Podcasts about fantastic fungi

In this deeply moving conversation, legendary filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg (of Fantastic Fungi and Moving Art) joins JP Newman to explore how beauty, wonder, and nature aren't just aesthetic experiences—but essential medicines for the soul. From pioneering time-lapse cinematography to creating immersive healing environments in hospitals, Louie shares stories from his journey, including early psychedelic awakenings, his surprising business success with Getty Images, and why beauty may be more powerful than love. This episode is about slowing down, seeing deeply, and living from a place of awe. 

In this episode, we share multiple presentations given by Paul Stamets, a leading mycologist and advocate for the medicinal use of fungi. He delves into the transformative potential of psychedelics, mycology, and their implications for healing and environmental restoration. Paul shares insights from his extensive research and experiences, including his work on the documentary Fantastic Fungi and his passion for uncovering the intelligence of nature through mushrooms. He discusses the remarkable capabilities of various fungi, from their medicinal properties to their role in ecological balance, and highlights the urgent need for a paradigm shift in our understanding and use of these powerful organisms. Support the Podcast via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url And psychedelics have entered the zeitgeist. Although illegal as a Schedule I drug in much of the United States and beyond, two states have approved use of psilocybin mushrooms in therapeutic settings, and many more states are reviewing their policies. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs with no recognized medical uses. However, psilocybin mushrooms have had numerous medicinal and religious uses in dozens of cultures throughout history and let's face it, mushrooms are not addictive. Paul Stamets is one of the leading advocates worldwide for opening up the possibility of legalizing. Paul introduces listeners to several key mushroom species, and beyond psychedelics they have important medical and therapeutic uses in treatment of diseases. He emphasizes the importance of integrating Indigenous knowledge with modern science, revealing how traditional practices can inform and enhance our approach to health and wellness. With a focus on the potential of psilocybin mushrooms to address mental health challenges and promote community healing, Paul inspires hope for a future where fungi play a crucial role in both personal and planetary health. For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Sources: Fantastic Fungi Trailer 2019 https://youtu.be/IHvjfoWzWOw?si=ncAOxYSxQk8C5ZAN Paul Stamets at TEDMED 2011 https://youtu.be/pXHDoROh2hA Paul Stamets on the Future of Psychedelics, Mycology & Medicine | NextMed Health: https://youtu.be/Ztan0IYjUd0?si=4s5e5-F8SrRdE1X0 Paul Stamets [https://paulstamets.com/] is an award-winning mycologist, entrepreneur, and industry leader in fungi production, habitat, and medicinal use. He is an author of seven books and advocates on medicinal fungi and mycormediation for ecological restoration and detoxification of the environment. Stamets played a significant part in the 2019 documentary film Fantastic Fungi, and edited its official companion book, Fantastic Fungi: Expanding Consciousness, Alternative Healing, Environmental Impact. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes a column on PBS SoCal called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 259 Photo credit: HavnLife/Paul Stamets

How is your health? In this episode of Choice, Change and Action Simone Milasas talks with Tim James from Chemical Free Body about the importance of cleansing our bodies internally of toxins and parasites, and re-nutrienting our bodies with clean foods and structured water. Tim's goal is to not only stop people from unknowingly killing themselves, but to educate farmers on the benefits of regenerative farming to start working on some of the root causes of disease in the body. Even if you live in an apartment, you can start taking action towards a future that Simone thinks is really required on planet Earth.  Keys Takeaways The Desire To Change Internal Awareness The Lifestyle Change The Pivotal Moment Parasite Free Regenerative Farming A Viable Alternative Structured Water Chemical Free Body Taking Action Useful Links: The Clearing Statement explained Access Consciousness Website Choice, Change & Action Podcast Instagram Follow Simone Milasas Simone Milasas's Website Simone Milasas's Instagram Simone Milasas's Facebook Simone Milasas's YouTube Simone Milasas's Telegram Simone Milasas's Contact Email  Follow Tim James Tim James' Website Tim James' Instagram Tim James' YouTube Play with Simone Milasas The Profit Club membership Getting Out of Debt Joyfully Taking Action online video course All Upcoming Classes with Simone Past Class Recordings Mentioned In This Episode Tim James Unleashed (podcast): https://chemicalfreebody.com/pages/media  Chemical Free Body (including the products Parasite Free, Gut Detox, Greens 85, Nano Silver): www.chemicalfreebody.com/SIMONE47561  Rachel's Farm: https://www.rachelsfarm.com.au  Fantastic Fungi: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8258074   

In this conversation, Louis Schwartzberg discusses the concept of visual healing, emphasizing the medicinal qualities of beauty and nature. He shares insights on how psychedelics influenced his artistic vision and the importance of observation in appreciating the world around us. The discussion also covers the environmental significance of fungi, the benefits of mushroom supplements, and the spiritual aspects of gratitude in storytelling. In this conversation, Louie and Jane explore the transformative power of gratitude, the healing potential of dance, and the profound impact of beauty in art and healing spaces. They discuss how gratitude can shift perspectives and enhance emotional well-being, the role of dance in physical and mental health, and the importance of creating immersive experiences that engage the senses. Louie shares his vision for the future of art and healing, emphasizing the need for beauty to be used as a tool for connection and rejuvenation. takeaways Beauty is medicine and can heal us. Psychedelics can open new perspectives on life. Nature serves as a profound teacher. Observation enhances our appreciation of beauty. Beauty can be a lens to view the world differently. Fungi play a crucial role in environmental health. Mushroom supplements offer various health benefits. Psychedelics should be approached with reverence. Gratitude is tied to values and community. Art can channel the rhythms of life. Gratitude is a personal practice that can shift perspectives. Authenticity in gratitude is essential for it to be effective. Dance serves as a powerful tool for healing and connection. Beauty engages audiences and can be a healing force. Immersive experiences enhance the healing potential of art. Creating choice in healing spaces empowers patients. Art can rejuvenate both body and soul. The future of healing may involve technology and nature. Gratitude helps us appreciate the little things in life. Beauty can be used in loving or unloving ways. titles Exploring Visual Healing with Louis Schwartzberg The Healing Power of Beauty and Nature Psychedelics: A Gateway to Artistic Vision Nature's Wisdom: Lessons from the Earth The Art of Observation in Healing Sound Bites "Beauty is medicine." "Psychedelics opened me up to life." "Nature is my greatest teacher." "I channel rhythms and patterns of life." "Fungi are the master strategists." "Mushrooms want to help us heal." "Gratitude is about values." "It's easy and fast to practice gratitude." "Beauty has been hijacked to sell products." "Healing can come from visual experiences." "Art can rejuvenate your body and soul." Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Visual Healing 05:00 The Medicine of Beauty 07:06 Psychedelics and Artistic Vision 10:06 Nature as a Teacher 11:56 The Practice of Observation 13:50 Beauty as a Lens 15:09 Fantastic Fungi and Environmental Awareness 16:56 The Future of Fungi Documentaries 18:56 Mushroom Supplements and Their Benefits 24:03 Psychedelic Mushrooms and Consciousness 26:58 Gratitude Revealed and Personal Stories 29:09 The Power of Gratitude 34:50 Dance as a Healing Modality 39:11 Exploring Beauty and Its Impact 44:40 Beauty in Healing Spaces 51:40 Future Visions of Art and Healing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I want to talk about humanity's place in the world and making sense of reality in times of tumult and suffering. I've had an internal dilemma about how informed to stay about what's happening in the world. Consuming the news, we undesirably become dervishes of fear from the content oversaturation. Turning away from the content overload, we innocently attempt for self-care, which almost always has a tail of guilt smacking us in the face.So what's one to do when these two extremes are at play? How do we keep a pulse on reality, while also tending to the impacts of overconsumption on our psyche, emotional states, energy system, and physical body?In today's episode, I want to offer a few perspectives on rising in a time of crisis, healing humanity's shared abandonment wound, and shifting from the mindset of scarcity to one of sovereignty. I'll also reveal what I've been cooking for you with my new program, so tune in and let's riff together on these big topics.What is Covered: (01:00) Humanity's place in a chaotic world(06:29) Reality – what is it and how do we trust our version?(11:11) The five epic cycles of extinction on Planet Earth(16:45) Evolution and the Phenomenon of Horizontal Gene Transfer(23:12) What causes human separation from a biological perspective?(23:30) What is our abandonment disorder? And, what role does it play in reinforcing separation and isolation?(30:35) Feeling unity and connection vs. intellectualizing it(33:07) How we, as nature, regenerate with the right conditions(35:38) Vulnerability - our shared humanity and glue(38:19) What we can learn from mycelium(42:00) How to navigate despair and catalyze love(47:55) What we can do to evolve ourselves and spread wisdom(54:01) Personal practices for connecting with nature and ourselves(58:00) Frederick - a short story by Leo Lionni(​1:03:00) Revealing Wisdom Revolution Membership announcement Resources:- Sign up for the Power Reclamation Newsletter https://revealingwisdom.activehosted.com/f/9- Zach Bush MD http://zachbushmd.com/- Watch Life on Our Planet https://www.netflix.com/rs/title/80213846- Fantastic Fungi https://fantasticfungi.com/pages/the-filmAnne-Marie Marron:- If you have a power reclamation story to share or questions, please send them to Ask Anne-Marie https://anne-mariemarron.com/ask - Find Anne-Marie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/anne.marie.marron/ - If you wonder whether Power Reclamation Coaching is for you, book a discovery call https://calendly.com/anne-marie-marron/30-minute-consultation - For more on customized immersions with Anne-Marie, please visit: https://anne-mariemarron.com/integral-leadership-immersion

Cette semaine, Simon revient sur l'événement « Magneto War » et conclut son mois consacré à Reb Brown. Valérie est avec nous pour parler de « Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet », « The Mushroom at the End of the World », « Fantastic Fungi », de la pièce de théâtre « Une fin » et de la série d'animation « Common Side Effects ». L'autrice Caroline Breault revient sur la victoire aux Oscars du film d'animation « Flow », sur la websérie « Denis danger » et sur la deuxième saison de « Castlevania ». De son côté, Benoit fait le tour des récentes annonces concernant les rumeurs de retraite de Kathleen Kennedy, de la fin du service numérique de Dark Horse Comics et de la suite de « Hush » par Jeff Loeb et Jim Lee. En dernière partie d'émission, nous discutons de l'adaptation cinématographique de « Vil & Misérable », un film signé Jean-François Leblanc mettant en vedette Fabien Cloutier, Pier-Luc Funk, Chantal Fontaine et Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, adapté de la bande dessinée du même nom de Samuel Cantin. Laissez-nous un message vocal: https://www.speakpipe.com/mysterieuxe Devenez membre de la communauté Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MysterieuxE Diffusion originale : 3 mars 2025 Site web : MysterieuxEtonnants.com © Les Mystérieux Étonnants. Tous droits réservés

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin welcomes food and nature writer Eugenia Bone to discuss her new book, "Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience." Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-280?ref=278 Drawing from extensive research, personal experimentation, and interviews, Eugenia shares insights into the world of psilocybin mushrooms, from cultivation to ceremonial use. She explores the intersection of citizen science and clinical research, the role of indigenous wisdom, and offers a balanced perspective on the current psychedelic renaissance. Eugenia Bone is food and nature writer whose work has appeared in many anthologies, magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, The National Lampoon, Saveur, Gourmet, BBC Science, and The Wall Street Journal, where she is a frequent book reviewer. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and former president of the New York Mycological Society. She is faculty at the New York Botanical Garden where she teaches classes on psychedelic mushrooms and mycophagy. She is the author or co-author of nine books on food and biology, and has won or been nominated for a variety of awards, including the Nautilus Award, the Colorado Book Award and the James Beard Award. Eugenia has been featured on many dozens of radio shows and podcasts, lectured widely in diverse venues like The New York Public Library, the Denver Botanical Garden and The telluride Mushroom Festival where she is a regular presenter. She is featured in the documentary directed by Louie Schwartzberg, Fantastic Fungi (2019), and in the Netflix children's show about food, Waffles + Mochi (the mushroom episode) produced by Michele Obama's Higher Ground Productions. Highlights: Introduction to Eugenia's new book and her approach to writing about psychedelics  The process of researching and writing "Have a Good Trip" The "Noccers" of Seattle: Urban mushroom cultivation activists Experience with indigenous ceremonies and curanderas Personal journey with mushroom cultivation The role of citizen science in psychedelic research Insights from microdosing experiences Final wisdom about having a good trip Episode Links: Eugenia's website Eugenia's book, Have a Good Trip Instagram: @EugeniaGBone Eugenia's Substack 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. Episode Sponsor: The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave's Psychedelic Coaching Institute.

Eugenia Bone is an expert in the world of nature and food, known not only for her writing but also for her deep passion for mushrooms, both culinary and psychedelic. She has a remarkable way of blending science and food culture into her work, which has earned her a dedicated following. As the author of nine books, she dives into the mysteries of fungi, food ecosystems, and preservation with curiosity and warmth. Her teaching at the New York Botanical Garden reflects her love for sharing knowledge, and her participation in mushroom festivals and clubs shows she has found her people—those as fascinated by the hidden world of fungi as she is. Eugenia's warmth and adventurous spirit are clear, whether she's writing for prestigious publications, appearing in documentaries, or cooking up something special. Connect with Eugenia Bone! instagram.com/eugeniabone Visit Her Website to learn more! eugeniabone.com Pre-order her book, Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience https://a.co/d/4qSjHHn CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introduction 1:37 - Eugenia on foraging mushrooms in New York City 2:09 - Eugenia's newest book about Psilocybe mushrooms: Have a Good Trip 4:43 - Eugenia on how she began studying microbes and what they are 5:42 - Proper ways to dry and store psychedelic mushrooms 11:15 - Common methods people use when taking psychedelic mushrooms 13:58 - What does Eugenia's "Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience" book cover? 18:33 - What inspires Eugenia when writing a book? 21:41 - Autistic people using psychedelic mushrooms 24:41 - How microdosing with psychedelic mushrooms works and its effects 31:21 - Common bodily responses after taking psychedelic mushrooms 35:03 - Eugenia on the generally accepted dosage range for Psilocybin 41:12 - Why is setting intention important when taking Psilocybin 44:30 - How often should you microdose in a year? Is tolerance an issue with Psilocybin? 45:59 - Eugenia on why intention is important when taking Psilocybin 50:44 - Eugenia's experience during her Psilocybin trip in Jamaica 59:57 - What is Eugenia's purpose when going on a psychedelic trip? 1:01:44 - Eugenia on Andy's experience after taking Psilocybin 1:03:33 - Eugenia's approach to writing as a career 1:06:15 - Eugenia on writing the Fantastic Fungi Cookbook for the Fantastic Fungi movie 1:10:28 - What makes a good recipe? 1:11:59 - What makes mushrooms so unique and special that Eugenia wrote a cookbook about them? 1:16:19 - Eugenia on the nutritional benefits of mushrooms 1:19:00 - Lack of evidence supporting mushrooms as anti-inflammatory or dementia cures 1:20:38 - Foraged mushrooms vs. cultivated or supermarket mushrooms 1:24:17 - Eugenia's thoughts on Paul Stamet's viral Joe Rogan podcast about portobello mushrooms 1:26:21 - What is a truffle mushroom, and how does it differ from other mushrooms? 1:34:39 - Eugenia on how she became interested in studying bacteria and microbes 1:40:08 - Eugenia on preserving bacteria on her head by washing her hair once a month 1:44:25 - Eugenia's advice on Andy's eczema 1:45:36 - Eugenia on seasonal eating: consuming available food based on the season 1:50:44 - How does Eugenia preserve food in jars or cans? 1:56:50 - Eugenia's goals for the next six months 1:59:35 - How to connect with Eugenia Bone 2:00:58 - Eugenia on the importance of cookbooks vs. scraping recipes from AI or ChatGPT 2:06:55 - Outro

Louie Schwartzberg's latest film, Fantastic Fungi, now on Netflix explores the world of mushrooms and all the uses to help save the planet. Louie has spent his notable career providing breathtaking imagery using his time-lapse, high-speed and macro cinematography techniques. Schwartzberg is a visual artist who breaks barriers, connects with audiences, and tells stories that celebrate life and reveal the mysteries and wisdom of nature, people, and places. Fantastic Fungi, explores the world of mushrooms and mycelium and illustrates how this fascinating organism can provide sustainable solutions to some of the world's greatest problems, treating cancer, Alzheimer's and PTSD, saving the bees, cleaning the atmosphere, and shifting consciousness. Louie has also directed the Soarin' Around the World; the most popular motion simulator ride film now playing at Disney Theme Parks globally and many more beautiful projects. Find out about them in this In My Heart conversation with Louie and Heather. SPONSOR: AquaTru - Receive 20% Off any AquaTru purifier! Just go to www.AquaTru.com and enter code  “HEATHER“ at checkout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join host Paul F. Austin in a special live episode recorded at Psychedelic Horizons in Malibu in June, 2024, with guests Louie Schwartzberg, Lauren Taus, and Bá Minuzzi. Find episode links, summary, and transcript here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-261-psychedelic-horizons/?ref=278 This engaging discussion explores themes of resilience, systems change, and inspired living, focusing on the intersection of psychedelics and conscious entrepreneurship. Discover insights on personal transformation, community building, and the evolving psychedelic landscape. Don't miss this unique conversation from the forefront of the psychedelic renaissance. Louie Schwartzberg: Director of "Fantastic Fungi" and a pioneer in high-end time-lapse cinematography, Louie supports clinical research with visual imagery, bringing a visionary lens to the benefits of psilocybin mushrooms. Lauren Taus: Founder of Inbodied Life, Lauren is a clinical therapist trained by MAPS. Her work focuses on ecologies of healing, supporting liberation, and integrating societal systems for growth and healing. Bá Minuzzi: Entrepreneur and conscious investor, Bá leads wealth management for high-net-worth clients with UMANA. She champions psychedelic medicine as a transformative force for societal change. Highlights: Introduction to panel discussion Lessons from the mycelial network of fungi Embracing the third wave of psychedelics Navigating challenges in business The balancing act of integrity and vision Seeking reverence for plant life Using beauty to fight fear The inner work of leaders The transformative power of psychedelics Episode Sponsor: Sacred House of Eden: Get a $500 discount on one of their 2024 retreats by mentioning Third Wave when filling out their inquiry form.

For 25 år siden blev der skabt et fundament for et øget kulturfællesskab mellem Danmark og Sverige. Det var i hvert fald visionen, da Øresundsbroen blev bygget. Lise Bach Hansen, der er leder af litteratur- og talk scenen på Det Kongelige Bibliotek i København, har i en årrække været involveret i flere nordiske kultursamarbejder. Hun giver en status på Nordens kulturudveksling her 25 år senere. Svampe har fået en kulturel opblomstring i løbet af de sidste par år. Svampebogen "Entangled life" blev en bestseller, "The mushroom at the end of the world" blev en anmelder-darling, Netflix-dokumentaren "Fantastic Fungi" en top-streamer, og "The last of us", hvor svampe overtager menneskehjerner og gør dem til zombier, et kæmpe hit. Kulturen undersøger den pludselige fascination af svampe sammen med en naturfilosof fra kunstkollektivet Mycelium. Værter: Karen Secher og Chris Pedersen.

There is an entire world - just below our feet - that defies our conventional understanding of intelligence. It's a superhighway of fungal interconnectedness, trillions of miles of fungal networks that enable trees to recognize their families, communicate with each other and even share resources. And those fungi, which may be hundreds of millions of years old, may just be the key to saving our planet from pollution and global warming! In this episode, Jason and Peter are joined by Louie Schwartzberg, director of the beautiful 2019 documentary film, “Fantastic Fungi” to explore the amazing world of fungi and mushrooms, and to discuss their awe-inspiring power to heal, protect, and transform our world. And what's most shocking… mushrooms are more closely related to humans than they are to plants…Really, no Really! IN THIS EPISODE: How trees communicate and help their kin. Our symbiotic relationship with fungus explained. The importance of no-till farming and curtailing the use of fossil fuel made fertilizers. The mycelium network could reduce climate change. How mushrooms clean oil spills! Using psylocibin to treat terminally ill cancer patients to lessen their fear of death. Mankind's rapid evolution is attributed to psylocibin in mushrooms! James Cameron's Avatar is effectively about Pandora's mycelia network. The transcendent power of time-lapse photography. Mushrooms have beneficial antibodies & potentially cancer-fighting properties. Google-heim: The largest fungus is WAY bigger than you think & the most expensive mushroom in the world! *** FOLLOW LOUIE: Website - louiechannel.tv Instagram - @LouieSchwartzberg YouTube - @fantasticfungiofficial X - @LouieFilms TikTok - @louieschwartzberg *** FOLLOW REALLY NO REALLY: www.reallynoreally.com Instagram YouTube TikTok Facebook Threads XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Alternative Dog Moms - a podcast about what's happening in the fresh food community and the pet industry.   Kimberly Gauthier is the blogger behind Keep the Tail Wagging, and Erin Scott hosts the Believe in Dog podcast.CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction01:15 Lee Carroll's origin story04:30 Medicinal properties of plants10:41 Understanding mushroom products18:50 Best sources of ergothioneine25:55 Real Mushroom and China35:01 Tinctures vs. Powders43:09 Mushrooms and Cancer51:33 Can mushrooms talk to each other?53:03 Adding mushrooms to the dietLINKS DISCUSSED:Ergo+ Ergothioneine Supplement (https://tinyurl.com/27emd83t)5 Defenders (https://tinyurl.com/553jcnvf)8,000 years ago, Neaderthals were treating themselves with plants and mushrooms (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/neanderthals-teeth-diet-medicine-microbiome-humans-science)Fantastic Fungi and other mushroom documentaries (https://www.mindfulecotourism.com/mushroom-documentaries/)Turkey Tail mushrooms for dogs with hemangiosarcoma (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22988473/)Effect of Maitake mushrooms on NK (Natural Killer) cells in cancer (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14977447/)OUR BLOG/PODCASTS...Kimberly: Keep the Tail Wagging, KeepTheTailWagging.comErin Scott: Believe in Dog podcast, BelieveInDogPodcast.comFACEBOOK...Keep the Tail Wagging, Facebook.com/KeepTheTailWaggingBelieve in Dog Podcast, Facebook.com/BelieveInDogPodcastINSTAGRAM...Keep the Tail Wagging, Instagram.com/RawFeederLifeBelieve in Dog Podcast, Instagram.com/Erin_The_Dog_MomThanks for listening to our podcast. You can learn more about Erin Scott's first podcast at BelieveInDogPodcast.com. And you can learn more about raw feeding, raising dogs naturally, and Kimberly's dogs at KeepTheTailWagging.com. And don't forget to subscribe to The Alternative Dog Moms.

Marcina is a therapist and film maker who is trained in many modalities from different traditions and who appreciates the collective wisdom of cultures.  She is a License Marriage and Family therapist and also CIIS and MAPS certified in psychedelic work.  She has facilitated conversations and workshops internationally and across the US and has had the honor of co-creating with many amazing people especially the team at Reconsider including the Guardians / Board Members, Wisdom Keepers / Advisory Board and Chacarunas / Bridgers. She is an Executive Producer of Fantastic Fungi, Producer of Disturbing the Peace and is a facilitator for Reconsider workshop experiences, which have been given in the U.S. and internationally. Marcina spoke at TEDxKC Women about how to change the world in which we are living.  Marcina's vision is to catalyst the creation of experiences that evoke thought and conversations that both challenge and inspire a new ways of relating to ourselves and to life itself. 

Humanizing the other - challenging narratives of violence - practicing peace and forgiveness - finding commonality with our enemies - Stephen travels through the West Bank filming the stories of former militants on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides who have transformed their lives and chosen not only to walk peacefully but also to walk peacefully with other former militants from the opposing side, as a unified force to end occupation, bring love, compassion, and peace to a region of consumed with hatred and violence. His film, Disturbing the Peace, was critically-acclaimed by the New York Times and Robert Ebert, receiving the Ebertfest Humanitarian Award amongst numerous other awards by various film festivals around the world   Stephen and his partner, Marcina, are also well known for the acclaimed film "Fantastic Fungi" and have created a beautiful center devoted to healing, psychedelics, and community building only 15 minutes from my house in the Catskills called Reconsider. My sound healing group, Dream Seed, has been a regular music guest at their retreats offering immersive sound meditation experiences for first-responders, student groups, therapists, and members of MAPS - multi-disciplinary association of psychedelic studies   This was one of my favorite podcasts to date - Stephen's humanitarian work, films, and philosophical understanding of conflict, peace, and healing is profound and revelatory - recommended for anyone who looks out at the world today and wonders how we can steer humanity back on track. Fortunately, it begins with ourselves Stephen Apkon is an award-winning filmmaker, and social entrepreneur. He is the Founder and former Executive Director of the Jacob Burns Film Center, a non-profit film and education center located in Pleasantville, NY. Stephen is the Director and Producer of Disturbing the Peace. He is also an Executive Producer of Fantastic Fungi and Planetary, and Producer of I'm Carolyn Parker, and Enlistment Days, and Co Producer of Presenting Princess Shaw. He is the author of The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux – foreword by Martin Scorsese. Stephen lives in the Hudson Valley with his partner Marcina, their dog Osa, and the flora, fauna and fungi they share this corner of the planet with.

SummaryJake Melman from Troop discusses the positive benefits of mushrooms and how he and his cousin Stephanie started their mushroom business. They were inspired by the documentary Fantastic Fungi and the potential health benefits of mushrooms. They wanted to create a brand that provided reliable and safe mushroom products. Troop offers a variety of mushroom gummies, including Reishi for calming, Lion's Mane for focus, and a Super Troop blend for energy and immunity. The mushrooms have adaptogenic properties and can target underlying health issues. The website provides educational information about each mushroom. Jake and Lisa discuss the founding of Troop, a mushroom supplement company, and their mission to make mushrooms more approachable and fun. They talk about the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding mushrooms and the importance of using high-quality ingredients. Jake explains the process of growing and extracting mushrooms and the benefits of using the whole fruiting body. They also touch on the topic of neurodivergence and how supplements like mushrooms can be used in conjunction with medication to support overall health.Keywords: mushrooms, health benefits, Troop, mushroom gummies, Reishi, Lion's Mane, Super Troop blend, adaptogens, underlying health issues, Troop, mushroom supplements, approachable, stigmas, misconceptions, high-quality ingredients, growing mushrooms, extracting mushrooms, fruiting body, neurodivergence, medication, overall healthTakeawaysMushrooms have incredible health benefits and have been used as medicine throughout human history.Troop offers a range of mushroom gummies that provide reliable and safe mushroom products.The mushrooms have adaptogenic properties and can target underlying health issues.Taking mushrooms daily can have compounding effects on health and wellness.Troop's website provides educational information about each mushroom. Troop was founded to make mushrooms more approachable and fun for the average person.There are stigmas and misconceptions surrounding mushrooms, but Troop aims to educate and provide high-quality products.Troop uses the whole fruiting body of mushrooms and has a patent-pending triple extraction method to ensure concentrated and high-quality supplements.Mushroom supplements can be used in conjunction with medication to support overall health.Passion and dedication are key when starting a supplement company.Sound Bites"The Health Power of Mushrooms""Troop: Creating Reliable and Safe Mushroom Products""The Power of Adaptogens: Targeting Underlying Health Issues""Jake is bad at being an adrenaline junkie""We wanted to make it more approachable for the average person to take mushrooms""It's fun to take mushrooms. It's fun to learn about mushrooms. It's fun to be part of the mush world"Chapters00:00The Health Power of Mushrooms03:02Creating Reliable and Safe Mushroom Products with Troop06:01The Power of Adaptogens: How Mushrooms Target Underlying Health Issues11:11Daily Mushroom Use: The Compounding Effects on Health and Wellness20:15Making Mushrooms Approachable and Fun23:42The Importance of Using the Whole Fruiting Body26:48Mushrooms as Supplements for Overall Health29:09The Role of Passion and Dedication in Starting a Supplement Company

Join us on today's episode as we delve into the fascinating world of mushrooms and fungi with our special guest, Carly Eirikson, Vice-Principal of a local school district in British Columbia, Canada.Carly shares her incredible journey with her grade 3 students, where a simple curiosity during nature walks blossomed into a captivating inquiry into the world of mushrooms and fungi. Utilizing the Walking Curriculum as her guide, Carly and her students embarked on a remarkable exploration, observing, and investigating the diverse fungi in their surroundings.What makes this story truly remarkable is the involvement of families, who eagerly participated in the inquiry, even extending it to weekends. From humble beginnings, the inquiry grew into an immersive learning experience, seamlessly integrating science curriculum objectives.In this episode, Carly discusses the process of weaving the science curriculum into the fungi inquiry, reflecting on what worked well and what she would do differently next time. Her insights offer valuable lessons for educators and parents alike on nurturing curiosity and fostering authentic, inquiry-based learning experiences.As a bonus recommendation, Carly encourages listeners to watch the documentary *Fantastic Fungi*, which further illuminates the wonders of the fungal kingdom and its profound connections to our world.Tune in to gain inspiration from Carly's journey and discover the magic of exploring nature through the lens of fungi!

Can you build a house with mushrooms? You can if you are Chris Maurer, an architect, a mycologist, and a visionary. Chris is the Principal Architect at Redhouse Studio, an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Chris and his partners are working to revolutionize how we house ourselves, not with bricks and mortar but with bio-bricks, a carbon-sequestering fusion of fungi mycelium and plant waste. This regenerative, humanitarian-focused "mycotecture" can grow buildings on and off our planet. Mycotecture refers to the use of mushrooms and other fungi for architectural purposes. In this episode, Chris introduces us to the possibilities of the fungi kingdom in creating sustainable building materials. Chris's work is far-reaching. His MycoHAB project in Namibia uses mycotecture to convert waste bush into food and housing. His Off-Planet NIAC project with NASA would convert space radiation into buildings on Mars. Back here in Cleveland, his BioCycler technology promises to recycle dilapidated buildings while remediating our lead problem and rebuilding our city. We are captivated by the power and possibilities of fungi, and you will be too.  Guest:Chris Maurer, Principal Architect at Redhouse Studio ArchitectureResources:Follow Redhouse Studio on Instagram and FacebookMore on the MycoHAB project in NamibiaMore on growing buildings on Mars More on the BioCycler using fungi to remediate waste and rebuild our city. Watch the Fantastic Fungi documentary.Follow us: https://www.facebook.com/ecospeaksclehttps://www.instagram.com/ecospeakscleContact us:hello@ecospeakscle.com

In this episode, we are joined by Matt Zemon, who shares his fascinating transformation from a skeptic to a passionate advocate for the use of psychedelics in spiritual and medical healing. We dive deep into the history, current research, and future implications of psychedelics in healthcare, while also exploring their spiritual and ethical dimensions. In this episode, you'll learn about:The historical context and the current renaissance of psychedelic research. The potential role of psychedelics in treating conditions such as PTSD, autism, and more. The importance of intention, preparation, and integration in psychedelic therapy. Harm reduction measures and the diversity of spiritual practices involving psychedelics. Personal experiences and resources for those interested in exploring psychedelics.Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandrapossing/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandrapossinglifecoach/Website: https://sandrapossing.com/Connect with Matt:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt.zemon/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattzemon/Website: https://www.mattzemon.com/  - Includes a free guide to microdosing and additional content on psychedelics. Books by Matt Zemon: Psychedelics for Everyone"  - A book providing an overview of psychedelics. "Beyond the Trip"  - A workbook for preparing and integrating psychedelic experiences. "Veterans Guide to Psychedelics"  - Upcoming book to support veterans dealing with PTSD.Recommended Resources:Michael Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind"  - A book and Netflix series on psychedelics. "Fantastic Fungi"  - A film exploring the magical world of fungi and mushrooms.Benjamin Malcolm, Spirit Pharmacist  https://www.spiritpharmacist.com/

Fantastic Fungi's visionary director, Louie Schwartzberg, joins Jack to explore the profound connection between psychedelics and mindfulness. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“You can't separate psychedelics from life.” – Jack KornfieldIn this fresh conversation, Jack and Louie spelunk the depths of:The connection between psychedelics and spiritualityPsychedelics as a gateway to wonder, curiosity, and the sacredHow tripping on psychedelics informed Louie's filmmakingAlbert Einstein and psychedelics as the intersection between art and scienceThe universe and life as a constant transformation of light energyBuddha's “Flower Sermon” and Zen Master Suzuki Roshi's “Beginner's Mind”Jack “exchanging maps” with famous LSD researcher, Stanislav GrofStudies showing the combination of psilocybin mushrooms and Louie's time-lapse nature imagery as a powerful therapeutic tool for helping addiction and PTSDThe importance of “set and setting,” community, and integrationHow psychedelics actually fit into the Buddhist preceptsHonoring biology and the feminine aspects of natureThe gifts of sacred attention and loving awarenessFinding beauty wherever you are, and how Louie's films heal by sharing patterns of nature for the soul to connect withThis conversation was originally recorded on 3/29/24 by Banyan Together – an online mindfulness community started by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. To join the community and learn more, visit BanyanTogether.com“A lot of the work I do is to make the invisible visible. And that's the perfect description of what a psychedelic journey is like, making the invisible visible.” – Louie Schwartzberg“We live in a culture that's almost defined by the absence of the sacred. And so we feel this yearning, this intuitive wish to connect—whether it's going high in the mountains, or making love, or taking psychedelics, or meditating.” – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Art can show us the pain and trauma and suffering of the world, and often it does. But art can also go the other direction. It can reveal the beauty, harmony, and unity of the world.The canvasses in Salma Arastu's series of paintings, We Are All One, are full of soft colors, continuous lines, immersive habitats that flow into one another, and—sometimes—two-dimensional representations of humans and animals occupying the same space, echoing cave paintings.Salma found the continuous line in her study of Islamic calligraphy when she was living in the Middle East. She was born into the Sindhi and Hindu traditions in Rajasthan, India, and then embraced Islam after marrying a Muslim.It was this continuous line that became a central element of her approach to painting and a central technique she uses to express the ecological views she finds in the Quran.She seeks to transcend difference through her art and find oneness and interconnectedness in a world that continually ravages ecological systems around the planet.Since the 1970s, Salma has been exhibiting her work nationally and internationally and writing about art. She currently lives in San Francisco, where I had the pleasure of visiting her in her studio and seeing so many of her wonderful paintings.This episode is part of the Chrysalis Artists series. You can listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.Please rate, review, and share to help us spread the word!Salma ArastuAn Internationally exhibited artist, Salma was born into the Sindhi and Hindu traditions in Rajasthan, India. She later embraced Islam and moved to USA in 1986. Her work creates harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, calligraphy and poetry. She was inspired by the imagery, sculpture and writings of her Indian heritage and Islamic spirituality. She was born with a left hand without fingers. Because of her all-encompassing God, she was able to transcend the barriers often set-forth in the traditions of religion, culture, and the cultural perceptions of handicaps.After graduating in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, she lived and worked in Iran and Kuwait, where she was exposed to a wealth of Islamic arts and Arabic calligraphy. Calligraphy, miniatures, and the folk art of Islam and the Hindu tradition continue to influence her work today. She has been invited to Germany twice, as a Resident Artist at Schwabisch Gmun in 2000 and by the Westphalia Wilhelm University in Münster to publish her paper “Art Informed by Spirituality” in God Loves Beauty: Post Modern Views on Religion and Art. Further she was invited to Morocco for a one- month Artist Residency Program in March of 2018 through Green Olives art Gallery. She has presented work at Stanford University, Commonwealth of San Francisco, Seattle University, Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, and Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis Missouri.She has displayed at 45 solo shows nationally and internationally and has won many distinctions: the East Bay Community's Fund for Artists in 2012, and 2014, and 2020, The City of Berkeley's Individual Artist Grant Award in 2014, 2015, and 2016. She has public art pieces on display in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and San Diego, California and has written and published five books on her art and poetry. Her most recent book deals with ecological consciousness from Quranic verses “Our Earth: Embracing All Communities.”Selected WorksA more comprehensive collection of work is available here.Recommended Readings & MediaSalma Arastu Sharing process of her art.TranscriptIntroJohn FiegeArt can show us the pain and trauma and suffering of the world. And often it does. But art can also go the other direction. It can reveal the beauty, harmony and unity of the world.The canvases in Salma Arastu's series of paintings, We Are All One, are full of soft colors, continuous lines, immersive habitats that flow into one another, and—sometimes—two-dimensional representations of humans and animals occupying the same space, echoing cave paintings.Salma found the continuous line in her study of Islamic calligraphy when she was living in the Middle East. She was born into the Sindhi and Hindu traditions and Rajasthan, India, and then embraced Islam after marrying a Muslim.It was this continuous line that became a central element of her approach to painting and a central technique she uses to express the ecological views she finds in the Quran. She seeks to transcend difference through her art, and find oneness and interconnectedness in a world that continually ravages ecological systems around the planet.I'm John Fiege, and this episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Artists series.Since the 1970s, Salma has been exhibiting her work nationally and internationally, and writing about art. She currently lives in San Francisco, where I had the pleasure of visiting her in her studio last summer and seeing so many of her wonderful paintings. At ChrysalisPodcast.org, you can see some of my photos from that trip and images of her paintings, including those from her We Are All One series.Here is Salma Arastu.---ConversationJohn FiegeCould you start by just telling me a little bit about your project, We Are All One?Salma ArastuYes, I believe in oneness. And these are kind of my oneness projects, you know, like, I want to bring the whole humanity together. And in my work, initially, they were abstract figures, you know, that they are coming together in groups, you know, celebrating together, sharing together, chanting together. So this has been my theme always. And from that, you know, gradually, as I was looking around the nature, I live on the bay in this area. And so nature has been great friend, I would say, you know, I keep watching the plants, the water, the clouds every morning. So this has been part of my daily schedule that I look at the nature and absorb it and go to my studio. And so somehow the nature, the the birds, the animals, and the plants, they all got into my work, and I realized we are all one, we are all breathing, we are all connected. So I think gradually I started doing work, which showed all living beings in my work, and I call it We Are All One.John FiegeGreat. And And can you talk also about Our Earth, and as part of this project, and what did you do there?Salma ArastuAs a daily practice, I do read Quran, my book of faith. And, you know, suddenly I started noticing the verses, which talk to me about the planet about, you know, like Earth and the communities. So let me tell you the first verse, which really, really was holding me for some time, you know, before I started the project, and that verse was so related to my thinking, we are all one. So that particular verse, it says, “There's not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are communities like you.” So then I went to the description of that verse and amazing results I found because different scholars have given the beautiful description of this verse. And understanding this verse was like a divine invitation to follow the concerns of these all ecologists in our time. So I went deeper into it. And then especially one scholar, Dr. Fred Denny, who said, “The verse presents a paradigm of interconnectedness. Communities necessarily interact with one another. And we are enjoined by the Quran to view the animal world, not merely as parallel to us and organized into communities but signals interconnectedness between their existence and well being and our own, as no community on Earth exist in isolation of the others, and what affects one community ultimately affects other communities.” So this was amazing revelation to me. And then I started you know, noticing these verses which talked about the plants, the mountains, the ships, the see the fish, you know, the ant, bees. It was a beautiful revelation for me, and I started noticing them down and I found 90 verses like that, almost, which is my limited knowledge, you know. Then I started to shorten the list because I really wanted to do this project. I said I want to bring this positive from Quran to the mainstream in the world, so they understand the positive side of Quran.John FiegeOh, that's great. Yeah and it seems like with that project in particular, it's almost a theological process of, it's almost like through art you have been studying the Quran. Is that accurate?Salma ArastuYeah, I would say through, yeah, through my art, I was reading Quran, in the sense—or from Quran I was doing art. In Quran, the God has ordained us to look at the nature to study the nature, because—I read something here. “Quran describes nature, presents signs of God, as divine is manifest in nature, and guides to study nature as reference to the wisdom of Quran.” So in fact, as I understand, Quran is a textbook, and the nature is a workbook. Believe me, and that's how I worked on it.John FiegeOh wow. That's great. Yeah and and my understanding of Islamic law is kind of these basic elements of nature, like land, water, fire, forest, light, are all living things, not just humans and animals as living things.Salma ArastuYes, yes.John FiegeYou have a really interesting relationship to the Quran and to Islam, and to religion in general, really, your parents were Hindus who fled Pakistan during partition, and settled in Rajasthan in India, is that, is that all right?Salma ArastuYeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.John FiegeBut but then you ended up marrying a Muslim man, and living in Iran and Kuwait, and eventually the United States. You've also talked about the importance of your mother, who is a devout Hindu, in your developing spirituality. Can you talk about a bit about this spiritual journey and how it's infused in your art and how it's led you to engage deeply with ecological subjects?Salma ArastuYeah, sure. I think I do give credit to my mother and my bringing up, because though she was, you know, I mean, they were refugees from Pakistan, when I was born in India. So in the sense, though, my father has started the practice, he was a doctor, he was a physician, but he had lost everything like, you know, in Pakistan, and he was very depressed, but my mother was very, very positive thinker. So she always said, things will be fine. I remember, as a child, you know, my father used to be so upset and angry at times and more in the night, you know, say, I have lost everything, they have not given me back anything, so but she would always calm him down. So that's how I'd always seen it. And the other thing she kept telling us, We are all same. And because in Ajmer where I was born, the Rajasthan, the city in Rajasthan, it has the both pilgrimage you know, Hindu and Muslim. So like, she has seen all that. And she always told us, No, we are all one. We are all one actually came from her thought, you know, that we are all connected, we are not different. So I carried that thought all through my life. And when I met my husband, I tried to restrict myself, I tried to hold myself back. But somehow, somehow things happen. So I said, this is the this is the God's will, you know, that I marry this man. So my mother, though she was very disturbed, but she blessed me. And she said, your destiny is with you. But my blessings are with you.John FiegeWow.Salma ArastuSo this is all I needed. So I got married. And I'm grateful because we have been married for 47 years now. And it has been a blissful journey. Yes, my husband is very supportive of my art. And the family, also, my children also. So somehow, it's a beautiful journey. And I'm very grateful for that.John FiegeSo when you were living in the Middle East, you began studying Islamic calligraphy. And you discovered the continuous line as you as you call it, you've called it your guiding line and the light that leads you, and I love how this technique of the calligraphic line complements so strongly the themes of unity and connection in your work. Could you talk about calligraphy a bit, what it means to you, how it's influenced both your art and your ecological thinking?Salma ArastuYeah, so what happened when I did my masters from India, I was doing abstract work, but nature only, you know, it was movements of nature I was doing. I didn't know anything about Islam. I didn't know anything about Quran, I didn't know anything about calligraphy. So when I went to Middle East, I love this calligraphic the continuous line, you know, I used to copy it. And there was one quote from one Islamic scholar who said that the calligraphy starts from the field of action, it starts on right, you know. So it starts from the field of action, and lands in the field of heart. So, it was so beautiful, and I think it stayed with me. And then I started learning Arabic slowly, because, you know, I was curious, what do they say? So then I started making the sense of those words, and I was amazed at this line, how it's making the meaning also. But before I went deeper into the meanings of Quran, this line became my language. And when I came to USA, I continued with those abstract figures and you know, my lines, but then 2001, when this 9/11 happened, after that, I got a jolt, you know, like, it was something, people started asking me because I was known as a Muslim artist, you know, so they would ask me, Is Islam like that? Do you believe in that? So I said, No, my God is same. My God hasn't changed. So he is not Muslim. He is not Hindu. He is not Christian. So he is not like that. It cannot be like that. So there's some, something wrong gone somewhere. So I started learning Quran.John FiegeWhere were you? Where were you living during that? When 911 happened?Salma ArastuI was in Pennsylvania. I was in Pennsylvania.John FiegeOkay, so did you see a lot of that? Like, anti-Islamic backlash?Salma ArastuYeah, exactly. Islamophobia. Yeah, because suddenly it happened. And I watched it, and it hurt me also, like, I was in tears, watching the falling of Twin Towers, because I used to visit that place. So I'm just saying it affected me a lot. But then I started learning about Quran. And seriously, it gave me such positive thinking like, such positive verses I have found, you know, which talk about hope and unity and connection and earth. And then now I say that my work is about oneness, connecting humanity, soil and soul. So that is my tagline nowadays, you know?John FiegeAwesome.Salma ArastuI'm trying to connect humanity, soil and soul. Yes.John FiegeThat's great. And, you know, one thing I was thinking about is representational and figurative art are generally discouraged in Islamic art. And I think in your early work, it was all abstract. But in, in some of your paintings personally, more recently, you represent plants and animals, and even people, although the people seem to always be faceless in some way, you know, the heads are generally represented with just circles. But I was just wondering how you see your work within the tradition of Islamic art and the precepts that come with that?Salma ArastuYeah, so frankly speaking, I was, I knew about it, people say that, like I did faceless figures without realizing that Islam, it's not allowed. But then I talked to some scholars, and I was told, it's only the sculpture form, because, you know, in Islam, the worship of icons is private. Okay? So it's not that you cannot draw. What he what I was made to understand that if you make a sculpture, and then you make it a human-like, so that is not allowed, like, because you cannot create a human. If you see my work, it's very folk style. That there, I'm not doing exact three dimensional, you know, figures. And even if you go back to books, the miniature paintings, and which talk about the story of Islamic periods, and all that, they are also two dimensional, you know, they're, nothing is three dimensional. So what I'm trying to say that it is allowed in the story form, in fact, in my book, there's a last page, which a scholar wrote for me, in favor of my work, saying that Islam is allowed. “Prophet Muhammad was known to praise diverse forms of beauty and to have said Allah is beautiful and he loves beauty. All of these meanings and more find the holistic expression in the Quran and Sunnah, and are subtly unveiled, explored and expressed in Salma Arastu's paintings, and the English translation of the verses presented with them. Through her work cell mitosis encouraging the viewer to contemplate important meanings of unity, justice and balance as well as the impact of human actions the need for oneness and universal care for creation, all of which are indeed among the higher objectives of this Islam.” So that's how I did it. I don't know, I was inspired. I was, rather I would say I was guided to do it like that, and I did it. But so far, I haven't heard any, any criticism on that.John FiegeWell, that's great. And you've also described your process as very physical: scratching, sanding, layering materials like paper, rope, modeling paste, paper mache, or copper plate, embroidering with pen and ink. How does the physicality of your technique relate to your work, which is very much about both the physical biological world, but also spiritual existence?Salma ArastuI like textures. You know, I don't know, I like the penetrating textures. And some are right from beginning, I used to use paper first, you know, and then I used to, like, glue the paper on the surface and create, you know, textures and then paint gesso on it. And then I work sometimes, I'm a lot of sanding, because I like to show the layers beneath, you know. I don't know, I'm so physically involved with the work,I mean, that I can't describe, you know, I don't know, it's a new, it's a new experience each day, you know. The new painting that I'm doing, I'm using rust as my paint, I create this rust with a vinegar and aluminum and you know, make them rust, you know, make it rust color, and I paint with that also. So, and I'm using rope in my recent work. So yeah, I love textures. And I like pen and ink, I mean, I don't know it's the calming me down. You know, when I do the large works, the different works with a lot of physical work and like a lot of textures, then pen and ink is something which calms me down, it brings me back to myself. And it's like a meditation. So all my paintings have some work in pen and ink. It's like embroidery, I call it you know, it's like putting my you know, final touches on my work.John FiegeThat's great. Well, I'd like to for a minute look at a specific painting, and one of my favorites is called Earth and Skies. And so on one level, when you look at it, it's a traditional landscape painting in the sense that, you know, the bottom half of the canvas is green for the land, the top half is blue for the sky. But when you look closer at it, you realize that the sky is also the ocean and teeming with marine life. There are animal figures, both terrestrial and marine animals. And they, and as with all your work, it's drawn in two dimensions. And in some ways, it's reminiscent of cave paintings, I've found. And the entire canvas has this two dimensional flatness, with no sense of depth at all. And interestingly, there are some human figures in the landscape. It's not this idealized wilderness landscape devoid of humans. But the humans blend into the background and are represented in a similar size and style as the other animals. I also love your color palette, it's all these soft colors that that dissolve into one another. And of course, your your fluid lines are everywhere in the piece. Can you talk a bit about the techniques and concepts behind Earth and Skies? And like how do you create these colors that flow and dissolve into one another and, and, you know, you just your process for for conceiving and and creating this.Salma ArastuSure. So as I told you, I work with very thin acrylics. And my I don't make sketches of my paintings, I go directly on the canvas, and I feel guided you know, like, whatever comes is coming from within me, from within me, from my soul through my hand on the canvas. That's how it is. I don't know what is going to come on the canvas. So that particular theme, the earth and the skies, comes from a verse from Quran which talked about the balance. It said that God has created this establish this balance of earth and water in the skies, and don't disturb that. So, so that was the main concept in my mind when I started working. And somehow these soft colors, they, you know, I started with very thin paint very, very thin pane, and I started drawing animals, fishes, because I'm showing the connection. So for me, the birds, the fishes, the animals that are all part of this balance, you know, even the human figures. Here I want to mention one thing somebody told me recently and I love that concept. The man thinks he's the great and he's the protector, you know, taking care of this earth. While he's not needed to take care of earth, God is taking care of everything. Human being is just part of this whole system. You know, the whole web of life. It's the ego of the human, you know? So the word I was told that even the caveman knew that human figures don't, don't mean anything, like they are just part of it, because he always, the caveman also drew the figures as the sticks, and did the beautiful drawings of animals.John FiegeRight, right.Salma ArastuSo I really like that concept. I said, that's beautiful. Yeah. So this one, it just developed, as I told you, like, it just happened, you know, like, one layer over another, and another and softly I was going with very light colors, because I, it had to come through that, you know, and then I do a lo ton sanding. So in that painting, I've done a lot of sanding to give it an antique feeling in the bottom part with the figures. And it's a slow process if you ask me. But but it happens very spontaneously.John FiegeThat's an amazing combination. Slow, but spontaneous.Salma ArastuYes. Because whatever comes out, it comes out. And then I wait, I look at it. And then I go to it again, again throw some color on it, and then come back.John FiegeWell, that seems to go back to this idea of the process of art as meditation or contemplation or study. It's like the, the processes.Salma ArastuYeah, it's a dialogue. You know, it's a constant dialogue between the work and artist.John FiegeThat's awesome. There's a, there's another painting, I really love, The Waves and the Birds. So I love this painting, I just, I just visually love it in the colors. But also, the birds are flying in a flock through, you know, seemingly through the ocean. But it it creates this sense of the parallelism between a flock of birds and a school of fish, because they kind of look like a school of fish swimming through the ocean. Can you talk a bit about that piece? And, and where that came from?Salma ArastuYeah, yes, you know, I walk on the bay, as I told you. So I often see this, you know, swarms of birds, you know, flying in, in fall, you know, they come, the migrant birds, and they sit there, and they are just moving around, you know, it's like a constant flow. The waves and the birds, you know, I don't know, it just remained in my mind. So one day, it came like this on a canvas. So because there's no end, the waves are till the top, you know, because I see the whole bay area, you know, and then I see this burst just going over it. So this painting, it happened again, you know as I told you, they, they just happen for me, I don't plan them. So when I was going to do the birds, you know, I took my pen and ink because I didn't know how to show the birds. You know, I didn't want to mix them with my paint also. So I just did those with pen and ink if you see, so it was a very, I don't know, it just happened. I mean, that's why I always say I'm guided. I don't know why I'm doing it, how they come. But it really came together really well. And I'm so pleased with the composition. I know even I like it.John FiegeYeah, the composition, the composition is amazing.Salma ArastuYeah, thank you.John FiegeOften you, I know you write poetry. And, and some of your paintings have been accompanied by poems, both your own poetry I think and I think you sometimes pull text from the Quran and other places. Can you talk about that relationship between poetry and your painting work?Salma ArastuYeah, you know when I'm walking in the morning at the bay, you know, a lot of thoughts come in my mind. I feel so full of inspiration, you know, when I come back, I want to do this today, I want to do this day. So I record my words, and I record my whatever thoughts are coming and come back in my studio. So sometimes first I write the poem, which is which came in the morning, you know, in my mind, and then go to the painting, then start the painting. I don't really sketch but the words you know, sometimes the words helped me to portray what I want to do that, like my thoughts, you know, so they're connected. I know many times poetry happens first, the painting happens, you know, not for every painting, some. And sometimes the painting happens and when I look at it, it gives me the dialogue of in the form of a poem, you know, so, so they're interrelated in my work, and sometimes I'm directly influenced by Rumi's poetry also, because it's very universal. My work is not necessarily Islamic or Hindu or Christian, or American or Indian. I think my work is universal. I'm painting for everyone. And I, this is what I want to be. You know? So that's how I connect myself with Rumi.John FiegeYeah. Well, he is such an interesting figure, as you say, who is admired by so many different groups that see themselves in such strong opposition to one another in the modern world. And we really live in this age of identity and difference, and across the political spectrum it's really in vogue right now to emphasize and amplify difference and division in culture, race, religion, gender, age. But you're really going in the opposite direction, searching for universality, unity, love, and in some ways, those are ideals from the past. But at the same time, it feels like in the cyclical world that we live in, that they—Salma ArastuWe need that.John FiegeYeah, that's maybe what the future is, as well.Salma ArastuExactly. That's what I'm hoping for, yes.John FiegeHow do we, how do we counteract this toxic political and cultural division that we have in the modern age and, and the ecological calamity that comes with it? And how do you how do you think about these issues of identity and difference and universality and unity?Salma ArastuYeah, let me tell you, you know, it pains me, I cry, when I see these things around me, I mean, like this, this is torture, being a such person. And then watching these separations, you know, watching these distances, watching this, more and more split between, you know, nations and communities and races. Like, sometimes, you know, I see other artists doing this pain, oh, painting this, pictures of pain, but I can't do that, you know? I'm so full that I can't describe the pain. I think if I also do the pain, what I'm here for? I want to give hope, I want to give that love, I want to give that, that that feeling of you know, compassion. I have done few paintings, which depict the moment of the pain sometimes, but then it makes me cry. I said no, I cannot do this for long. I have to give the hope. I cannot do the same like everybody else is doing. What is my existence then? So think I, I don't know, I feel I'm here to give some message of love.John FiegeRight? Yeah. And you've talked in about your work in terms of, you know, this bringing together of Eastern and Western traditions. You know, you're using a lot of Western techniques in your work, but then you're bringing in a lot of these philosophies and approaches to the world that that are much more associated with the East.Salma ArastuYes. Yeah, that's a beauty. You know, I love this western world because I've learned so much, you know. I mean, I have been influenced by art from West, I have loved these techniques, the new new techniques I learn every day. I mean, there's so much to learn, I can't keep up with everything. But I say my what I want to say. So, and just naturally, I'm not emphasizing, I'm not forcing myself to do it, as I told you, I just do what comes from within me and just from through my hand on the canvas, so I just continue like that, you know, because I have surrendered myself to the Creator.John FiegeRight. Well, I think when you look at the paintings, you can see this spiritual process, which I find really amazing.Salma ArastuThank you.John FiegeAnd the, you know, the deep contemplation just infuses your work, which is, which is really beautiful.Salma ArastuThanks. Thank you, I really appreciate, yeah.John FiegeSo your, some of your new work that's that I think is coming out of the same project is these paintings around mycelial networks, which are the, you know, the white fungal threads that create these vast underground fungal networks that scientists have recently discovered to be really critically important to communication and nutrient flow and, and ecological connections between lots of species of plants and animals. And, and, and one of my favorite paintings, you know, you described earlier how you're working with rust, but it's got this rust background and these bright white mycelial networks. Yeah, and I love it. And it's just so just the colors and the textures, even on a computer screen are so striking. Can you tell me about the origins of this mycelial work and what mycelia have taught you about ecological connection and regeneration?Salma ArastuYeah, so you know what happened when I finished my project Our Earth in 2021, and then I, you know, I can't stop myself. So I started looking for the solutions now. I know these are the problems, these are the happening things. But now how do I find a solution? So I started reading science. I never did before. But you know, I saw this Fantastic Fungi. Have you seen that movie?John FiegeOh, I haven't seen the movie. But I've read–Salma ArastuOh, yeah. So what happened, when I saw those mushrooms and when I learned about the how they're beneficial, so mycelia seem to be giving the better future you know. That if only we concentrate and look at it and learn from it and support these organizations who are doing research on it. They're trying to make plastic like things from mycelia, I want to make people aware of it. You know, being an artist, I can creatively create those images which will attract people and they'll ask me what it is. So and especially it again, line, I have been so involved with these lines, you know, I'm so enjoying them, the roots and entangled life and then I'm reading some books also which are inspiring me. Entangled Life is a beautiful book, which talks about this mycelium, you know, how it changed my perspective, changed my thinking that we can be saved, the humanity can be saved.John FiegeYeah, I love how art and science are coming together so much right now in the culture. And we're starting to break down these really hard divisions that that I feel like existed for many decades.Salma ArastuExactly, yeah. Yeah.John FiegeBut if you I mean, look at the you know, Leonardo da Vinci, you know, he was doing art and science. I mean, there was no division back then.Salma ArastuAnd then we created division, you know, slowly, yeah. The colonization of the world, you know, that created these things, I think.John FiegeAnd, you know, through this artistic journey you've been on, what do you feel like you've learned about what our relationship to the rest of nature needs to be and how to get there?Salma ArastuYeah, since I would say, 12 years, 15 years, I've been walking around this bay, and it's only two miles radius. But believe me, in this short walk only, I have found every morning, something new, something new light, something new bird, some sometimes new plant and sometimes the entangled forms on the ground, the roots, the, you know, lichens them, you know, like, imagine, I can't, you can't imagine the images that I've collected over this years. It's thousands of images. And so this is what my joy, and I think if only people can connect with nature, they will find the joy also, it's biophilia, you know, it's that you know, it's something people will find joy once you connect with nature. We are born to be like that, you know, outside, we are not born to be inside the apartments and the rooms and the television screens. We are we are we are supposed to be outside, you know, and mingle with the nature. So that will give you the blessings you, that will make you realize the blessings you have around you.John FiegeYeah, well, that's a beautiful place to end. Salma, thank you so much for for joining me today. It's been really, really great conversation.Salma ArastuThank you so much, really. I appreciate you understanding my work, and that's what I want. I want to share my work and I want people to understand that.---OutroJohn FiegeThank you so much to Salma Arastu. Go to our website that ChrysalisPodcast.org, where you can see images of her paintings, the photographs from my visit to her studio, and our book and media recommendations.This episode was researched by Lydia Montgomery and edited by Brodie Mutschler and Sofia Chang. Music is by Daniel Rodriguez Vivas. Mixing is by Juan Garcia.If you enjoyed my conversation with Salma, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Contact me anytime at chrysalispodcast.org, where you can also support the project, subscribe to our newsletter, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chrysalispodcast.org

Sab and Gianni deep dive into the fantastical world of fungi, and how to grow your own at home. 4:30 - What's the best way to seal off a cut after grafting fruit trees? 30:28 - How to grow your own mushrooms at home, with Diego Oliveira aka. The FunGuy WA36:03 - How to encourage friendly fungi to spread throughout your lawn Listen to the program live on Saturdays at 9:00AM on ABC Radio Perth and ask your questions by calling in on 1300 222 720 or text 0437 922 720Subscribe to the podcast through the ABC Listen App, Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.

Step into the world of visual healing with Louie Schwartzberg, director of Fantastic Fungi and Gratitude Revealed, in our latest podcast episode. Recorded during the special edition of Harvest Series in London, Louie shares insights on the positive impact of nature on television, especially for mental health. Discover the concept of "visual healing" and its immense potential. Louie delves into the benefits of mushrooms, exploring their uses in cooking, therapy, and the absurdity of their historical prohibition in the United States. How do you believe watching nature can positively impact your well-being? Don't miss this captivating episode. [2:30]: Appreciating Nature in the Concrete JungleExplore Louie's deep admiration for nature and discover how he finds and appreciates beauty in the bustling city of London.[3:45]: The Influence of Nature on WellbeingDelve into the ways observing nature has shaped and influenced Louie's overall wellbeing, offering insights into the profound impact of natural elements on the human experience.[4:43]: Disconnecting from Directorial Duties in NatureDiscover whether Louie, a cinema director, can truly disconnect from his role when immersed in the wonders of the natural world.[6:00]: Nature's Dilemma: To Kill or Not to KillIn a moment of real-life nature encounter, explore Louie's perspective on the ethical dilemma of dealing with a fly in the room and asking whether it's acceptable to kill a mosquito.[7:13]: Visual Healing through Moving ArtDelve into Visual Healing, Louie Schwartzberg's virtual immersive program of Moving Art, and explore the reported benefits of nature imagery on viewers' well-being.[12:04]: Screen Time DilemmaLouie addresses the concerns surrounding screen time, offering insights into how he navigates the challenges posed by excessive digital exposure.[14:20]: Social Networks and the New Connection ParadigmExplore Louie's unique perspective on social networks and the evolving ways people connect in the modern world.[16:00]: Fantastic Fungi and the Power of PsilocybinDelve into the fascinating world of mushrooms and the healing power of psilocybin, as discussed by Louie Schwartzberg, director of "Fantastic Fungi."[17:58]: Falling in Love with MushroomsDiscover the moment Louie fell in love with mushrooms and how this fascination shaped his artistic and personal journey.[20:26]: Louie's Favorite Mushroom DelicaciesExplore Louie's personal preferences as he shares his favourite mushrooms and the unique experiences associated with consuming them.[21:49]: Psilocybin and Mental Health InsightsLouie provides insights into the impact of psilocybin on mental health and discusses the historical context of the prohibition of mushrooms under Nixon.[26:15]: Safety Tips for Mushroom EnthusiastsLearn about the essential safety considerations for those interested in exploring mushrooms, as shared by Louie.[27:28]: Harvest of the Day: Transformative ToolsDiscover Louie's favourite tool of transformation in this segment.You can watch Louie Channel & Moving Art (within the first 4 weeks of launching Moving Art, the movie "Gratitude Revealed" has been viewed 88.000 times!).You can follow us on Instagram : @Harvestseries, or @rose.claverie for updatesand watch our filmed podcast or speakers on Youtube : Harvest Series.Sound editing by @lesbellesfrequencesTechnicians in Kaplankaya : Joel Moriasi & Hanan YasirMusic by

Episode 186 of the Fit Father Project Podcast is about magic mushrooms — but not in the sense you may be thinking.This episode isn't about tripping at a Grateful Dead concert! It's about using functional mushrooms to promote health and wellness.Functional mushrooms don't contain psilocybin so you won't see any psychedelic effects.Functional mushrooms have adaptogenic properties and health benefits and can support memory, mood, energy, brain health, digestion, immune function, recovery, longevity, and more.A recent Netflix documentary, Fantastic Fungi, shed light on functional mushrooms like reishi, chaga, lion's mane, cordyceps, turkey tail, and more.But there's a lot of misinformation about mushrooms, so we brought on an expert to set the record straight!In this episode, you'll meet Robert Johnson, the founder and CEO of Mycroboost, a premium functional mushroom company. He's a cannabis and hemp industry veteran, health product expert, psychedelic advocate, and seasoned entrepreneur. He has a wide breadth of experience in various plant medicines and is here to deliver the truth about how they interact with our health and help our mindsets when used properly. This fascinating conversation focuses on functional mushrooms, but we also touch on psychedelic mushrooms and much more. It's a true eye-opener!In this episode, you'll learn about: The different types of functional mushrooms and how they differ from other mushrooms.The various health benefits of functional mushrooms. What to look (and avoid) for in supplements.The history of psychedelic mushroom use and what the future may hold. And more!So, to get the most from your health and fitness efforts, listen to this episode on magic mushrooms, take some notes, and check out FF30X! More From Robert:Website — Subscribe to Mycroboost for 20% off your first order, plus first dibs on special offers, sweet deals, and fungi fun facts!Mycroboost Brain Mushroom SoftgelsMycroboost Gourmet Organic Mushroom CoffeeMycroboost Functional Mushroom GummiesUse promo code FITFAMILY for an extra 15% off all products!What is FF30X?FF30X is a simple, sustainable, and specific weight loss program designed especially for busy men over 40. With short metabolic training workouts, an easy-to-follow meal plan, and an accountability team there for you at every step, FF30X can help you lose 30, 40, or even 50+ lbs — even if you've never picked up a weight in your life. Click here to see what you get when you join the FF30X program today!If you loved what you heard on the Fit Father Project Podcast, please follow, rate, and review it on Apple...

Adam Schomer is a conscious filmmaker, president of i2i Productions and is known for going to extreme lengths to follow stories that empower us. Feature documentaries include THE HIGHEST PASS (2012), THE POLYGON (2014), ONE LITTLE PILL (2015). WOMEN OF THE WHITE BUFFALO (2022) and the #1 iTunes Best-Seller and NETFLIX hit, HEAL (2017).His recent docuseries is a heart pounding and spirit driven quest to find freedom on motorcycles in the Himalayas, THE ROAD TO DHARMA (2020) and its companion online course for Living a Life of Freedom. In addition to making films, he has been a documentary distribution consultant for select films including CHASING THE PRESENT and produced their online summit as well as the online summits for FANTASTIC FUNGI and HEAL.Adam is also a certified Master Sattva Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and really Adam has this history of using pilgrimage and life's adventures to reveal deeper truths. His company i2i Productions mission is to Unite Through Wisdom and Entertainment.Please enjoy my conversation with Adam Schomer.

Artistic Lifeyness: Exploring Place, Body, Art and Identity Across Cultures   In this conversation, three artists based in the Jacksonville area, Jennifer, Shameera, and Thorne, share their unique perspectives on place, embodiment, and art. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, these women discuss how their work is influenced by their identities and their sense of location, both in a physical and spiritual sense. They talk about the dual experiences of feeling embodied and disembodied as artists, referring to the process of bringing ideas from the abstract world of imagination into the physical reality through their art. The artists also touch upon the idea of home and the importance of creating cultural bridges through art.  What are the pros and cons of living in Jacksonville as a creative soul? And how do you become more embodied as an artist? Listen up and find out! _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with host Professor Sarah @book_of_lifeyness on TikTok and Instagram Thorn works in graphic design, jewelry making, theater and screen acting, origami and more. See her work and connect with her here: The Urban Atelier Shameera Din Wiest is a digital artist, poet, sculptor, weaver, former diplomat and political analyst. See her work here on Instagram:  @shameerawt Jennifer Chase is a storyteller, musician, professor, producer, and playwright. See more here: jennchase.com   A special thanks to the Community Foundation of Northeast Florida whose Ignite program first brought these artists together! https://www.jaxcf.org/     Episode Outline: Part I: Introduction inspired by birds, Jacksonville, and the words of Rick Rubin Part II: Art and Place--We can smell you from here, Jax. Part III: Embodiment--Make a body for your idea! Part IV: Take from the spirit world and bring it down to Jacksonville Part V: Identity--How your own prism informs your work...and pajama party :-) Part VI: Disembodiment and Embodied Art Part VII: Taking up space in Northeast FL   And here's an AI-created Timestamp Outline: 00:00 Introduction: The Search for Self 00:21 The Power of Acceptance 00:55 Finding Home in Unfamiliar Places 02:34 Exploring Northeast Florida 03:23 The Role of Artists in Society 03:59 The Struggles of Living in Jacksonville, Florida 04:55 The Journey of Self-Discovery 05:33 The Power of Art and Creativity 06:07 The Connection Between Place and Art 07:01 The Importance of Being Present 07:06 Art as a Form of Self-Expression 07:34 Interview with Three Talented Women Artists 10:54 The Influence of Geography on Art 11:46 The Role of Motherhood and Womanhood in Art 12:45 The Power of Listening and Being Present 16:54 The Impact of Jacksonville on Personal Growth 18:18 The Role of Spirituality in Art 20:02 The Importance of Nurturing in Art 25:36 The Connection Between Art and Embodiment 33:51 The Power of Conversation in Art 35:07 The Power of Listening and Connecting 35:43 The Journey of Self-Reflection 36:17 Shamaya's Artistic Journey and Cultural Heritage 38:19 The Struggles and Triumphs of Shamaya's Life 39:21 The Intersection of Femininity and Art 40:53 The Power of Personal Stories 42:57 The Influence of Identity on Art 46:34 The Power of Art in Public Spaces 49:51 The Role of Art in Society 56:46 The Importance of Embracing Failure 01:06:20 The Power of Art in Building Cultural Bridges     Full script below, generated by Descript   What I've been learning is that everywhere I go, there I am, I am a home, you know, you're, we're always looking outside of ourselves. I think it was Wayne Dyer that, um, said something along the lines of, we're always looking, we've lost our keys and we're looking for our keys outside the house when the keys were sitting there at the front door.  You know, you have to decide that you're going to leave this behind and say just no to it, or you have to kind of change your space. Or, you know, you. Acceptance. You, you have to accept it. Yeah. You have to fully accept it. Mm-Hmm. . And once you do that, then all of that energy that you, that took up your spirit saying, well, I don't really like this town. Like this isn't, you know, where are all the people,  and all of that. Yeah. The people, it goes to another place and you start building it yourself. Yeah. I definitely feel that, like  I'm going through that whole.  I don't belong here. There's no one that looks like me there. I can't find my food Like I mean, it's just yeah, it's hard But I am trying to find ways to and no one's telling me to leave this time. So that's also hard  Yeah   And this will be your place in some way, you know, because it was the place where you decided to take care of your people.  It feels like  comfortable  skin,  not just confident, but also pain free, healthy.  Think about the most robust version of your own childhood.  This is what Lifeyness feels like, a joyful spirit and a vibrant physical state of being.  I'm your guide professor, Sarah storyteller, teacher and wellness enthusiast.  Reach into the vitality of your own  to supercharge your grownup life.  So I think I'm being kind when I say I live in a slightly dysfunctional city, marked with a lot of cultural blanks.  It's this place where.  We all just kind of landed somehow or another.  It's not really even designed like a typical American city.  They say it's a city of neighborhoods, which really means it's a giant, sprawling suburb.  But stay with me. I love this place.  And today, on this episode of Lifeyness, I'm going to be exploring Northeast Florida.  It is a home for many of us, and we've made it sacred by filling it with our children,  artwork, our classes, our educations. Our activities.  Like any body, we adorn it and try to keep it healthy,  but more than anything, we live inside of it day in and day out,  and that is what makes a city a city.  It's what makes a human life have meaning.  So welcome back to Lifeyness.  This is Professor Sarah, and I'm super excited about this episode and the next, which will conclude the first season.  Today, we're talking about place, body, and art.  Specifically, how do artists find embodiment both in their work and in their geography?  If you've listened to any of this podcast, you know that staying grounded in your body, staying playful in your space and in your work,  and accepting the moment in front of you with a whole heart,  these are some of the keys to living the good life  and to finding joy.  So I'm going to give you a little bit of insight into the place that I live.  I always thought that Jacksonville, Florida lacked a sense of the sacred.  And I think to a certain degree, it still kind of does. It doesn't have that ritualized admiration that you see in cities like New York and Toronto and San Francisco, like where tourists go, they know where to go, they know what to love and how to dress.  Northeast Florida in general can feel like a cultural wasteland at first.  In fact, not long after moving here in 2007, I wrote a short story about a young woman who had gone mad from the cultural void.  Flintstoning her way through the same desolate strip mall freeways, the backdrop always the same tire shop, Best Buy, Walmart, Michaels, and Winn Dixie.  It was not far off from how I was actually feeling about this weird town.  To be clear, I hated it.  And yet, I managed well enough to get permanently stuck here by way of marriage, children, divorce. Later,  I would learn that many of my friends and colleagues have had similar experiences.  Jacksonville, the present place, is a liminal space for some, an in between.  Perhaps what we're feeling is that we haven't yet made Jacksonville as sacred as we could. We haven't worshipped it enough,  or worked our fingers over it like a sculptor works clay.  Rick Rubin, the producer of countless music artists, says that the reason we're alive is to express ourselves in the world, and that creating art might be the most effective way of doing so.  So the quote I'm about to share with you from his book, which is called The Creative Act, it makes me think of  the artists that are on the show today.  He says, the artwork is the point where all the elements come together, the universe, the prism of self, the magic and discipline of transmuting idea to flesh.  What I didn't expect to hear from these artists today is how a sense of place and their particular sense of place is so entangled with their art and also with this feeling of embodiment or disembodiment.  Years ago, I remember a veterinarian who specializes in birds told me that when they are singing or calling to one another, that the gist of what they're saying is simply, I am here.  And then calling to others, asking, are you there?  And then of course the reply is, I am here. Are you there?  And so on and so forth. And to some degree, I feel like this is what humans are doing all the time. This is all we're saying to one another. Whether it's through a book or a TikTok video or, or whether you're just reaching across the couch to your loved one,  it can all be boiled down to this.  I'm here. Look at me.  Are you there?  Art is the embodiment of a moment in our energetic human experience. It is that emotion and energy of life that's captured in an artwork, whether it's a collection of words, a pattern of music, or a painting.  It's basically the artist saying,  I am here, just like the birds do,  but they're saying it through paint or piano or an arrangement of flowers.  To discuss this idea of art as embodiment and self expression, I'm speaking with three talented women from northeast Florida.  Thorne is a passionate activist. She's a graphic designer by training. She's a jewelry maker. She's a community organizer.  My name is Tracy and I work under the moniker Thorne. I grew up here in Jacksonville, um, and I do realize that being from here has It's really made a huge impact on the work that I do. Um, I do a number of different media. I actually went to school for graphic design and printmaking.  I started making jewelry because I wasn't finding what I wanted to wear. And at that point in time, I had just come back from Peace Corps  when I first started. And a lot of the things that influenced me at that point. And her  family's been rooted in this town for many generations.  Jennifer Chase is a playwright, a musician, uh, she's a writer and college professor. And her latest book, I Can Smell You From Here, explores her relationship with the city of Jacksonville. But  I grew up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and have been most of my adult life in Jacksonville. And went back to college as a non traditional, um, adult single mother right here in Jacksonville at FSCJ, where I now teach.  Yeah. Like Thorne, um, I did. Adopt a, a pen name has  Shaina. Um, so some of my work is under.  And then in contrast we have Shaira Dean Weist, um, she's a mixed media artist. She's a sculptor and a weaver. Um, and she's been here less than  three years. And I'm an Indian American artist. I came, I'm an immigrant and I moved to the U. S. in 1982 when I was 12 years old, so you can do the math. I create visual performance, poetry, photography, and digital art, and I feel like each of these are embodied in some way with the female, where my choice of imagery in the tapestries, sculptures that I create have elements of woman. I use my body as a vehicle in performance art. Um, I write poetry that, um, touches on elements of being an Indian woman. And I worked in Washington, um, as a political analyst. Um, I traveled overseas as a diplomat.  Today  we're having a conversation in person. In the flesh, at my dining room table together, in downtown Jacksonville,  um, in my well loved historic home built in 1911.  So we all gathered here on a winter day, when even in Florida it was chilly outside and cozy inside.  Thorne and Jennifer and Shamira are from diverse backgrounds, but they all show up in their art with the bravery it takes to say, I am here. Are you there?  Welcome to our conversation about being an artist www. artistrenjitha. com In a body, in a city, don't forget to connect with me at Book of Lifiness on TikTok, where you can see images and videos of this wonderful conversation and these amazing artists.  Let's start with place because I am invited you here to talk about embodiment, embodied art. Right. But I think, you know, like we're sitting here in Jacksonville, Florida. All together in the same space, which I think is so special considering, like I said before, a lot of my interviews I do virtually today, you know, but you know, we all met at Ignite, right? And that was such a special morning, you know, where we all came together. And, um, so I want to ask each of you kind of how do you use your geography in your art? Where does it show up in your art? And we'll start with Jen because she had the show the other night. Your story felt so parallel to mine  and it made me feel, when I looked around the audience, I was like, how many people here feel this way? And part of that is.  Motherhood. I think part of that is being a woman. Part of that is not feeling at home in Jacksonville because I, I'm not from here either. You know, and I think a lot of us are not from here. Um, but there were so many different like touch points that I was like, Oh, wait a minute. Not only did I feel like now I know you and you were able to tell your story, but I feel known. Even more. And a lot of that had to do with that, this antagonistic relationship that I've had with Jacksonville, where I feel kind of stuck here. But also this is where I do my nurturing and raise my children and make my, my own art. So tell us a little bit about that.   Well, I think first we have to be sure that we're telling ourselves the truth.  Um, and I had to take a look at sifting through the excuses, the fears, the, um, empowerment of all the experiences that I've had here. Um, I think it's a complicated question because  James Baldwin, for example, talked about this idea of cultural assumptions, and the idea that, um,  we don't realize the assumptions that we're living under until we live under another set of assumptions, and I bet Shamira has a lot. To add about that, I'm sure Thorne, too. Ironically, a lot of the, the empowerment and the appreciation of the present in Jacksonville involves the concept of time,  which I learned a lot more about in places like Senegal, living in Senegal and living in France for shorter periods of time, but enough that I thought, oh,  There's a different way, and it's not related to money, it's not related to earning money. There's a different way of appreciating the present and a meal and a conversation.  And  every time I come back from  another place where the concept of time involves shutting everything down at two o'clock and having a two and a half hour lunch with your family, I come home. gung ho to adopt that. And I have varying degrees of success with that, but I find that  for my artistic expression, for happiness, for real connection and feeling  a sense of place, it involves being aware of the present. being aware of the ability to get outside of the assumptions I've lived under and look back into them and I can see myself in my life a lot more objectively when I'm able to look at it from the outside. And then you come back and you feel differently about your surroundings and you look at things. and yourself differently. So it can be a painful experience sometimes. Um, when I looked back over 30 years at raising children,  one of the lines of my song says, um, these are the days that will be memories someday. And the whole song is just about hanging clothes on the line and watching my little girl who was then three dancing around to a Beatles song. And the whole song is about that. Yeah. It's called Mundane. Yeah. And now I'm, I just finished re recording that song and I thought, that's funny because these are now gonna be someday the moments that I think That was nice when your husband made you a coffee after work and just looked you in the eye and asked about,  you know, and got you a special cloth napkin and a little, the way you put out,  it's more about the present and how we view it. So I think that's my,  my thing. And it resonated. It really did. Thank you. It was beautiful. Thanks. Shamira, do you want to say something about kind of the way that geography informs your art? Yeah,  that's um, I mean, having a fact that I've been moving  for, you know, since, since I first moved as an immigrant, almost every three to four years I've moved for the last 34 years of my life, I think.  There is no specific place for me. I mean, I know I think the place that I most connect to is the place I was born and everything is always trying to pull me back to that. You know, having my mother live with me definitely brings that back every day. Um, so It's like I'm not connected to any place and yet I try to make the most of the opportunities that are in that place. Um, the last place I lived before moving to Florida was China and I was there for three years and I was a complete outsider. Not only, you know, it was either the western community or the Chinese community and then there's me, brown, you know, and they're not sure whether I'm Mexican or where I'm from but, and then having Not having the language, um, and not having, not being able to, or allowed to work because these are the laws of the diplomatic community where you're not, the spouse doesn't work on the local economy. So either you work in the embassy much lower than your education level, or you. Um, and then I decided to become an artist. So that's what I did.  Yeah.  Yeah. So that's when I started making art is when I started moving. But so as far as place, I mean, I don't have, I don't feel a strong connection to a geography, but I feel like the personality that I bring to each place taken from another place connects me to everyone new. And yet keeps me in contact with all my old contacts. And so I keep building these relationships with new people and keeping old people. Yeah.  I don't know how that works out,  but we're certainly happy to have you in our community now.  How about you,  Thorne?  I think it's funny. I'm the only one that's from here. Yeah. And so, but I have, I've traveled away from here, um, a number of times. I've lived in San Francisco and I've lived in Philadelphia. And then of course, as I mentioned earlier, I was in the Peace Corps. And so, So having grown up in the Bible Belt, spirituality, spirit, gospel music, all the things that you would stereotypically connect to the South are a huge part of my work, huge part of what makes me, me. I was singing a gospel song with my mom this morning  and we were just reminiscing about a church we used to go to. Music is such a huge part of my life, like, Jen, and I just actually got through, not just got through, but recently read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. And so understanding, right, really good. I'm a fan. Yeah. And so understanding that where we are now in this moment is the most important place we're ever going to be. As opposed to leaving pieces of ourself out in the future, you know, where Shamira's going to a new place, or anticipating going to a new place, and thinking about the places where we've been. And what I have realized is Jacksonville,  for me and for, I think, a lot of other people, is this type of place  that's kind of metaphor for  Where people have a really hard time being, but know that that's where they need to be at the given point in time that they're there. So, you have your reasons for being in this area, Shamira, Jen, you have your reasons. You have your reasons for staying and being here. I came back here, um,  to regroup. I was in San Francisco where I was more of like a she she homeless. I was moving around from hotel to hotel and I also used, um, hostels. I was looking for a place to stay. I was going out there to live my artist dream, believing that you had to be in this specific place to have a life of an artist. And so once again, connecting back to this.  whole idea of being in a specific place at a specific time and I really thought that that was where I was supposed to be. And, um, It wasn't. It wasn't. And I realized it not too long after and this is just, uh, another part of my background, um, that has also fed into my work. I got back here, if you want to say air quotes, just in time for my mom to be, uh, diagnosed with breast cancer. And so I was right where I needed to be in order to support her in the best way that I could. And a lot of the work that I did When I was taking care of her as well as work I was doing, you know, in the home as well as outside the home comes back to,  you know, who I am at this point in time, which is someone who's had to learn to be a nurturer, someone who gets hired, you know, as an actress, because she's seen as a nurturer. So this space, this place at that point in time, totally shaped, you know, who I've become as an artist, especially as an actress, I'd say.  I never saw myself as a caregiver, um, even though I took care of my brother growing up, but I just, I never saw myself as that type of person. And it manifests. in my work as an actress, for sure. Because that is what people see in me when I'm cast. It's,  yeah, we see you as a mom. And it's like, I don't have kids.  I love them. I think they're great. And I love the energy they bring to any room, any space. Yeah, uh, just that I didn't really ever think of myself specifically as a nurturer. I feel like Being a nurturer is such a higher evolution beyond just I babysit my brother or, you know, I was helping out at my grandmother's house. It's not the same thing. Being a nurturer and a caregiver is a totally different level of connection with another person where you're really focusing in on What their needs are at a given point in time and to be cast as a nurturer or to be thought of as a mom when people see me, it's really quite flattering, um, to be thought of, or that my spirit gives off that type of energy. So, um, and it's so funny to think about my, my work in that way as well.  Because once again, I don't think that that's necessarily something that comes across, but if we think of a lot of the work that I do is. Um, I see a lot of my artwork as spiritual practice, and so I could imagine that that's something that comes across as well. Yeah.  You give birth and you nurture your artwork. Oh my God.  Absolutely. What a wonderful way to put it. Yes. You are birthing. You are bringing into world. You are manifesting. And so that's really important to me to make sure I'm looking at my work clearly, but also Before I'm even taking into consideration the way somebody else is looking at it, I want to understand what I'm doing and what my own personal intention is.  But basically, like, you know, if you want to release that energy, you have to either, you know, you have to decide that you're going to leave this behind and say, just no to it, or you have to kind of change your space or, you know, you have to accept it. Yeah. You have to fully accept it. And once you do that. Then all of that energy that you, that took up your spirit saying, well, I don't really like this town. Like this isn't, you know, where are all the people  and all of that, yeah, it goes to another place and you start building it yourself. Yeah. I definitely feel that.  Like I'm going through that whole, I don't belong here. There's no one that looks like me there. I can't find my food. Like, I mean, it's just, yeah, it's hard, but I am trying to find ways to, and no one's telling me to leave this time. So that's also hard. Mm-Hmm. And it's your choice. Yeah. . Wow. You're like,  yeah. But then we have these commitments that, you know, we have to stick to and take care of the elders that are in our life and not just kind of dump 'em off in a home somewhere. So  yeah, it's hard, but,  and the truth is you don't have these moments back, you know? Yeah. Like Jen was saying, like this, these are special moments. Like, it's just like when your children are small. You know, they're really hard. It's really hard to take care of people, whether they're really, you know, young or really old and you won't have these moments. And then, and this will be your place in some way, you know, because it was the place where you decided to take care  of your people. Right. Jacksonville is a quiet in between, honestly, like it's not necessarily the place where people visualize.  coming to. It's not necessarily the sexy place with, you know, it's not, it's just not, it's like very much a Southern town, you know, people aren't thinking in terms of being cosmopolitan, but it very much is a place where you can find yourself. I think, I think it's. Quiet enough where you can make decisions there's so there there's a lot of things to do very much nature based But once again, it's the space where you can hear yourself Think if you stop resisting for a minute, yeah, you can hear yourself Think yeah, you can hear the waves crashing on the shore or the leaves the leaves being rustled by the breeze you know, however you choose to To take a moment, and that could be anywhere, and what I've been learning is that everywhere I go, there I am. I am my home. You know, we're always looking outside of ourselves. I think it was Wayne Dyer that um, said something along the lines of we're always looking, we've lost our keys and we're looking for our keys outside the house. When the keys were sitting there at the front door all the time. Yeah. So, we're always looking outside of ourselves. For the meaning and for home, when we carry home with us, wherever we go. Yeah. Or the  possibility of it. And it sounds like you're saying we can really take up space here, right? Like we can take up space. So what I want to do is just kind of go around and ask you, you know, what does embodiment mean to each of you? My podcast, I call it joyful embodiment, but I know that embodiment is not always. Fun or joyful. Um, and so kind of with both of these concepts in mind, geography and art, like where does embodiment come in? What does embodiment mean to you, Jen?   Well, completely and literally for me, the performative aspect of the expression, the artistic expression is present, vital, urgent.  It's not really rehearsed. It's not going to be the same ever. Um, so I would say the process and the performative aspect of my process involves complete utter immersion in the present experience and reaction to,  reaction to an audience, reaction to collaborators. Um,  so this is flash round, so I won't go there. Flash round. Ha ha  ha. So I, with me, I mean, the primary art that I make is that I weave plastic. And a lot of my work is very chaotic and messy and raw, like strings hanging out all over the place, the knots are wrong. I used, uh, materials that don't look good together. They're not like pretty little things to put on the wall. These are like me and everything that I've been through in my life. All the struggles, the losses, everything. So, um, I think that's the embodiment is me connecting with this piece that I'm making. That's all me and all my mistakes or struggles or victories.   I was thinking about this, you know, when you mentioned it, um,  and really what the definition of embodiment is to me, uh, it's an idea or something. abstract that is manifest. So we have these ideas and then it's taking something from our mind and bringing it into the world. Um, in some cases, I do believe it's part of the artist's purpose. to be or to help bring to life the manifestation or incarnation of certain abstract ideas.  I feel like that's part of the work that I do is to, um, to help people who've been thinking about certain things, you know, that don't necessarily see themselves as an artist. I believe everybody's a creative, but not everybody's an artist and, you know, and has the lexicon and vocabulary or the dexterity to necessarily bring those things to life. And I think that's the difference between being a creative. and an actual artist that manifests things. Um, and sometimes artists themselves are perception personified, you know, and so it's our idea to perceive and to look and to bring to life. Um,  and sometimes we're translators or guides to offer a better understanding of something. And, you know, for myself, spiritually, Um, you know, human connection figures so heavily into my work, you know, maybe for me it's that I can possibly help others, uh, see more clearly in that regard in terms of once again, taking the abstract idea of, you know, spirituality and what is that and what does it look like? And, and bringing that into some, some place in this world, whether it be visual art, whether it be me as an actress, whether it's adornment, whether it's even origami or any type of sculptural work I may do.  That's interesting. Cause it sounds like all of you are talking about taking something from the spirit world in a way and making a body for it in the real world, in the physical world. And when I think of embodiment kind of like through a wellness lens or a health lens, I think of  getting grounded in your body and kind of trying not to get caught up in your mind, not get caught up in the, you know, the, the thoughts that kind of keep churning. And that can be a really good. I don't know, like, uh, a practice to stay mentally well, right? I know, like, the background of this podcast, the whole reason I started it is because my daughter had issues with addiction. And one of the predecessors of the problem was this disembodiment,  this feeling of, like, not being connected, right?  And so I wonder, like, taking the idea of, like, you know, bringing art from the spirit world down to our physical world, but also. You know, being a healthy body and soul, being kind of connected together, um, I wonder how like the being a female artist plays into this, right? Like we are these bodies that can generate new bodies, right? Like we are, we have to be embodied sometimes, whether we want to or not. Like I wonder how this plays into that, um, feeling of being able to take from the spirit world and create.  I think it's not a choice. Yeah, it's definitely not a choice regarding  being informed by this maternal,  um, whether we are literally parents of children or not. We have these, as artists, I think, and women, maternal instincts of caring, caring, nurturing for each other. Um, I also think that while we are all creatives,  I think being an artist is rarely a choice. It's something we have to do.  Um, we don't sit and wonder, I mean, we, against all odds, right? Grant or no grant, money or no money, time or no time, collaborative partners or not, it's just this, you have to, it's a force.  A while ago I did an experiment called Words Matter, in which I was really influenced by Marina Abramovich and her. Mm-Hmm. . Um, I was gonna ask  you about her artist present piece. I'm glad  you brought her up. Um, I was an artist at Cork for 10 years. I had a space and every year they have cork open studios and artist, two things in the gallery. And I'm not a painter or a performer, so I thought, I'm gonna do something. Marina Abramovich inspired. But it's going to involve allowing the other person to talk and to practice really giving my body, my attention, my soul to each person.  For many, that maybe is  Just easy to do. Um, so I admire people that are great listeners, but for me, I thought this is a practice I need to, I'm older and I need to get better at truly being present for someone in this. And I thought to myself. that people, I had a very over inflated idea of how much people would want to hear my wise,  sage response. And no one asked. Some sat across from me in Cork  and I had a little piece of paper that said, your words matter. I'll listen and you can tell me whatever you want.  And I concentrated on listening and people talked for sometimes 45 minutes. Oh, wow. And never said, what do you think? I know you're not supposed to.  Nothing. They were perfectly satisfied. And through that performance art, truly, um, they were the performers and I was the audience. And I learned. That through restricting myself to not,  um, say something back, that my mind was totally with them because I wasn't thinking ahead about something clever. Absolutely. Something clever I could say. Yeah. Some solution. That's where we spend our time. Thinking about what we want to say. We spend our mind thinking like, I'm going to tell them, and I think this is great advice, or I'll tell them this story that relates. I didn't have that. So true. So I was able to really give them and embody that  space. Yeah.  Wonderful. Well, it shows just how in alignment we all are here because my project for, um, my grant was TalkTalk Convo. And so in this, in the same realm, Except in post height of the pandemic, post lockdown, where we've all been so disconnected and in our own little individual silos, trying to encourage people to authentically.  And intentionally speak and, you know, I felt like I needed to give people prompts to give, to get conversation going because people really were, have been very scared, you know, also taking into consideration, um, where we've been politically, you know, just speaking about this country, not even going around, which is, you know, a whole other bag of chips, but, um, just where we are here. And people are scared to share their opinions. And there's, we spend a lot of time in fear in general. And so it felt so important to me. And it actually got the idea pre pandemic. Same artist inspired me.  She didn't inspire me. She's, she's not in the same way. I loved the way, um, Maria Bravonomic. I always mispronounce her last name. But, um, the way she was there for people and she. held space for them to just be as opposed to, well, I need to say this, you know, just as you were saying. A lot of our time with other people is spent thinking about what we are going to say next. And it's not about listening and truly, you know, tapping into this other person and their energy and what they're sharing. And so, once again, I was, I was, uh, moved to do the same thing and truly connect with others. And that was why I had started that project. But I was looking at an old bio this morning. And when the project was in development, it was called Good Advice because I thought, Oh, I have all this stuff that I want to share with people and I have such really great insight. It was so funny. I was like, Oh my God, look at me thinking about myself.  Save your complex. Once again, you know, we were talking about that earlier. And so same thing, you know, when you move yourself out of the way, it's a clearer path to another person. It really is.   What about you, Shamaya? What about being a woman in the  world of sculpture? I'm so caught up with what you guys are saying that I've not been thinking about what to say. That's perfect.  I like what was the first question. Um, so I'll just talk about my most recent. solo exhibition, um, which was funded not by that grant, by another grant, but I got this computer, which I did a lot of work. Um, it was called The Veil of Maya, and in the Indian culture, Maya is the word in the Bhagavad Gita for illusion. So, like, I've made all these sculptures, um, that are like these white, Fluttery things and nobody really knows what it's from but it's actually like this insidious material that's like choking our planet which is waste plastic and um, somewhere in there is that woman of me as a savior trying to save the plastic but there's also the weaving that I picked up which my grandmother in rural India was um, spinning cotton to earn a living for the family while my grandfather was a prisoner of war in Singapore during World War II. He, he had, um,  so this is India with like, he had five daughters and this is the country where, you know, girls are thrown away because the girl child is not needed. Uh, it's the male that needs to take care of the family. So my grandfather with these five girls didn't have enough money,  went to war. Um, and was taken prisoner, but my grandmother earned the, was actually the one sitting at home earning a living weaving. So I wanted to connect with her in some way with my mother now living with me and my father recently passed away, um, from a lung disease. So all this is happening like while we just moved back to America. And so I just picked up what was right there in front of me, which is the grocery bags. And I'm like, what can I make with this? And the first thing I made was an Ivy bag because my dad was in the hospital at the time and I couldn't go because it was COVID, you know, and he was in Washington.  So, um,  yeah, I think that was the time of. Making the art, you know, being a caregiver for my mother, and then I did end up going to the hospital and caregiving for him for a couple of weeks before he left and,  um,  all these are there, like my grandmother, my stories of my history, um, culture that I'm far from, uh, and I, as I've told you, like, our culture is very quiet. You know, we don't make big issues about the political things that are going on in our country or the poverty that we come from. Like I grew up Very poor. I mean, we all slept in one room. We all slept on one bed. We had an outhouse toilet, you know, so there's all these things that I've lived through and I just don't talk about it. I keep moving forward. I educate myself. I get these jobs. I have a good life, but it's all the things that make me and I guess I'm weaving them  like my grandmother was weaving cotton. So I think that's where the female is.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a very feminine craft  that you're doing.  But I'm trying to also make it masculine because I'm putting in this hard plastic in some of my works to make them into sculptures, which is why I call them tapestry sculptures, um,  because I'm sort of like in a world with my jobs as an engineer, as a political analyst, a male. Dominated fields, which I mean, I never felt that I was lesser. In fact, I felt better than most of them. So that's not a concern for me, but, um  Because I, I mean, you know, you educate yourself and you can put yourself in front of people if you know what you're talking about. And, um, I wasn't concerned about that, but  yeah. yeah. That's  wonderful.  Yeah. I, um, so we're talking about, you know, identity and identifying as a woman Yeah. But we identify in all these different ways, which you've mentioned. Mm-Hmm. , you know, your background. Yeah. Um, how, how else does your identity, any one of you. Your different, you know, ways of seeing the self inform your work beyond the feminine.  I think we're a matrilineal society. The whole time that Shamira was talking, I was just thinking about,  I don't think there's anything more metaphorical and straightforward truth of the stories that you're literally weaving  and carrying this.  I think, gosh, let me, I'm going to write a play about it.  I think that's a  beautiful movie. Watch out, she will definitely write a play about  that. I'm just, I'm completely captivated by people and their own stories. I would never, I can't act, I don't want to act,  but I would. I would encourage you to, oh gosh, I can't stand it. That's such a beautiful story, and I think, That's only a little part of it. I'm sure. Yeah. But that's a thread. Like, that's a really important, I think it could be so cool to stage that in a, Yeah. In a solo storytelling format. My father was an  actor, so he did, Hm. Yeah. Oh, wow. Probably why I'm drawn to you.   And it brings us all together. Mm hmm. But. You know, we identify on a global level, I think, as women with each other, and I don't know that men  do that as much, but I think there's a certain, um,  well, there's a certain empathy and understanding and love that women just normally have for each other, regardless of religion, and that's why it's so important to have these solo.  Stories have, because I think the, the hatred that  happens in the world happens when we do big broad strokes across individuals and we clump them into faceless, nameless people where we would never do that,  um, to some of the historic stories that we've lifted up. And so that's why I think, um, first of all, I think the art that doesn't involve words.  Um, is fascinating to me that the story that you're telling,  um, through your art. I think is, it's breathtaking and the visual of it as you're in the process is part of the storytelling, which I think is so cool. Um, so yeah, it's maternal for  sure. Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.  Um, Thorne, you have identified as coming from the Bible Belt, which I think is interesting. And I think, I think is it probably brings something very different from say like Shamira's background to your art and also being a Black woman in Jacksonville, you know, multi generational Jacksonville. How are these identities shaping or how have they shaped your art?  I'll probably say I felt even more motivated and, um,  just moved to.  Be me, as opposed to following through on other people's expectations based on the fact that I am of the African diaspora, based on the fact that I am a female. You know, it's forced me to not necessarily do the opposite, just to  antagonize other people, but just to, because it's been me, like, I grew up in between two brothers, so I read comic books, which was just kind of outside of the norm. You know, when I was growing up, I think now it's a lot more People talk about, you know, women who, you know, work in the comic book world or who work in that world. You know, I grew up doing printmaking. I've been doing printmaking since I was in high school. You know, when  that type of work was also seen as male dominated. And so, um, it was so funny. I had One of my printmaking teachers in college, he could not remember my name. I had been in, like, four years of classes, and I was a major. Could not remember my name. But once again, it was because he didn't necessarily see me as someone he needed to take into consideration. And that's fine. You know, I don't necessarily shape myself by other people's um, expectations of me. Uh, and that's what I've just had to learn. You know, whether it had anything to do with race, or whether it had anything to do with me being a woman. And that's fine. Um, because I think so often we look at the lack or what we don't have as women or what we're not allowed to have or what's been taken away. And I feel like there's a whole bunch of people around to, you know, study those statistics and all the demographics. And I think that's very important, but what has helped to shape me more often than not is what I've done in spite of the lack or what I've done in spite of the things that haven't been. available to me as a woman, because I was really thinking about what is it that I haven't had, or what is it that I haven't? known about because I was a woman or because I am, you know, a brown person. It's because I don't know what I didn't know.  Exactly. I don't know. Nobody told me.  And sometimes, you know, you don't find about it until afterward. So is it, you know, taking once again into consideration the whole idea of the power of now? Is it? Really serving me to be upset about something that I didn't even know about. And I probably came out on the other end of things a whole lot better having made my way through. Not being given a thing, you know, and so I mean, because I can probably look back a number of times, whether it be, um, you know, grants or whether it be different sets of circumstances where I've asked for resources, and I know that maybe it did have an, you know, Whether it was race or me being a woman and not being taken seriously, definitely had an impact. But unless people are fully authentic and honest with you, which. A lot of the time, they're not, they, they feel ashamed of those things that really influence their opinions. So, they're not going to tell me, well, I made this decision to not give you this because women aren't good with money. You know? And so, I mean, you know, we found that a lot of female artists just aren't good with money. So, we have a tendency not to give them the larger grants. Like, you know, and people so often aren't even aware of what their prejudices and their biases are.  probably even more proud of myself, um, for whatever accomplishments I've, I've had or made, um, in spite of the lack and, and for the ignorance of, you know, not knowing what was not given to me and what. Yeah. And what was taken away from me before I even realized it was available.   That's interesting. Cause we talk a lot about privilege now and the privileges that we're not even aware of, you know, and, and kind of like becoming aware of them. It's so important, but it's, I think you're talking about almost the flip side of that, which I think I've experienced this as well, too. Like not knowing what I didn't have.  Not being, cause I'm the same way. I have two brothers. Right. And it's like, when you compare yourself to your siblings, you're like, well, he got this and I didn't get that. So you're like aware of that, but there are some, sometimes you don't even know what's available to you. You don't know how unprivileged maybe you were and you were just kind of like working through that. Like, you know, Shamira, it sounds like your background, you just kept on moving forward and you kept going. But I think it is important to be aware of, you know, the privileges we have and obstacles also that we've kind of come across. It's  usually after it's usually, you know, someone else's. You know, um, view of a situation, which is why connecting with other people is so important. And have, and talking to people about your story, and people can enlighten you. You know, as opposed to us being in these silos where we never share our story, which is one reason why Jen and storytelling, I think all of us are storytellers, you know, sitting here today. Um, that's why it's so important, you know, to find out, you know, though it's not necessarily my focus, because I'm telling you, if I spent, time really getting into the things that I wasn't given. I would do that all day, y'all. I mean, I don't know what else I'd do.  Yeah, I would just cry. I mean, I don't know what else I would spend time doing. And so, it's important to know and to be aware. Um,  I'm not gonna say that ignorance is bliss because it's not necessarily bliss. It's simply, once again, I've been made stronger. By having to work harder. And I've had to be grateful for that. Not that I wouldn't have loved for it to the road to have been a little bit easier and a whole lot less bumpy. And at the same time, I'm so grateful for the person I am today and what these experiences have made me. Um, I wouldn't give it back. Yeah. I want to know once again, I do want to know. And at the same time, I love me. And I'm so grateful for the type of artist I am right now in this moment that I otherwise would not have been if I didn't have this story to share. Yeah.  It occurs to me that there are so many similarities  among the three of you as we're talking about just kind of this, you know, this being in the feminine space. It's interesting how many challenges are, are the same, you know, even as diverse backgrounds as we have. But yeah, I mean, I definitely, cause I, I don't rem, I don't know if you guys saw this. Question because I kind of put it in the body of one of the emails, but I did want to know if any of you have felt  a particular time when you felt really disembodied, like really disconnected and maybe if that informed your art or the opposite, like you felt really embodied, like really kind of like moved by the spirit. So if you have, you know, an anecdote, um, I'd love for you to share that because it seems like those are where. You have some similarities, you know, through the process, you know, you say the process is everything is more, much more than the product.   Um, so I actually, um, I guess I can think of any time when I felt really embodied was I had to do a performance piece, um, at the U S or the Swiss embassy in China,  and, um, it was me and another. Chinese feminist artist who's a performance artist and a professor, and we barely can connect, like we, she doesn't speak much English, my Chinese is very Yi Dian Dian, and like, um, we, we were in the embassy and we put out this long scroll on the grounds, took off our shoes, and she brought this bowl of ink, and we held a thread between the two of us on opposite sides of the scroll and started painting. And there are all these, like, Swiss ambassador, American ambassador, all these diplomats around us. And here we are, like, on the floor, rolling around with the ink. And then we started tying each other up with ink and, like, put it in our teeth. And she was guiding me because I'm, I wasn't as free as her. She's, she's done performance art where she's, like, You know, uh, gone into a tank full of water or a tank and then they poured water over her and she stayed under because her themes are about like, uh, the women's issues in China. So she was guiding me through this process, but here we are like talking about environmental issues, women's rights, human rights in China. At the feet of all these diplomats and as nervous and scared as I was, you know, it was just, it was, I think, a moment of complete embodiment as these two women taking on these like senior figures and, you know, world politics or whatever, and it was pretty cool. Yeah.  That's really cool. Do you have footage of that? I have. Yeah.  Oh yeah, I've got it. It's on my, it's on the Instagram, but I have a lot more pictures as  well.  Can I say both?  I feel a lot of the time, like the work that I do. Um, it's something working through me and it's so there's disembodiment and a disconnection because I feel as if I'm seeing myself from the outside and manifesting this because that is my purpose. Um, and connection when. I'm still here, grounded, and really working to connect with somebody as opposed to letting it happen. So, once again, my project Talk Talk Convo that I finished over the summer, um, I was in those spaces. I created a space. Uh, made from recycled, uh, retail bags, made from probably about 500 or more, I stopped counting, of, of recycled, uh, retail bags. And I went from library to library, building, building these walls and taking these walls down. I didn't even realize how symbolic it was in that moment. Um, but building these walls, putting walls up and taking walls down and creating this space that was intentionally to interact with other people. And that was their space. For two minutes, and that was why we were there. That was the only reason we were there. That's the only reason those walls were there. And I wanted to do it in a space that was accessible. Um, you were talking about diplomats and I was at the other end of the spectrum, you know, where it was anybody that wanted to come into this space, uh, was able to come into this space and try to connect if that was what they wanted to do. And so it was in those moments that I felt more embodied and more. Connected and grounded.  And once again, it's, it's usually when I fully released and I let down and let go of the resistance of trying to control things is. So many of us artists are, we are always trying to control the outcome as opposed to letting things happen and we want to know what it's going to look like and we try and plan it. But I feel like we all have, I think being disembodied might. Get a bad rap, you know, like being freed from and being untethered in being allowed to just Let things be and let things go like what shamira. It sounds like that was what you were doing for sure You were just letting go of what your expectation is and I feel like I feel like a better creative overall. I feel you know just  More connected to the work when I let myself go, not, not in some, you know, erratic way or totally like mentally untethered way, but in this way where you're fully allowing. I see it as spirit working through me in that way. Like I said, I do see art as a spiritual practice and I think that's part of what my purpose is. So I think both of them. And I think both can be good, you know, depending on how you receive it and how you see it.  That's  why we're called creators.  Artists are creators.  Yeah, absolutely. Creating worlds and spaces. Absolutely.  And you work in the imagination which has, is boundless, right? And that's the point of it, you know, it doesn't have a body. But then you have to pull it into, and I think I, I was sharing that Rick Rubin quote with you guys because I just watched his documentary, I read his book, and I loved how he talked about how it's not so much about the product, it's about the process, and we do create these little artifacts here and there. And those are kind of like the body part of our vast imagination, right? So when you create, even if it's a beautiful, wonderful, amazing, you know, play. Or book, or novel, or sculpture. It's really just a little piece of your vast imagination. You know, there's so much else going on in there. And your  capability. And, you know, all that you are capable of doing. Yeah.   Jen? Wild thorn. You want to have a pajama party now? Let's do it. And just stay up all night. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do this conversation.  Well. Yeah, for sure. It, it sounds like if I can paraphrase for what Thorne, what I heard Thorne saying about the disembodiment part and how it gets a bad rap, which isn't a paraphrase. Um, well, I think about failure. I did a presentation for students last year called Finding Freedom and Fun in Failure.  It connects. to I think what we've, what I've talked about as far as listening, it connects to the sense of place where  if I had been a single mother writing my first album, In New York, well, it wouldn't have happened. I didn't have the space and the place to fail and try stuff. It wouldn't have been possible. So, here we have,  um, the opportunity to try stuff that works, try different ways, collaborate. Some partners that you're working with might disappear at some point. For some things, not. Um, and, and I do, what I do involves, Solitary work and collaboration often,  um, on one project. And I was thinking back to when I got my Rotary ambassadorial scholar, ambassadorial scholarship to go to Senegal.  When I went to the doorway of no return on Goree Island,  I saw,  well, I'm a white person, um,  that carries a healthy degree of.  Sadness for hatred and, um, a lot of the periods of, um, of our world history as people who have been incredibly cruel and  disgusting to each other. And so standing at the doorway of no return, where thousands of Enslaved people from the continent of Africa were loaded onto slave ships. Um,  that moment, I had heard about a little 13 year old girl who was taken from Senegal and, uh, gone through the doorway of no return and ended up here in Spanish owned Florida named Anna Kingsley.  And I just, at that time, there was a tiny little monograph about her that someone sent me. He said, I've heard you're going to this place, Senegal. Guess what? I think this person, and at the time, no one knew the story in Senegal or here, very few people.  And when I went home to my host families, and so I cried for her.  And it was profound. My daughter was lonely, kind of, you know, learning the language. She was in a French school here, which everybody thought I was crazy to put her in Johnny Ford Public Magnet, immersed in French, but, so she could get by fine in French, but, um, you know, she was the only, sometimes we saw, Dakar is a major city, but we went to lots of villages where no one had ever seen a white person before. And when I wrote the song, I cried for Anta Majigunjai, this little girl, and I thought about my daughter on the beach that day meeting another little  girl, a little Senegalese girl, and it brought me back to my best friend. Who we are celebrating 49 years of friendship that I met on a beach when I was 10 and um, and so I connected those two stories and it felt real. It felt, this is my purpose. I didn't question at all the song that I wrote and brought it to a Senegalese group. And they had tears streaming down their faces, and we collaborated and recorded the song. And I had no doubts. It's when doubt comes in. It's when you say, maybe I don't have a right to tell this story. I don't, I'm not in it. Or, when those things come in, then, um, I would say you feel disembodied. And the disembodiment is the business of art. It's always the business of art that I, that you question and doubt. And it's so painful because money,  When, once money gets involved and you're in charge of it, or you have to promote was  very abstract compared to being in the physical living of world, like of the world, you know, it's like now we have to put a number to everything that we do and that we imagine, but, but yeah, I'm just thinking about the other night at your show. It was a very embodied audience because. Of the smells, so she passed around the different smells from different like eras of her life where she remembers it, you know, remember there were good smells there, but in little jars, I've been wondering about that, in little jars, yeah, there were mostly, um, and so to me that felt like a way of you pulling the audience into, into their bodies, you know, into their senses. That was wonderful. Totally taken in there. Yeah. So I guess what we, the way we can wrap up really is let's kind of touch back on the themes of geography and embodiment and taking up space in the city. Like, where do you see? Yourself and your own art and maybe any other organizations that you're connected to, how do you see your, yourself taking up space in? Yes, I can start.  Um, well, you know, we were just having this conversation about, um, me and my role. With art in public places, and I really did see my role as helping people to understand that everybody deserves art, and it should be everywhere. It shouldn't just be in certain neighborhoods with certain, you know, income demographics and certain, you know, um, housing, you know, being 200, 000 and up. And those are the people that deserve art. And a lot of the time when I work with art in public places, and I was essentially, you know, we can say lobbying advocate or whatever. Yeah. That I harassed a lot of a lot of, um, you know, people that work with the city, including city council members at the time that I was first appointed, um, to understand that  there is a space, there's a huge gap, there's a chasm  in between where You know, people have access to art there where art is made and then people have access to it. So much of the time things are in a gallery or in other spaces and maybe in a theater where a lot of people don't even feel comfortable, you know, and I'm not saying that everything should just be, you know, in a grocery store. And at the same time I say, sure, why not? You know, like, why not try, you know, doing art, you know, in, in unexpected spaces. But for, for this specific, um, goal that I had with Art in Public Places, it was about making the process of art going into the community, one that was a consistent, process and one that was facilitated, you know, by a system because they understood that this w this is a need. And so I, I feel so much of the time that we don't all fully understand. I think artists, of course, because we're artists, we feel that art is essential, but so much of the time people don't fully understand that art is essential. Like. You know, art that challenges us, art that's pretty, art that, you know, is not only amazing to look at, but art that teaches us. And I feel like that's a huge part of what my work is here. Not just the work that I create, but also advocating for that type of work as well, supporting other people that do that type of work. And, um,  And always working to, to push the idea of arts access forward is a huge part of my purpose.   That's wonderful. I can definitely see that.   I don't have any grandiose  plans. I mean, I think I'm just going to keep picking up everyone's trash and just making my work. That's a part of it, yes.  And if there's an opportunity to work with a group setting to like weep together, that would be fun. And have, you know, like, sort of like a weaving circle.  We've, we've sculpt with the waste, I think, I mean, that's, I don't have big plans because I'm also going to try to educate myself some more, so.  Those  are big plans, by the way. Changing something that was seen as trash into something. Yeah. Different and useful and giving it a second chance. Yes. Absolutely.  Yeah. I'm uplifting it. I mean, I'm aware of all the, uh, metaphors and themes that go into the work, but I'm just doing, you know, a few pieces at a time. Trying to do, do my part for  society, so. Yeah,  makes me think of mushrooms, because I don't know if you've seen the, it's Fantastic Fungi. They talk about how mushrooms, if we didn't have, um, life forms like that, they'd eat dead wood. That eat, you know, old things and discarded things, then they would just pile up. It was something I'd never thought about before, but that's almost what you're  doing. You're a little mushroom. You're a cute little  mushroom. Mushrooms are great and have many wonderful uses. Absolutely.  Lion's Mane is great. It is. It's  beautiful. What  about  you, Jen? So, um  I was listening to a, um, a guy named Jim Carrick, I, on,  uh, First Coast Connect the other morning, and I hadn't thought about him in a long time. I lived in St. Augustine a long time ago. He's a guitarist that knew, The legendary folk  artist, Gamble Rogers,  and he was doing all these kind of gamble isms, quoting Gamble Rogers, and I already knew this one, that Gamble Rogers said, life is what happens while you're busy making plants. I love that, but I heard a new one that I hadn't heard before, and um,  experience is what happens when you don't get what you want.  And I love that. So true. Um, And so I would say my, the geography of my presence and my art and the connection between goes back to those early days where I was instructed as an ambassadorial scholar to create a cultural bridge between Dakar and Jacksonville. And I had no idea. I wasn't inspired at all until I immersed myself there and heard a story. And so I thought, Okay, you're good at that. You're good at finding connections between people, whether it's I felt like it hurt me to hear you can't find your food  because culinary art is so important. Whenever I do an artistic or a performance, I try to include the elements of the senses, the smells and the tastes and the feel, um, and the sounds of a, of a moment or of a story. And so to me, um, Um, I, I just want to keep creating those cultural bridges that come naturally to me. There's a lot of things that don't, but that's my language and  from their home, right? And a lot of what we're talking about is home,  right? And what home, how do we bring whatever that home is, or, and then you talked about how you carry home with you, you know, you wear it, right? Um, all these things. So to me, um. It's all about that. Just finding what our language is and continuing to do it and build those bridges.   That's so important. Yeah, I do cuckoo a lot.  I'm coming over   because my mother's there and she can  guide.  Thank you so much, Jen and Shamira and Thorne. Thanks for being on the show and gathering here. It was so special that you were here. Speaking of home, like in my home, what  a great conversation. Thank you, sir.  Absolutely. Thank you for even thinking of bringing us together. 

Microdosing psilocybin mushrooms has become increasingly popular and a safe way to help people cope with mood disorders and increase neuroplasticity of the brain. In this video, registered clinical herbalist Ashley Elenbaas, MSc., RH(AHG), will share her own experience of microdosing psilocybin mushrooms and the dosing strategy she employed to work with these powerful mushroom medicines safely. Please see the links and resources below for more information about this practice. RESOURCES Must-See Movie - "Fantastic Fungi" with Mycologist Paul Stamets - Available on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/81183477 Article from "Nature" journal designed and written by Paul Stamets and others - "Psilocybin microdosers demonstrate greater observed improvements in mood and mental health at one month relative to non-microdosing controls. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-14512-3 The Stamet's Stack with Lion's Mane and Niacin - https://maoi.org/health/stamets-stack/ Yale Seminar for the Yale School of Medicine - Paul Stamets January 2023. https://medicine.yale.edu/media-player/stamets-yale-seminar/

Another Thing With Dave, by Dave Smith #AATWD Unveiling Mysteries and Embracing Beauty: A Journey with Dave In a recent episode of the podcast "And Another Thing With Dave," the host, Dave, takes listeners on a captivating journey filled with mysterious encounters, psychedelic experiences, and reflections on the interconnectedness of consciousness. Here's a glimpse into the intriguing conversation: Mysterious Encounters and Hallucinogenic Visions: Dave shares a fascinating story from 2007, recounting an otherworldly encounter with three orb-like entities. The details are shrouded in mystery, leaving listeners intrigued and eager for more. The conversation takes an even more surreal turn as Dave describes a mind-bending experience with Salvia divinorum, leading him to witness a vivid and terrifying vision of the end of the world. The narrative unfolds like a surreal exploration into the shadowy corners of the human psyche. AI, Singularity, and the Future: The discussion pivots to the concept of the singularity and the potential ramifications of artificial intelligence becoming sentient. The hosts ponder the delicate balance between technological advancement and the potential risks associated with the emergence of superintelligent machines. Finding Hope in Fungi: Amidst the profound and existential reflections, the hosts recommend the documentary "Fantastic Fungi." This visually stunning exploration of the intelligence and beauty of fungi becomes a source of inspiration and hope for a positive future. Interconnected Consciousness and Paradigm Shifts: Delving into metaphysical concepts, the conversation explores the interconnected nature of consciousness. The hosts use the analogy of mycelium, highlighting the idea that we are all individual mushrooms connected by a shared, underlying network. The dialogue expands to contemplate the potential next step in human evolution, drawing parallels to the singularity. The hosts encourage listeners to consider the multiverse of possibilities and embrace the idea that profound shifts may have already occurred. Appreciating Beauty Amidst Challenges: Throughout the podcast, the hosts share personal experiences, dreams, and reflections, emphasizing the importance of finding beauty and appreciation in the world despite its challenges. The narrative weaves together a tapestry of mysticism, consciousness exploration, and a deep appreciation for the miraculous aspects of existence. Thank you for tuning in! If you are digging what I am doing, and picking up what I'm putting down, please share the podcast on social media and with friends. Reviews are greatly appreciated. You can leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Links below  Apple ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/and-another-thing-with-dave/id1498443271⁠ Spotify ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/1HLX3dqSQgeWZNXVZ1Z4EC?⁠ Thanks again!!! Follow me and find More of My Content with link below ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/andanotherthingwithdave⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you to my listeners throughout the world. Now heard in 65 countries. According to Spotify my podcast is in the top 20% of podcasts shared internationally. Listener locations: 71% USA 8% Canada 6% United Kingdom  3% India 3% Australia  1% Ireland 1% Germany And less than 1% in 50 plus countries THANK YOU all !!! #aatwd #andanotherthing #davesmith #podcast #conspiracies #truther #politics #uspolitics #truthseeker #andanotherthgingwithdave #USA #usa #Australia #australia #Ireland #ireland #India #india #Germany #germany #uk #UK #United Kingdom #united kingdom #Canada #canada #MysteriesUnveiled #PsychedelicJourney #AIandSingularity #FantasticFungi #ConsciousnessExploration #MyceliumConnection #ParadigmShift #ExistentialReflections #HumanEvolution #BeautyAmidstChallenges --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andanotherthingwithdave/message

Episode 112 of the Fit Mother Project Podcast is about magic mushrooms — but not in the sense you may be thinking.This episode isn't about tripping at a Grateful Dead concert! It's about using functional mushrooms to promote health and wellness.Functional mushrooms don't contain psilocybin so you won't see any psychedelic effects.Functional mushrooms have adaptogenic properties and health benefits and can support memory, mood, energy, brain health, digestion, immune function, recovery, longevity, and more.A recent Netflix documentary, Fantastic Fungi, shed light on functional mushrooms like reishi, chaga, lion's mane, cordyceps, turkey tail, and more.But there's a lot of misinformation about mushrooms, so we brought on an expert to set the record straight!In this episode, you'll meet Robert Johnson, the founder and CEO of Mycroboost, a premium functional mushroom company. He's a cannabis and hemp industry veteran, health product expert, psychedelic advocate, and seasoned entrepreneur. He has a wide breadth of experience in various plant medicines and is here to deliver the truth about how they interact with our health and help our mindsets when used properly. This fascinating conversation focuses on functional mushrooms, but we also touch on psychedelic mushrooms and much more. It's a true eye-opener!In this episode, you'll learn about: The different types of functional mushrooms and how they differ from other mushrooms.The various health benefits of functional mushrooms. What to look (and avoid) for in supplements.The history of psychedelic mushroom use and what the future may hold. And more!So, to get the most from your health and fitness efforts, listen to this episode on magic mushrooms, take some notes, and check out FM30X! More From Robert:Mycroboost website — Subscribe to Mycroboost for 20% off your first order, plus first dibs on special offers, sweet deals, and fungi fun facts!What is FM30X?FM30X is a simple, sustainable, specific weight loss program designed especially for busy women over 40. With short metabolic training workouts, an easy-to-follow meal plan, and an accountability team there for you at every step, FM30X can help you lose 30, 40, or even 50+ pounds!Click here to see what you get when you join the FM30X program today!If you loved what you heard on the Fit Mother Project Podcast, please follow, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts.You can also listen to the show on:SpotifyAmazon MusicGoogle PodcastsAnd don't...

Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers is a therapist, sex educator with a Ph.D. in clinical sexology, author, and Medical Director for the Northwest Institute on Intimacy. Tune in as host Anne-Marie Zanzal has a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Schermer Sellers about sexuality, gender identity, the harmful repercussions of purity culture on sexuality and relationships, and society's shift towards acceptance of diverse identities. A film that has inspired Dr. Schermer Sellers is Fantastic Fungi, which can be found on Netflix and YouTube. You can view the trailer here: https://youtu.be/bxABOiay6oA?si=PuezRCCTuuygLoCpConnect with Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers at www.tinaschermersellers.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers is a therapist, sex educator with a Ph.D. in clinical sexology, author, and Medical Director for the Northwest Institute on Intimacy. Tune in as host Anne-Marie Zanzal has a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Schermer Sellers about sexuality, gender identity, the harmful repercussions of purity culture on sexuality and relationships, and society's shift towards acceptance of diverse identities. A film that has inspired Dr. Schermer Sellers is Fantastic Fungi, which can be found on Netflix and YouTube. You can view the trailer here: https://youtu.be/bxABOiay6oA?si=PuezRCCTuuygLoCpConnect with Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers at www.tinaschermersellers.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing-oriented approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit. Combining a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine, Dr. Weil is the founder and director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, where he also holds the Lovell-Jones Endowed Chair in Integrative Rheumatology, and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health. The Center is the leading effort in the world to develop a comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine. Graduates serve as directors of integrative medicine programs throughout the United States, and through its fellowship, the Center is now training doctors and nurse practitioners around the world. Dr. Weil is an internationally recognized expert for his views on leading a healthy lifestyle, his philosophy of healthy aging, and his critique of the future of medicine and health care. In this episode, Louie and Andy recall how the Fantastic Fungi journey began, and why gratitude, wonder and awe are so essential to our future.

In this Urban Agriculture episode, dive into a new way of approaching change-making and sense-making with William Padilla-Brown - a certified permaculture designer, a citizen scientist, urban agriculturalist, a feature speaker in the film Fantastic Fungi and someone who I call a public professor of mycosymbiotics.Mycosymbiotics is what William calls biological aides for permaculture systems and we explore what this means for practical implementation and the philosophy behind it in this fascinating conversation. You can find his work at www.mycosymbiotics.com, join his newsletter for updates and check out MycoFest which he'll be attending in 2024.Support the showThis podcast is an initiative of the Permaculture Education Institute.Our way of sharing our love for this planet and for life, is by teaching permaculture teachers who are locally adapting this around the world - finding ways to apply the planet care ethics of earth care, people care and fair share. We host global conversations and learning communities on 6 continents. We teach permaculture teachers, host permaculture courses, host Our Permaculture Life YouTube, and offer free monthly film club and masterclass. We broadcast from a solar powered studio in the midst of a permaculture ecovillage food forest on beautiful Gubbi Gubbi country. I acknowledge this is and always will be Aboriginal land, pay my respects to elders past and present, and extend my respect to indigenous cultures and knowledge systems across the planet. You can also watch Sense-Making in a Changing World on youtube.SUBSCRIBE for notification of each new episode. Please leave us a 5 star REVIEW - it really it does help the bots find and myceliate this show.

My guest today is the American Director, producer, and cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg. Louie is recognized as a pioneer in high-end time-lapse cinematography, and his latest film, Fantastic Fungi, displays the magic of Louie's work. We dive deep into Louie's passion for seeing the beauty and connecting with nature. He shares his positive experiences with psychedelics that have brought him closer to himself and the world around him. He has been shooting time-lapse flowers 24 hours a day for over 30 years, and now his work is being used in conjunction with treatments for trauma, along with guided, psychedelic journeys. He once said in a TED talk that "beauty and seduction are nature's tools for survival because we protect what we fall in love with." Enjoy! Sponsors: CozyEarth.com and use code GABBYREECE for up to 35% off site wide Vionicshoes.com and use code GABBY at checkout for 15% off your entire order shopbeam.com/GABBY and use code GABBY at checkout for 40% off for a limited time honeylove.com/GABBY - to save 50% this month only Connect with Louie: Website: www.movingart.com  Instagram: @louieschwartzberg  Films:  Fantastic Fungi 3D IMAX Mysteries of the Unseen World Wings of Life Connect with Gabby @gabbyreece | Linktree For the full show notes visit gabriellereece.com/podcast The Gabby Reece Show talks to top experts with the goal of extracting the best information you will need to navigate the universe of health, fitness, relationships, parenting, and business. Gabby keeps it simple but gets to the heart of the conversation with the hopes of providing you with realistic takeaways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liam comes to the pod today with a new obsession with fungi, and Will brought a disgusting video to watch. Lots of bullying Emily on this ep. Oh, and a new advice segment. FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS: https://www.flowcode.com/page/almostfridaypod SUBMIT CHARACTERS HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdh4-t1h_F7STZ6xRK2Ai5idy0FZni8psQMluBltbKtPL8wbA/viewform SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: FOR WELLNESS - Give the recovery gummies a shot TODAY by going to https://forwellness.com/ and use code FRIDAY for 25% off your first order. 100% DEPOSIT MATCH UP TO $100 WHEN YOU DOWNLOAD THE PRIZEPICKS APP AND USE CODE “FRIDAY” https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/FRIDAY 00:46) Drake Compaña (4:25) Fungi (12:31) That came out of a FROG?! (26:25) Characters (37:42) Will Had a Dream (38:33) Lying About Leo?! (40:56) Another Character (54:45) Slut Shaming (58:10) Advice With Will & Liam

Myken returns to chat about all her internal work she's been doing for the past year. Such growth and insight! So listen in and let the lovely unravel begin.Book referenced: The Immortality Key by Brian C. MurareskuNetflix shows: "How to Change Your Mind" and "Fantastic Fungi"

Renowned Filmmaker and the Director of the Award-Winning documentary Fantastic Fungi, Louie Schwartzberg, joins us to talk about his work and how watching nature films is one of the easiest ways to heal yourself and the planet!This conversation is all about unique ways to reconnect with and appreciate the brilliance of nature and how to be selective about the imagery and content you consume daily.We also chat about topics like...Louie's journey to becoming a Renowned FilmmakerEmbracing gratitude and coming home to your soulHelpful mindset hacks for feeling betterLessons we can learn from natureUsing your TV as a vessel for nervous system regulation (and not de-regulation!)How to see nature from a new perspectiveAnd more!Tune in to get inspired in more ways than one!Watch Louie's NEW Film: Gratitude RevealedJoin The Louie Channel to Steam 100% Positive Energy!SPONSORS, PERKS, & HELPFUL RESOURCES:Download Kelsey's Money Magnetics Guided Meditation for FREE: kelseyaida.com/mmfreebieGet 10% off Lynnsey's Hypnotherapy Membership every month: tinyurl.com/pod-loveJoin our Patreon to support the show and get access to extended episodes and more: patreon.com/highvibe

In this episode, Joe interviews Louie Schwartzberg: renowned filmmaker known for the award-winning documentary, “Fantastic Fungi”; and now, director of the new film, “Gratitude Revealed.” He talks about his path to photography and filmmaking and how psychedelics were a huge inspiration – how his techniques of slowing down, speeding up, and zooming in were ways to capture the invisible aspects of reality – that which is “too slow, too fast, too small, and too vast for the human eye,” but is always there. He discusses the premiere of “Fantastic Fungi” and the waves it spread through the psychedelic space; The Louie Channel, his new streaming channel that will feature all his work in 4k and the work of other curated artists and friends; and the clinical trial he's involved in to see if participants have better results in the treatment of their alcohol use disorder by watching his imagery set to music on an 80-inch screen while on psilocybin – research that hopefully leads to the concept of being able to prescribe images and music to people based on specific criteria.  He discusses his new film, “Gratitude Revealed,” which explores the power of gratitude: making it a daily practice (and especially a post-psychedelic integration practice), how resilience is one of the best benefits from practicing gratitude, and how easy it is to stop a rumination spiral by simply finding something to be grateful for. He also talks about the blessing of being a photographer and always thinking of beauty; how psychedelics make people more environmentally conscious; tripping with parents; how a shared love of nature could be the bridge between opposing sides; and how the best way to deal with the climate crisis is to start in your own yard.   You can watch “Gratitude Revealed” now, and then, on October 25th, we're hosting a Q+A with Louie Schwartzberg on our Navigators platform. head to psychedelicstoday.com/events for details. Click here to head to the show notes page.

UNVEILING THE POWER OF GRATITUDE WITH LOUIE SCHWARTZBERGToday, we have an extraordinary guest with us, Louie Schwartzberg, a Renowned Filmmaker and Director of the Award-Winning documentary Fantastic Fungi. This film is a journey into the hidden wonders beneath our feet. Rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and featured on Netflix, it has captivated audiences worldwide.But his work goes beyond captivating visuals. Listen in to discover how Louie Schwartzberg will unveil the transformative power of gratitude and the breathtaking beauty of the world around us.Topics We Discuss:[12:46] Gratitude in mainstream[30:41] Contemplating death and smallness in the universe[31:54] Feeling comfortable with decomposition[34:09] Transition and transformation as a glimpse of the divine[34:37] Future plans on wonder, awe, and beauty[35:53] Louie's Channel and educational outreach[37:06] A place without violence or fear***********************************************SUPPORT DR. AMY ROBBINS:If you're enjoying the podcast and finding value in guest interviews, ghost stories, and the content I share, please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon member for as little as $5 a month at Patreon.com/DrAmyRobbinsAs a member you'll get more say in the content we cover and exclusive access to behind-the-scenes goodness!Stay Connected with Dr. Amy Robbins:InstagramYouTubeWebsiteFacebook***********************************************FOLLOW LOUIE SCHWARTZBERG:See Louie Schwartzberg's work on The Louie Channel or on Instagram.Life, Death and the Space Between is brought to you by:Dr. Amy Robbins | Host, Executive ProducerExtrassaus.com | Audio & Video Editing | YouTubeShannon South | LifetimeStressRelief.com | Executive AssistantClaire | Claireperk.com | Podcast Cover Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Louie Schwartzberg and I talk about the power of gratitude and how it can be used as a catalyst for physical and mental well being. Louie's (director of Fantastic Fungi) newsest film, Gratitude Revealed, can be seen for FREE on The Louie Channel https://www.louiechannel.tv/  Check it out and connect with Louie here: https://www.instagram.com/louieschwartzberg/  Today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off your first month of therapy by going to www.trybetterhelp.com/themorningritual   Enjoying The Morning Ritual? Please consider leaving a review, be sure to hit the subscribe button and connect with me on instagram @lillybalch for more. 

Allison is about to graduate, but might also drop out. The duo then give advice to a listener who wants closure on a friendship that ended without reason. Allison and Gabe share their own stories of ended friendships and their infamous falling out in 2019. Then, Fantastic Fungi filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg joins for a spicy conversation about the importance of mushrooms to the cycle of life, and gets into it with Allison about psychedelics for mental health. And finally, Allison wants to talk about UFOs very, very badly.  This has been a Forever Dog production  Produced by Melisa D. Monts Post-Production by Coco Llorens Executive produced by Brett Boham, Joe Cilio, and Alex Ramsey. To listen to this podcast ad-free  Sign up for Forever Dog Plus at foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus And make sure to follow us on Twitter, instagram and Facebook at ForeverDogTeam to keep up with all of the latest Forever Dog News

Allison is about to graduate, but might also drop out. The duo then give advice to a listener who wants closure on a friendship that ended without reason. Allison and Gabe share their own stories of ended friendships and their infamous falling out in 2019. Then, Fantastic Fungi filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg joins for a spicy conversation about the importance of mushrooms to the cycle of life, and gets into it with Allison about psychedelics for mental health. And finally, Allison wants to talk about UFOs very, very badly.  This has been a Forever Dog production  Produced by Melisa D. Monts Post-Production by Coco Llorens Executive produced by Brett Boham, Joe Cilio, and Alex Ramsey. To listen to this podcast ad-free  Sign up for Forever Dog Plus at foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus And make sure to follow us on Twitter, instagram and Facebook at ForeverDogTeam to keep up with all of the latest Forever Dog News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allison is about to graduate, but might also drop out. The duo then give advice to a listener who wants closure on a friendship that ended without reason. Allison and Gabe share their own stories of ended friendships and their infamous falling out in 2019. Then, Fantastic Fungi filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg joins for a spicy conversation about the importance of mushrooms to the cycle of life, and gets into it with Allison about psychedelics for mental health. And finally, Allison wants to talk about UFOs very, very badly.  This has been a Forever Dog production  Produced by Melisa D. Monts Post-Production by Coco Llorens Executive produced by Brett Boham, Joe Cilio, and Alex Ramsey. To listen to this podcast ad-free  Sign up for Forever Dog Plus at foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus And make sure to follow us on Twitter, instagram and Facebook at ForeverDogTeam to keep up with all of the latest Forever Dog NewsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/just-between-us/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join us in exploring the science, spirituality, and practical applications of gratitude with Louie Schwartzberg, a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist known for his stunning time-lapse photography and nature films that capture the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Discover the transformative power of gratitude and practical tips for cultivating a grateful mindset. From his own personal experiences growing up with Holocaust survivor parents, to his latest project, Gratitude Revealed, Louie shares how gratitude can lead to a more fulfilling life.  Gratitude has been scientifically proven to have numerous benefits, including reducing stress, increasing happiness, and improving relationships. When we practice gratitude, we shift our focus from what we lack to what we have, which leads to a more positive outlook on life.  Louie also emphasizes the importance of sensory immersive experiences and being in the moment, allowing oneself to savor the present, and discusses the benefits of psilocybin, a type of mushroom that can put you into altered states, which has therapeutic uses including helping cancer patients ease their anxiety and lose their fear of dying. His insights and experiences serve as a reminder of the importance of gratitude in our daily lives and its potential to improve our overall well-being.   Key Takeaways: [01:10] Louie's journey into filmmaking [02:00] Inspiration behind Fantastic Fungi [03:50] Fungi's spiritual and medicinal benefits [05:15] Story behind Gratitude Revealed movie [08:55] The benefits of gratitude according to scientific studies [12:50] Stories of resilience [15:15] Gratitude's impact on Louie on filmmaking [17:20] Beauty's role in survival and motivation [20:25] Importance of sensory immersive experiences [22:15] Being present and expressing gratitude [23:55] Gratitude highlights of Louie's life  [25:10] Louie's spiritual connection to life [26:30] The use of psilocybin in therapeutic purposes [28:55] Psychedelic experiences [32:00] The ability of mushrooms and plant medicines [36:30] The potential of psilocybin and its positive effects   Where to Find Our Guest:  Website Channel: https://www.louiechannel.tv/ Gratitude Revealed: https://gratituderevealed.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louieschwartzberg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/louiefilms/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiefilms   Memorable Quotes: "Sensory immersive experiences is what I relish, and I think we've lost that. I think we don't savor the moment. I think we intellectualize quickly. What does that mean? What does it, you know, what's the analytics around that? But being in the moment, and that's what your sensory receptors allow you to do. And for me, visuals is the most important sensory receptor.” - Louie Schwartzberg "Being present with them, being able to, what I wanna try to do and I'm doing it, spend more time. The greatest gift you can give anyone is your presence. And we're also busy in our lives that it's difficult at times.” - Louie Schwartzberg "There's a tremendous amount of knowledge that's literally beneath our feet that we need to protect. So, my spiritual practice is to protect life, and I want life to flourish. And what is life? Life is DNA going forward. So, you could say it's evolution. Life is a force of energy because it's unstoppable.” - Louie Schwartzberg To stay connected and to learn more about Vishen and Mindvalley, click on the links below:  Website: Mindvalley.com YouTube: @vishenlakhiani Instagram: @mindvalley Instagram: @vishen Facebook: @mindvalley   Subscribe to 'Mindvalley Membership' to discover 65+ transformational Mindvalley programs – at a surprisingly low annual fee here

Join us in exploring the science, spirituality, and practical applications of gratitude with Louie Schwartzberg, a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist known for his stunning time-lapse photography and nature films that capture the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Discover the transformative power of gratitude and practical tips for cultivating a grateful mindset. From his own personal experiences growing up with Holocaust survivor parents, to his latest project, Gratitude Revealed, Louie shares how gratitude can lead to a more fulfilling life.  Gratitude has been scientifically proven to have numerous benefits, including reducing stress, increasing happiness, and improving relationships. When we practice gratitude, we shift our focus from what we lack to what we have, which leads to a more positive outlook on life.  Louie also emphasizes the importance of sensory immersive experiences and being in the moment, allowing oneself to savor the present, and discusses the benefits of psilocybin, a type of mushroom that can put you into altered states, which has therapeutic uses including helping cancer patients ease their anxiety and lose their fear of dying. His insights and experiences serve as a reminder of the importance of gratitude in our daily lives and its potential to improve our overall well-being.   Key Takeaways: [01:10] Louie's journey into filmmaking [02:00] Inspiration behind Fantastic Fungi [03:50] Fungi's spiritual and medicinal benefits [05:15] Story behind Gratitude Revealed movie [08:55] The benefits of gratitude according to scientific studies [12:50] Stories of resilience [15:15] Gratitude's impact on Louie on filmmaking [17:20] Beauty's role in survival and motivation [20:25] Importance of sensory immersive experiences [22:15] Being present and expressing gratitude [23:55] Gratitude highlights of Louie's life  [25:10] Louie's spiritual connection to life [26:30] The use of psilocybin in therapeutic purposes [28:55] Psychedelic experiences [32:00] The ability of mushrooms and plant medicines [36:30] The potential of psilocybin and its positive effects   Where to Find Our Guest:  Website Channel: https://www.louiechannel.tv/ Gratitude Revealed: https://gratituderevealed.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louieschwartzberg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/louiefilms/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiefilms   Memorable Quotes: "Sensory immersive experiences is what I relish, and I think we've lost that. I think we don't savor the moment. I think we intellectualize quickly. What does that mean? What does it, you know, what's the analytics around that? But being in the moment, and that's what your sensory receptors allow you to do. And for me, visuals is the most important sensory receptor.” - Louie Schwartzberg "Being present with them, being able to, what I wanna try to do and I'm doing it, spend more time. The greatest gift you can give anyone is your presence. And we're also busy in our lives that it's difficult at times.” - Louie Schwartzberg "There's a tremendous amount of knowledge that's literally beneath our feet that we need to protect. So, my spiritual practice is to protect life, and I want life to flourish. And what is life? Life is DNA going forward. So, you could say it's evolution. Life is a force of energy because it's unstoppable.” - Louie Schwartzberg To stay connected and to learn more about Vishen and Mindvalley, click on the links below:  Website: Mindvalley.com YouTube: @vishenlakhiani Instagram: @mindvalley Instagram: @vishen Facebook: @mindvalley   Subscribe to 'Mindvalley Membership' to discover 65+ transformational Mindvalley programs – at a surprisingly low annual fee here

The natural world has so much to teach us, and the different ways we are able to interact with it in the modern context, offers endless inspiration. Today on the show we welcome documentary filmmaker, Louie Schwartzberg, to talk about his intriguing life and career, and what has inspired his amazing films, such as Fantastic Fungi and Gratitude Revealed. The child of Holocaust survivors, Louie felt the impact of his family's trauma acutely, and in our chat, he talks about how this shaped many parts of his upbringing, in both positive and negative ways. He shares his recollections of his early fascination with plants and film and the events that led up to his exploring early time-lapse photography.Louie underlines his prioritization of learning through watching and doing, and his desire to tell different kinds of stories. We also get into the practical steps that allowed him to build a career and reputation. Louie remains hopeful of building a movement that can change the world and believes that our gratitude is central to this project. So to hear it all from this amazing guest, be sure to tune in!

Psst! Mushroom leather is not actually made from mushrooms – but it is fabulous! Much Like our guest this week. Merlin Sheldrake is the biologist and author of the extraordinary book, Entangled Life, How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. You might not give fungi much thought, but mycelium networks are working their wonders all around us. And we need them! Together with bacteria, fungi are responsible for breaking down organic matter and releasing carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus into the soil and atmosphere. Without fungi, nothing would decay. We partner up with fungi to make some of the foods and drinks we love the most (hello, bread and beer). And fungi is also causing quite the buzz in fashion, thanks to the invention of new leather-like materials and plastic alternatives derived from mycelium. Forward-thinking designers from Iris Van Herpen to Stella McCartney have been inspired by fungi's wonderful properties and intriguing life.Prepare to be wowed by this enlightening conversation that might just change the way you think about everything around you. Essential listening this Earth Day! Value the show? Please help us spread the word by sharing it with a friend, and following, rating and reviewing in your fave podcast app. Got feedback? Tell us what you think! Find Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm a big believer in gratitude being the bridge to a state of more peace and grace. I especially appreciate humans who share this profound message with their art like today's guest - an exceptional artist - Louie Schwartzberg. Louie is a Renowned Filmmaker and Director of the Award-Winning documentary Fantastic Fungi narrated by Brie Larson. Louie has spent his notable career providing breathtaking imagery using time-lapse, high-speed, and macro cinematography techniques. His new movie, Gratitude Revealed, takes the viewer on a transformational cinematic experience of how to live a more meaningful life full of gratitude. So hopefully this episode leaves you feeling grateful in some way, shape, or form. Enjoy Louie's magic!SPONSOR SPECIAL OFFERS herewatch party for GRATITUDE REVEALED hereCONNECT WITH LOUIEmovingart.comlouiechannel.tvig @louieschwartzbergFacebookYouTubeimdbCONNECT WITH RAQUELLE + YOMyourownmagic.comMY SHOP eyesofaspen.comig @raquellemantrafb group your own magicSPONSOR SPECIAL OFFERS hereSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/your-own-magic/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Language disclaimer: this episode includes explicit language so maybe listen with headphones if you're around children.   As you all know, I took a sabbatical last fall. I needed that time to focus on my own growth and healing without having a microphone in my hand. One thing I knew I wanted to experience during my time away from The Refined Collective was a psilocybin journey (aka mushroom journey). I know there are a lot of immediate reactions that come to mind when someone hears something like that. And I know there are a million questions that you want answered. This episode is a deep dive into the 2-day guided mushroom journey, including why I felt at peace with the decision.   It is important to note that I am not a doctor and this experience is not for everybody. But I wanted to share with you what my experience was like.   My Background I come from a family with addiction in it, and so I have always been careful about all substances. On top of that growing up Christian—I assumed anything drug related would be an open doorway for the demonic. For these reasons and so many more, I never thought a mushroom journey would be something I'd do. A few years ago I started hearing rumblings of people I knew micro-dosing mushrooms to support things like PTSD, anxiety, and depression.  Out of curiosity, I started doing some research of my own. Three years into my research, I was presented with an opportunity to take part in a guided journey and I felt ready to do it.   The Basics I checked in with my therapist, my doctor, and my family. Everyone knew I was taking part in this experience. The experience cost $500 and was led by three facilitators and there was a doctor on the premises as well. It felt incredibly safe. The mushrooms themselves were put into a sort of hot chocolate.   The Breakthroughs I felt so held by God during this experience. I knew God was there with me and that I was safe even in the unknown of what this experience would feel like. There was a particular moment from childhood that came up and brought up some heavy and powerful physical reactions.   Resources Join Patreon here! Fantastic Fungi documentary on Netflix  How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan  The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk  Old episodes of TRC about anxiety 

Episode Highlights with Louie SchwartzbergHow gratitude was built in since he was little by his parents who were Holocaust survivorsThe connection between nature and gratitudeHow to increase wonder, gratitude, and creativity in your lifeSimple exercises to increase gratitude in your own lifeWhy beauty is nature's tool for survivalHow fungi might be the greatest natural solution for climate changeAmazing lessons he learned while filming fantastic fungiResources We MentionGratitude RevealedFantastic Fungi - Available on NetflixMoving ArtLouie Schwartzberg - Tedx TalkSiddhartha: A Novel by Hermann Hesse