Podcasts about breaking convention

Ayahuasca, NASA & the Origins of Life | Dr. Bruce Damer on Psychedelics, Science & Consciousness What if psychedelics aren't just medicines for healing—but elixirs of discovery? In this boundary-breaking episode of The Awaken Podcast, Dr. Bruce Damer—astrophysicist, visionary researcher, and President of the Center for MINDS—joins Natasja Pelgrom for a groundbreaking conversation on psychedelic-catalyzed insight and its role in shaping the future of science, technology, and human understanding.

Are You a Mushroom Having a Human Experience? | Darren Le Baron on Psychedelic Consciousness & African Wisdom In this enlightening episode of The Awaken Podcast, host Natasja Pelgrom is joined by Darren Le Baron—renowned mycologist, psychedelic educator, and speaker on ancient African plant medicine traditions. Recorded live at Breaking Convention 2025, this conversation explores the intersection of psychedelic consciousness, ethnomycology, and ancestral wisdom. With humor, reverence, and grounded insight, Darren shares how mushrooms can awaken new understandings of identity, spirituality, and our relationship with nature.

Exploring consciousness, metaphysics, and psychedelic insight through the lens of Spinietzschean thought. In this mind-expanding episode of The Awaken Podcast, Natasja is joined by Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, philosopher of mind, metaphysician, and lecturer at the University of Exeter. Renowned for bridging ancient philosophical questions with modern psychedelic insight, Peter invites us into a layered inquiry on consciousness, altered states, and the mysteries embedded within nature itself. From Spinoza to Nietzsche, Kant to panpsychism, this conversation travels through rich philosophical terrain—exploring how altered states may not only expand the mind, but also reframe our understanding of what mind is. In this episode, we explore: What is consciousness—and is it embedded in or emergent from nature? How psychedelics challenge traditional views of the mind-body problem Can altered states give us access to otherwise hidden layers of reality? How metaphysical frameworks like panpsychism and pantheism influence the interpretation of psychedelic experiences Why plants, fungi—and perhaps even matter itself—may be conscious in ways we overlook The intersection of Spinietzschean philosophy and expanded states of awareness What philosophers like Kant might say about psychedelic experience The role of awe, sublimity, and moral insight beyond reason Key philosophical questions in psychedelic research that remain unexplored This episode is a contemplative feast for psychonauts, scholars, and seekers alike—an invitation to see not just differently, but deeper.

‘Feminine Intelligence, Somatic Depth, and Expanded States' In this timely and thought-provoking solo episode, Natasja Pelgrom opens Season 4 of The Awaken Podcast with a powerful call to remember the forgotten arc of transformation—one rooted not in the peaks of expanded states experience, but in the embodied return. Drawing from decades of space holding, ancient initiatory wisdom, and her own recent darkness retreat, Natasja reframes psych*del^cs and other expanded states not as interventions, but as initiations. At the heart of this return is the Initiatrix archetype—a feminine intelligence that guides transformation through descent, mystery, and relational leadership. In this episode, we explore: Why modern psych*delic culture is obsessed with ego death and “how many journeys” The deeper questions we should be asking about integration and embodiment The Initiatrix archetype as a model for feminine-informed facilitation Natasja's 3-day darkness retreat as a lived descent—and why it changed her leadership Polyvagal theory, the default mode network, and the neuroscience of re-entry Why some traditions require 40 days for integration—and what we've lost by rushing How to reframe leadership in medicine work as relational stewardship, not performance The cost of ignoring the feminine process of transformation in facilitation and service This episode sets the tone for a season dedicated to re-orienting our collective compass—from seeking the peak, to honoring the slow, sacred spiral of return.

In this episode, the guest, Chiara Baldini, delves into the role of festivals as spaces for countercultural expression and personal transformation. Chiara discusses the dual nature of festivals as both entertainment venues and sites for deeper societal change, where participants can recharge and become more aware of ways to improve reality. She explores the historical context of countercultural festivals like Woodstock, which were pivotal in promoting revolutionary ideas and values.  Chiara reflects on the 1960s counterculture movements, their political and spiritual dimensions, and their lasting impact on contemporary festival culture. She provides insights into the evolution of these movements and their ongoing influence on modern-day festivals like Boom Festival. Additionally, Chiara touches on the historical significance of the Dionysian cults in ancient Greece and their techniques of ecstasy, which included dance, music, and psychotropic substances. She discusses how these practices were led by women and maintained certain traditions despite the patriarchal context of their times. This episode offers a rich exploration of the transformative potential of festivals, the intersection of spirituality and politics, and the ongoing relevance of ancient ecstatic practices in contemporary culture. -------- Chiara Baldini is a raver, researcher, author, and freelance curator from Florence (Italy). She investigates the evolution of the ecstatic cult in the West, particularly in Minoan Crete,  ancient Greece and Rome, contributing to anthologies, psychedelic conferences and festivals. She was the program curator of Boom Festival's cultural area Liminal Village from 2010 to 2023. In 2015 and 2016 she also set up and curated ConTent, the first cultural area in Fusion Festival, Germany. She has recently co-curated an anthology called “Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine” investigating the intersection between the feminine principle and altered states of consciousness. She is currently a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program. She lives between Italy and Portugal and she expresses her deep love for music by often playing as DJ Clandestina.  --------- Viewing recommendations:  Chiara Baldini - Countercultural Festivals; Then & Now at Breaking Convention 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npah4vQCrb0 Dionysus: Ritual, Rave & Revolution  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjKkmvDmI67RidARHR0-r0sbh2Z8FbjFt Follow Chiara:  Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/chiarabaldini Instagram: @iamalwayschiara Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chiara.baldini.9862 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/clandestina-2-0 Book: https://www.innertraditions.com/books/psychedelic-mysteries-of-the-feminine Follow The Psychedelic Couch: @thepsychedelicouch 

Support the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USBuy Grow kit: https://modernmushroomcultivation.com/This Band willl Blow your Mind! Codex Serafini: https://codexserafini.bandcamp.com/album/the-imprecation-of-anima

How do we shed the shackles of modernity and step into a new set of stories that could help us grow into the fullness of our potential? Alexander Beiner is one of a small band of people in our culture who is shaping the cutting edge of possibility, crafting new ideas of who we are, at the deepest levels of our Self and out into the widest view of our place as conscious nodes in the web of life. Ali is an author, journalist and facilitator focused on bringing new ways of seeing and being from the margins of culture into the mainstream, through writing, and by creating transformative experiences that invite us to find ways to evolve and thrive in the chaotic times we live in. He's the author of The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world that details his part in a psychedelic clinical trial that took him deep into what it is to be human and he has recently launched Kainos, an alternative media platform and studio on both Substack and YouTube. He says of it, 'in an age of upheaval, we tell stories that help people make sense of the world and imagine new futures. Our films, articles and experiences combine cultural sensemaking with hope, imagination and impact.'He's an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture and was also one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, which ran from 2017-2022 and explored the cutting-edge of systems change and cultural sensemaking. This is where we need to be: the edge place where spirituality meets psychology and mythology, where culture meets politics meets our desperate yearning to grow up and become the good enough ancestors we know we can be.  We need path-finders, people who have the courage to stretch out beyond the edges of our being and Alexander is so clearly one of these - his explorations of what makes us human in the psychedelic realm merge with his documentary making and Kainos takes up where Rebel Wisdom left off, delving deeply into the nature of the moment and how we might become more than we are.  This was a genuinely inspiring conversation in a series that I hope is helping you to make sense of these times, to accept that the old system is gone and that something truly generative could arise - if we all take part in its making.  Alexander Beiner website https://www.alexanderbeiner.com/Kainos on Substack https://beiner.substack.com/Alexander on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-beiner-b9aa8b19/Kainos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@StudioKainosBooks mentionedOf Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Some The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker 

Greetings Glocal Citizens! It's the eve of the Lunar New Year - the year of the Wood Snake, which in combination represent growth, flexibility, tolerance, wisdom, intuition, mystery, and cunningness with hints of furtiveness. These themes are a fitting context for this two-part conversation with Ghanaian-Brit, Akua Ofosuhene. Akua is an active and vocal plant medicine advocate and a psychedelic guide specializing in Psyliosibin (magic mushrooms) and Ayahuasca. Advising on intentions and integration she helps her clients get the most out of the psychedelic experience by teaching them other supporting healing modalities furthering healing and growth. She has spoken at the UK's largest psychedelic conference, Breaking Convention where she is also on the management board, Oxford University, UCL, Drug Science, Psychedelic Society UK, and at many other events and podcasts. As the founder of African Spiritual Practices Events and Retreats she will be facilitating her first Ayahuasca retreat in Ghana, with plants grown locally in Ghana, February 16-22, 2025. The podcast is no stranger to this sector, listen and learn more from mental health futurist, Sara Reed (https://glocalcitizens.fireside.fm/guests/sara-j-reed) and stay tuned for an upcoming conversation with writer and professor, Dr. Nicholas Powers about his newest work, Black Psychedelic Revolution (https://www.blackpsychedelicrevolution.com). Where to find Akua and register for the upcoming retreat? https://www.akuao.com/ On LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/akuaofosuhene/) On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/akuaofosuhene/) On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/akua.ofosuhene.7/) On TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@akua.ofosuhene) On X (https://twitter.com/AkuaOfosuhene/status/1861006456579133447) On YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@akua1969/featured) What's Akue reading? Addiction Expert, Gabor Maté (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabor_Mat%C3%A9) and his book Hold on to Your Kids (https://drgabormate.com/book/hold-on-to-your-kids/) Diane Benscoter (https://dianebenscoter.com) and Shoes of A Servant (https://dianebenscoter.com/books/) What's Akua watching? The Real Housewives (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Housewives) Other topics of interest: Who was Okomfa Anokye? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okomfo_Anokye) About Mampong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mampong#:~:text=History,-See%20also:%20Asante&text=Agona%2DAkrofoso%2C%20often%20regarded%20as,Botaase%2C%20later%20known%20as%20Mampong) Gyetiase Village (https://ashantidevelopment.org/2024/11/ashanti-developments-museum-in-gyetiase/) Yaa Asantewaa War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Golden_Stool) A brief history of Denim Styles in the 1970s (https://www.denue.ca/blog/history-class/a-brief-history-denim-in-the-1970s) About Camden Lock Market (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Market) About Carnaby Street (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaby_Street) A Punk Perspective (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jpcu.12698) Kirikou and the Sorceress (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirikou_and_the_Sorceress) Animated Film Social-economic Impacts of Ebola in West Africa (https://www.undp.org/africa/publications/socio-economic-impact-ebola-virus-disease-west-africa) EMDR - Rapid Eye Movement Therapy (https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/treatment/emdr-therapy) EFT Tapping (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/eft-tapping) African Perspectives on Igoba (https://www.iceers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ENG_ICEERS_IBOGA_Phase-2.pdf) Creator of eutaptics® FasterEFT™, Robert Gene Smith (https://skillstochange.com/pages/meet-robert-g-smith?srsltid=AfmBOoqtgZt2x111Qsrm6jONzm3vrFbU9L8yQa54YEnZQU6MaLWd4GtP) Byron Katie and The Work (https://thework.com) Ayahuasca Plant Science (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqQmakP3ihA) The Ayahuasca Manifesto (https://doorofperception.com/wp-content/uploads/Ayahuasca-Manifesto_Anonymous_May-1st-2012.pdf) Special Guest: Akua Ofosuhene.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! It's the eve of the Lunar New Year - the year of the Wood Snake, which in combination represent growth, flexibility, tolerance, wisdom, intuition, mystery, and cunningness with hints of furtiveness. These themes are a fitting context for this two-part conversation with Ghanaian-Brit, Akua Ofosuhene. Akua is an active and vocal plant medicine advocate and a psychedelic guide specializing in Psyliosibin (magic mushrooms) and Ayahuasca. Advising on intentions and integration she helps her clients get the most out of the psychedelic experience by teaching them other supporting healing modalities furthering healing and growth. She has spoken at the UK's largest psychedelic conference, Breaking Convention where she is also on the management board, Oxford University, UCL, Drug Science, Psychedelic Society UK, and at many other events and podcasts. As the founder of African Spiritual Practices Events and Retreats she will be facilitating her first Ayahuasca retreat in Ghana, with plants grown locally in Ghana, February 16-22, 2025. The podcast is no stranger to this sector, listen and learn more from mental health futurist, Sara Reed (https://glocalcitizens.fireside.fm/guests/sara-j-reed) and stay tuned for an upcoming conversation with writer and professor, Dr. Nicholas Powers about his newest work, Black Psychedelic Revolution (https://www.blackpsychedelicrevolution.com). Where to find Akua and register for the upcoming retreat? https://www.akuao.com/ On LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/akuaofosuhene/) On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/akuaofosuhene/) On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/akua.ofosuhene.7/) On TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@akua.ofosuhene) On X (https://twitter.com/AkuaOfosuhene/status/1861006456579133447) On YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@akua1969/featured) What's Akue reading? Addiction Expert, Gabor Maté (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabor_Mat%C3%A9) and his book Hold on to Your Kids (https://drgabormate.com/book/hold-on-to-your-kids/) Diane Benscoter (https://dianebenscoter.com) and Shoes of A Servant (https://dianebenscoter.com/books/) What's Akua watching? The Real Housewives (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Housewives) Other topics of interest: Who was Okomfa Anokye? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okomfo_Anokye) About Mampong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mampong#:~:text=History,-See%20also:%20Asante&text=Agona%2DAkrofoso%2C%20often%20regarded%20as,Botaase%2C%20later%20known%20as%20Mampong) Gyetiase Village (https://ashantidevelopment.org/2024/11/ashanti-developments-museum-in-gyetiase/) Yaa Asantewaa War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Golden_Stool) A brief history of Denim Styles in the 1970s (https://www.denue.ca/blog/history-class/a-brief-history-denim-in-the-1970s) About Camden Lock Market (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Market) About Carnaby Street (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaby_Street) A Punk Perspective (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jpcu.12698) Kirikou and the Sorceress (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirikou_and_the_Sorceress) Animated Film Social-economic Impacts of Ebola in West Africa (https://www.undp.org/africa/publications/socio-economic-impact-ebola-virus-disease-west-africa) EMDR - Rapid Eye Movement Therapy (https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/treatment/emdr-therapy) EFT Tapping (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/eft-tapping) African Perspectives on Igoba (https://www.iceers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ENG_ICEERS_IBOGA_Phase-2.pdf) Creator of eutaptics® FasterEFT™, Robert Gene Smith (https://skillstochange.com/pages/meet-robert-g-smith?srsltid=AfmBOoqtgZt2x111Qsrm6jONzm3vrFbU9L8yQa54YEnZQU6MaLWd4GtP) Byron Katie and The Work (https://thework.com) Ayahuasca Plant Science (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqQmakP3ihA) The Ayahuasca Manifesto (https://doorofperception.com/wp-content/uploads/Ayahuasca-Manifesto_Anonymous_May-1st-2012.pdf) Special Guest: Akua Ofosuhene.

Support the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USBuy Grow kit: https://modernmushroomcultivation.com/Luke JensonIn the heart of the Sacred Valley of Peru, where the ancient meets the cutting edge, a new frontier of understanding is emerging. Luke Jensen stands at the intersection of neuroscience, anthropology, and the mystical realm of plant medicines. As a neurofeedback practitioner and researcher, Luke has embarked on a groundbreaking journey to map the human brain during one of the most profound spiritual experiences—the use of Huachuma, or San Pedro.For the first time in history, Luke's work captures the brain's enigmatic dance through EEG and QEEG imaging before, during, and after encounters with this sacred cactus. His research not only pushes the boundaries of neuroscience but also ventures into the depths of human consciousness, trauma, and the soul itself.Luke's work reveals a fascinating paradox: while every brain responds differently to plant medicines, they all seem to heal and move toward balance, as if guided by an unseen hand. With inspiration from his mentor, Dr. Richard Soutar, and an unwavering curiosity about the mysteries of the mind, Luke is helping to uncover how plant medicines transform the brain and perhaps even the essence of what it means to be human.Today, we dive into the questions his work raises: How does trauma store itself in the brain? What happens when plant medicines begin to heal these wounds? And what can this research teach us about consciousness itself? It's a privilege to welcome Luke Jensen, a pioneer at the edge of science and spirit, to the show.

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes: philosopher, lecturer at the University of Exeter, co-director of the Breaking Convention conference, and author who most recently co-edited Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience. He discusses how the work of William James and an early psilocybin experience led him to an interest in philosophy and psychedelics, and he dives deep into several philosophical concepts: panpsychism, pantheism, ethical pluralism, teleology, process theology, Whitehead's fallacy of misplaced concreteness, and more. He believes that science has lost touch with metaphysics – the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality – and that studying metaphysics will lead to more beneficial experiences with the non-ordinary: If you can understand and frame the experience, you'll have a much better chance of being able to integrate its lessons. He discusses: The complexity of ethics and the need to ask more philosophical questions His book, Neo-Nihilism, which argued that there are no shared objective morals The West's' obsession with scientism and believing only what can be reducible to matter: Is science honest if it ignores the ineffable? The connections between philosophical frameworks and religion: Would studying comparative religion help us better understand each other? The need for more experiential research and more!  Sjöstedt-Hughes is the co-lead on Exeter's 12-month postgraduate certificate course, “Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture,” and is finalizing his next book, a manual on psychedelics and metaphysics. For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode of the Portraits in Fitness Podcast,  David interviews Liam Bauer, a seasoned strength and conditioning coach based in Oakland, California. Liam discusses his extensive background in fitness and his 36+ years in coaching, emphasizing the value of efficiency in workouts. The conversation also explores common misconceptions in fitness, Bauer's personal practices and goals, and his commitment to staying active into his later years. Liam also discusses integrating techniques like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and maintaining a good diet to optimize physical performance and health.Find Liam at http://www.tntstrength.com00:00 Introduction to Strength Training00:17 Meet Liam Bauer: Strength Coach00:35 Liam's Athletic Background02:04 Training Clients of All Ages03:40 Personal Strength Training Journey04:48 Discovering Effective Training Methods19:12 Insights on Recovery and Nutrition29:41 The Foundation of Health: Nutrition and Strength Training30:28 Exploring Low-Carb Diets and Sugar Addiction30:55 Blogging and Podcasting: Sharing Knowledge31:46 Inspirational Quotes and Personal Challenges33:49 Embracing Aging and Setting Long-Term Goals37:29 Minimalist Exercise Routines and Recovery39:58 High-Intensity Interval Training: Efficiency in Fitness44:54 The Importance of Recovery and Progressive Overload50:38 Final Thoughts and Contact InformationMics used:David - Earthworks EthosLiam - Neat Worker Bee IIPortraits in Fitness is a multimedia venture featuring podcasts and portraits in collaboration with San Francisco Bay Area photographer David J. Toman. Originally launched in late 2022 as the Fit Over 50 Podcast, it has been renamed to better reflect its unique nature as a podcast sandwiched by photo shoots, in studio and on location. If you are middle-aged or older, live an active lifestyle in which a physical pursuit is integral to your life, and would like to participate in the project as a subject, you are invited to learn more and apply at the project website. Please check the site for updated portrait galleries of our guests, and spread the word and invite someone you know!https://portraitsinfitness.com/podcast/Application Form:https://forms.gle/8pWYTN9zLMg5B3YX8

Julian Vayne, Psychedelic Occultist, Writer, Teacher and Artist. Great chat with Julian, I thoroughly enjoyed this. A very, very interesting guy. Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over four decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft. Julian is the author of books, essays, journals and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. He sees his work as part of the process to help re-imagine an earth-centered, non-dogmatic, open-source spirituality. He shares his practice through mentoring, workshops, online teaching and retreats. Julian's style is highly collaborative. With an academic background in teaching and learning, and as co-author of numerous texts, Julian's style emphasizes curiosity, collaboration and creativity. His approach is informed by chaos magic, deep ecology and lineages within Wicca and Tantra. Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and a Trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. A founding member of the post-prohibition think-tank Transform, Julian sits on the academic board of The Journal of Psychedelic Studies, and has been a visiting lecturer at several British universities. He is an advocate of post-prohibition culture and supporter of psychedelic prisoners through the Scales project. Julian facilitates psychedelic ceremony, as well as providing one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support. He is the author of the celebrated Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony. Since 2011 he has been sharing his work through The Blog of Baphomet. For further details visit https://julianvayne.com/ To support the podcast and get access to features about guitar playing and song writing visit https://www.patreon.com/vichyland and also news for all the creative music that we do at BluescampUK and France visit www.bluescampuk.co.uk For details of the Ikaro music charity visit www.ikaromusic.com Big thanks to Josh Ferrara for the music

Matthew sits down with Chris Brooks to talk about his latest trip to Walt Disney World.  Chris tells us what it was like to book through convention, his thoughts on Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and other new additions to Walt Disney World. Have you ever gone to a convention at Walt Disney World?  Let us know and follow us on the social feeds: Our Facebook Page  (https://www.facebook.com/WDMagicast), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/WDMagicast),  Twitter/X (@WDMagicast) TikTok (@WDMagicast) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_FB7pEoXc2TBQ39EBkFOhw) , you can email the show with your thoughts or suggestions at wdmagicast@gmail. com , or you can leave a voice message through the Spotify app or https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wdmagicast/message Be sure to share, rate, and become a premium subscriber at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wdmagicast/support Magicast/supportGet some WD Magaicat gear at our shop: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/wdmagicast?ref_id=9187 Make sure to check out Mike and Isaac's newest podcast: Mikedot - YouTube (youtube.com/@mikedot/video) Music: Tonight At Eight by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Music: Feather Duster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Music: Summer Rai(n by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wdmagicast/support

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin is joined by Alexander Beiner for a deep dive into nuanced engagement in the culture wars. Find episode links, summary, and transcript here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-244-alexander-beiner/ Paul and Alexander examine the importance of sense-making and the role of psychedelics in navigating complex environments. Alexander draws from his interviews with thought leaders like John Vervaeke, Ian McGilchrist, and Nora Bateson, shedding light on the Four E's of cognitive science. He explores how psychedelics can enhance discernment and adaptability in the face of a rapidly changing world. Alexander also shares his experiences with extended state DMT and its impact on his understanding of reality. This conversation delves deeply into the realms of consciousness and reality, offering visionary insights into how psychedelic perspectives can inform and address the intricate challenges facing the world. Alexander Beiner is an author and journalist. He's the author of 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' and an Executive Director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic science and culture.   Highlights: The story of Rebel Wisdom and unpacking culture wars John Vervaeke and Iain McGilchrist Adding ‘emotion' and ‘exaptation' to 4E Cognition DMT entities and the overview effect Examining the different medicines can occasion unique mystical experiences Idealism and panpsychism The importance of cultivating relational ways of being Envisioning new systems to facilitate responsible psychedelic use Reestablishing a relationship with the land Resources and conclusion   Episode Sponsors: Joyous microdose ketamine. Book your free consultation today! Soltara Healing Center: Use code TW200 to receive $200 off your next retreat. The Coaching Certification Program by Third Wave's Psychedelic Coaching Institute.

Nella 102° puntata di Illuminismo psichedelico si parla di etica in relazione alle terapie psichedeliche in relazione allo scandalo di portata internazionale che ha visto protagonista una vera e propria star del dibattito psichedelico internazionale, lo psichiatra Ben Sessa (tra i fondatori della Breaking Convention). Ben Sessa è stato sospeso per 12 mesi per "sexual misconduct", dopo che una sua paziente, con cui aveva intrapreso una relazione sentimentale, si è tolta la vita. Pur non sapendo se Ben Sessa abbia in effetti usato sostanze psichdeliche nelle terapie con cui ha assistito la sua paziente, il suo caso funziona come un prisma per interrogarsi di molti aspetti controversi, che impattano a ben vedere più la condotta di psichiatri e psicoterapeuti che l'uso delle sostanze in sé, con le quali è da ricordare che è necessario prestare una attenzione ancora maggiore, stante lo stato espanso in cui pongono chi le pone. Per parlare di queste cose ci ha fatto compagnia lo psicologo, facilitatore di Mindfulness e psicoterapeuta in formazione Jacopo Valsecchi, che partecipa mensilmente ai cerchi di integrazione di Illuminismo psichedelico.

Welcome back to the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast. After a hiatus of a year and a half, we're excited to announce our return, thanks to our new sponsors, Hurricane Lotus (formerly Maya, the original sponsor of this show) and Holos Global, we are now back and releasing regular episodes. On today's show, I'm speaking with Alexander Beiner, author of "The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World." We discuss the roots of the mental health crisis, the role of psychedelics in healing, and what healing actually means according to Beiner. We also explore understanding existential risks and how this relates to psychedelic healing, as well as the ethical dilemmas in psychedelic healing. We conclude our conversation with Alexander's account of his extended state DMT experience at Imperial College London and his belief in the power of the teaching presence. Alexander Beiner is a writer, cultural commentator, and podcaster. He's one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, a media and events organization with a quarter of a million subscribers and a focus on making sense of culture and complexity. He's also an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic science and culture. He is a leading critical and countercultural voice in the "psychedelic renaissance" and has produced a number of films, articles, and events at the leading edge of the conversation about the potential of psychedelics. Timestamps: (07:00) - The Roots of the Mental Health Crisis (13:00) - The Role of Psychedelics in Healing (23:00) - Understanding Existential Risks and Psychedelic Healing (33:30) - Ethical Dilemmas in Psychedelic Healing (42:30) - Alexander's Extended State DMT Experience and the Teaching Presence Links: Alexander Beiner: Sensemaking The Bigger Picture The Bigger Picture | Alexander Beiner | Substack Alexander Beiner (@alexander_beiner) Breaking Convention

Alexander Beiner is an author and podcaster. He's one of the founders of the media and events platform Rebel Wisdom and an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. His upcoming book 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' (Hay House, 2023) explores how psychedelics could transform culture and society. He has a particular interest on how psychedelic experiences can be applied to systems change and improving how we have conversations around difficult cultural topics. He has also covered psychedelic capitalism journalistically for a number of years, with a particular focus on the ways in which economic and cultural incentive structures interact with the transformative potential of psychedelic medicines.Trained as a counselor and meditation teacher, Alexander also runs retreats centered on combining practices drawn from cognitive science, the wisdom traditions and psychedelic philosophy to create powerful group experiences. He facilitates legal psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands in partnership with 'Awaken the Medicine Within', co-developed the UK's leading men's work process through Rebel Wisdom and has designed a number of popular online courses focused on sensemaking, embodiment and conversational practices. He has a particular interest in the phenomenology of the psychedelic experience and how we can combine ritual, practice and collective intelligence to expand consciousness in new ways.Episode Highlights▶ About Alexander's book, 'The Bigger Picture'▶ Psychedelics and sense-making (and can we really make sense of all this?)▶ The role of psychedelics in society▶ Who should facilitate psychedelic experiences?▶ The impact of capitalism on the contemporary psychedelic scene▶ Dynamic tension between ethical approaches and profit-seeking in psychedelic industries▶ The inconvenience of psychedelics for big pharma▶ Unavoidable truths psychedelics reveal to us▶ Concerns around the earth-based psychedelic supply▶ IV DMT trials Alexander participated in and their impact on him personally▶ Lessons and insights we can gain as individuals and a collective from psychedelic experiences▶ Challenges and divisions within the psychedelic communityBrian James's Links & Resources▶ Website: https://Alexanderbeiner.com▶ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander_beiner/▶ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexander_beiner

We are delighted to host Batuhan Bintas on the Mangu.tv podcast series. With a passion for educating the upcoming generations, Batuhan has been a technology enthusiast since his first meeting with computers at age three. He is an Animator and a full-stack Extended Reality (XR) developer with a deep understanding of Artificial Intelligence technologies. Batuhan is the founder and CEO of Imaginatrix Studios; a London/Istanbul-based XR studio that designs Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality technologies. Batuhan is a keynote speaker and has spoken at renowned events such as Boom Festival, Ozora Festival, Breaking Convention, and Occulture. Also, a psychedelic science enthusiast and a cyberdelics creator; Batuhan's project Cyber Mushroom is designed to give a psychedelic experience through the power of Extended Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Batuhan believes that we live in a time where science fiction is becoming science fact. He elevates upcoming generations and teaches about the responsible use and innovation of technology; so we collectively write beautiful science fiction where we wish to live. Batuhan speaks about his upbringing, the influence of his Sufi grandmother and his early understanding of different dimensions. He talks about visa difficulties whilst studying abroad and how this led him to study online. This later led to his current projects, and work with the UN, bringing virtual reality to refugee children, offering insight into life outside of refugee camps. Batahan and Giancarlo discuss educating future generations about sacred sexuality, psychedelics and AI as a tool to support growth and education.

Author and journalist Alexander Beiner cofounded the media platform Rebel Wisdom and serves as one of the executive directors of Breaking Convention, Europe's largest conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. His new book, “The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World,” is an exploration of the transformative possibility of psychedelics beyond Big Pharma's aim of profitable mental health care. He also produced “The Rise of Psychedelic Capitalism,” a short documentary about the ramifications of hallucinogens hitting the mainstream marketplace. Alexander facilitates courses, retreats, and events to foster inner development and human connectedness. His writing is published on Medium, UnHerd, Psyche Magazine, and Substack. Follow Alexander on X. Watch this episode on YouTube.

In this episode, David interviews Alexander Beiner: Executive Director of Breaking Convention; writer for The Bigger Picture substack; and author of The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World. He tells his personal story and how his first psychedelic experience felt like a homecoming; discusses his Rebel Wisdom media platform, where, through interviews, he tried to make sense of social upheavals and conflicts through a more flexible, psychedelic way of thinking; and digs deep into the Greek concepts of Moloch and Kairos: how Moloch represents the winner-take-all, race to the bottom, sacrifice-your-values-to-appease-the-system game playing we all get stuck in, and Kairos represents the openness that comes from psychedelics – the transitional, seize-the-moment opportunities we need to take advantage of. And he discusses much more: the power of dialectic inquiry; the corporatization of psychedelics and how we're really in a psychedelic enlightenment; how the medicalization of psychedelics is like a Trojan horse; and the concept of technology (and specifically the internet) mirroring the switching between realms that we think is so rare in psychedelics – aren't we doing that every time we look at our phones?  Beiner was recently part of Imperial College London's initial trials on intravenous, extended-state DMT, testing correct dosages and speeds for the pump. He describes the details of the study, how he thought they were messing with him at first, and what he saw in his experiences: an outer space-like world of gigantic planet-like entities, and how a massive Spider Queen entity taught him about intimacy and how our metaphysical and personal worlds aren't separate at all. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Voices with Vervaeke, Dr. John Vervaeke and guest Alexander Beiner, a leading voice in the world of psychedelics, discuss psychedelics' role in contemporary society. They tackle complex topics like the dangers and potentials of mixing politics with psychedelics, the mechanics of mystical experiences, and the modern meaning crisis. The duo also delves into the risks and rewards of commodifying psychedelic experiences. They explore the latest scientific studies, personal accounts, and anecdotal evidence, weaving them into an intricate narrative that invites listeners to consider psychedelics beyond recreational use. From trials at Imperial College London to DMT injections and the exploration of meta-cognitive skills, this episode serves as a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in the intricacies of the human mind, altered states, and the possibility of a collective conscious awakening.   Alexander Beiner (@AlexanderBeiner) is an author, journalist, and facilitator who is dedicated to bringing countercultural perspectives into mainstream conversation. With an approach that blends writing and experiential transformation, he's committed to helping us navigate the complex era we find ourselves. Alexander is the author of 'The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World'' and also pens a popular Substack with the same name. He serves as an executive director for Breaking Convention, Europe's seminal conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. Additionally, he co-created and co-facilitates Regenerative Stewardship, a legal psilocybin retreat. A pioneer in alternative media, he was one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, a platform that delved into the realms of systems change and cultural sensemaking.   Resources: Alexander Beiner: Website | Substack | X John Vervaeke: Website | Facebook | X   The Vervaeke Foundation   Rebel Wisdom — YouTube: Psychedelic Capitalism and The Sacred   John Vervaeke — YouTube: John Vervaeke: Artificial Intelligence, The Meaning Crisis, & The Future of Humanity Conversation with John Vervaeke - AI edition - Jordan Hall   Regenerative Stewardship Breaking Convention Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project ‘I took part in a radical psychedelic clinical trial and it changed my life forever' 'Why Socrates was a Monster' with John Vervaeke We Will Call It Pala   Books: The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World - Alexander Beiner How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence - Michael Pollan Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge - Jeremy Narby The Razor's Edge - W. Somerset Maugham Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values - Robert M Pirsig Heidegger, Neoplatonism, and the History of Being: Relation as Ontological Ground - James Filler  Mentoring the Machines: Orientation - Part One: Surviving the Deep Impact of the Artificially Intelligent Tomorrow - John Vervaeke, Shawn Coyne   Publications: Dose-Response Study of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine in Humans: II. Subjective Effects and Preliminary Results of a New Rating Scale - Rick J. Strassman MD; Clifford R. Qualls PhD; Eberhard H. Uhlenhuth MD; Robert Kellner MD, PhD A Model for the Application of Target-Controlled Intravenous Infusion for a Prolonged Immersive DMT Psychedelic Experience - Andrew R. Gallimor, Rick J. Strassman On Revelations and Revolutions: Drinking Ayahuasca Among Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation - Leor Roseman, Nadeem Karkabi The Self-Organization of Insight: Entropy and Power Laws in Problem Solving - Damian G. Stephen, James A. Dixon   People: Ram Dass Timothy Leary Terence McKenna Marc Lewis Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner Robin Carhart-Harris Juensung Kim Michel Ferrari Daniel Schmachtenberger Iain McGilchrist Émile Durkheim Bernardo Kastrup Nicholas of Cusa  Ben Sessa Peter Gasser Friederike Meckel Aldous Huxley   Timecodes: 00:00:00 - Dr. John Vervaeke introduces his guest, Alexander Beiner, a founding figure of Rebel Wisdom.  00:03:22 - Beiner shares how the psychedelic counterculture influenced him and his exploration of the potential role of psychedelics in societal change. 00:06:50 - The conversation turns to the transformative possibilities offered by psychedelic experiences, highlighting both their enlightening and limiting aspects. 00:11:38 - Dr. Vervaeke probes the relationship between the duration of a DMT trip and its perceived intensity while contrasting mystical and visionary experiences. 00:18:00 - Delving into the sensory richness of psychedelic trips, Alexander expounds on the accompanying emotions like relevance, mystery, and familiarity. 00:23:00 - Skepticism and belief intersect as both speakers explore the advantages of an agnostic viewpoint when interpreting profound experiences. 00:26:40 - Dr. Vervaeke advocates for mindfulness as preparatory groundwork, cautioning against blindly conferring authority to psychedelic apparitions. 00:29:19 - Alexander talks about the research done by his wife, Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner, in the psychedelic world. He emphasizes the significance of leaning into what's coming up but also acknowledges the need to zoom out and take a step back. 00:34:00 - Vervaeke introduces the concept of overfitting and underfitting in machine learning, drawing parallels to our mental processes and how psychedelics can introduce noise to prevent overfitting. 00:40:43 - Reverence as a virtue is discussed, accompanied by reflections on the cultivation of epistemic virtue. 00:47:20 - Alexander suggests that even partial acceptance of panpsychism or idealism can enrich our perspectives in a meaningful way. 00:54:39 - John and Alexander discuss the dark side of AI and the manipulative potential of making things salient and opening people up to misinformation. 01:01:18 - Dr. John Vervaeke talks about the importance of the dialogical character of experiences and how they differ from traditional enlightenment experiences 01:09:51 - John describes the stages of Dialogos, including interpersonal intimacy, intimacy with the logos, and intimacy with the ground of being itself. 01:10:49 - John praises Alexander's book and his efforts to address the meaning crisis and explore the psychedelic renaissance.  

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Roberta Murphy: member of the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research and training medical psychotherapist. This is a rare impromptu podcast, recorded about a half hour after David heard Murphy speaking on a panel at UK's Breaking Convention conference. He asked her if she wanted to be on the podcast sometime, and before they knew it, they were recording. Fastest turnaround ever? She discusses her past research and what she's doing at Imperial College; her work on a psilocybin for depression trial; a psilocybin versus Escitalopram trial; her hopes for psychedelics treating people with Parkinson's; and her recent co-written paper on the ARC Framework (Access, Reciprocity and Conduct), where she will be focusing strongly on the Conduct aspect through her work at Imperial.  She mostly talks about her other recent paper exploring the impact of one of the more important aspects of therapy: the therapeutic alliance on the psychedelic experience. How does the treatment dynamic between the therapist and the client impact the outcome (and course) of the therapy, and what determines whether it's neutral, negative, positive, or very positive? Click here to head to the show notes page.  

In this episode, David interviews Professor Celia Morgan, Ph.D., who holds the Chair of Psychopharmacology and co-leads the Transdisciplinary Psychedelics Group at The University of Exeter. This was recorded on the dawn of UK's Breaking Convention conference, where Morgan was speaking about the therapeutic potential of ketamine as well as the danger of people developing a dependence on it. She touches on that topic, but largely discusses her current Phase III Trial for ketamine-assisted therapy for the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder (also called the KARE model (Ketamine for reduction of Alcohol Relapse)), a collaboration with Awakn Life Sciences. She discusses her other research: studies on mindfulness intervention before and after ketamine, epigenetic changes after ayahuasca use, the antidepressant qualities of ayahuasca, and CBD for cannabis dependence. And she talks about the necessary balance for making treatments amazing but affordable; how connecting with nature during integration is key; how the drug is just a tool, yet we focus on it too much; and how we need studies on how different therapies work with different substances. www.psychedelicstoday.com

GUEST OVERVIEW: Alexander Beiner is an Executive Director of Breaking Convention which hosts Europe's largest conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. He is author of "The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World".

ABOUT ALEXANDER BEINER Alexander Beiner has researched shamanism in South America and Africa. Campaigning for the legalization of plant medicines and the expansion of religious freedom, he has contributed to several major newspapers and journals. Beyond the Basin is his first novel. He is also one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, a popular alternative media platform that ran from 2017-2022 and explored the cutting-edge of systems change and cultural sensemaking. As well as publishing regular essays and articles on his Substack, he's an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture, and also co-created and co-facilitated a legal psilocybin retreat called Regenerative Stewardship. Sanjana Singh (The Host): https://linktr.ee/sanjanasingh The Naked Dialogue Podcast: ⁠https://linktr.ee/TheNakedDialogue⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sanjanasinghx/support

Authour of the 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' (Hay House, 2023), joins Mark to talk politics, the psychedelic renaissance, the dark side of tripping, how to do it safely, DMT, sense making, Rebel Wisdom, the big crisis, decadence, “safety”, practices, journaling, shame and being WEIRD. And really interesting, fast-paced exploration. Check out live In-person events here: www.embodimentunlimited.com Alex Beiner is a writer, podcaster and facilitator with a love for making sense of culture, hosting transformative experiences, and exploring how we can evolve and thrive in the chaotic times we live in.  Also one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, a popular alternative media platform that ran from 2017-2022 and  explored the cutting-edge of systems change and cultural sensemaking.  As well as publishing regular essays and articles on my Substack, Alex is an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture, and also co-created and co-facilitate a legal psilocybin retreat called Regenerative Stewardship.   

Amanda Feilding is known as "The Queen of the Psychedelic Renaissance" for good reason: In her 55 year + career, she's been at the forefront of both the original psychedelic counter culture movement in the 1960's and today's psychedelic mainstreaming.In this live podcast recorded at Breaking Convention in the UK, Amanda discusses her legacy as an evangelist for psychedelics and drug policy reform.Please consider rating & reviewing the podcast wherever you're listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On episode 14 of A Chat with Uma, I provide a full recap of my recent trip to England! This recap serves to reflect pivotal experiences and realizations around the state of my overall recovery from decades of debilitation and dysfunction - namely mental and physical illnesses. I speak openly about navigating presence, dissociation, pain, triggers, stress, recovered moments, and everything in between. I then share at length about my experience of presenting at Breaking Convention and ALL that came from sharing my research and inadvertent OCD advocacy + awareness. Overall, this episode serves as an honest and thorough reflection on the reality + power of persisting in recovery, especially in sharing the life-changing moments that came from the exposure of this trip. Topics Covered + Timestamps: (00:00:00): Introduction to the episode (00:04:20): Neuroscience Research Seminar Presentation May 4th, 2023 - 4:15-5:15pm CST Register for receive virtual seminar link here (00:06:07): Guest + Topic Request Form Click here for form (00:07:47): Introduction and background of the trip, the exposures I decided to face with this trip (00:22:06): Experiencing new-found, transient presence + flexibility during this trip (00:30:05): Navigating chronic pain, physical presence, and dissociation (00:38:56):Procrastination, avoidance, denial, triggers, therapy on the trip (00:44:03): Experience leading up to talk, navigating fears & intrusive thoughts, Source Research Foundation dinner, exposures through this process (00:49:10): My full Breaking Convention presentation recap + experience, all of the OCD advocacy + awareness, meeting my heroes, glimpses of presence, newfound freedom + purpose, the power of recovery, reflections Connect with me! My website⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@umarchatterjee.com⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/umarchatterjee/message

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David speaks with Kyle, who recorded at Joe's place while he was away at Trailblazers in NYC.  They talk about David's trip to the UK last week for Breaking Convention, then discuss a recent Vice article about looking outside the binary and confined thinking of Western medicine and embracing the underground – that there are cheaper and more accessible peer support models and affinity groups for everyone, but in going underground, we need to be careful that more accessible models aren't dangerous or re-traumatizing. While businesses are competing to make headway in the psychedelic space, nobody is controlling all of it, which leads to both possibility and risk.  They cover SB23-290, the bill Senate President Steve Fenberg created to establish a regulatory framework for psilocybin access and administration in Colorado in lieu of the advisory board that should have been put in place as part of Prop 122. They break down the positives and negatives of this framework, and ask: how much do these committees who are passing legislation really know about psilocybin?  And they briefly discuss an article on what MDMA therapy may look like when MAPS hopefully gets approval via the FDA early next year, Rick Doblin's speech at Breaking Convention, and his concept of society eventually having “net zero trauma.” www.psychedelicstoday.com

Jack McDade is the creator of Statamic, a content management system for Laravel. What I love about Jack is how he approaches all of his projects, including Statamic, to just be different. There is so much cookie cutter content out there and everything just ends up looking the same - but not if Jack has anything to do with it. Just take a look at his personal website, his Radical Design course and Icons and you'll see what I mean. I love it.

Can science help us figure out how psychedelic medicines work? What are the important differences between legalization of psychedelic medicines and decrim? Episode 3 of The Psychedelic Report dives into all this and more with Senior Correspondent Jonathan Lubecky and the brilliant Dr. Rachel Yehuda PhD, Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and the Neurobiology of Trauma, and Director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai. Authoring more than 500 published papers, chapters and books in the field of traumatic stress and the neurobiology of PTSD, Dr. Yehuda shares her vast knowledge and experience with us while discussing the fascinating topics of epigenetics and neurogenesis. And don't miss the special appearances at the end by author Jamie Wheal and Alexander Beiner, director of Breaking Convention. Strap your Apollo on... we're going in!Strap your Apollo on... we're going in!

On the latest episode of The Cannabis Conversation, we're joined by Nick Pateras of Materia and Andrew Bonello of ReLeaf Malta.We discuss Malta's approach to cannabis, social clubs, home growing in its domestic market as well as how Malta fits into the European cannabis supply chain.The Cannabis Conversation is sponsored by Lumino - a boutique HR and Recruitment Agency specialising in building high performance teams for the European Cannabis Industry. They work in three main verticals: Commercial, Medical and Plant Facing.Get in touch atwww.luminorecruit.com/On the podcast I mentioned Breaking Convention taking place in Exeter in April. Please join me there by getting a ticket here - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/breakingconvention/807898/About Nick PaterasNick Pateras is Managing Director, Europe at Materia, where he oversees the company's operations across Germany, Malta and the UK. Materia is an EU GMP certified manufacturer and distributor of medical cannabis and CBD products across the burgeoning European market.Previously, Nick served as Vice President, Strategy at Lift & Co., Canada's leading cannabis education and insights platform. He is a regular speaker at cannabis conferences across North America and Europe and taught the Cannabis Business Fundamentals course at George Brown College in Toronto in 2018-19.Prior to his time in cannabis, Nick spent several years in the pharmaceutical sector with Johnson & Johnson Inc, managing various category-leading OTC and Health & Beauty businesses.About Andrew BonelloAndrew Bonello is the President of ReLeaf Malta and, has since 2019, worked tirelessly to represent the voice of cannabis consumers in Malta. Andrew has been actively meeting various local actors and international experts to discuss issues related to cannabis, human rights and public health, more specifically advocating for a more just, humane and non-criminal approach. Today, Andrew remains committed to push forward for a truly decriminalized and regulated approach to cannabis, placing the well-being of consumers at the helm of every decision.ResourcesConnect with Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpateras/Follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nick_paterasMateria's Website: https://www.materia.global/Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bonello-73392629Follow Andrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andrew_BonelloFollow ReLeaf Malta on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/releafmalta/

Alexander Beiner is an author and podcaster. He's one of the founders of the media and events platform Rebel Wisdom and an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. His upcoming book 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' (Hay House, 2023) explores how psychedelics could transform culture and society. He has a particular interest on how psychedelic experiences can be applied to systems change and improving how we have conversations around difficult cultural topics. He has also covered psychedelic capitalism journalistically for a number of years, with a particular focus the ways in which economic and cultural incentive structures interact with the transformative potential of psychedelic medicines.Trained as a counselor and meditation teacher, Alexander also runs retreats centered on combining practices drawn from cognitive science, the wisdom traditions and psychedelic philosophy to create powerful group experiences. He facilitates legal psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands in partnership with 'Awaken the Medicine Within', co-developed the UK's leading men's work process through Rebel Wisdom and has designed a number of popular online courses focused on sensemaking, embodiment and conversational practices. He has a particular interest in the phenomenology of the psychedelic experience and how we can combine ritual, practice and collective intelligence to expand consciousness in new ways.In this episode, Alexander Beiner and Beth Weinstein discuss …▶ Alexander's first psychedelic experience and the immediate sense of homecoming he felt▶ Alexander's book-in-progress about how psychedelic experiences engage the same skills and insights that we need to make sense of this crazy world ▶ How humanity is on a collective “trip” which Alexander calls “The Big Crisis” ▶ The difference between “complicated” and “complex” problems▶ How psychedelics give us a lived experience of complexity▶ The internet as a “psychedelic” space▶ Humanity's problem as metaphysical rather than material▶ Alexander's view that psychedelics used correctly are the most powerful tools available to support a paradigm shift for the planet▶ Root causes of dysfunction in the world today▶ Forces of entropy and extraction at play globally▶ Thoughts on the evolution of psychedelic capitalism▶ Cautions against either venture capitalist pharma or psychiatry holding the reigns of the psychedelic renaissance▶ Real reciprocity: deeply tuning in to what is needed and to being in a relationship of true exchangeAlexander Beiner's Links & Resources▶ Website: http://alexanderbeiner.com▶ Website: rebelwisdom.co.uk

Natasja Pelgrom & Alexander Beiner, creators of the Regenerative Stewardship retreat, join Paul F. Austin to discuss their approach to healing. Natasja Pelgrom is a visionary leader, mystical mentor and the founder of Awaken The Medicine Within retreats and programs, supporting people with psycho-spiritual approaches since 2017. Natasja is a highly intuitive guide and has held training, assisting and facilitation roles in over 800 psychedelic ceremonies. Natasja was also a founding member of the Synthesis Institute, and the director of the psilocybin-assisted Wellness retreats. As a key curator of the retreat programs, she oversaw the retreat team development and training. She currently advises and supervises executives in the (psychedelic) wellness industry. Natasja is also a mentor to leaders, coaches, therapists, and space holders, where she focuses on mind and heart coherence to help them prosper in their services. Natasja's multifaceted mentorship approach is paired with 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience.  Alexander Beiner is an author and facilitator. He's one of the founders of the media and events platform, Rebel Wisdom, and an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture. His upcoming book, The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World (Hay House, 2023) explores how psychedelics could transform culture and society. Trained as a counselor and meditation teacher, Alexander also runs retreats centered on combining practices drawn from cognitive science, wisdom traditions and psychedelic philosophy to create powerful group experiences. He has a particular interest in the phenomenology of the psychedelic experience and how we can combine ritual, practice and collective intelligence to expand consciousness in new ways. Highlights: How Natasja and Alexander's paths crossed, leading to their co-creation of a psychedelic retreat. Rebel Wisdom — Alexander's background and approach. Regenerative Stewardship — the ethos behind their retreat. Thinking beyond the “Hero's Journey” and beyond “self-care” to a wider, more balanced vision. Looking to indigenous wisdom and psychedelics for a new cosmology and way of being. Why Natasja & Alexander chose psilocybin as the central medicine for the Regenerative Stewardship retreat. The wisdom of being flexible in one's approach to preparation, experience, and integration. Episode Links: AWAKEN THE MEDICINE WITHIN “Regenerative Stewardship” Psilocybin Retreat AMW's Instagram Rebel Wisdom Alexander's book, The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World The concept of the Hero's Journey Book, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, by Tyson Yunkaporta Peter Kingsley Natasja on Ep. 109: 5-MeO-DMT, Integration, and Connecting With the Divine Alexander's interview with Charlotte Du Cann These show links may contain affiliate links. Third Wave receives a small percentage of the product price if you purchase through the above affiliate links. This episode is brought to you by MycroDrops™ Powerful Micro-Elixirs made from Adaptogen and nootropic herbs and mushrooms. Get MOTIVATED, FOCUSED & GROUNDED! Use code THIRDWAVE and take $10 off your first purchase of $30 or more. Visit www.mycrodrops.com.  

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Dr David Luke, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. I first encountered David's work a few years ago when I attended the biennial academic conference, Breaking Convention, of which David is a co-founder, director and chair. As you may know, I speak at a lot of conferences for my work, and I was particularly struck by this one, for their skill in weaving together different disciplines associated with the research of psychedelic substances, which is an area that is not only rich, but also very complex. Over the course of a few days I encountered talks and presentations spanning everything from medicine, psychology and anthropology, to sociology, law, politics and the arts – and so I thought who better to explore the theme of integration with, than David. Having published more than 100 academic papers, including ten books, David's work focuses on transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness, especially those occasioned by psychedelics. When he is not running clinical drug trials with LSD, doing DMT field experiments or observing apparent weather control with Mexican shamans, he directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon. Recorded on 13th Oct 2022.

Mit Erlaubnis von Dr. med. Friederike Meckel Fischer haben wir ihren Vortrag von der Breaking Convention übersetzt und neu vertont. Die Breaking Convention ist eine jährlich stattfindende Konferenz zu psychedelischen Substanzen und gehört zu den größten der Welt. Der Inhalt des Vortrags ist die Beschreibung der möglichen Szenarien einer psycholytischen Therapiesitzung mit LSD, MDMA, 2C-B, oder Psilocybin. Dr. med. Friederike Meckel Fischer behandelte 12 Jahre lang ausgewählte Patienten mit verschiedenen psychedelischen Substanzen. Diese Methode eröffnete der Behandlung die Möglichkeit, tiefer in das Unterbewusstsein der Patienten einzugreifen, als es mit einer gewöhnlichen Therapie möglich ist. Ihr 2016 veröffentlichtes Buch "Therapie mit Substanz" (https://amzn.to/2N6VB0t) ist ein umfassender Leitfaden zum medizinischen Gebrauch von psychedelischen Substanzen in der Therapie von psychischen und psychosomatischen Störungen. Dieser Podcast ist ein Reupload von 2020 Viel Spaß mit dieser Episode! Schau' dir den Podcast mit Video an: https://bit.ly/3fP56fk Unterstütze SET & SETTING auf Patreon: https://bit.ly/2HEiyWh Infos zum nächsten SET & SETTING Retreat: https://bit.ly/3nZlAGW Diskutiere mit in der SET & SETTING Community: https://bit.ly/3DT8dht Werde mit unserem Newsletter exklusiver SET & SETTING Insider: https://bit.ly/3u0w6Bf Wenn dir die Folge gefallen hat, dann würde ich mich freuen, wenn du uns eine 5-Sterne-Bewertung bei Spotify und iTunes geben könntest! Ein Kommentar und natürlich ein Abo würden uns ebenfalls stark unterstützen! Teile den Podcast mit deinen Freunden um die psychedelische Revolution voranzutreiben! Ich danke dir vielmals! Deine Isabel von SET & SETTING Schnitt + Postproduktion: @lucasblanke Erfahre mehr über SET & SETTING: YouTube: https://bit.ly/2SDL4Kg Website: https://bit.ly/32VngXX Instagram: https://bit.ly/3dsv3Pa Coaching: https://www.unlock-your-self.de Breathwork: https://bit.ly/3IuTOK6 Anfragen und Feedback gerne an: info@setandsetting.de

Tavis Hall (CEO of Experience Waterloo IA) breaks rules. He recently positioned his community as the Black Capitol of the 5th Whitest State in the nation, refers to his DMO as a DXO and is running for political office. Is that enough to qualify for a conversation on DMOU? Absolutely...and his Bonus Round question response regarding his role in the 2008 Iowa Caucus is pretty cool, too. Join us.

Jesse Gould is Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans. After being deployed as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan three times, he founded the Heroic Hearts Project in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. The Heroic Hearts Project has raised over $350,000 in scholarships from donors including Dr. Bronner's and partnered with the world's leading ayahuasca treatment centers, as well as sponsoring psychiatric applications with the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Georgia. Jesse helps shape treatment programs and spreads awareness of plant medicine as a therapeutic method. He has spoken globally about psychedelics and mental health, and received accolades including being recognized as one of the Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2020 by Cause Artist. Driven by a mission to help military veterans struggling with mental trauma, he is best known for his own inspiring battle with PTSD and his recovery through ayahuasca therapy. Jesse's work can be seen and heard at NY Times, Breaking Convention, San Francisco Psychedelic Liberty Summit, People of Purchase, The Freq, Psychedelics Today Podcast, Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, Cause Artist, and The GrowthOp. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tango-romeo/message

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews researcher, author, and Co-Founder/Director of the Breaking Convention conference: Dr. David Luke. He discusses DMT entity encounters and the transpersonal.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

BenGreenfieldFitness.com/nemu You may have seen me first mention Danny Nemu in my article here on "sobriety", including his writings on cannabis, drunkenness, and the use of entheogens and psychedelics found in the Bible. I even experimented recently with some of the incenses and oils Danny discusses in his lectures - potent blends also featured within the Bible and used by the Levite priests, and the results were relatively astounding.  Danny is the author of Neuro-Apocalypse, Science Revealed, and perhaps most notably, the paper “Getting high with the most high: Entheogens in the Old Testament” and a YouTube video by the same name. He is a fellow who has dug into this topic of entheogens in the Bible quite a bit, similar to Brian Muraresku in his recent book The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name and Michael Pollan in his new book This Is Your Mind On Plants. Danny is a hypnotherapist, activist and author with an academic background in the history of medicine and 20 years experience with the Daime ayahuasca community including an 8-month cure in the Amazon battling a flesh-eating parasite. His fundamental interest is how humans break free of their “mind-forged manacles”, and his research focuses on Drugs in the Bible, Revelation and realpolitik in Science, and the connection between Linguistics, Neurobiology and Cognition. He writes for Psypress UK, the Journal of Psychedelic Studies and Lucid News, has given talks at Breaking Convention on Biblical entheogens and neocolonialism in ayahuasca studies, and is a regular guest on podcasts including Rune Soup and Aeon Byte. His books, Science Revealed and Neuro-Apocalypse, are out on Psypress UK, articles, talks and podcasts are collected on his website, and his inconsistent opinions are to be taken with a pinch of salt on Twitter. Insanely detailed show notes are to be found at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/nemu including links to all articles and resources mentioned, videos Danny Nemu has published and much more! In this episode you'll discover: -Is Moses' experience at the burning bush an example of an entheogen?... -How the unique combinations of anointing oil described in the Bible would affect human physiology... -Precautions prescribed in the Bible for priests entering the Holy of Holies... -How stigma surrounding drugs in modern culture prevents Christians from having a full understanding of God's creation... -And much more... Episode sponsors: -Kion -Organifi Gold Chocolate -Butcher Box -CAR.O.L Bikes BenGreenfieldFitness.com/nemu

• Includes contributions from the late Ralph Metzner, Chris Bache, Whitley Strieber, Jeffrey Kripal, Angela Voss, Bill Richards, Chris Timmermann, Michael Winkelman, Luis Eduardo Luna, Anton Bilton, Bernard Carr, Daniel Pinchbeck, Dennis McKenna, Ede Frecska, and David Luke• Explores DMT beings, alien abduction, plant sentience, neuroscientific DMT research, the connections between LSD and DMT entities, and the nature of mind and realityFound throughout the plant and animal kingdom, DMT (dimethyltryptamine) is also naturally occurring in humans, where it is released during near-death and actual death experiences, earning it the title “the spirit molecule.” When taken as a psychedelic, either via ayahuasca or in pure form, DMT is experientially considered to be the strongest and strangest of all entheogens. The majority of high-dose users report visions of unknown yet curiously familiar alien worlds and encounters with sentient nonhuman presences.At a four-day symposium at Tyringham Hall in England in 2017, twenty of the world's psychedelic luminaries gathered to discuss entheogenic entity encounters, consciousness expansion, visionary experiences, and the future of research in this field. Contributors to the talks and discussions include many leading thinkers, including the late Ralph Metzner, Chris Bache, Whitley Strieber, Je rey Kripal, Angela Voss, Bill Richards, Chris Timmermann, Michael Winkelman, Luis Eduardo Luna, Anton Bilton, Bernard Carr, Daniel Pinchbeck, Dennis McKenna, Ede Frecska, and David Luke.This book distills the potent exchange of ideas that occurred at Tyringham Hall, including discussions about DMT beings, encounter experiences, alien abduction, plant sentience, the shamanic use of ayahuasca, neuroscientifi c DMT research, the connections between LSD and DMT entities, and the nature of mind and reality.David Luke, Ph.D., is associate lecturer of psychology at the University of Greenwich and honorary senior lecturer at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College. He has published more than 100 academic papers on transpersonal experiences and altered states of consciousness and regularly gives public lectures and conference presentations. A cofounder and director of Breaking Convention, a biennial international conference on psychedelic research, he lives in East Sussex, England. Rory Spowers is an ecological writer, fi lmmaker, and author. He is the founder of the Web of Hope, a UK charity and ecological education resource, and the creative director for the Tyringham Initiative. He lives in Ibiza, Spain.

Darren Le Baron is an organic horticulturist, food enterprise tutor, educator, and event organizer based in the UK. He is a keen mushroom cultivator and has been growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for over a decade.  He teaches an online Shroomshop Master class where he teaches the art of mushroom cultivation and he is the mycologist in residence at London's Somerset House.  Darren is also a qualified Permaculture teacher and facilitator and supports businesses and communities in creating sustainable working systems and environments.  He is a member of London's Psychedelic Society where he presents regularly, and is also a chair and committee member for the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention.  Today we talk about psilocybin mushrooms and what humans can learn from mushrooms in general.

Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over three decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft.Growing up in the Britain of punk and then rave culture, Julian immersed himself in the philosophy and techniques of magic. His journey into group ritual practice began within the Western Esoteric Tradition when he was 16. Since then has worked in ceremony with practitioners from many different lands and lineages.Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and a Trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. He facilitates psychedelic ceremony, as well as providing one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support. In 2017 he published the celebrated book Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony.Today Julian is the author of books, essays, journals and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. He sees his work as part of the process to help re-imagine an earth-centered, non-dogmatic, open-source spirituality. He shares his practice through mentoring, workshops, online teaching and retreats.Julian's website: https://julianvayne.comTopics: psychedelics, magick, healing, therapy, community, culture•••Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)Support the Podcast: Single Donation: http://ko-fi.com/brianjamesPatreon: http://patreon.com/medicinepath Coaching & Books: http://brianjames.ca Yoga Courses: https://vimeo.com/brianjamesyoga/vod_pagesUse code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with Darren Springer AKA Darren Le Barron. Darren Springer is an educator, researcher and event organizer based in the UK. Known around the world for his Shroomshop Master classes he is a keen mushroom cultivator and teacher and has been growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for the last ten years. By day he is an Organic Horticulturist and Food Enterprise tutor and has translated his home growing experience into a social enterprise. Darren is the mycologist in residence at Somerset House, one of the largest communities of arts and creative enterprises in the UK. He is also a qualified Permaculture teacher and facilitator and supports businesses and communities to create sustainable working systems and environments. He is a member and presenter at the London Psychedelic Society, and is a chair and Breaking Convention committee member. Collectively his work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative and culturally-aware style.   TOPICS COVERED:   The Kid Who Questioned Everything   Reconnecting with African Culture   Influence of Kilindi Iyi   Knowledge of Psychedelics within Traditional African Culture   Diaspora from the African Continent   Benefits of Reconnecting with Indigenous Ancestry   Psychedelic Plants & Fungi as Technology to Speak with the Ancestors   Rediscovering Who You Are, Where You're From and Where You're Going   Checking in with Indigenous Cultures Before Moving Forward   Creating New Systems vs. Petitioning the Old to Change   Growing Plants & Mushrooms is a Revolutionary Act   Shroomshop Classes & Mushroom Cultivation   Ancestor Project 3-Week Course & UK Mushroom Academy   Unlocking the Organic, Crystal Technology Inside the Human Body   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Darren Le Baron Website: https://www.darrenlebaron.com/   Darren Le Baron IG: https://www.instagram.com/darren_le_baron/   Psychedelic Emancipation Course Collaboration with The Ancestor Project: https://www.theancestorproject.com/psychedelic-emancipation   Shroomshop Master Classes: https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/mushroom-cultivation-for-beginners   Jamaican Mushroom Growing Retreat w/ Silo Wellness: https://www.silowellness.com/retreats-programs/19/mushroom-growers-workshop-retreat/   Kilindi Iyi (Inspiration): http://babakilindi.com/

Hey everybody! Episode 50 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Julian Vayne. Julian was introduced to me through a mutual friend. Julian is an independent author and scholar on esoteric traditions including shamanism and entheogens. It was a real pleasure for me to sit down with Julian and pick his brain on a number of different subjects. We got into myriad topics including the occult, esoteric traditions, plant medicines, individual versus collective processes, and optimism for the future of humanity. I find Julian to be a scholar in the true sense of the word, a student of many traditions, and he has a beautiful ability to weave them together and find through-lines that join them. He is also a natural teacher and I imagine you all will learn a lot from this episode, much as I did. As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. Enjoy!"Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over three decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft…Julian is a senior member of the Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros and widely recognized as one of Britain's leading occultists.In the 1990s Julian edited Britain's best selling pagan newspaper Pagan Voice and in 2001 published one of the first books of the modern psychedelic renaissance, Pharmakon: Drugs and the Imagination. In addition to exploring traditional sacred medicines, Julian's work includes the first published accounts of the entheogenic ritual use of ketamine and several novel psychedelic sacraments…Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and a Trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. A founding member of the post-prohibition think-tank Transform, Julian sits on the academic board of The Journal of Psychedelic Studies, and has been a visiting lecturer at several British universities. Julian facilitates psychedelic ceremony, as well as providing one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support. He is the author of the celebrated Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony. Since 2011 he has been sharing his work through The Blog of Baphomet.”Fo Julian's full bio, visit: https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/julian-vayneFor more info about Julian and his work, visit: https://julianvayne.com/Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you.For more information about me and my upcoming plant medicine retreats with my colleague Merav Artzi, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.orgSupport this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithinDonate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanikMusic courtesy of: Nuno Moreno (end song). Visit: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/ And Stefan Kasapovski's Santero Project (intro song). Visit: https://spoti.fi/3y5Rd4Hhttps://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Like many entrepreneurs, Christian Gormsen admits he didn’t start his career with a passion for his current field. Instead, he backed into the hearing industry from his work in investment banking and consulting, and eventually wound up working at the world's 4th largest hearing aid company. Christian realized just how stigmatized hearing aids are and became determined to address this. In 2012, he was first connected to Eargo while doing advisory work. Unlike other traditional hearing aids, Eargo’s products are basically invisible, comfortable, rechargeable, removable, and sold directly to consumers rather than via physicians. After being a board member for about 3 years, Christian was asked to lead Eargo as CEO through a challenging time in 2016, and by the end of 2017, he had achieved a four-fold increase in sales and the company has since gone public. In this interview with host Geoff Pardo, Christian shares his story of entering the hearing industry and then joining Eargo, various unique aspects about the company compared to traditional hearing aid manufacturers that have led to their success, achieving cognitive diversity via cultural diversity, and the effect on the company’s personnel after its recent transition to being public.

Darren Le Baron (Springer) discovered psychedelics early in his teens however he wasn't interested until in his 30's simply because he was taught to "say no to drugs" and as he began to explore psychedelics, he understood why society has given psychedelics a bad name since it's an extremely liberating technology, allowing one to open up their psyche and discover more about their own mind. Darren believes that the notion of psychedelics losing many years of research in the '50s is misleading since that is only the case in western society as there are many indigenous cultures around the world that have been using psychedelics for decades now with an unbroken link. Darren's interest in indigenous cultures and history taught him the various uses of sacred plants ritualistically in ceremonies for medicinal purposes and we talk about the gatekeepers - the people that the sacred plants were gifted to, certain parts of the world hold specific entheogenic plants i.e The Amazon holds Ayahuasca, West Africa holds Iboga, Mexico holds Salvia etc. We also discuss the relationship between mental health and psychedelics, Darren mentions that indigenous cultures generally don't use psychedelics as a means of healing mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression etc. as these illnesses are a lot more common in western society due to the way we live. In indigenous cultures, psychedelics are used in a way to prevent mental illnesses rather than cure them. Darren's interest in cultivation, horticulture and organic food growing lead him to become a renowned mycologist, partnerships with Double Blind and The Psychedelic Society. About Darren: Darren Le Baron (Springer) is a mythologist, psychedelic researcher, qualified organic horticulturist, permaculture teacher and facilitator. Permaculture is an innovative framework for creating sustainable ways of living. His interactive workshops look at the fundamental ethics and principles of permaculture while sharing practical tips for personalizing and implementing the tools in our busy daily urban settings. Along with being a member of the Breaking Convention committee, Darren has worked with CRCLR in Berlin and LUSH in the UK supporting both to create sustainable working systems and environments using permaculture. Connect with Darren: https://www.darrenlebaron.com/ http://instagram.com/darren_le_baron​ https://www.facebook.com/darrenlebaron Thank you so much for joining us! Psychedelic Conversations Podcast is designed to educate, inform, and expand awareness. For more information, please head over to https://www.psychedelicconversations.com Please share with your friends or leave a review so that we can reach more people and feel free to join us in our private Facebook group to keep the conversation going. https://www.facebook.com/groups/psychedelicconversations This show is for information purposes only, and is not intended to provide mental health or medical advice. About Susan Guner: Susan is a trained somatic, trauma-informed holistic psychotherapist with a mindfulness-based approach grounded in Transpersonal Psychology that focuses on holistic perspective through introspection, insight, and empathetic self-exploration to increase self-awareness, allowing the integration of the mind, body and spirit aspects of human experience in personal growth and development. Connect with Susan: Website: https://www.psychedelicconversations.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susan.guner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-guner/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/susanguner Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanguner Blog: https://susanguner.medium.com/ Podcast: https://anchor.fm/susan-guner

Episode 10 with Alexander Beiner Alexander is a writer, facilitator, and cultural commentator. In 2012, he co-founded a meditation school, Open Meditation. He has also worked in some of the world's top events agencies developing immersive live experiences. He is one of the organizers of Breaking Convention, Europe's largest conference on psychedelic science and culture. His work on psychedelic theory has been published in the 2016 book 'Neurotransmissions', as well as ‘The Guardian'. He also writes fiction and plays traditional Irish music.Alexander leads on Rebel Wisdom's written content and live events and is particularly focused on finding new ways of having in-person conversations around the most essential and challenging ideas. Rebel Wisdom's life experiences are designed to engage more than just the intellect; they are places where the ideas explored in our films can be integrated so that they can be lived out in the real world. In this episode, Alexander Beiner discusses:His Why of The start of Rebel Wisdom Finding truth and meaningMen's Work, the masculine essence and the cultural shameInitiation and transitioning of life as a basic human needThe Hero's Journey as a basis for men's-work and healing the father wound Psychedelics healing as an initiationPsychedelic capitalism, and the new gold rushThe questionable interest in patenting PsychedelicsHow to educate patent makers and what are patent trolls?What is psychedelic sensemaking?How can psychedelic sensemaking become a roadmap for the meaning-making of life? How wisdom tradition are sophisticated models for understanding self and meaning-makingThe current dominant usage of psychedelics is Wellness & TreatmentWhat is the gift of COVID-19 as a personal growth journeyHandles:https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/abouthttps://alexander-beiner.medium.com/Inspiration:John Vervaeke - Awakening from the Meaning CrisisTyson Yunkaporta - Sand Talk Mankind Project 

Episode 175 - Jennifer Dumpert Dan Sterenchuk and Tommy Estlund are honored to have as our guest, Jennifer Dumpert. Jennifer Dumpert is a San Francisco-based writer and lecturer, and the founder of the Oneironauticum, an international organization that explores the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind. She also developed the concept and practice of Liminal Dreaming--surfing the edges of consciousness using hypnagogic and hypnopompic dream states. Dumpert has lectured and led workshops at festivals, conferences, and venues such as Summit at Sea, Lightning in a Bottle, Symbiosis, Breaking Convention in London, Entheogenesis in Melbourne, Australia, the Women's Visionary Congress, the Transformative Technology Conference, Esalen Institute, Ojai Institute, the New Living Expo, the International Association for the Study of Dreams, and Synergenesis. She has also taught online classes on Liminal Dreaming through the Evolver Network, and has appeared on radio shows and podcasts such as Expanding Mind, on the Progressive Radio Network, The Daily Beat, on BTR Today, C Realm, and the Dream Studies podcast. Website: https://urbandreamscape.com Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/liminaldreaming https://twitter.com/OneiroFer Note: Guests create their own bio description for each episode. The Curiosity Hour Podcast is hosted and produced by Dan Sterenchuk and Tommy Estlund. Please visit our website for more information: thecuriosityhourpodcast.com/ The Curiosity Hour Podcast is listener supported! To donate, click here: thecuriosityhourpodcast.com/donate/ Please visit this page for information where you can listen to our podcast: thecuriosityhourpodcast.com/listen/ Disclaimers: The Curiosity Hour Podcast may contain content not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion advised. The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are solely those of the guest(s). These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of The Curiosity Hour Podcast. This podcast may contain explicit language. The Public Service Announcement near the beginning of the episode solely represents the views of Tommy and Dan and not our guests or our listeners.

Darren Le Baron is an educator, researcher and event organiser based in the UK. Known around the world for his Shroomshop Master classes he is keen mushroom cultivator and teacher and has been growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for the last ten years. By day he is an Organic Horticulturist and Food Enterprise tutor and has translated his home growing experience into a social enterprise. Darren is the mycologist in residence at Somerset House, one of the largest communities of arts and creative enterprises in the UK. He is also a qualified Permaculture teacher and facilitator and supports businesses and communities to create sustainable working systems and environments. He is a member and presenter at the London Psychedelic Society, and is a chair and Breaking Convention committee member. He is also a regular presenter at the Detroit Psychedelic Conference, Ozora , Noisily Festival and numerous psychedelic gatherings around the world sharing his extensive research on psychedelics and how they can help support humanity in the here and now. Darren is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker who is passionate about sharing his research and findings on ancient African plant medicines, the history, mythology and various applications. Collectively his work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative, culturally-aware style. In this episode you will learn: Darren's story & how his interest in the unknown started from a young age. How Darren got into the world of psychedelics and psychedelic research. The history of psychedelics and why the history has been hidden for so long. Why psychedelics are having a renaissance. Why people use psychedelics. Different types of psychedelics and Darren's personal experiences. Why Mushrooms are the oldest and most ancient technology. How psychedelic give you access to your self and different parts of your psyche. How Darren's experiences have helped him to drop his personal baggage and loads. How to integrate psychedelic experiences into everyday life. The importance of a set, setting, intention and having a sitter when taking psychedelics for the first time. Dosage and individualisation when taking magic mushrooms. Darren's work in the community with young offenders and the benefits they get from his help and support. Where Darren sees psychedelics and humanity going in the future. Darren's top tips for using psychedelics in a safe way. Plus much much more. Connect with Darren: https://www.darrenlebaron.com/ https://www.instagram.com/darren_le_baron/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCkr76UsTlLCsJdCNTqQNaQ Connect with me: https://www.kinetikfitness.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/aliwestcoach/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/thekinetikfitnessshow https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9Oe_kjET63UrlCyIXlsnA Support the Kinetik Fitness Show with a donation to my Crowd Funding campaign: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/aliwestpodcastsupport Book a coaching call with me: https://westcoachingconsultcall.as.me/consultation Get 15% off Shilajit use code: aliwest: https://www.purehimalayanshilajit.com/buy-shilajit/ Get 20% off your Mudho Health DNA Testing Kit use code ALDNA: https://muhdo.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thekinetikfitnessshow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thekinetikfitnessshow/support

For the final episiode in this first series of Unknown Exclusives, Unknown.FM proudly presents DJ Junk, a UK-based DJ/Producer that has been a massive influence on many of the Unknown.FM djs since way back in the early 90's. Dj'ing since 1988 and producing since 1992, DJ Junk started producing rave / jungle 12"'s in 1992 and released a series of white labels called 'Junk 001', 002, 003 and so on up to volume 12. Since 1992 he has released 71 vinyl releases under various names / genres and labels. He also distributed a series of rave mix tapes starting in 1991 known as 'Junk Hardcore'. DJ Junk's dj style avoids the well-known tunes and goes for those unknown, under-rated gems. In 1994 he produced a series of house / hard house 12"s under the artist name of 'Blister Sisters' and ran a house label called 'Completely Suitable'. This ran from 1994 to 1997 and had 14 releases, some of which were white labels. In the early 90's he produced a series of tapes called 'Breakbeat Mix' . These were mixes of hip hop breakbeats and other samples. Produced on a sampler rather than turntables they were like very long tracks rather than dj mixes. In 1996 the best parts of the 'Breakbeat Mixes' were compiled on a vinyl album called ‘Breaker Breaks Volume One'. This album also had sections of film samples and hip hop noises for scratch DJ's. The label this was released on was known as ‘Second To None' which was the B-Boy crew of which DJ Junk was a member and so used that name for the new label. The ‘Breaker Breaks' albums were followed with other volumes to reach volume 6. The ‘Second To None' label which was ran by DJ Junk also had other releases – ‘B-Boy Anthems Vol 1-6' , ‘Weapons Of Mass Deckstruction Vol 1-4', ‘Prone Breaks', ‘Ultimate B-Boy Funk' , ‘Trouble With Funk' plus several other LP's and 12”'s. DJ Junk has also had tracks released on other labels including, ‘Ministry Of Sound' , ‘MZEE', ‘Bomb' , ‘Pepper', ‘Mo Wax', ‘Ozone', 'Telstar', 'Spandangle Selection' , 'NMRK' . 'MPS', 'Vinyl Fanatiks', 'Funkin' Pussy', 'Meditator Music', ‘Rave Radio'. DJ Junk has D.J.ed all over the UK and Europe since the early 1990's and regularly plays at b-boy events such as the dirty 30's at UK B-Boy Championships and IBE Holland, Breaking Convention, Vile Style in Bournemouth, Breakfest, plus many clubs. He has played at rave/jungle events – Calling The Hardcore , Remixed, WDA ,Up The Anti plus others as well as various soul and disco events. For this mix DJ Junk has put together 2 hours of early 90's breakbeat which is has mixed seamlessly in his formiddable style.

"We need to find a way to hold on to the beauty and magic and wonder of these substances but we have to find a language and a mechanism to make them accessible because it´s the current situation that´s exclusive and inaccessible. It´s what I´m doing. Medicalizing is increasing accessibility and inclusivity, not reducing it."Dr Ben Sessa (MBBS BSc MRCPsych) is a consultant psychiatrist based in the UK and one of the world´s leading psychedelic drug researchers. Sessa specialises in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with a special interest in the developmental aspects of trauma in children and how this contributes to adult mental disorder and especially substance dependence. Using this experience of child psychopathology, he carries out assessments for the family law courts and provides psychiatric care to teenagers and adults with post-trauma symptoms.Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK’s first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). Dr Sessa is an outspoken lobbyist for drug reform in the UK, advocating for a more progressive policy of regulation that would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is also co-founder and director of the Breaking Convention conference.This was an eye-opening conversation that got me thinking about the notion of inclusivity/exclusivity of psychedelic medicines and the way we can use language to assess the risk/reward factors of drug use, research and therapeutic interventions in modern society. Ben is a tremendously impassioned voice in this renaissance and a true pioneer in the way those struggling most may find assistance with psychedelic therapy.Thanks for listening and please share this and other episodes with your friends. Feel free to get in touch via email if you´d like to share your thoughts and experiences too!Follow Dr Sessa: https://twitter.com/bensessa?lang=enBen´s website: http://www.drsessa.com/Current research, clinics & training: AWAKN Life Sciences IncIntro music: https://www.akirathedon.com/Outro music: Roof: So So - Epidemic SoundListen and support the Primal Movers Podcast on the usual platformshttps://www.buzzsprout.com/276060/Primal Movers YouTube channel - Video episodeshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6U50aWNy1GikYV0NLm6nBA

A refreshingly different approach to business that built an iconic world brand. Placing people first, asking uncommon questions and breaking legacy rules are just some of the smart tactics that transformed this brand from bankruptcy into a World Leader. Michael Houlihan opens the door of his heart and home and warmly invites us to go Barefoot with him to hear how he and Bonnie beat the grind and overcame countless and often unexpected corporate challenges on their road to success. Michael and Bonnie's international success is not kept a state secret. Instead, they have generously packaged their universal truths and given us their own GPS - Guiding Principles to Success to help us find our own elegant solutions to tough problems. Authors of New York Times Bestselling The Barefoot Spirit and more recently introducing their pioneering Business Audio Books, these entrepreneurs and kindred spirits show us, through impressionable stories, the value of a mentor, what it takes to engage our staff in reaching great success as a team, how to win clients over, how to find elegant solutions to tough problems etc. all while having fun and adding value to humanity along the way. A recipe for success the barefoot way! Michael has kindly offered YOU, our BWB family, a FREE 25 minute extract of his audio book. Claim your gift http://www.thebarefootspirit.com/freechapter Episode Themes Mentors Who Believe In You Guiding Principles For Success (GPS) Guiding Principles Critical For Today Making A Difference To Humanity Brands Not Labels The Barefoot Why Elegant Solutions To Tough Problems Hardships In The Grind Teaching Success Insights Using Audio Drama The Excitement Of Business Audio Theatre Message To The World Connect with Michael Houlihan Websites: www.thebarefootspirit.com | www.consumerbrandbuilders.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhoulihan/ Claim your free gift: 25 Minute extract of audio book, The Barefoot Spirit http://www.thebarefootspirit.com/freechapter Connect with Carmen Wilde (Creator & Host BwB TV) !! SUBSCRIBE at https://bwbtv.net to be notified of new episodes via email & never miss a solution / strategy that could support you in achieving the success you dream of! - Email: team@bwbtv.net - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenwilde/ - BwB TV website: https://www.businesswithoutbarriers.tv I'd love to hear from you. Email me your suggestions for the show, topics you'd like to see covered and any feedback about what's working and what we can improve. To Your Wildest Success! Carmen --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/businesswithoutbarriers/message

This episode of The Body Knows Podcast is with Michelle Baker Jones. We met and spoke at her private practice in Kingston Upon Thames, London, where she works as an integrative psycho-therapeutic counsellor. Michelle is also a member of Imperial College's Psychedelic research team where she is a lead guide on their trials comparing psilocybin to anti-depressants for the treatment for depression. She also offers individual psychedelic integration for people struggling to process psychedelic experiences, and co–facilitates a monthly Psychedelic Integration group in London. This in-depth interview with Michelle explores her experiences on the clinical trials for psychedelic-assisted therapy, as well her personal experiences with psychedelics and her work in the integration groups. As one of the lead therapists on the trials she outlines their design and context in which the psilocybin sessions occur. We spoke too about the history of the trials, the qualifications for a psychotherapist to use psychedelics and how this transpersonal, and ancient and medicine, with its mystic, shamanic tradition of communion with nature, fits in to a Western scientific, positivist model. We also discuss methods used by the program for integration of the psychedelic experience. The subjects of state chasing and spiritual bypassing are also addressed, as is the need for an authentic, Western cultural container for the experience, equivalent to those found in indigenous communities. Psilocybin mushrooms have been part of religious rituals for thousands of years. The Aztecs of Mexico referred to the mushroom as teonanácatl, or “God's flesh”, in homage to its believed sacred power yet Psilocybin remains in the most restricted category today, which David Nutt, professor of neuropsychoparmacology at Imperial, and who is overseeing the current trials, calls “one of the most atrocious examples of the censorship of science and medicine in the history of the world”. The work Michelle and the Imperial team are doing is set to revolutionise the treatment of depression, if not the Western medical model its self, by placing the individual, and our innate propensity to heal ourselves, at the centre of treatment. LINKS Find out more about Imperial's ground-breaking work on Psilocybin for major depression at - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/psychedelic-research-centre/ | For more information on psychedelic integration go to – https://integration.maps.org/ | Michelle's private counselling practice can be found at - http://mbjcounselling.co.uk/ OTHER RESOURCES – Michelle & Greg Donaldson at Breaking Convention - https://youtu.be/HKZywjeXKQc | Breaking Convention https://www.breakingconvention.co.uk/ OUR SPONSORS We're sponsored by Made by Coopers, a modern Apothecary, crafting products for your skin and soul. Head to their shop at https://madebycoopers.com/ and use BODY20 at checkout for a discount. We're running a competition to win Made by Cooper products, as well as ceremonial grade cacao for an online cacao ceremony run by Marcela to celebrate our launch. To enter subscribe on Apple Podcasts, download, rate, review and send a screenshot to contact@thebodyknowspodcas.com. Closing date Nov 30, 2020. THANK YOU Please share this conversation with someone who you think it would benefit. If you share on socials, please tag and follow us too on Instagram or Facebook @thebodyknowspodcast. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it, we'll be back every two weeks with more, and in the meantime remember, listen to your body because your body knows.

Dr David Luke is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Department of Psychology and Counselling, University of Greenwich, London. Luke is currently module leader of the Psychology of Exceptional Human Experience, which has been running since 2009, and also teaches on the Introduction to Psychology, and Criminology and Forensic Psychology modules. He is currently Honorary Senior Lecturer, Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, and is a lecturer on the MSc Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology course where he leads and teaches a module on Psychedelics and Entheogens.David's particular interest is in transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness, having published over 100 academic papers, including ten books, in this field, making him one of the world´s leading researchers in this specialist area. Luke is also director of Breaking Convention, one of the world´s largest multidisciplinary conferences on psychedelic consciousness.In this episode we spoke about the phenomenology of transpersonal non-ordinary experience, shamanism, the DMT state, psychedelic archetypes, pre-cognition experiments, dreams and more... such a fascinating chat that flew by... certainly keen on having a follow-up chat with David and hear some more of his unique insights into altered states of consciousness.Luke´s most recent books Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience and DMT Dialogues: Encounters with the Spirit Molecule weave personal experience and scientific research into fascinating explorations of chemically mediated extra ordinary human experiences.Publications: https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/faculty-of-education-and-health/dr-david-lukeMusic: https://www.akirathedon.com/DJs Podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/...Listen and support the Primal Movers Podcast on the usual platformshttps://www.buzzsprout.com/276060/Primal Movers YouTube channel - Video episodeshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6U50aWNy1GikYV0NLm6nBASupport this podcast with some PayPal energy:https://www.paypal.me/TomMountjoy

Adam Aronovich is a doctoral candidate at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain, focusing on Medical Anthropology and Cultural Psychiatry.  He is an active member of the Medical Anthropology Research Center (MARC) and part of the Ayahuasca Community Committee at the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. In the last four years he has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, where he has been doing qualitative research in collaboration with ICEERS, the Beckley Foundation, and, more recently, the Centre for Psychedelic Studies at Imperial College. Beyond his work conducting and coordinating research, Adam regularly facilitates workshops at the Temple of the Way of Light, a prestigious healing center in the Iquitos area. In this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Adam discusses a host of issues surrounding modern western paradigms of psychiatry and mental health and contrasts these with approaches taken by traditional cultures, such as those of the Shipibo people of South America.  Adam has spent years studying traditional societies as an anthropologist and his research specifically focuses on the different approaches to medicine in various cultures, and how people in different cultural milieus experience health and illness differently.  Through his work, Adam hopes to contribute to the field of medicine by translating the medical understandings of traditional cultures into terminologies and categories digestible by the Western medical establishment. In this conversation, Adam explains how the contemporary approach to mental health in the West is colored by a fixation on medicalizing peoples’ experiences into diagnostic categories and by a tendency to view health and illness exclusively on the level of the individual. In contrast to this approach, Adam draws on his ongoing research with the Shipibo people, showing how their approach to healing in ayahuasca ceremonies is much more communal and relational in nature.   In this episode: How traditional cultures conceptualize mental suffering The limits of Western psychiatry when crossing cultural boundaries How the animist perspective of Shipibo healers informs their approach to healing Dangers of over-emphasizing the medicalization of psychedelics The relational, rather than an individualistic focus of ayahuasca ceremonies Confronting our individual and collective shadows   Quotes “Every medical system or every medical approach is inseparable from the culture, the cosmology, the metaphysics that underlie the understanding of that culture.” [32:32] “The way the Shipibo medical system works… is that the healing doesn't necessarily only happen through the agency of the human healer, but the human healer works as a channeler of medical agency of different sources, of different spirits in the environment.” [36:34] “The most important benefits or the most important values that these substances have are not necessarily therapeutic in the sense of medical, or clinical, or psychological… but are actually much deeper than that and they’re epistemic, they’re ontological, they’re relational.” [52:25] “Ayahuasca oftentimes will get us to a place where we can actually experience that reconnection with the wider community of sentience that makes the ecosystem of our world.” [1:02:29] Links Adam’s lecture at Breaking Convention 2017 Adam’s lecture at the World Ayahuasca Conference 2019 Temple of the Way of Light Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

Night 1 of the RNC laid out the plan to re-election that Republicans are hoping for, as well as the deficits they're trying to overcome. CNN Political Director David Chalian breaks down what we can expect for the rest of the convention, plus Secretary of State Pompeo's norm-shattering decision to give his convention speech during a diplomatic trip, and the possible political implications of the Wisconsin protest aftermath of Jacob Blake's shooting.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Christina and Julian discuss the early days of Pagan gatherings and how they found their ways into various occult societies. They talk about the satanic abuse panic of the early 90's and how it has effected them personally as well as the wider community. Julian Vayne is an occultist and author of numerous books, essays, journals and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. A regular speaker at events, and facilitator of retreats and workshops, his work is informed by chaos magic and lineages within Wicca and Tantra. Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and sits on the academic board of The Journal of Psychedelic Studies.

In this episode we welcome Julian Vayne to discuss psychedelic entities, the purpose of ritual in relation to psychedelics and the significant case for psychedelics as medicines. Julian Vayne is an occultist and author of numerous books, essays, journals, 'zines and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. A regular speaker at events, and facilitator of retreats and workshops, his work is informed by chaos magic and lineages within Wicca and Tantra. Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and sits on the academic board of The Journal of Psychedelic Studies. Julian facilitates psychedelic ceremony, as well as providing one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support. He is the author of the celebrated Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony. Since 2011 he has been sharing his work through The Blog of Baphomet and is the curator of the Youtube series My Magical Thing. The thumbnail art is by the great visionary artist Alex Grey whose work we briefly touch on. Those of you of a certain age and with excellent music taste will recognise his work from the Tool album art for the album Lateralus. If you like the show and want more Spirit Box in your life, join the Patreon and the podcast Discord. SHOW NOTES: Julian's Website: theblogofbaphomet.com/category/julian-vayne/ Julian's books: amzn.to/2BN8sQ7 My Magical thing: www.youtube.com/channel/UC6TWW-5KTelMMe4xW77TpFQ Alex Grey: www.alexgrey.com Video samples from www.videvo.net/profile/joseph2/ KEEP IN TOUCH? TWITTER - twitter.com/spiritbox3 CONTACT - www.darraghmasonfield.com/contact SUPPORT - www.patreon.com/spiritbox PAYPAL - www.paypal.me/dmfphoto MUSIC - Obliqka --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/spirit-box/message

In today's episode, Joe interviews Jesse Gould, founder and president of the Heroic Hearts Project, a nonprofit organization that connects military veterans to ayahuasca retreats, and Keith Abraham, head of the newly created Heroic Hearts UK branch. They discuss the similarities of their military pasts and post-combat struggles, and how they both took part in ayahuasca ceremonies at Peru's La Medicina, where they eventually met. They note the need to create the UK branch came from the realization that UK vets simply weren't getting as much attention as those in the US. They talk about the unlikely allyship of Crispin Blunt, member of Parliament and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentory Group for Drug Policy Reform, the consideration of using psilocybin in future work as a less intense ayahuasca alternative, current microbiome studies and the excitement around new data vs. the "death by survey" complications when working with people in need, and how helpful a military mindset can be in these situations. They share some success stories but talk about how far we need to go in helping veterans come back to society, and how much we'd benefit from a more ceremonial acceptance of the passage from one way of life to another. The corporate 9-5 world can be tough for anyone, but ultimately, finding a purpose and connecting to a community is what's most important toward these veterans reintegrating back to their "pre-army" lives. Notable Quotes “Ayahuasca changed everything. I came out of that jungle a very different person. I wouldn’t say that I had a 400% healing experience, but I had that massive, massive, massive catalyst where I knew that my life had to change. And it has. And from there, in the year since, when I got myself together, I started realizing, ‘you know what? I’m in a good place. How can I introduce UK veterans to the experience that I’ve had, because I see that as vitally important?’ And then I was introduced to Jesse, and it turned out that the organization that I thought I wanted to create had already been created perfectly.” -Keith Abraham “My sons actually in the same unit as I was (in the parachute regiment.) When I left the parachute regiment and went for my ayahuasca experience in Peru, I then came back, and my son was looking at me like, “wait, you’re a grizzly old war veteran, and now you’re talking about, like ‘everything is connected, and love and peace and harmony’ um... this is… strange.’’ He’s gotten really used to it now, but yea, it’s wonderful that these plant medicines can do these things for us. [We have] such strong minds and characters, and this ingrained training as well, but it can be overwhelmed in a good way.” -Keith Abraham “One of the things we teach through Heroic Hearts, especially in the integration process, is: it’s fine to maintain your warrior- that warrior spirit, that warrior soul. But now you need to learn to use that energy and use that strength towards other means. You might be done with the fighting for now, but that doesn’t mean you’re set out to pasture and done with society. There’s a lot of different ways you can use that energy. ...How can you continue to be a warrior, just on a different trajectory?” -Jesse Gould Links Heroic Hearts Project Website Heroic Hearts Project UK Website Heroic Hearts Facebook group Heroic Hearts Twitter Heroic Hearts Instagram La Medicina Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook  or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. About Jesse Gould Jesse Gould is Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans. After being deployed in Afghanistan three times, he founded the Heroic Hearts Project in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. The Heroic Hearts Project has raised over $150,000 in scholarships from donors including Dr. Bronner’s and partnered with the world’s leading ayahuasca treatment centers, as well as sponsoring psychiatric applications with the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Georgia. Jesse helps shape treatment programs and spreads awareness of plant medicine as a therapeutic method. He has spoken globally about psychedelics and mental health, and received accolades including being recognized as one of the Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2020 by Cause Artist. Driven by a mission to help military veterans struggling with mental trauma, he is best known for his own inspiring battle with PTSD and his recovery through ayahuasca therapy. Jesse’s work can be seen and heard at NY Times, Breaking Convention, San Francisco Psychedelic Liberty Summit, People of Purchase, The Freq, Psychedelics Today Podcast, Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, Cause Artist, WAMU 88.5 and The GrowthOp. About Keith Abraham Keith Abraham served 9 years as a member of The Parachute Regiment, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout the latter years of his military service and during this time working for an investment bank, Keith began experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety and depression. After exhausting the majority of services and options offered by the NHS and military charities without much success, Keith realized a new approach was needed. His profound experiences with ayahuasca and psilocybin convinced him of the vital role plant medicines have to offer those suffering from PTSD, brain injuries and mental ill-health.

Exploring Ali's journey out of the literary world and his latest series of pieces of Medium concerning 'Lost Ways of Knowing'. We riffed on the 'dance' of being between openness and ground and then explored the challenges of charismatic narcissism in spiritual communities and the ongoing cultural questions around psychedelics. Alexander Beiner is the co-founder of Rebel Wisdom where he is responsible for live events, summits and facilitation of retreats and workshops. Previously a novelist, meditation instructor and co-organiser of the psychedelics conference Breaking Convention he is currently writing long form pieces exploring Embodied Cognition, Culture and how a deeper Mytho-Poetic understanding can guide us through a time between worlds. Ali's writing can be found on Medium: https://medium.com/@alexander.beiner Jacob Kishere is the host of SenseSpace: a Platform Making Sense and Exploring Meaning in the Emergent Landscape. In this evolving space he explores the transformational potential of conversation. For more see www.twitter.com/@jacobkishere & www.medium.com/@jacobkishere.

Jesse Gould is Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans. After being deployed in Afghanistan three times, he founded the Heroic Hearts Project in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. The Heroic Hearts Project has raised over $150,000 in scholarships from donors including Dr. Bronner’s and partnered with the world’s leading ayahuasca treatment centers, as well as sponsoring psychiatric applications with the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Georgia. Jesse helps shape treatment programs and spreads awareness of plant medicine as a therapeutic method. He has spoken globally about psychedelics and mental health, and received accolades including being recognized as one of the Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2020 by Cause Artist. Driven by a mission to help military veterans struggling with mental trauma, he is best known for his own inspiring battle with PTSD and his recovery through ayahuasca therapy.  Jesse’s work can be seen and heard at NY Times, Breaking Convention, San Francisco Psychedelic Liberty Summit, People of Purchase, The Freq, Psychedelics Today Podcast, Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, Cause Artist, WAMU 88.5 and The GrowthOp. 

Ryan Gembala of Pathbreaker Ventures joins Nick to discuss Breaking Convention, Hitting The Fundraise Wall & Why Deep-tech Is Not More Capital Intensive Than Software. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/Path to Venture Talk about your time at Facebook and working in M&A. What's the thesis at Pathbreaker? How do you define pre-seed? Most of your dealflow inbound or outbound? Quote from the website: "We don't believe all great companies, nor all phenomenal investments, look the same early on. So we are flexible, realistic, and patient - solving for supporting the founders best-suited for tackling the most meaningful problems." I'm curious, what are the must-haves that cut across all investments that you do?   You've said to me that hardware isn't more capital intensive than software. As a hardware investor myself, that was refreshing to hear but I'm sure there are many founders and investors that would strongly disagree. Why is not more capital intensive? Do you think the time horizon to exit is longer? We've all been in this situation where founders hit a wall — they're running out of money, having a hard time telling your story, investors aren't pulling the trigger to invest, there are team challenges, maybe trouble converting from pilots to licenses... Give us examples of how you dig in and help when it gets tough. We've seen some recent failures or, at least, setbacks in the automation/robotics space. High profile companies like Zume pizza and CafeX have had significant challenges... what's your take on where these companies went wrong? What's your POV on robotics investing and the types of opportunities that are going to be successful? Just speaking to Kane Hsieh at Root about the effect of automation, robotics on jobs... what's your stance on the impact of these technologies on employment? You've had a number of Series A's just here in the past couple of weeks... seems like every time we connect you are dealing w/ a number of up-rounds at A and B. Clearly something is working so congrats on the early success. Talk to me a bit about how hard it is to raise a Series A? Different types of companies have to achieve different milestones/benchmarks to raise and A but have you seen any common traction levels or standards to successfully close an A round? For founders that are considering M&A and maybe some options are emerging for exit... what advice would you have? To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Dr. Sam Gandy joins us is on Adventures Through The Mind to explore eco-therapy, nature-immersion, where the scientific observation that psychedelics increase nature-relatedness does and does not weave into our facing of the climate crisis. --LINKS-- For links to Sam Gandy's work, full show notes, and to watch this episode in video, head to https://bit.ly/ATTMind116   ***Full Topics Breakdown Below   --- SUPPORT THIS PODCAST —  Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Donations: https://www.paypal.me/JWJesso Merchandise: https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support/   Newsletter: https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter *** Extra BIG thanks to my patrons on Patreon for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially, Thomas & Melanie H, Clea S, Steven B, James R, Dean H, Joe A, Andy D, Stephen B, Ian C, David W, Don J, Yvette FC, Ann-Madeleine, Dima B, & Chuck W ----- Episode Breakdown the transformative power of awe in the psychedelic experience psychological disconnect and the climate crises some criticism of Extinction Rebellion’s Gale Bradbrook’s comments at Breaking Convention nature-relatedness and its connection to pro-environmental behaviors eco-anxiety and  environmental melancholia the ecological costs of civilization’s materialist success Gandy's research showing that psychedelics increase nature-relatedness the difference between nature-relatedness and nature-immersion the massive diversity of benefits of nature immersion the connection between nature-relatedness and pro-sociability nature-immersion and nature-connection increase capacity for self-reflection psychedelics as tools for eco-therapy ego-dissolution and the impact of nature-immersion how nature immersion might fit in clinical practice with psychedelic therapy the sense of 'connection' and its value in positive outcomes with psilocybin for depression the practice of acknowledging nature and the value it offers our wellbeing and cognition microdosing the forest there’s something special about psilocybin over other psychedelics are psychedelics “agents” or “tools”? psilocybin is more like ayahuasca than LSD future research with psilocybin and nature-relatedness what is psilocybin’s role in nature? Debunking the insect repellant theory the failures of sensationalist reporting on psychedelic science psychedelics will not save us from the climate crisis, but they might help the risks of going mainstream why I won’t read Michael Pollan’s How To Change Your Mind the value of feeling the grief and pain of ecological destruction the wellbeing benefits of accepting unpleasant emotional state details about Sam Gandy’s upcoming research plans and contact details   --- SUPPORT THIS PODCAST —  Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Donations: https://www.paypal.me/JWJesso Merchandise: https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support/   Newsletter: https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter   --- BOOKS —    Decomposing The Shadow: https://www.jameswjesso.com/decomposing-the-shadow/ The True Light Of Darkness: https://www.jameswjesso.com/true-light-darkness/   --- LINKS —    Website: https://www.jameswjesso.com/ Speaking Tour: https://www.jameswjesso.com/events/ Podcast: https://www.jameswjesso.com/podcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jameswjesso Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attmindpodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jameswjesso   --- PRODUCTS —    Art: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product-category/art/ Teeshirts: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product-category/clothing/ Lectures: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product/psychedelics-ritualistic-suffering-and-the-meaning-of-life-lecture/

Kitty Sipple is a disabled white queer non-binary femme.  They are deeply engaged in research that focuses on finding viable solutions for the issues that society places on marginalized communities, particularly the trans & non-binary community.  In this talk, we discuss their presentation at the "Breaking" Convention in London.   We also discuss the liminal spaces describing the mystical dream-world of perception and reality, which can be alarming for some to navigate.  Kitty describes the similar aspects of navigating liminal spaces in regards to gender and psychedelics.  Kitty explores the connection of their own experience as a non-binary queer femme and their examination of psychedelic "in-between" spaces.  They will also explore the concept that navigation of liminal spaces is a learned skill, which could be used to explore other hidden liminal spaces in the human experience.  Kitty will also discuss their own journey with dissociative identity disorder (DID), and their inquiry into psychedelic accessibility.    For further information about Kitty, please see their website:  https://www.fungifemme.com/ Links to their presentation at the 2019 Breaking Convention can be found here:  Kitty's Breaking Convention Presentation  

Breaking Convention (January 12, 2020) by Edina Morningside Community Church

Jazmin Pirozek is a Cree Ethnobotanist and Traditional Healer serving Northern Ontario indigenous populations in Canada through teaching and aiding in the remembering of plant medicine teachings lost due to colonization. Her work has carried her to South America where she learns Amazonian plant medicines from Maestro Juan Flores Salazaar.Jazmin is the founder of Maiinganung Healing Centre in Canada and continues to study and work with Entheogens and other plant medicines to aid remediating Western drug related and food illnesses in indigenous populations.Jazmin’s presentation at Breaking Convention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1YJ8YMYzsNeed support on your medicine path?1-to-1 yoga, plant medicine integration and transformative coaching with Brian Jameshttp://brianjames.caSupport the Podcast!1. Leave a review on iTunes, or share with your friends on social media2. Become a Patreon supporter at http://patreon.com/medicinepath and gain access to podcast extras and hours of yoga practice resources including vinyasa sequences, breathwork, chanting and guided meditations.3. Leave a one-time donation at http://paypal.me/medicinepathyoga4. Purchase a print or Kindle version of my new book, Yoga & Plant Medicine: https://amzn.to/2mv3i36About Brian JamesBrian James is a yoga teacher, transformational coach and psychedelic integration counselor currently living in Montréal, Canada with his wife, astrologer Debbie Stapleton and their Boston Terrier Kingston. He has been exploring the intersection of yoga and shamanism for over 25 years.medicinepathpodcast.cominstagram.com/brianjames.medicinepathtags: brian james, jazmin pirozek, indigenous, plant medicine, healing, ayahuasca

Join me as I sit down with Mr John Harrison for a fascinating and heartfelt chat. John has an amazing personal story, and is incredibly well researched on the use of Ibogaine in treatment for opiate addiction. We discuss some of the neuro chemical mechanisms behind this treatment, and delve even deeper into John's approach of working with the whole human. John's approach in treatment is one near and dear to my own heart and work, as he emphasizes the need for a collage of methods that work specifically for the individual. From meditation, to hiking, to developing personal power--John is a skilled practitioner with a multi faceted approach in saving lives. I very much enjoyed our talk and getting to meet John in person. If you are a San Diego local like me, you can meet him yourself at his weekly meditation group with the Blue Dragon Zen Community! Join the community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenbeyondrecovery/ Links and info for John: As featured on Tangentially Speaking podcast with Dr Chris Ryan: https://chrisryanphd.com/378-john-harrison-therapist-former-fugitive-from-injustice/ https://www.facebook.com/johnnycoyo Zen Blue Dragon Meditation Group: Wednesday 7pm 9025 Balboa Ave Contact John: jakaileb@hotmail.com More about John: John has enjoyed much of his time on the planet exploring both the inner and outer landscapes. A therapist with a practice based in San Diego specializing in Addiction Treatment and Personal Transformation, John was Principal Investigator for MAPS’ (Multidisciplinary Assn. for Psychedelic Studies) pilot study investigating the efficacy of the plant medicine ibogaine in the treatment of opiate addiction. John studied and was trained in Clinical Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies, and was formerly a resident at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Ca. A Zen Buddhist practitioner for over 30 years, John is the founder of Blue Dragon Zen Community in San Diego. An avid hiker and high altitude mountaineer, John is also a connoisseur of amazing and breath-giving sunsets! John Harrison has presented his research, both field and clinical, at over 35 international conferences and symposia, including Horizon's conference in NYC , Breaking Convention in London , the International Ibogaine Conferences in Durban, South Africa, Vancouver, Canada , and Tepoztlan, Mexico among so many others One of the earliest proponents of the importance of the integration process post psychedelic journey , John has long been a strong advocate for working with his patients as collaborators mutually engaged in discovery and deep respect resulting ultimately in their empowerment to go forward on their own journey toward wellness.

Darren Springer is a teacher, researcher and qualified organic horticulturist. By day he teaches organic gardening and food enterprise to “so called” hard to reach young people, in particular those who have been temporarily or permanently excluded from mainstream school. Darren is part of the Breaking Convention committee and works closely with Funzing, organising thought provoking talks and workshops around the subjects of Mushroom cultivation, psychedelic experiences and unearthing ancient buried knowledge from African-Caribbean history, culture and spirituality.During this episode Darren and I discuss how we connected many years ago through a mutual love of art. We discuss seeds as currency, the power of nature as medicine, the potential application of psychedelics and entheogenic plants for mental health treatment and whether these psychoactive substances can help people to access and deal with their emotional baggage. Collectively Darrens work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative, culturally-aware style and I think that really comes through on this episode. EPISODE LINKS:Website: https://www.darrenlebaron.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/darren_le_baron/Find his events and talks on Funzing: https://uk.funzing.com/users/158242USEFUL LINKS:If you need help with your mental health, please reach out to get help. There are amazing charities where you can find help:Samaritans  - Confidential support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair. Call for free on 116 123 - 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Website:  https://www.samaritans.org Mind - Charity for better mental health https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/depression/#.XclfYZL7TOQThe Psychedelic Society https://www.psychedelicsociety.org.uk/Peer reviewed study: Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30065-7/fulltextABOUT THE SHOW:TIWIK is a love letter to my younger self. A conversation about all the things we were told not to talk about. A sharing of knowledge, emotions and laughs. A potential handbook (or the audio equivalent) on how to master your mental health and fall back in love with yourself!Nothing is off limits. We talk about everything from dating, suicide and mental health through to make up, skin care, magic and spirituality. It's all the things I wish I'd known when I was younger so hopefully me and my guests will save you some heartache, provide some laughs, and inspire you to try something new helping you to grow from the inside out.JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Join the conversation by tagging @welfordwellbeing on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/welfordwellbeingFB - https://www.facebook.com/welfordwellbeingusing the hashtag #tiwikFor more information on Welford Wellbeing check out www.welfordwellbeing.com LISTEN AND FOLLOW:You can listen and follow on:Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0q3RxJ6fRED4oBoCpwPukV?si=TR-87oDDS9Os-Rern07bGgApple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/things-i-wish-id-known/id1479344250or check out https://www.welfordwellbeing.com/tiwikpodcast for more information 

In this episode, I sat down with David Luke. David is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. Dave is co-founder and current chair of Breaking Convention, Europe’s largest interdisciplinary conference exploring psychedelic science and culture. David straddles two very different worlds – he operates within the conventional academy of the social sciences, whilst also maintaining a deep interest in esoterica and parapsychology. Dr Luke directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon, as well as conducting field experiments with DMT and clinical research with LSD. I would still describe myself as a philosophical materialist but I find hyper materialist - like any other extremist thinkers – both intellectually tedious and ideologically dangerous. It was in this spirit I wanted to talk to David – I want to have good-faith conversations, in-person, with nice people (who I might disagree with). The goal is to see if they can teach me something and maybe vice versa. We didn’t really get into the weeds of parapsychology for several reasons. I had very limited time with David as I had to rush off from London to Bristol to attend another event. Think of this as an introductory chat - I’m sure we will sit down again. I need to be a bit more knowledgable on the actual claims within the field of parapsychology I’m not a sociopath – I always seek to find common ground with people before reflexively disagreeing with them. And the good news is I feel we did this… Having consumed a good deal of David’s content, I think we share a similar frustration with a scientific tendency in psychological research to not just dismiss outlier findings but to go too far - to repudiate them. This leads to a regression to the mean of both scientific innovations and applied outcomes Furthermore it is just plain lazy - it abdicates the responsibility to explain findings which simply do not fit inside your neat little paradigm. So let’s all keep an open mind, without letting our brains fall out. I think it is healthy for David and researchers like him to make extraordinary claims, and I feel it is appropriate for interlocutors like me to demand extraordinary evidence. This back and forth should proceed with mirth, goodwill and a fundamental sensibility for the fact that the person you are talking likely knows something you don’t! I really enjoyed Davids company, I get the feeling he takes what he does very seriously, whilst not taking himself too seriously at all. That is as it should be. In this Podcast we discuss: Anechoic Chambers, The concept of Dark Retreats, David’s Collaboration with Haroon Mirza, The role of Art as a legitimate arm of the scientific vanguard The problem of expectancy bias and priming effects in psychological research Absorption as a potential correlate to psychedelic states Temporal lobe lability The relevance of epilepsy to psychedelic science The potential similarity between the ominous experience of ‘sensed presence’ between sufferers of sleep paralysis and those who reported an ‘ominous presence’ within the anechoic chamber David’s agnosticism around the concept trans-cerebral Consciousness Parapsychology We introduce the concept of, ‘antirithm’ - consuming content that is antithetical to the bubbles the algorithms are pushing us all into. David’s DMT research Bundle of content related to David’s more conventional work Bundle of content related to parapsychology The value of non-drug altered states as psychedelic experiences... Thanks for listening, check out more at mindmanifestpodcast.com If you have any questions, queries or suggestions for people you would like to hear interviewed, please email hello@mindmanifestpodcast.com . We love to hear from listeners!

"The land itself has powers to heal. The land itself, you interacting with the land, because you’re not separate from your environment. If you’re separate from your environment then you’re separating your parts and you’re missing everything else. So if you just go out into the land and you ask, it’ll happen"- Jazmin Pirozek (Née Romaniuk) Jazmin Pirozek is an ethnobotanist and traditional healer, who I met at the Breaking Convention conference in London, Uk in August 2019. Her fascinating talk was about healing marginalized people through traditional medicines. She serves Northern Ontario indigenous populations in Canada through teaching and aiding remembering of plant medicine teachings lost due to colonisation. She has written and narrated the Planetarium film “Under the same Stars: Minwaadiziwin". Her work has carried her to South America where she learns Amazonian plant medicines from Maestro Juan Flores Salazaar. An alumni of St. Thomas Aquinas in Kenora, she also completed a Masters at Lakehead University, with the title: "Phytochemical Analysis of Boreal Forest Flora of North-western Ontario, Canada". Before joining the Kenora Association for Community Living and Science North. Also known also by her maiden name of Jazmin Romaniuk, she is a founding member of the Maiinganung Healing Centre in Keewatin. She continues to study and work with Entheogens and other plant medicines to aid remediating Western drug related and food illnesses in indigenous populations. For more information please see:Jazmin Pirozek  

"Breaking Convention is a biennial multidisciplinary conference on psychedelic consciousness, featuring more than 200 presenters from around the world." It takes place in London, England and is one of the largest psychedelic conferences in the world. I was quasi-invited to speak (I was invited by a program curator, but wasn't an officially invited speaker) there this year. I decided I would try and harvest the opportunity to be amongst so many luminaries in the psychedelic field by catching as many short interviews as I could in my time there. I got 11. (also, my talk was recorded and they will eventually release it. Also, I do have a transcript that will also be released soon-ish) Similar to what I did at OZORA Festival for ATTMind 100, I asked them all the same 4 questions: Who are you and what do you do? What is the most relevant consideration you are holding at this conference? What role do you see yourself playing in the psychedelic renaissance? What role, if any, do you see psychedelics playing in helping humanity respond to any of the many crises we are facing? There are some nuances to each of these questions that are presented in the (quite long intro). If you would like to breeze through the intro, relevant bits are between 4:25 and 10:110, with the actual interviews starting at 11:55. Of course, please make an effort to watch/listen to the full intro if you are open to it (especially watch it cause I made something special in the intro just for this episode

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview Ben Sessa, a Consultant Psychiatrist. Ben comes on the show to talk about preliminary results from the first ever, MDMA assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD). 3 Key Points: Ben Sessa plays a role in leading the current MDMA assisted therapy study for alcohol use disorder, and shares preliminary results. In the current stage, out of the first 12 patients, 2 have turned back to drinking, 5 have stayed completely dry and another 5 who have had a drink or two but have not relapsed back to their typical levels of consumption. Most people with a long term substance addiction have a history of trauma. MDMA can help people feel safe, in order to work through and heal trauma. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes Preliminary Results They had 13 people in the study, and they took data on 4 people The first caveat in these results is that there was no blinding and no placebo in this study There is no way to tell that it was solely the drug that resulted in the effects In terms of tolerability, everyone preferred it to other treatment, there were no bad reactions to the MDMA, there were no negative reactions, it was a total success in terms of tolerability In the current stage, out of the first 12 patients, 2 have turned back to drinking, 5 have stayed completely dry and another 5 who have had a drink or two but have not relapsed back to their typical levels of consumption They did a similar study previous to this one except without the MDMA and they had 11 patients, 9 of them went back to their full level of consumption They chose alcohol use disorder because it's so difficult to treat All patients are recruits from local drug and alcohol services Ben picks them up after they have detoxed, after they have been cured of the physical dependence, but when they have yet to be cured of the psychological dependence They receive 2 dosing days within their 8 week therapy (usually weeks 3 and 6) They do 125mg and then half that size dose 2 hours later, which sustains the high Ben mentions that recruitment is difficult, a lot of people have a drinking problem, but they can't have patients that are depressed, suicidal, pregnant, epileptic, etc. Future for the Study Up until next March, they are continuing to take in new patients for the study to have more data The next step is to have a randomized control study This current study is sponsored by Imperial College of London It's not a MAPS sponsored study, it's the first non MAPS, MDMA study The main papers, with all the data are over a year and a half away from publishing Addiction and Trauma “MDMA addiction is as rare as a hen with teeth.” - Ben “Most people with a long term substance addiction have a history of trauma.” - Ben Trauma and PTSD is highly treatment resistant There are certain drugs that inhibit fear response, such as alcohol, heroin, etc They make you forget the pain but you can't work with them and do therapy with them, with MDMA you can MDMA can help people feel safe, in order to work through and heal trauma “We are all the products of our attachment relationships.” - Ben Breaking Convention This past year was the 5th one There were 1300 attendees from all over the world What's wonderful about Breaking Convention is how multidisciplinary it is There's the guy in the gray suit in one room talking about high level neuroscience and a hippie with dreads in the other room talking about the spirits that live in the Salvia leaves Ben says they work really hard to make that balance work There's a lot of debate and conflict in the psychedelic movement right now, Breaking Convention is very important for creating space for this debate Looking ahead Ben is looking into opening a clinic He mentions academia is not his area of study, he is a clinician, but this research is an excuse to treat patients Links Breaking Convention About Ben Sessa Ben Sessa is a consultant psychiatrist in adult addictions, working part-time at Addaction in Weston-Super-Mare and is senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is currently taking time off clinical medical practice to study towards a PhD in MDMA Psychotherapy. He has specialist training as a child and adolescent psychiatrist and is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa’s joint interests in psychotherapy, pharmacology and trauma have lead him towards researching the subject of drug-assisted psychotherapy using psychedelic adjuncts. He is the author of two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015) and is currently conducting research with Imperial College London and Cardiff universities studying the potential role for MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use. He is a co-founder and director of the UK’s Breaking Convention conference.

In Episode 57 erzählt Roland uns von seinen Eindrücken und Erkenntnissen von der diesjährigen BREAKING CONVENTION 2019 in London und gibt uns einen Überblick über den neusten Stand der Forschung und Erforschung psychedelischer Substanzen. Viel Spaß

Are our struggling but resilient war veterans our greatest hidden strength? Is healing the minds of those that have honor, integrity, courage—a potential love-based solution to our troubled times?  In our conversation, Jesse Gould, the founder of the Heroic Hearts Project, and I discuss the veteran suicide tragedy and mental health epidemic. We talk about how the veteran plight affects us all. It’s a hopeful conversation about the enormous potential in the hearts of our war veterans—for collective healing, the opportunities to bring together our fractured nation over our shared humanity.  Jesse shares his personal overcoming with ayahuasca therapy, how this misunderstood medicine has helped him move past his post-service depression and PTSD. We discuss the many ways for people to get involved with the Heroic Hearts Project; opportunities to help and give back to our war veterans that need us now more than ever.    -Breaking Convention recent psychedelic conference in the UK (2:40)  -Heroic Hearts Project: Connecting military veterans with ayahuasca healing retreats (6:30) -Re-establish communities through healing our war veterans (13:20) -Jesse’s personal story of overcoming post-service struggles with depression/mental health struggles with Ayahuasca (17:10) -VA challenges in treating our war veterans (27:00) -Lessons on integrating psychedelic experiences (33:33)  -Ayahuasca and gut biome: Personality/gut biome grant(U Biome) and study at the University of Georgia (41:50)  -Heroic Hearts Ambassador Program: Our warriors, they need us right now more than ever! Please consider getting involved with this vital mission of hope and healing (45:15) -Micheal Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind: The New Science in Psychedelics (46:50) -Tony Robbins/Mike Tyson psychedelic experiences on “HotBoxin” Podcast w/Mike Tyson (47:45)   -Heroic Hearts Project: For more info and to donate https://www.heroicheartsproject.org/donate  -Heroic Heart’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/weheroichearts/ -Heroic Heart’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/heroicheartsproject/    

This episode includes a conversation with Kitty Sipple about psychedelic accessibility, the gatekeeping of madness, their experiences of healing with the help of psychedelics, and DID (dissociative identity disorder). Kitty is a disabled, white, queer, non-binary femme. They are in their final semester at The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, earning a Multidisciplinary Bachelors of Science emphasizing Engineering Studies, Holistic Health & Healing, and Plant Biology. They are deeply engaged in research that focuses on finding viable solutions for the issues that society places on marginalized communities, particularly the trans & non-binary community. Kitty uses they/them pronouns. Shownotes & Links: https://thepsychedologist.com/kitty-sipple-and-the-gatekeeping-of-madness/ Kitty's talk at Breaking Convention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqSYzZAu8eg&t=374s Transcription of that talk: fungifemme.com Kitty's talk Walking in Liminal Spaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_BXpv1CSow Info about DID: DID-research.org

Adam Strauss is on the show for this episode to dive into the painful lived experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and what it was, exactly, that psychedelics did for him that helped him regain agency over his life. **full episode breakdown below** ***SPOILER ALERT: Ender's Game / Xenocide Novel Series ***   --LINKS-- For more psychedelic content like this and/or to access this interview on youtube, head to https://bit.ly/ATTMindEp106 *** Big thanks to my patrons on Pateron for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially, Thomas & Melanie H, Clea S, Steven B, James R, Dean H, Joe A, Andy D, Stephen B, Angela & James J, Ian C, David W, Don J, Yvett FC, Ann-Madeleine, & Cornelius Phlegmbottom ----------------- SEE ADAM STRAUSS' THE MUSHROOM CURE AND/ATTEND MAPPING THE MIND, BOTH IN TORONTO The Mushroom Cure Thursday, September 19 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm The Grand Gerrard, 1035 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4M 1Z6 Canada + Google Map https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mushroom-cure-adam-strauss/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets Mapping The Mind Satruday, September 21 @ 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Earth Sciences Center, 5 Bancroft Ave Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B3 Canada https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mapping-the-mind-2019/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets ----------------- --- SUPPORT THIS PODCAST —  Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Donations: https://www.paypal.me/JWJesso Merchandise: https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support/     --- EPISODE BREAKDOWN —    a general overview of what inspired The Mushroom Cure the patient-shaming  tone of the term "treatment-resistant" the structural biases that prevent the growth of psychiatry as a field of medicine the common failings of psychiatric drugs to treat mental illness SPOILER ALERT: Ender's Game / Xenocide Novel Series an intimate look of living with OCD how psychedelic surrender/humility helped Strauss overcome his OCD psychedelic lessons vs. the learning (referring to my talk from Breaking Convention) feelings vs stories in our heads - the profound value of feeling as a skill how psychedelics helped Strauss track the origins of his OCD the challenge of our nervous system's ancient defense system living in the modern world do psychiatric pharmaceuticals fundamentally change how we experience psychedelics? how psychedelics taught Strauss how to face profound fears of feelings the context that gave rise to the psychedelic experiences that made his OCD worse   --- BOOKS —    Decomposing The Shadow: https://www.jameswjesso.com/decomposing-the-shadow/ The True Light Of Darkness: https://www.jameswjesso.com/true-light-darkness/   --- LINKS —    Website: https://www.jameswjesso.com/ Speaking Tour: https://www.jameswjesso.com/events/ Podcast: https://www.jameswjesso.com/podcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jameswjesso Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attmindpodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jameswjesso   --- PRODUCTS —    Art: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product-category/art/ Teeshirts: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product-category/clothing/ Lectures: https://www.jameswjesso.com/product/psychedelics-ritualistic-suffering-and-the-meaning-of-life-lecture/

Co-host Conor Bannister interviews me on my recent visit to Breaking Convention 2019  held 16th August 2019 at the University of Greenwich. Having returned from this intense 3 days at the largest European conference on psychedelic consciousness. #psychedelic #bc2019 #alchemy #alchemicalto #breakingconvention #stephenhinde #conorbannister #london #greenwich

Download In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dr. Torsten Passie, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy with the Hanover Medical School in Germany. In the show, they cover a range of topics on Dr. Passie’s studies on microdosing. Dr. Torsten Passie will be taking part in a special panel dedicated to microdosing at Breaking Convention 2019 (August 16-18, Greenwich, London), also featuring Amanda Fielding of the Beckley Foundation, Dr David Erritzoe of Imperial College, London, Dr Devin Turhune (Goldsmiths), and Dimitris Liokaftos, exploring myriad aspects of microdosing, including its effects, unknowns, and media representation presented by BC director Nikki Wyrd. Find out more about Breaking Convention: https://www.breakingconvention.co.uk/ 3 Key Points: Psychedelic research in the University setting died off after 2004, but is finally seeing an increase as the psychedelic revolution continues to grow. There is very little to no documentation of doctors doing self-experimenting with psychedelic drugs. It's becoming popular for therapists to use the substances used on their patients, more common to do the self-work before doing the work on others. Even if microdosing does not produce any significant effects and it is all placebo, the trend is a new way to introduce it into our society. The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About Dr. Passie Dr. Passie has been researching psychedelics for 25 years He specializes in the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs He has found difficulties in researching psychedelics during prohibition Dr. Passie had a mystical experience before using psychedelics and then became interested in psychedelic use He had grown up as an atheist, a materialist, and his experience required him to change his psychological state His perception of reality was irritated and he had to see a therapist to integrate this experience He said that this was frustrating because he was young and still in search for his identity Through all of this, he decided to study medicine and become a psychedelic doctor He became very conscious that he was on the right track Research Studies The researchers were the only ones doing studies on psychedelic states, there wasn't much happening at the Universities He did studies with cannabis, ketamine and even laughing gas The research then was on how cannabinoids can help with psychosis They were not successful with that, but it came to be that CBD was a neuroleptic and an anti-psychotic Research pretty much stopped after 2004 due to new laws and the cost of the research Dr. Passie does mention that in the past 10 years research has really taken off again and that we are really seeing the renaissance of psychedelic culture In most of the literature of doctors doing self-experimenting, there is very little to no documentation of doctors doing self-experimenting with psychedelic drugs Kyle mentions that MAPS has included into their training protocol to allow for therapists to have self-experiments with the substances that they are using on patients Kyle also mentions he can't imagine trying to hold space in breathwork without having had his own experiences with breathwork Dr. Passie says that the history of self-experimentation with psychedelics has shown that the participants can become ‘gurus’ and lose their objectivity, he uses Timothy Leary as an example But with only a few times of self-experimentation, maybe 2-4 times, he doesn't see risks HPPD Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is a disorder in which a person has flashbacks of visual hallucinations or distortions experienced during a previous hallucinogenic drug experience Dr. Passie thinks there is a selection bias in what is published about HPPD Its more common to have a study published that talks about an adverse effect of LSD than a benefit of it Hundreds of thousands of studies were conducted in the 50’s, and no one claimed that this phenomenon came up And now one person has conducted a study, claiming that this phenomena exists Dr. Passie says that this pattern happens among people who are prone to anxiety and who are dissociative He says that most subjects that claim to experience HPPD, have experienced visuals even before ever taking LSD Microdosing It has been known to not have any effects from 15-20 micrograms of LSD 20-50 micrograms of LSD is considered mini-dosing, where you can feel some type of effects from it, but not as much as the full dose Dr. Passie says it is strange for people to claim to have increased cognition during microdosing based on conventional data that shows that LSD produces poor cognitive function He thinks that whatever the effects are of LSD at a high dose, that the effects at a low dose are the same, just less, not completely different effects He believes that there is some placebo effect with microdosing In terms of the microdosing trend, Dr. Passie is critical about the productivity factor, he does believe in the creativity factor though The flow state may also be increased with microdosing He claims that in his own experience with microdosing, he doesn't experience the flow state, in fact he experiences a feeling of agitation Combinations In a study, when patients took a microdose first, and then a little while later, they took a different full psychedelic dose, the microdose impacted the experience of the full dose It lessened the effects of the full dose psychedelic Psychedelics and Sleep Dr. Passie mentions a study where patients were given LSD, both high and low doses, during sleep What was found was that LSD impacts REM sleep patterns The dreams were not altered The REM phases got longer during the beginning of sleep, and then much shorter near the end of sleep It shows that the impact of sleeping patterns brings someone to feel much different the next day The Microdosing Trend Microdosing has much to be explored yet But even if microdosing does not produce effects, the trend is a new way to introduce it into our society “Microdosing might be a new assimilation process of psychedelics into our culture” - Torsten Instead of the 60’s where we are taking huge doses, we are taking tiny doses as a slow approach to assimilate psychedelics back into society Links The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics About Dr. Torsten Passie Torsten is a professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy affiliated with Hannover Medical School, and led the Laboratory for Consciousness and Neurocognition. He has conducted clinical research on psychoactive substances and has written several books including The Pharmacology of LSD (2010) and Healing with Entactogens (2012). Between 2012 and 2015 he was visiting professor at Harvard Medical School.

In this episode, hosts Kyle and Joe sit down with Psychologist, David Luke, Executive Director of Breaking Conventions, a conference on the better understanding of psychedelics. In the episode, they cover research on psychedelics and transpersonal ecopsychology. 3 Key Points: Transpersonal experiences are super powerful and can be valuable if integrated properly. Getting access to drugs at affordable prices for research is difficult for the progression of the psychedelic movement. There is a lot of red tape in studying psychedelics. There is a growing field for mapping altered states of consciousness using science and research. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook   Show Notes About David David is a Psychologist He works at the University of Greenwich He is a co-founder of the Breaking Convention Conference Breaking Convention August 16-19, 2019 in London England There are over 180 speakers, a variety of workshops, and more David will be speaking about Shamanic perspectives and mapping altered states of consciousness The topic of David’s speech for the conference is Ecodelia: Towards A Transpersonal Ecopsychology Through Psychedelics. Parapsychology Parapsychology is a study of phenomena that questions what we think we know about science David has conducted pre-cognition experiments with ayahuasca, san pedro, mescaline Research David says it's tricky doing this work because there is a serious amount of red tape around psychedelic studies Getting access to the drugs and to get a lab to make them specifically for research is outrageously expensive David says that Compass Pathways is making the research side of things easier He says that he wants the proper research to be done so that it can be available for all those who need it, and for that he supports Compass Pathways, but if they were to pull something like what happened with Esketamine and making an isomer of Ketamine extremely expensive, then he will not support it Nature and Psychedelics Psychedelics provide a feeling of connectedness with nature People prefer to take psychedelics outside, but overall prefer to have amazing, transformative experiences, which in turn makes them more tuned in to nature Transpersonal Experience An experience that is genuinely transpersonal can be useful Typically after a transformational experience, people question their sanity, they have cognitive dissonance, their world view just isn't suitable enough to contain a normal sense of reality anymore Its common for a lot of experiences to need a lot of integration afterward David leads breathwork sessions He sees people who have taken loads of psychedelics come in with skepticism about Breathwork, and then leave having the most transformative experience they've ever have “There are no limits to the human mind, and there are many ways to get there, and psychedelics are just the more obvious route.” - David We get further and further away from figuring out psychedelics as a whole the more hyper-specialized we become in our individual fields The psychedelic space is a really interesting territory The things that Terrence McKenna would talk about years ago, we are finally starting to explore with science Links Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience (Muswell Hill Press) About David David is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich where he teaches the Psychology of Exceptional Human Experience. He was President of the Parapsychological Association between 2009-2011 and has published more than 100 academic papers on the intersection of transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness. He has co-authored/co-edited four books on psychedelics and paranormal experience, directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon at the institute of Ecotechnics, and co-founded Breaking Convention.

On today’s episode, I sat down with Father Dennis Dorner, Jr., a young Catholic priest in Atlanta. Father Dennis is down-to-earth, thoughtful and thought-provoking, passionate, and above all, refreshingly authentic. We had honest discussions about our world today and put some perspective and insight on some very controversial topics. Personally, it gave me so much to reconsider about Christianity and my own faith - and I am deeply grateful for this chance to step into his world for a moment and share it with you. Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 48 M.L.K. Jr Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Brewing Ardor Podcast If you think this message could be useful lo someone else, please consider sharing. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode as well, so please consider leaving a review. I read every word! Otherwise, happy to hear from you. You can reach me by email, Instagram, or Facebook. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next week!

Download In this episode, Kyle joins in conversation with Dr. Sam Gandy. During the show, they cover topics including the implications psychedelics have for human well-being and the biosphere at large at a time of growing disconnection. 3 Key Points: There have been a lot of recent threats to our planet and its survival if we continue on our current path of unsustainability. Feeling connected to nature increases the human desire to take care of and heal nature. There has been an inverse correlation with our connectedness to nature and our connection with technology. Getting out in nature, as well as using psychedelics in nature, both help increase our connectedness to nature. There has been a rise in cutting edge research that reveals the capacity of psychedelic substances to enhance human-nature connection, which Sam shares snippets of throughout the episode. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook Show Notes About Sam Sam has a PhD in Ecological Science from the University of Aberdeen and a Masters in Entomology from Imperial College London He has a lifelong interest in nature and wildlife and has conducted research in areas all over the world He is a Scientific Assistant to the Director at the Beckley Foundation He is a collaborator with the Psychedelic Research Group at the Imperial College of London Sam’s interest in psychedelics began in London when it was legal to buy mushrooms He was ‘anti-drug’ until he discovered psychedelics and began to explore consciousness and a love for nature His background in Ecology (the science of interconnection) has combined with the Psychedelic field Sam is interested in the capacity of psychedelics to increase human-nature connection and relatedness Saving Earth There is a huge threat that our planet won't survive past this century if we continue on our path of destruction Remedying our nature disconnect is something really important if we want to survive This nature disconnection is inversely proportional from our technological connection We cant live without nature We have to make room for all the other life going on, not just the life that directly serves humans, like crops and livestock There is an increasing awareness of the need for nature connection Sam mentions about humanity’s screen addiction, it raises our cortisol levels and there are many consequences such as psychological and physiological effects “Contentment is the enemy of invention” Psychedelics and the internet are growing alongside each other Timothy Leary would say the internet is the psychedelics of the future in terms of connection The internet is playing a pivotal role in access to information in this psychedelic renaissance “Technology is not good or bad, it's about how its used, the intent behind it” - Sam Nature Disconnect Sam thinks that the first step that took us away from nature is when we started farming, we became less hunter-gatherer minded and stepped away from the wild environment At that point we started living in large groups (creating cities) Then there was the division of labor and urbanization Cities and technology are the main reasons for our disconnect with nature “Long term sustainability would be one of the chief governing principles of how things are ran” - Sam Psychedelics and Nature There is something radical about psychedelics, they can convert the skeptics into appreciating nature The ego dissolution character of psychedelics are a key component in feeling connected to nature The default mode network (where the ego resides) becomes relaxed and dissolved, and when that happens there is a breakdown of perceived boundaries between self and others/nature That dissolution of boundaries is a key component in the psychedelic experience “When you feel part of it, it changes fundamentally how you relate to it” - Sam One's knowledge of nature is a very weak predictor of one's concern for nature There isn't research of the use of psychedelics in natural settings yet, Sam hopes that as we research psychedelics more (in clinical settings) the research can evolve into studying their use in nature With psilocybin, most people have claimed to have a long-term fleeting change in their connectedness to nature, that the feeling of connection doesn't go away after the trip is over, it lasts for weeks, months, even the rest of their life Rigid Egos and Nature Disconnection Psilocybin decreases blood flow to the default mode network "When we are destroying our own homes (our bodies and nature) are we falling out of love with our self?" - Kyle When we dissolve the ego, we increase connection, to ourselves, to others and to nature Future in Psychedelics We are going to see the rise of Psychedelic Therapy We are going to see Psychedelic groups and communities on the rise From those groups, we will see projects and initiatives develop, which could bring decriminalization, integration circles, etc. Sam believes the rise of depression and anxiety are a cause of our disconnection to nature, and he believes there is a lot of personal healing to be had if we get back into nature and actually play a role in healing nature too Instead of trying to save the world just for our children and our children's children, we need to look at this planet as if we were to reincarnate and come back to this planet, so we should want to look after this physical plane to make it better for future installments of ourselves Get Connected with Nature The direct, physical sensory experience with nature alone is well known to increase our connectedness with it Sam suggest listeners to get out in nature and do anything! Boating, gardening, bee keeping, a walk in the woods, whatever Sam really likes the art of Japanese Forest Bathing, which is about mindfulness and taking in nature, maybe combining it with breathwork exercises, etc. The more mindful you feel, the more connected to nature you are, and vice versa Final Thoughts Nature connection is just a single facet of the psychedelic experience, and Sam hopes for more research on this facet in the future We have a decent amount of research on psychedelics effect on people with depression, PTSD, etc, but Sam hints toward some future research on the effects of psychedelics on the healthy-normal population Make time for nature in whatever way works for you 2 hours of nature time a week are profoundly beneficial for health Links Facebook Twitter Email: greensam2512@hotmail.com About Dr. Sam Gandy Dr. Sam Gandy works on the cutting edge of psychedelic research, as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Beckley Foundation, and as a collaborator with the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London. Sam has a lifelong love of nature and wildlife, and a PhD in ecological science from the University of Aberdeen. He has been fortunate enough to conduct field research in various parts of the world including the UK, Kefalonia, Almeria, Texas, the Peruvian Amazon, Vietnam and Ethiopia. Outside his work in the psychedelic field he has written papers, book chapters, articles and spoken at conferences and festivals on psychedelics and he is fascinated by their potential to benefit human lives.

Jennifer Dumpert the author of “Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep” is a San Francisco-based writer and lecturer. She is thefounder of the Oneironauticum, an international organization that explores the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind. Dumpert has lectured and led workshops at festivals, conferences, and venues such as Summit at Sea, Lightning in a Bottle, Symbiosis, Breaking Convention in London.

Jennifer Dumpert the author of “Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep” is a San Francisco-based writer and lecturer. She is thefounder of the Oneironauticum, an international organization that explores the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind. Dumpert has lectured and led workshops at festivals, conferences, and venues such as Summit at Sea, Lightning in a Bottle, Symbiosis, Breaking Convention in London.

We open the show with the victory speech from Daniel Andrews (ALP MP), leader of the Labor Party in Victoria and winner of the 2018 state election.Nick and Ash discuss the week in drug news, with special consideration for the previous day's election.SEGMENT2017's Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) Psychedelic Symposium featured a wide range of speakers, including Dr. Ben Sessa, who's talk is hear on this show.Dr Ben Sessa (MBBS BSc MRCPsych) is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in adult addiction services and with custodial detained young people in a secure adolescent setting. He trained at UCL medical school, graduating in 1997. He is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years, he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). In speaking publicly at universities and medical conferences, Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is a co-founder and director of the UK's Breaking Convention conference.

Petro and Sophia have more to say on the topic of breaking convention. This week, we ask that when you're asking for advice that double check with yourself that you aren't actually asking for validation. Because if you're really asking for validation, then you need to have a different conversation with yourself. Confidence comes from within. You're not going to get it right the first time, and if you do, you probably won't get it right the second time. - Get the show notes and links for this episode at http://doubleexposure.show/69 - Join the conversation on Facebook at http://doubleexposure.show/facebook - Thanks to Benjamin Edward for our artwork and Bensound for our theme music.

Download Dr. Ben Sessa is a writer, psychiatrist, and researcher working in the UK to start the first ever MDMA for alcohol addiction study. We have a very exciting discussion and even get Dr. Sessa's first reaction to the idea of DMTx. We also explore Ben's background and his experiences with psychedelics legally - Ben is one of the few people who has ever received MDMA, LSD, DMT, ketamine, and psilocybin in a legal research setting. We hope you enjoy this episode! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Links Ben Sessa's website - Mandala Therapy Limited  BBC Three - Druglands Towards an Integration of Psychotherapy and Pharmacology: Using psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Sessa  Breaking Convention conference - London Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BreakingConvention/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/drsessa Books The Psychedelic Renaissance           To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic The Psychedelic Renaissance Psychedelic Drug Treatments           Dr. Ben Sessa - Videos https://vimeo.com/38063005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UygZnBTWW0M About Ben Sessa Dr. Ben Sessa, M.B.B.S., M.D., B.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in adult addiction services and with custodial detained young people in a secure adolescent setting. He trained at UCL medical school, graduating in 1997. He is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012 and 2017) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). In speaking publicly at universities and medical conferences, Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is a co-founder and director of the UK's Breaking Convention conference.   Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Broadcast live from the Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) 2017 Psychedelic Symposium at Holmesglen in Eildon.Hosted by Nick WallisWith blanket bans on psychoactives increasing, cognitive liberty is in chains. Where does reform for laws covering psychedelics fit within drug law reform? In an environment where evidence is not the drive for policy how do we keep policy makers accountable? What have we learned recent work and development? How can you help with the next steps? A number of individuals who have been involved with drug law and policy activism will join a panel to discuss strategies for reform.The panel will bring along some recent examples of activism and workshop these with the audience, drawing out successful strategies, unsuccessful strategies and discussing potential future campaigns.PANELRICK DOBLINIn the mid 1970s MDMA, then known as Adam was used quietly in psychotherapy. In the 1980s, growing recreational use of Ecstasy led to the criminalization of the drug and the formation of MAPS in 1986. Now, MAPS is about to embark on FDA-approved Phase 3 research to make MDMA-assisted psychotherapy a legal treatment for PTSD. This talk will discuss the historical implications of MDMA use and the plans for ongoing clinical research.Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and one of three children (two in college).MONICA BARRATTDR MONICA BARRATT is a social scientist at the Drug Policy Modelling Program, part of Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Monica's work examines the social and public health implications of digital technologies for people who use illicit and emerging psychoactive drugs. Research topics emerging from this interest include online drug markets or cryptomarkets and policy responses to novel psychoactive substance evolution. She specialises in engaging hard-to-reach networks and groups in digital spaces in conversations about research and policy, to inform policy change. Monica also serves as an Editor for policy-related articles at the International Journal of Drug Policy, and as the Director of Research at the international drug harm reduction community Bluelight.org. Monica is a lead researcher for the Global Drug Survey. She is also a regular attendee and contributor to EGA, from the mid-2000s.NICK KENTNICK KENT works as a secondary school teacher in the areas of languages and the humanities. He is currently completing his Masters through research at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, where he is undertaking a critical discourse analysis of school policies and resources as they relate to drug education, comparing both local and international examples. After completing the Grad. Dip in Teaching in 2015, Nick was perplexed at the lack of teacher training around student drug use and the silence of the education system on this issue, as well as the slow pace of drug reform more broadly. Inspired to learn more, and to advocate and research this area further, Nick helped found Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia in 2016, setting up their second chapter at the University of Melbourne. Nick was instrumental in the UniMelb chapter's work in setting up a harm reduction program that would supply re-agent drug checking kits to students free of charge through the Student Union, and has travelled to numerous international conferences to represent this globally significant program. Nick draws upon his experience in nightclub and festival communities, as well as his experience volunteering with DanceWize as a Peer Educator and his policy and international experience with SSDP in both his teaching and his research.FIONA MEASHAMFiona Measham is co-founder & co-Director of ‘The Loop’. The Loop conducts forensic testing of drugs at UK festivals and nightclubs and provides associated welfare support. Fiona Measham was appointed Professor of Criminology in the School of Applied Social Sciences at Durham University in 2012. Fiona has conducted research for over two decades across a broad area of criminology and social policy, exploring changing trends in legal and illegal drugs; the night time economy and the socio-cultural context to consumption; gender; the regulation and policing of intoxication; electronic music scenes and club cultures; issues of deterrence, displacement and desistance; and broader policy implications. A key feature of her research has been the development of in-situmethods of data collection in pubs, clubs and festivals, a working environment with which she is familiar, having spent her early adulthood working in bars and clubs across several continents in various guises.BEN SESSADR BEN SESSA (MBBS BSc MRCPsych) is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in adult addiction services and with custodial detained young people in a secure adolescent setting. He trained at UCL medical school, graduating in 1997. He is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). In speaking publicly at universities and medical conferences, Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is a co-founder and director of the UK's Breaking Convention conference.

The State of Psychedelic Therapy, Culture and Policy in the UK and Beyond with Dr. Ben Sessa Ben beams in via cyberspace for an original episode of The MAPS Podcast. Ben's talk with Zach weaved in and out of topics including the psychedelic dance in the UK, his own experiences with various methods, how to integrate results with traditional therapy and the culture wars that we're still fighting. Ben's experience, candor and passion is not to be missed. He's a force on the front lines of the psychedelic movement.  Intro: An excerpt was read from "Why I'm microdosing LSD" By Erica Avey. The entire piece can be read here From DrSessa.com -  I am a medical doctor providing private psychiatric consultation through Mandala Therapy Limited  I am a published medical and fiction author I carry out psychopharmacology research with psychedelic medicines I am researching MDMA Therapy for mental disorders I publish in the academic and medical press I present regularly in multi-media platforms I carry out medico-Legal family law expert witness work I am co-founder and chair of the Breaking Convention conference.

We’ve got a true modern-day psychonaut in the house. His pseudonym is Dick Khan, and he’s the author of the book “DMT & My Occult Mind: Investigation of Occult Realities Using the Spirit Molecule”. This book is actually the first of a three-book series that chronicles more than 600 DMT experiments that Dick conducted over the course of three years. His experiments landed him a speaking gig at the recent Breaking Convention 2017, the fourth International Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness, and after his talk there, his story was then featured on VICE.com. He’s a man who’s smoked DMT more times in a day than I have in my lifetime, and a man who’s got entities on speed dial. But let’s do some dialing of our own and ratchet this thing up to 528 Hz and cast this pod off into the occulted Land of Pineal, where we find the answer to life, the universe and everything. RESOURCES “DMT & My Occult Mind” by Dick Khan Dick’s writing on Academia.edu Dick’s social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram Dick’s interview with VICE   SUPPORT: https://www.occulturepodcast.com/support Podcasting costs money. Website maintenance, storage space, equipment, late night organic juice runs when we're up all night editing. Help us offset some of that cost by supporting the show monthly. This will also help us increase our storage space so we can provide longer episodes and more of them. Leave your name in a note and you and your support level will be recognized on air. We have seven levels of monthly support: Initiate - $1.11 Astrologer - $3.33 Magician - $5.55 Alchemist - $7.77 Adept - $9.99 Shaman - $11.11 Ascended Master - $13.13   Don't want to support the show monthly? No sweat. You can make a one-time donation in an amount of your choosing.   MUSIC Vestron Vulture - “I Want to be a Robot (Tribute to Giorgio Moroder)”   SOCIAL Twitter Instagram Facebook Snapchat Tumblr Pinterest   DISCLAIMER This podcast is produced in the Kingdom of Ohio and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.     REMINDER LOVE yourself // THINK for yourself // QUESTION authority

Stop scrolling. You're bored. But what sort of bored are you? Remember blackouts? Remember how you managed to have fun, play games, and actually talk to each other when all the electronic distractions were forcibly removed? Remember tedious hours at work when you let your plans and ideas unfold? Or dull hours of practising something that mattered to you? From Wi-Fi on planes to infinite newsfeeds, now more than ever we have to make the choice to focus our attention and get the deep work done. But it might not be fun. This episode is all about changing our relationship to boredom. It's time to weaponise it and turn it into a training ground for the things we want to achieve and become. We explore how 50 Cent turned his hustling days into an apprenticeship in business; how spending a couple of hours in a sensory deprivation tank actually gives you more time in your day; and how to turn the daily grind into the perfect opportunity. From Michelangelo to BeeBop, Demosthenes to serial killing, this episode is packed with tales of creativity born from hardship and tedium. We explain why kids don't actually learn languages quickly (and are pretty dumb, too); why 75% of doing a PhD is simply not giving up; and how reading can improve your breathing. Jon reflects on his failure to learn to play guitar, but his persistence in learning how to ad lib on piano; Dre reconquers the Rubik's Cube; and we both discuss the continuing influence of toxic relationships on the present. This Episode Includes: Internalising the nuts and bolts... and then forgetting it all so you can actually play Cultivating discipline and refusing quick fixes Learning how to learn Calling 911 when you see the stars Discerning when the obstacle is the way, or when it's time to find a new obstacle Mentioned in the Episode: Robert's other (excellent) book, Mastery Ned the cat’s Instagram account @nedkitteh Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink Our friends at the hilarious Probably Offensive podcast Breaking Convention 2017 – the psychedelics research conference we attended   Be Silly. Be Kind. Be Weird.

Roland und Gerry haben keine Kosten und Mühen gescheut und haben eine Trip zum größten europäischen Kongress zum Thema Psychedelika nach Lodon gemacht und berichten nun von ihren Eindrücken, Erfahrungen und Begegnunge. Sehr spannede und erhellende drei Tage. Viel Spaß

We're on the cusp of a profound cultural shift. Amidst a depression epidemic and huge numbers of veterans and others suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, psychedelic-assisted therapy offers a powerful new – and scientifically-proven – hope for the future. For decades, Rick Doblin, the founder and Executive Director of MAPS – The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies – has worked to bring psychedelic medicines into the mainstream. And now his hard work is paying off. We spoke to Rick at Breaking Convention 2017, one of dozens of major psychedelics research conferences now taking place around the globe. The USA is both at the forefront of prohibition and clinical research in these areas. We dig into the upcoming FDA rulings on Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people suffering from PTSD, and what the Trump administration means for the future of this groundbreaking work. Rick explains why he's so optimistic about the future of non-profit drug development, despite Big Pharma's love of patents and profits above the health and wellbeing of the population. If today we're experiencing a Psychedelic Renaissance, we ask Rick to reflect on the lessons we have to learn from the '60s so that it doesn't all go up in flames once again. A key strategy which Rick strongly advocates is a worldwide Psychedelic 'Coming Out'; he reveals that MAPS has been assembling a list of high-profile people ready to come out of the psychedelic closet en masse – and we encourage you to join their ranks. But beyond the policies and cultural trends, there are deeply personal stories to tell. Rick opens up about his ow history and what's driven him to pursue this mission despite decades of opposition. He talks about his relationship with fear, growing up in the shadows of the Holocaust and the Cold War, as well as sharing a beautiful story of how taking MDMA and speaking with his grandmother opened up a whole side of family history that she'd never been able to share before. Jon and Dre share their own stories of using psychedelics for mental and social health, and we reflect on how to cultivate the best life we can live, together. What We Get Into: The history of MDMA and psychedelic research Treating depression and healing family traumas How Britain has grabbed the marijuana market Countercultures and repression Cultural insanity and how it can be harnessed Autism and MDMA therapy Finding your purpose Mentioned in the Episode: MAPS website – check it out and please consider donating to support their work The MAPS Benefit Corporation Aldous Huxley's novel, Island John Lilly's book, Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments The Beckley Foundation – supporting psychedelic research in the UK   Be Silly. Be Kind. Be Weird.