In this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode of RUNGA Radio, Joseph Anew and Dr. Richard Blake explore the ancient ritual of Misogi—a deliberate undertaking of hardship to meet your truest self. Joseph shares his raw, emotional journey through a 52.4-mile ultra-endurance race he signed up for just 26 days before, using it as a gateway to spiritual and psychological growth. Richard reflects on his own experiences with failure, masculinity, and naked vulnerability (literally) at a Tantra retreat. Together, they challenge our collective obsession with comfort and performance, offering listeners a new framework for transformation.

• Why failure is the most underrated tool for transformation
• The ancient roots of Misogi and its modern relevance
• Joseph’s physical and emotional unraveling during a 52.4-mile race
• How suffering reveals hidden parts of the psyche—“the cast of characters”
• Peptides, breathwork, and recovery tools for extreme endurance

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Failure isn’t a detour—it’s the path. Modern comfort has robbed us of our psychological resilience.
• Misogi is an ancient Japanese ritual of purification through hardship. The modern interpretation is choosing something with a 50% chance of failure to meet yourself more deeply.
• Joseph completed 40 out of 52.4 miles in an ultra-race, confronting pain, rage, shame, and even the “cheater” within him along the way.
• True self-awareness often requires stepping into discomfort where the “cast of characters” within you emerge—victim, critic, avoider, cheater, etc.
• Peptides like BPC-157 and TB-500, along with BioRegenics Cream, can play a remarkable role in recovery when the body is deeply stressed.
• Time is a false god—Joseph explains how we use it as an excuse to avoid the work we need to do.
• Suffering is unavoidable; the choice is whether you confront it on your terms or let life impose it upon you.
• Physical hardship creates transformation faster than therapy in many cases because of its intensity and immediacy.
• Misogis should be challenging but not reckless. The right threshold is something with a high risk of failure—but not guaranteed collapse.
• Richard shares how leaving a Tantra retreat due to discomfort and returning years later transformed his relationship to shame, intimacy, and the body.

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