Axé All Day

S1E6: Breaking the Social Programming

• Andrew Carroll • Season 1 • Episode 6

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What if I told you that embracing both your masculine and feminine energies could transform your life? Join me on today's Axé All Day Podcast as we explore the various programs running in our society, our relationship to intercourse, and the programming around traditional gender roles. As a heterosexual, mixed race male, I share my unique perspective on balancing these energies in different spaces, such as ecstatic dance, and how it has impacted my life.

We also dive into the concept of success, examining how it is often externally validated, and the power of balance between the masculine and feminine. Listen closely as we discuss the programming around pornography and intimacy, and how it affects our ability to truly connect with our partners. We even take a look at children's cinema and discuss how it can be used to create programming that is more mindful and conscious.

Finally, we explore the importance of living in alignment with our values and beliefs, and the significance of being honest with ourselves. I share my experiences as a modern minstrel and storyteller, reflecting on how we can be a catalyst for growth and value in our lives. As we connect with each other on this incredible journey, don't miss out on this enlightening conversation that could change the way you see the world. Tune in to the Axé All Day Podcast today!

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Andrew Carroll:

What's up, family? Welcome to the Axé All Day Podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Carroll, a modern menstrual and facilitator. I illuminate opportunities for integration and growth through storytelling, experiences, and technologies, so I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy the vibe as we embark on this epic journey. All right, so today we're going to be talking about programs that we see running in our world on a daily basis, all around us.

Andrew Carroll:

I'm curious, before we get started, if you're in your body And if you're not, let's go ahead. And if you're driving, keep your eyes open. And know a lot of people like listening to podcasts in the car. But if you're not driving, let's go ahead and get comfortable. Let's go ahead and close our eyes. If you're driving, keep them open, and I'll stay with you right here with my eyes open as well. But let's go ahead and take that big first breath, like we always do, deep into our belly, filling ourselves like we're a glass of water. Someone's fill in with that breath. It's all the way to the top As we exhale. Go ahead and release all that tension. Maybe a little movement. If you got some noise inside of you, let it out. That's beautiful. Let's just express that and get rid of that for right now. Yeah, this is an opportunity to just kind of refocus and re center and get real present with yourself, and that's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So let's go ahead and take another breath And let's see if we can turn down that static as we exhale, that static that is always running in your mind, that is always running through your body, that you are just, you're right here and you're present to everything and anything that comes up right now. Yeah, and one more final time, one big breath in fill the body. Okay, all right, a little bit more in tune than we were just a moment ago, and that's a beautiful thing. So, thank you for joining me again today.

Andrew Carroll:

And, like I said, we are talking about the programs that are being run all over and just about everything. And I'm curious, dropping in the comments, what programs do you see running constantly and consistently throughout day to day life? What comes up for you when I say that, when I offer that for consideration, what comes up for you? What is the first thing that comes to mind for you? I'll tell you, for me it's definitely and this is top of mind because I was in a pretty amazing training this morning around sensuality and intimacy and what does that actually mean? And it was a. It was an incredible training. You know it's not the first time I've had training like that And I think it is one of the most valuable and transformative things that I've ever been a part of is getting a clear understanding, outside of the programming that is running our society, of what it actually means to be in tune with the body, what it actually means to be in touch with aerosenergy and what it actually means to be sensual and intimate, first with yourself and then with a partner.

Andrew Carroll:

So when I talk about programming, some of the first things that come up for me are our relationship as a society to intercourse, specifically heterosexual intercourse, but more and more so lately pan, i guess it would be, maybe pansexual intercourse or just the spectrum. Right, it was for a very long time a very narrow focus and now it has expanded. And the opening of the mind and the opening to new possibilities. That's a beautiful thing. So I'm not going to make a stand on any of that. This is not a conversation about that stuff right now, but I am saying that there is programming around human relating and sexuality constantly and consistently being being pushed. There is an agenda to that programming. So That means different things to different people and, like I said, we're not gonna get into that so much today. What we are talking about is the active programming that is going on. So after after that type of programming, that intimacy programming, i see a very strong message or programming message around feminine and masculine and it's interesting that these things have come up in the Greater vernacular or lexicon in our culture. You see it very mainstream.

Andrew Carroll:

Now. It was only a few years ago that it seemed like it was really a focus, at least in my life, just a few years back, where masculine and feminine energies started to come up more in conversation in conscious community and things like that. But that could be a conversation that's been going on much longer. Now. This is just my experience. What I really see there is the focus on a traditional sort of masculine and feminine and there is a deep resistance to that, to those roles. But I'm curious what your thoughts are on whether or not those are, that is, resistance to the typical gender roles being confused with masculine and feminine, or if that is specifically a resistance to the masculine and feminine energies.

Andrew Carroll:

And I say that specifically because, as a heterosexual male, mixed race, straight male. I have Practiced and I'm able to embody my feminine and I express that at ecstatic dance, i express that Wherever I want. I can flow back and forth between being very rigid, very masculine, those traditional kind of archetypal associations with the masculine energy. But I can also flow Very easily into my feminine space and be in flow and creative and very compassionate and caring and loving and For me that is not weird. I can dance with another man very sensually and it's not sexual. It's actually an incredibly healing experience to be able to share contact with another male and to Have that touch.

Andrew Carroll:

Touch is something that is missing a very great deal in our culture, in our community. It is so motivated and I this is another program, this is another program I really like and think about this. Once, the last time that you actually Experienced like platonic touch with a friend male or female, same sex, opposite sex, any gender spectrum, whatever It you cuddled and there wasn't some Insinuation that it would lead to more or there was. There wasn't some feeling like, oh, now this person expects this or that for me. When was the last time you just held hands with somebody and that was just to hold their hand and to be held. When was the last time that you Gave a hug That wasn't just a family? you know, these are all things that are totally acceptable and they're beautiful to experience with other people, but we are so dissociated and disconnected from that.

Andrew Carroll:

And again This goes into the intimacy that I was talking about, that is being programmed into into our cultures, that and Man, it's so powerful. But Physical contact, almost always, unless it's violent, leads to intercourse. And let me be, let me be very clear, right, i'm talking about like intercourse. We're not talking about making love. We're not talking about because that's an entirely different conversation The amount of love that's being made in our society today is pretty minuscule and that goes right back into the very first type of program We're talking about.

Andrew Carroll:

The major culprit of that is Media, specifically pornography. That is showing this idea of a very aggressive Culture, a very aggressive Intricourse that is, for all intents and purposes, rather violent. So That's not the kind of love making We support. It has its place, depending on the play and those kinds of things. But this isn't the bad sex show. No, it is not. That is the bad sex show. But this isn't the bad sex show. No, it is not. That's my other podcast That is being produced, so we'll go into that deeper. On the bad sex show, okay, but just for now just know, like there's imagery and there's these standards and ideals of beauty and all these kinds of things That are being pushed on us that aren't realistic and they're not real.

Andrew Carroll:

I had an opportunity in the training that I was in this morning to go through some stock photos And they were working on biases, right. It's like what comes up for you when you see this image. What comes up for you when you see this image? a little rapid-fire exercise, you write down everything that you can think of or what. Not what you can think of, but what comes up for you as You see these images. And it was a really great exercise and for me especially, what came up was how there has sort of been this arc of What I find attractive over the last few years and What I notice is that things that I used to seek out in porn and free of porn, i don't watch it anymore. I don't. I don't handle my business alone. I save all that energy for for my partner and for creativity and different outlets that don't involve the entire release of my Vitality.

Andrew Carroll:

So just the amount of fake, produced, filtered Beauty that we have literally been programmed to idealize and stylize and pursue is it's so drastic. And That was a really beautiful moment for me because I realized that, as they showed more and more natural Women in this slide show and more natural men and just more natural human beings that were just, they were incredible. And they even did some side by sides where they had totally I mean, the average type of human in the nude with a partner, not sexualized but just like two naked human beings next to just even like a highly produced commercial magazine cover, let's say. And those two average human beings were so beautiful, they were so absolutely incredibly gorgeous, just authentic and pure and naked and like, could it be sexualized? Absolutely, but it wasn't, that was not the point of it. And that magazine cover had two people just what flawless people And side by side that they were repulsive. I wrote that down in my notebook, that I was repulsed by that. It was amazing.

Andrew Carroll:

And that's not to say that there's not still a part of me that is driven by an animalistic desire. Right, you're never. You don't wanna get rid of that part of you. That is something that needs to be integrated and acknowledged right, or else we'll start acting out of shadow, and that's dangerous. So at the Axé All Day podcast, we don't wanna be acting out of shadow. We want to integrate shadow right, absolutely. So that was just a really beautiful experiment And I invite you to try that.

Andrew Carroll:

you know, even if you you don't have to write it down, but just be aware, be mindful and be present to that process. When you are shown images flashing across the screen, what comes up for you? Because someone is trying to elicit something, an emotional response or reaction from you in that moment with that product. I am trying to elicit an emotional response from you with this story, and I am doing that in the hopes that it causes a positive impact on your life. It provides you space and illumination to look into the shadow, to look into the darkness and to bring those parts of yourself in so that they can be integrated And they can be that. You will be on your way to a oneness right, a non-dualistic view of yourself as a whole and complete, being Divinity, having a human experience, because that's what we're all about. So what are some other things that you can think of that are programming in the grand scheme of things.

Andrew Carroll:

I know another one that comes up all the time is just this idea of what success looks like. And I'll tell you what my idea of success was so skewed. And here's another side-by-side comparison. Just think of, like the little kid who has a whole toy box full of cars. And then think about somebody like Jay Leno or Jeff Bezos who just has an entire fleet of luxury automobiles because they have so much money. It's just a kid with their toys, right, but that's the idea. The definition of success is like who has the most, and even still in that abundance. And I was thinking about this. It's like somebody who owns four Ferraris in a garage. Like that great job on being able to amass that much wealth, right, but four of your cars could house like 50 people. Like four $250,000 sports cars is a million bucks, man, that's. I mean you could fund a soup kitchen for like a year or two, depending on where it is Probably longer. I have no idea what the soup kitchen's budget looks like, but like how much do you really need? You have the influence, you have the power. You could literally sweeping change. You could create sweeping change for the entire world.

Andrew Carroll:

So here's my commitment to you now. Should I become incredibly wealthy? Well, i'm not even wealthy, but I still am like I donate and I give and I am helping refugees and these kinds of things, to the point where it's a strain, and that's totally fine, cause I'm one guy, but in that action I'm able to be taken care of like 13 other people. So what's that? That's beautiful. So should I ever become a funnel or a conduit for gross amounts of capital? That will be my focus is how do we really create sweeping positive change? So I make that commitment to you here and now. Oh man, but that's more social programming. Right, we care about the environment. We're still buying plastic, you know, and we vote with our dollar. We really do vote with our dollar.

Andrew Carroll:

That's the main stream in the system that we're in, pursues profit at a very high rate, and that is something that plays into this idea of what does success look like? Is it the big house and being powerful and influential and celebrity status, or is it like knowing yourself inside and out, being whole and complete, being surrounded by a core group of incredible people and family members and making a positive impact on the world? Cause to me, that's success, that's the true measure of success to me is doing my work, because, just like I believe Ram Dass said that the only thing that I can do for you is to work on myself, and the only thing that you can do for me is to work on yourself, and that's why we're here, and that's what I'm doing and that's what I hope that you, listening to this right now, i hope that that's what you're all about as well. So, yeah, just to be here and to be doing the work on myself so that I can show up powerfully, not only for me but for my community. That's so amazing and that's so beautiful.

Andrew Carroll:

So now we've got what? three areas of programming. We talked about the programming around pornography and intimacy. We talked about the masculine and feminine programming and how there is this really big push to create a programmed imbalance between the masculine and the feminine, which is exactly what they want, because when the masculine and feminine are in balance, they're pretty much unstoppable, and that's what a lot of people I can okay, i won't even say a lot of people, but that's what me, what I am looking for in a partner is a beautiful balance in the masculine and feminine energies that bring us together, because there is that is. It's beautiful, it's absolutely beautiful when that happens And I know a few people who have found that and created that in their lives and have been open to it and they've been blessed and it's just such a beautiful thing to witness. Yeah, looking at you, tanya and Michael love you guys. So, yeah, yeah. So programming around pornography and what that looks like and what is done to our ability to be intimate with a partner, looking at masculine and feminine energies, and the programming around what does success actually look like? And again, we'll just hit on that success is being programmed as though it is all externally validated through things and stuff. And that's not to say there is.

Andrew Carroll:

I am definitely not saying that you have to give up everything materialistically to be a six, to be successful in a spiritual and like enlightened way. I'm not saying that at all. There are people out there who are very doing very well monetarily, who are a very, very enlightened beings and they are doing good and they're living in their purpose and those kinds of things. So please don't take this as me saying like you have to give up everything and walk away from material items in order to be successful if you're on a spiritual path, because I don't think that's true. I do think that to truly be on a spiritual path and have that kind of wealth and abundance, that it requires of you to be very mindful and intentional about the good that you can do. Because money is energy and with that energy comes a great responsibility right To do the best that you can to help other people. And that's such a beautiful gift to be able to literally pull out your credit card, pull out a checkbook gross, but to make it a positive that could I mean what, how amazing would it feel if you were, if you were in a position to just write a check or do something that housed an entire family for a year? Or what if you could provide the safe space for someone escaping domestic violence right? There have been times where I have needed assistance. There have been times that I have had to rely on the system. Yeah, it's true, and it's incredibly stressful, it's very, very difficult, and it is not for lack of trying, it's not for lack of doing. I man, very recently even, i've had to do that, and I'm gonna talk about that more in a separate episode.

Andrew Carroll:

But this is a conversation about what is success look like and the programming that is in our society. So what are ways that we can combat those things? Where are those kinds of programs coming from? in big ways? Well, the biggest attack, the biggest attack and the biggest programming is coming from drumroll. I think I have it on the soundboard somewhere, but I don't know which one it is. The biggest programming methodology right now is in children's cinema, kids' movies specifically calling out Disney right now, and you know it.

Andrew Carroll:

That's the thing is, you know it. You know that that's true And we still participate in it. Right, and it's not to say like, okay, you can watch these movies and you cannot say anything to your kid. You can let that programming sink in, you can let it all just be right, you can just let it be and not talk about it. Or you could decide to mindfully consume these movies. And if you do choose to do that, what that means is that when something comes up in your intuition as you watch this and the damsel in distress has to be rescued by the prince, who then, without consent, kisses her while she's sleeping and saves the day, like, are you not? you have a conversation like. That's not cool. I understand, inside the container and the context that this was presented to you in, that might seem like it's part of the story, but here's what it really looks like to develop a relationship with someone And here's what it really looks like to be loved.

Andrew Carroll:

And these are, these are the conversations that you can have with your little ones, with your littles. Yes, i had these kind of conversations with my children constantly because I wanted to make sure that they were not victims or preyed upon, specifically by advertising in the media and those kinds of things, and it did pay off. It worked pretty well. They're pretty mindful little consumers And that's super important. That is super important. So if you're going to consume that kind of content, i really invite you to consider having that conversation with your kids as you're going into those spaces.

Andrew Carroll:

Okay, kids are super smart. They're still. They're so close to the other side of the veil, like they're so tapped in there beyond wise. The thing is is that they're just not able to express the divinity within them a lot of the time because they haven't learned their bodies yet. We are divine beings having a human experience collectively right, and that's the same for kids. They're their divinity inside new meat bodies, new body suits, trying to figure out how these things work, yeah, and so they don't have the vocabulary, they don't have the experience, they don't, they're. They're new, they're the new guys. They're the new guys, right? The new kids. And so talk to them like they're little humans, right? Speak to them in full sentences, use your wide vocabulary, show them everything, treat everything like it's a Montessori school, where it's touch and play and interaction and activity and exploration and adventure, and help show them that this life is about embracing the joy, embracing pleasure, being able to sit with pain and hurt and those kinds of things.

Andrew Carroll:

But so much of that programming that we've talked about the, the masculine and feminine, and the success and and I'm trying not to say porn so much, but like that's all. I mean, that's the main thing, that's really the all encompassing umbrella at the top of the pyramid that is. That is destroying, destroying people, it's destroying relationships, it is destroying one of the most beautiful and sacred things that we can share with one another is our intimate love making, and pornography is destroying that, and I can't even imagine being a kid nowadays with that kind of ready access to that kind of material, because I was a hooligan absolute abomination when I was. I mean, i remember the first time I saw Jessica Rabbit. I didn't even know what happened to me, but I was like that's something I want, and even still like looking back on all of that stuff. Man, if I had had access to the internet, lord knows you wouldn't have been able to get me to do anything. Ah, it's terrible.

Andrew Carroll:

So, to all of the kids out there who are being productive and you have this much ready access to information, like super proud of you. But there are others who are not. There are others who are just. I mean, how many people put on their mask before they go to work? How many people put on their mask before they go to school? How many people put on their mask before they have a conversation with their friends? So many people, so many, so many, so many people.

Andrew Carroll:

And that's what we want to create in this tribe and our vibe tribe in the ashe all day family is that we want to take with us these knowledge and this wisdom and these teachings, because each of you is your own guru. I am my own guru, you are your own guru, you are your wisdom, you are purpose built for exactly what you're supposed to be doing. It is my hope that I can be the catalyzing illumination for something that might be inside of you, that will spark inspiration and innovation and growth and integration in your life. That you can then be that chain that carries on right and continues that work of love and truth and trust and light out into the world in your own way, in your own voice. Because that's what I found in my personal journey is that my voice will set me free and so many things in relationships and life and business, as an entrepreneur, as a podcast, so all those kinds of things as an author, a poet that my voice is what comes back and what comes up for me constantly when I sit down to do this, i get so happy and there is.

Andrew Carroll:

There is that for you, and maybe you don't know what it is yet. You're going to find it. Keep trying, keep doing, keep experiencing, keep failing. Goodness knows I have failed so many times. I have failed so many times, but if it hadn't been for those failures Helping narrow the focus, narrow the view of which direction I was going and where I meant to be and what I meant to be working on, i wouldn't know. And that is really why that's another reason why experiences are a huge part of the ashay all day modality is you've got to try things. You've got to do things in order to figure out what's important to you and where your purposes. So if you haven't found your purpose yet, don't worry, it's going to find you. Keep going, keep doing and keep facing off and squaring up on that programming, because it is.

Andrew Carroll:

It is huge. It is huge driving force into the stories we tell ourselves, which are incredibly powerful word magic and the way that society wants us to be Participating in the system. So how do we combat that? Well, we consciously consume, we keep our guard up, so to speak, and that's not in like a scared way, that's just like an aware way. When you see an advertisement, recognize what it's doing, make it into a game Oh, i see this imagery and this is what they're trying to point at me. Here's a big one. Oh, i see this sort of symbology. What is that magic? What is that kind of word magic or picture magic or visual magic trying to elicit in me and feel it in your body, see where it comes from. What is pulling you towards that thing? What is being intentionally preyed on within you to participate in that system As you become more and more aware of that, you will be able to faster and faster and faster acknowledge and recognize and protect yourself against those kinds of things.

Andrew Carroll:

And this again I just want to reiterate and footstop like this does not have to be done from a place of scarcity and fear, it needs to be. I would really invite you to engage in this kind of practice as you go out and about in a way that is fun and watchful and observant, and when you see it, just laugh at it because that has no power over you anymore, that has no influence over you anymore. Right, and just like yeah, there's something that's there and I need to be aware of it so that I can help my brothers and sisters in the family of light to activate. That's what it's all about. So that is the way that I navigate and I hope that that helps you. And what can we do to invite others to consider, you know, breaking these patterns and getting out of this kind of programming? And what can we do? Well, we can really just keep working towards our very best effort to be the example right, to live as the example for people and really show them what is happening and what is going on in our lives And I'm having a little bit of camera issues for some reason.

Andrew Carroll:

So that's a little. It's distracting me. Apparently, when we get technology issues, it's usually because the message is so good, so I don't know what's happening in the batteries, supposedly fine and everything. But, yeah, i apologize for that distraction. So the best way to keep it going and the best way to keep it moving is to just be the best example that we can be to the people around us.

Andrew Carroll:

I know for so long and I mean I wasn't living in my purpose, i wasn't necessarily doing it, doing things right, so to speak, and it definitely had an impact. You know, i was living out of alignment in that way. Right, i was preaching one thing while doing another. I was. I was the reason people didn't want to go to church, right, so it was a Christian who would go on Sunday and then active, fool all week but tell people that I loved Jesus. And when you're living out of alignment like that, you still are able to like, fool yourself And that's another topic that we'll talk about at a later date is just like.

Andrew Carroll:

Truth is so important Because if you're lying to yourself, you will lie to other people? Right, you will, because if you're, if you're comfortable treating yourself that way, you are comfortable treating and relating to other people in that way too. So that's something we really want to be aware of. So how are you living? Are you living as an example to others of the truth and light that is possible and that we are all capable of creating? And I hope that you are. I really hope that you are. I know that you're capable of it, i know that it's entirely possible, and when you're doing that, it's such a beautiful thing and other people will feel that and they will come and they will, they will want to be part of the vibe tribe. So, conscious consumption, make it a game so that you can see what is coming up and how programs are trying to be introduced into your life, and that's such, a such a big deal.

Andrew Carroll:

The second part was when the camera freaked out on me. The third thing is how are you living? Certainly is definitely how you're living. Are you living in alignment? Are you living in alignment with what you're speaking about? Are you an integrity, with the values and being honest with yourself, right? So thank you for sticking around. I think that puts a decent bow on what we're talking about today. You know, if you're still here and you felt this was valuable, please give a like, a share, a follow, a subscription and keep checking in. I love doing this. I love being a modern menstrual, i love being a storyteller, i love being a catalyst for growth and value and I absolutely love connecting with you guys. So man, so honored, so blessed, so excited to be doing this. Thank you so much for stopping by to the Ashe All Day Podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Carroll. I love you family.

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