Your Misogi Awaits: Embrace Discomfort, Redefine Possible | Thrive on Plants Podcast Episode #18

Today, I want to talk to you not just about what we do to grow, but about why we grow and more importantly, how we keep going when things get hard, scary, or uncomfortable. If you're anything like me, you've probably felt that tug inside that quiet voice asking, is this it? Am I finished growing? Am I just coasting? Well, let me tell you up front, we are never finished. We are never stuck. And the best, most meaningful parts of life, they live just beyond the edge of our fear. Welcome back to another episode of the Thrive on Plants podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Daphne Bascom, and I'm your partner on this incredible journey of health, mindset, and transformation. Today's solo episode is going to be a little different. In this episode, I'm blending several powerful ideas, ideas that have deeply shaped my life over the past year or so. The concept of the msogi, a once a year challenge designed to stretch you to your absolute edge. And Colin Brady's 12 hour walk, a solo journey meant to crack open your mental resilience and reveal your possible mindset. Today, we're going to unpack why these two practices, one ancient and one modern. Why they point to the same truth, that growth doesn't come from doing what's easy or what's predictable. It comes from leaning into the discomfort, facing your doubts, and proving to yourself that you are far more capable than you've ever imagined. So whether you're listening to this on your morning run, your commute while meal prepping, or making your favorite smoothie, I invite you to settle in. This conversation might just challenge the way you think about what's possible for you. So, are you ready? Let's dive in. Let's start with this word. You might not have heard of this before. Misogi. In its original Japanese tradition, misogi refers to a ritual of purification, often done through cold water, fasting, or some physical challenge meant to cleanse the spirit. But in the world of modern personal development, the word has taken on a new, powerful meaning. A masochi today is a once a year challenge that is so big, so uncomfortable, and so uncertain that you have at least a 50% chance of failure. Why 50%? Because if you set a goal you're sure you can achieve, you're not really stretching. You're staying in the safety zone. At our 2025 Momentum Retreat in Zion national park, masogi wasn't just a word we tossed around. It was the heartbeat of the entire experience. We didn't go there to take pretty pictures or to check off a fitness bucket list. We went there to break through the walls we've built around ourselves, to confront the old stories. I'm not strong enough. I'm not brave enough. I'm too old. I'm too late. And let me tell you what this looked like. It looked like 26 vegan superheroes standing waist deep in icy water during a cold plunge, gasping for air and still pushing through. It looked like carrying heavy sandbags up steep mountain trails. Not just physical weight, but emotional weight. Emotional weight we've all been carrying. Shame, self doubt and fear. It looked like rappelling down sheer rock faces, trusting not just the rope or the harness, but ourselves. It looked like the Momentum Murph workout, where it wasn't about who finished first, but about the raw personal triumph of refusing to give up. The misogi isn't about being the strongest or the fittest. It's about stepping into something so big, so uncertain, that forces you to face who you really are when the usual excuses no longer work. What's so magical about this kind of challenge is that it resets your sense of what's possible when you do something you thought you couldn't do, suddenly the rest of your life opens up. You realize that so many of the limits you thought were real were just the stories you've been telling yourself. Misogi teaches us to stop playing small, to stop setting safe goals. Just to feel good, to stretch, to risk, to embrace the chance that you might fail. Because whether you succeed or fail, you'll walk away transformed. So let me ask you this. What is your misogi? What's the big, scary, audacious challenge you've been avoiding because you're afraid you might not make it? What would you change if you decided to face it head on? Now let's talk about a challenge that's captured the imagination of thousands. The 12 Hour Walk. This idea comes from Colin O', Brady, a world class endurance athlete and author who knows a thing or two about pushing the limits. In his book, the twelve Hour Walk, Colin invites us to take a bold, deceptively simple step. Walk for 12 hours completely alone. No distractions, no music, no podcast, no social media. At first glance, it might sound like a physical test. And yes, your feet will hurt, your legs will ache, and your body will want to stop. But the real magic? It's the mental transformation that happens when you push through the discomfort and comfort, the limiting beliefs running quietly in the background of your mind. Colin calls it the possible mindset. The idea that no human is limited. Sounds like Elliot Kipchoge that we are far more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Here's why I love the 12 hour walk. It's a solo journey, but it's not just about endurance. It's about confronting the voice inside that says, I can't. I can't go any further. I'm not cut out for this. Other people are built for big things, but not me. When you're out there, hour after hour, no distractions, no numbing escape, you're forced to sit with yourself. You meet your own mind, you meet your own demons. And that's where the real breakthrough begins. Because here's the truth. The most powerful barriers we face are not external. They're internal. They're the stories we've been telling ourselves, sometimes for years, about what we can and and cannot do. What the 12 Hour Walk teaches is that you are the author of those stories. You can write a new one. This challenge asks you to embrace discomfort, to stop fearing it, and instead to make it your ally. When you're cold, tired or sore, you learn resilience. When you're mentally drained, you discover new problem solving strengths. When you're emotionally raw, you uncover deeper truths about what drives you. Most importantly, the 12 hour walk teaches you to commit to the journey, not just the destination. It's not about how fast you go or how far you walk. It's about staying in the game, step after step, even when it's hard. I want to pause here and touch on something that's been sitting with me deeply. Especially after the momentum retreat and reading Colin o' Brady's work. It's this idea that we are never finished. So often in life, we trick ourselves into thinking that there's some finish line, some point where we'll arrive and finally feel confident, whole, satisfied or complete. We tell ourselves, when I hit this goal weight, when I finish this race, when I get this promotion, when I prove myself to others. But here's the truth. Growth is not a destination. It's a lifelong practice. David Goggins in his book never Finished. And I know David Goggins is not for anyone, but we can all take away something from his books. He hammers this point home. No matter how much we achieve, no matter how far we come, there's always room to keep evolving. Not because we're not enough as we are, but because we are capable of so much more than we realize. This is where the possible mindset comes into play. It's the belief that we are only limited by the barriers. We accept that the ceilings we Bump up against are often ceilings. We've built ourselves brick by brick out of old stories, past hurts, limiting beliefs and social conditioning. To live with a growth mindset is to wake up every day knowing I'm not done. There's more for me. I can learn, I can stretch, I can become. This doesn't mean that we're constantly hustling or grinding ourselves into exhaustion. It means we stay open. Open to learning, to feedback, to new challenges, and to surprising ourselves. At Zion, the sandbag hikes weren't just a workout. They were a metaphor for the weight we carry. Old stories like I'm not strong enough or I always quit or I'm just not that kind of person. Every step we took, we were proving to ourselves that we could carry more than we thought. And we were learning sometimes to put the weight down and to walk Forward free. The 12 hour walk in the misogi both teach this lesson in different ways. They remind us that there's always a next level, a new edge, a fresh challenge. And that's what keeps life vibrant, meaningful and alive. So let me ask you this question today. Where have you been telling yourself you're finished? Where have you been settling, coasting or holding back? And what would it look like to adopt a possible mindset? To believe that you are not done and that you never have to be? Let's spend some time unpacking something we all carry, whether we talk about it or not. Let's talk about fear. First, I want to say something that may surprise you. It's okay to be afraid. Fear is not a sign of weakness. It's not something you're supposed to outgrow or conquer forever. In fact, if you're living a brave, wholehearted life, the kind Bernay Brown talks about endearing greatly. Fear will show up again and again because you are stepping into the unknown, doing things that matter, taking real emotional risks. Bernays work reminds us that vulnerability, the willingness to show up, to be seen, to risk failure, it's not weakness, it's courage. And yet so many of us hide behind perfectionism thinking that if we can just get it perfect, we won't have to feel afraid or exposed. But here's the trap. Perfectionism doesn't protect us from fear, it amplifies it. Perfection, paralysis, that frozen feeling when you tell yourself, I can't start until I know it'll be flawless. And I, you all have heard me talk about this all the time. It's one of the biggest barriers to growth. It's a way of trying to avoid the Messy, unpredictable process of learning, experimenting, stumbling, and then getting back up. When I saw the team at the momentum retreat, standing at the edge of the rappelling cliff or staring down the cold plunge, their fear wasn't just about the physical challenge. It was about, what if I can't do it? What if I embarrass myself? What if people see me fail? But you know what? That's exactly where the magic happens. When you dare greatly, as Brene Brown says, you will fall, sometimes you will get it wrong. But the point is not to avoid failure. The point is to show up with your whole heart, knowing that you are worthy no matter what. In the 12 hour walk, the fear isn't just physical exhaustion. It's the mental chatter. What if I can't finish? What if I'm not as strong as I thought? What if I prove all my doubts right? But here's the truth. The mere act of walking through that fear, of confronting the inner critic, of refusing to bow to perfectionism, that's where growth lives. Perfectionism tells us I'll be enough when I achieve this, when I impress them, when I avoid mistakes. But growth says I'm enough now. And I'm still going to stretch, to risk and to evolve, even if it's messy. So let me ask you this question. Where are you letting perfectionism hold you hostage? Where are you saying I can't start until I'm sure it'll go perfectly? Where are you telling yourself the failure would mean you're unworthy or not good enough? Because here's what I know from Zion, from the 12 Hour Walk, from Brene Brownsburg, and from my own life. You do not have to be perfect to be powerful. You do not have to be fearless to be brave. And you do not have to get it right the first time to be worthy of growth and success. The best parts of life, the joy, the breakthroughs, the transformation, they're waiting for you on the other side of fear. Not after you've erased the fear, but after you've walked through it. So this week, I challenge you to take one small, imperfect, courageous step, dare greatly knowing you might stumble. And do it anyway. Because you are stronger, braver and more ready than you think. So now that we've unpacked all these ideas, the Masogi, the 12 hour walk, the possible mindset, and the courage to face fear and imperfection, let's talk about how you can apply this to your life starting today. Because here's the thing. You don't have to go on a retreat to Zion Although we love for you to join us, you don't have to hike a mountain or walk for 12 hours. The real transformation happens in the small daily choices you make to stretch yourself, to challenge your stories and to keep growing. Here's what I want you to start. Identify your limiting beliefs. Take out a journal. Or if you're walking or driving, make a mental note. Ask yourself, what have I been telling myself that I can't do? Where do I believe that I'm too old, too late, too inexperienced, or just not that kind of person? What's one area where I've been playing small out of fear or out of fear of perfectionism? Write these down. Seeing them on paper helps bring them out of the shadows and into the light. Challenge those beliefs. For each limiting belief, ask where did this come from? Is it actually true? What's a more empowering belief that I could choose, for example, instead of I'm not good enough to try that? What if you said I'm willing to learn and grow through this experience? Now I want you to think about designing your own misogi or your own mini 12 hour walk. What's one challenge you can take on in the next month that stretches you beyond your comfort zone? It doesn't have to be epic, but it should be meaningful. Maybe it's signing up for a local race even though you're scared you'll finish last. Maybe it's preparing for that difficult conversation you've been avoiding. Maybe it's spending a full day alone with no devices, just you and your thoughts. Remember, the goal isn't perfection. The goal is to step up and test the edges of what you think it's possible. When you hit that point where you want to quit, where it feels hard, awkward or uncertain, just pause and remind yourself this is the moment where growth happens. This is the moment where I build resilience. Discomfort is not the enemy. It's the signal that you're moving towards something that matters. And remember, you don't have to do this alone. Share your goals with a friend, a partner, a coach, or a supportive group like the Thrive on Plants community. As Colin o' Brady says, seeking help is not a sign of weakness, it's a source of strength. So here's your invitation. Start today. Pick one belief to challenge, one one action to take, one fear to face. And know that every step, no matter how small, is reshaping who you are and what you believe is possible. I believe in you. I believe in your capacity to grow, to stretch, to rise. And I cannot wait to hear what you discover when you dare to take that next brave step. As we close today's conversation, I want you to take a deep breath right now, wherever you are, and let this truth settle in. You are not finished. You are not stuck, you are not too late, and you are not too small for the dreams, the challenges, or the breakthroughs that you long for. Whether it's through a once a year msogi, a quiet but powerful 12 hour walk, or simply the daily practice of choosing a growth mindset, you have everything you need inside you to step into your next level and remember the goal is not perfection. It's not about arriving at some flawless, polished version of yourself. It's about daring greatly. As Brene Brown says, to show up to risk, to be seen, and to keep learning and evolving along the way. And you don't have to do it alone. At the vegan gym and in the Thrive on Plants community, we are building a community of people who are ready to rise together. Who are ready to face their fears, challenge their limits, and cheer each other on every step of the way. So here's my challenge to you. What's the one brave thing you will do? What's the one limiting belief you will challenge? What's the one step you will take toward growth? Even if it's messy, Even if it's scary, Even if you're not sure you're ready? I would love to hear from you. Tag me on Instagram, send me a message or leave a comment below this video sharing your next masogi, your mini 12 hour walk. Let's celebrate your courage together and if you're ready for a bigger leap. If you want to be part of the next momentum retreat where we do this work in community and nature and with deep intention. Visit our Vegan Superhero Academy website to learn more because we are just getting started and I promise you, the view from the other side of your fear is so, so worth it. Thank you for spending this time with me today. Keep thriving, keep growing, keep daring greatly and most importantly, keep living with purpose. I'll see you next time on Thrive on Plants. Be well. The content provided in this podcast is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It's not designed to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. While I'm a doctor, I'm not your doctor. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health, medical conditions or treatments. Our goal is to provide accurate and up to date information. The discussions and views shared on this podcast reflect the opinions of the host and guest and they may not align with your unique health needs. Decisions related to your health and wellness should be made in consultation with your healthcare team because they understand your specific circumstances. Thanks for joining us on this journey to Thrive on Plants and I hope you enjoy the future episodes.