through an unforeseen series of direct experiences and deep exploration of scientific evidence, she gradually transformed her worldview and began to embrace the ineffable mystery that is spiritual life. Her book Proof of Spiritual Phenomena shares her experience as well as the mountain of scientific evidence that substantiates what many ancient wisdom teachings have been saying all along. In this conversation, we talk a lot about the interplay of scientism and spirituality. Some interesting talking points for me include: Why much of the science community continue to overlook or turn away from the compelling evidence surrounding spiritual phenomena and their potential impact on the human experience How to skillfully navigate shi

Today’s guests are Nicco Reggente and Leo Christov-Moore from The Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies. The IACS is trying to make these life-altering experiences available to more people by better understanding what goes into meditative and entheogenic experiences so that we can find additional, more accessible entry points using modern technology. Through a better understanding of both the mechanics of what creates these states from how our brains change, to traditional components like the role of a facilitator and set and setting, they hope to make attaining positive behavior through these states accessible to the masses. Right now their research focus is on enhancing meditation, neuromodulation, and technodelics.  This conversation is wide-ranging and builds upon past conversations I’ve had on the latest Neuroscience of Meditation. Some highlights include:   Why their research lab is set up like a startup vs. typical academia The current state of using ultrasound to induce altered states W

Today’s conversation dives deep into the realm of the soul and the initiatory experience.  Brooks Barron is a leadership coach and wilderness guide. One of the reasons I was excited to chat with Brooks is the formative role nature plays in his work helping people make contact with their soul and bring its expression into reality.  In this conversation, we talk about the pan-cultural tradition of the initiatory process and why it can be so impactful in our growth journeys. We explore how multi-day fast vision quests in nature can create a container for soul initiation. Full episode notes and links https://blog.scottbritton.me/s/evolutionfm-podcast

I first heard the term "cerebrospinal fluid" about four years ago during a Joe Dispenza course. I remember doing meditations that had me squeeze my perineum to try and move the fluid up my back into my brain. I encountered it again when I studied breathwork, and then my cranial sacral therapist would talk about it. It has continued to hover around my sphere for years, and finally, I decided I needed to go deeper and figure out what I needed to know about cerebrospinal fluid. I encountered the work of Dr. Mauro Zappaterra in this way.  Mauro has spent the past 20 years studying the impact of cerebrospinal fluid on human functioning. He received his MD/PhD from Harvard, where he studied neuronal stem cells and the effects of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) on brain development in adults. His work has been published in numerous scientific articles on CSF, and it was chosen as the cover image for the prestigious Neuron Journal. He is also the author of several children's books that make consciousness teachings accessib

This is a conversation with Humanity's Team co-founder Steve Farrell on his unconventional and inspiring journey from successful entrepreneur to uplifting human consciousness. In the 1990’s, Steve Farrell had started two high flying Silicon Valley businesses respectfully doing $75 million in revenue when he recognized his call to serve humanity. By all traditional definitions he had “made it,” but recognized that his soul’s purpose for coming into this plane was more then just being a serial entrepreneur. He left Silicon Valley and started his non-profit Humanity’s Team with Neale Donald Walsch, author of the seminal book series Conversations With God.  Humanity’s team’s mission is to make conscious living pervasive by 2040 by helping educate people throughout the world to awaken to the interconnectedness and oneness of everything. Over the last 20 years, they have created the #1 non-profit in transformational education bringing together some of the biggest spiritual leaders, scientists, and educators in the

Is it possible to live life in a state of play, grow spiritually, and build the life of your dreams all at once? This is a question I have spent many years pondering.  Our guest today, Victoria Song would answer this question with an emphatic YES! For a long time, I thought there was a polarity between these things, but this is something I no longer believe.  This has to be one of my favorite conversations since starting the show. It was just one of those conversations where there was a strong vibe, and I left feeling electric. Victoria is someone I met back in the tech industry when she was working in Venture Capital. From here, she went on to become a leadership advisor and coach working with everyone from billionaires and high flying CEOs to creatives at the top of their field. She is also the author of the book Bending Reality which shares many of her most effective tactics she’s field tested with her clients. For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned visit: https://blog.scottbritton.

“I think we’re going to see a lot of people who are half professional, half shaman in the coming years.” This was a soundbite from the recording of this week’s episode with my guest Jake Housdon. As the expansion of consciousness becomes more popular, I agree with the idea that people are going to live a more integrated experience.   Jake and I are kindred spirits in some ways in that we both spent a decade+ working in startups and are now seeking ways to blend consciousness evolution with being a modern professional.  Jake has an inspiring and courageous story. He was a sales leader in the startup world for the past decade and left that life to buy a retreat center in Peru, embark on becoming a shaman, and create an ecosystem dedicated to serving the conscious professional. In this episode, we talk about his mystical story of how he ended up where he is today and the windy path it took to get there. We went deep on many of the polarities that one can encounter while trying to be an earnest seeker, yet also s

What’s Unique About The Mental Health of Entrepreneurs? Starting and running a company can be HARD. And when you look at the odds of success, you realize you gotta be a little crazy to do it. Many times during my own experience, I’ve reflected on how if I knew how hard it was, I’m not sure I would have done it. I’m finding the same thing can be said about embarking on the path of spiritual evolution btw! Apparently, I like hard shit. So what is it about entrepreneurs that make them do the things they do? Are they fundamentally different from the average bear? And what implications does this have for their mental health and well-being? This is the nature of my conversation with today’s guest Dr. Michael Freeman. Dr. Freeman serves as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and as a Mentor in the Entrepreneurship Center at UCSF. With support from the Kauffman Foundation, Dr. Freeman has conducted extensive research into the mental health of entreprene

I love synchronicity. Not just because it’s fun when it happens but because it serves as a clue to the fact that there is something more going on here than the story we’ve been told about reality. The answer to what causes synchronicity will vary depending on who you ask. I have my own ideas, but I wanted to see who out there has done extensive research on the topic. This is how I came across today’s guest, Dr. Bernard Beitman. After studying at Yale and Stanford, Dr. Beitman went on to become the chair of the psychology and neuroscience program at The University of Missouri. He has also published multiple books, including Meaningful Coincidences, and started a non-profit called the Coincidence Project which seeks to better understand and educate the world on why and how coincidences occur. For full show notes, visit: https://scottbritton.substack.com/s/evolutionfm-podcast

Altered states of consciousness are going mainstream. This episode is a deep dive on the startup ecosystem with my friend Greg Kubin who an investor a Psymed Ventures. We recorded this conversation as a followup to a longer post covering the startup ecosystem related to expanding human consciousness. Startups will play a key role in enabling and expanding access to altered states of consciousness. The types of companies come in many flavors – hardware, software, and community. Technology could even result in accessing completely new states of consciousness. But first… how do we define consciousness? Most humans live in a state of normal waking consciousness – i.e. being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and physical surroundings. For most people, this is seemingly all there is to reality, maybe  except for dreams. In contrast, altered (or “alternative”) states of consciousness enable us to experience additional levels of awareness, perceptions, memories, thinking, emotions, sense of time, place, and self-cont