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Jared shares his experiences of coming back from his Ayahuasca ceremonies and the transitional period that took place in his life as he moved out of his traditional military career into a career path that was more reflective of his gifts. We discuss the inner voice and guidance we have received since our Aya experience and how it shows up for us – often with humour. Jared explains how he responded to his anger issues and worked through his feelings as he found his way to a more authentic career. We share our experiences with taking what can be perceived as annoyances, distractions or disruptions and turning them into helpful tools. We talk about trusting our path and seeing the work of spirituality and intentionality in it despite how challenging it can be at times. We discuss our experience with intentions and the importance of love and self-love.

We discuss some of the important messages and themes that shaped Greg’s integration journey including ‘You Cannot Fail’. We discuss how the idea of failure in life can prevent us from taking chances and how the idea of failing is introduced to us very early in life via school exams etc. Greg shares a story about how he internalized a minor incident when he was young and how that impacted him in life. We talk about anger – why it’s there and how it’s connected to inner beliefs that may be dissolved but how it can be helpful at certain stages of growth and integration. We discussed the challenges involved in moving out of unhealthy workplaces and the growth that this process brings. We also talked about what’s happening in medical care and how some practitioners like Greg are moving away from the corporate model to provide more personalized, compassionate care. We discussed the current social polarization and the increase in harsh social interactions that we often see today as an opportunity for change.

This discussion encompasses a few themes:  healing and/or moving away from unbalanced relationships & the grief associated with that, recognizing challenging situations as opportunities to apply themes that came up in ceremony and seeing/feeling what lies beneath the surface of relationships or situations. We talk about recognizing our intuitive abilities and applying them to assist along the integrative path rather than falling back into familiar patterns. We also cover the topic of respect for each person's uniqueness and creating opportunities for us to do this in a way that inspires connection rather than conflict.

Our discussion begins with being called to the medicine, what this felt like. We talk about how the process of integration involves many chaotic episodes that are the prelude to a rebirth and that this is how we can interpret the events that are externalized in the world right now. We talk about the evolution that is taking place from being a follower society to being more self reliant and focused within and as Helen puts it, finding our inner shaman.. We discuss ways of moving through these times and how these cycles always lead to better opportunities for ourselves. We discuss how during the integration period we often change how we measure success and end up following what truly makes us fulfilled and happy. We talk about the challenges that arise in doing that as part of the integration journey. We also touch on the impact of our ancestry and the healing opportunities that exist there too. 

In this episode, we discuss the power of fluid perspectives – of being open to changes in worldview and perspectives. Vyolet shares the changes she made in her life, the challenges she faced and how this transition ultimately moved her forward. We talk about the power of surrender and trust that things will work out in the end. Vyolet reaffirms how the problems she anticipated in making these changes were resolved once she made them. We discuss how these challenges can be gifts in disguise. By honouring the nudges we get to make changes in our lives, we are rewarded down the line. We discuss the underlying concept of unity, how it's being challenged today and that even though we may be confronted by separation and other dark elements these days, just as in our personal work, we are being invited to confront this and move through it into another way of being. We discuss this new way of being and how it’s inspired by the natural elements around us and within us. We speak about this being part of our own evolution, respecting the deep wisdom within us that is connected to everything and how that is changing our experience.  

Emileena and Rebecca discuss the value of creativity. Plant medicines and psychedelics celebrate and cultivate the creativity within us. Creativity is often discouraged or devalued in society and those who have this particular talent are often guided away from pursuing it professionally. However, most of the products that benefit us originated from someone’s creativity, so if we limit creativity to a small category of people, we do so to our own detriment. It’s understood that solving problems creatively can be beneficial so it’s no wonder that medicines cultivate this in us – this secret super power. Studies show that we use more of our brains when we’re thinking creatively and studies show that we’re using our minds creatively when we’re in these altered states. We discuss the benefits of creativity and how it shows up in our lives. Plant medicines often teach us how we are creating our experience and how we can create our lives differently to our benefit. Because creativity is a natural part of us, it’s an act of self love to recognize this and to use it.

Judith and I share our thoughts on the true nature of the long and often challenging path of integration. It can become a way of life. We share about our patterns and how they often continue to emerge in different ways to remind us and to help us work on these things as part of our integration. It can be difficult when patterns emerge again and it's important to remember that we have made progress and that this is part of growth. We explain the importance of self-compassion, support and community.

We discuss a more expansive concept of illness that we discover through Ayahuasca. We talk about both individual illnesses and how this relates to the greater illness of humanity and the opportunities we have to heal it. The ACEs study that is known to the mainstream world of medicine indicates a clear connection between childhood abuse/trauma and illness. Dr. Tafur talks about getting to the root cause of illness and how this unfolds with medicine and work with various medicines including Ayahuasca. Conditions like depression and crohn’s disease can be messengers bringing into our awareness something deeper that needs to be healed. We discuss the importance of agreeing to move on once we have sufficiently grieved. Dr. Tafur emphasizes that people need to feel a sense of agency for them to be well and we talk about how spiritual practices can provide that agency.

Kyle shares his NDE (near death experience) and his spiritual emergence following this event. We talk about our individual experiences of spiritual emergence/emergency and Kyle provides an explanation of the difference between the two. We discuss the similarities between NDEs and medicine experiences as well. We talk about the pull that we often feel to be back in the blissful/peaceful states we can experience in NDEs and medicine/psychedelic journeys. We discuss the difficulties navigating spiritual emergence without guidance. Kyle reflects on what he has learned about spiritual emergence and different ways of referencing it such as 'exceptional experiences' so as to invite other ways of viewing these extraordinary states that many experience in such different ways. We touch on discovering our own unique and special gifts which can be an important part of our identity and purpose. Although spiritual emergence can happen spontaneously, it can also follow medicine/psychedelic experiences and this emphasizes the reason for not entering into these ceremonies or into psychedelic states lightly. We talk about fear of change and how change and openness is a healthy yet challenging part of this journey of personal and societal growth.

Sebastien Fouillade of Leadershipedelics & Rebecca Hayden discuss living more authentically. Plant medicine experiences often emphasize our uniqueness and how important it is for us to discover and honour our authentic selves – to live our lives accordingly and to reflect this in everything we do. We talk about our personal experiences of self discovery and the process of becoming more authentic. We discuss the resistance we encounter and how this and many other triggers along the way can be opportunities for growth and serve as sign posts to guide us in the right direction. We share about the gifts and possibilities that authenticity can bring to our lives and how discovering and using our unique abilities can help us create a more harmonious and rich social experience.

Xiaojue & Rebecca discuss the 'fawning' response to trauma which is a lesser known characteristic of trauma behaviour. They talk about their own experiences of this response and the impact it has had on their habits and personal growth. The discussion touches on different aspects and root causes of this response, everyday examples and the larger implications of this on a societal level. 

This special episode features a discussion about exploring and shedding the darkness within to achieve a more joyful and loving existence. Rebecca Hayden describes experiences of confronting and letting go of dark energies while in different states after medicine experiences. This is a discussion that took place with Michael Kokal in 2020 and delves into the possibilities of what can be achieved in meditative, sleep and hypnogogic states involving profound transformational confrontations with dark entities and the work that is achieved through doing this. This is also a discussion about the everyday experiences we have in this life that can be described as 'dark' and how doing this work involves letting go of these kinds of thoughts and behaviours which helps us to feel lighter and happier.

This discussion is about healing from the inside out through challenging times. We talk about outer reflections of things that we need to heal - issues such as control which is coming up a lot now. We discuss moving through trauma into empowerment. Other topics such as shadow work and empathy come up as we discuss our own healing journeys and tools that anyone can use to help them through these difficult times. We end by emphasizing the power of humour and harnessing this to help us move through our healing journey.

Katherine shares some of her story and how she came to practice personal sovereignty. We discuss the struggles and gifts that have come with this unprecedented time and share the lessons that most resonate because of it. We touch on things like 'psychic attacks', give everyday examples and reveal how even this kind of experience can make us stronger. We talk about our experience with depression and how it helped us heal. We discuss how we make decisions, conscious and unconscious agreements, personal power, responsibility and surrender.

Angela and I discuss connecting with inner wisdom to make sense of conflicting in–formation. Inner knowing always helps us recognize truth. We offer ideas of ways to connect with what is ‘yes’ or what our own truth feels like in our body or in our experience. We discuss how this is an exciting time as it is an invitation to grow beyond where we’re at now. We liken this time to the great detox and what we often experience as the Herxheimer reaction when we’re making progress. We talk about the importance of joy and allowing ourselves to feel this as a means to take us to a healthier state. Learning and growing can be joyful. We can achieve accelerated growth if we embody the lessons and principles we offer our children. We agree on how powerful it is to focus on the things that make us feel good and inspired, how this improves our inner state, which reflects outward. When we focus on what we wish to unfold in our lives, we at times will come up against how we get in our way, and this is the work of the healing path to achieve those things. We talk about the fact that when we aren’t ready to do this kind of work that the opportunities will continue to present themselves in our lives until we are ready or until we do. We talk about defensiveness, what we can learn from it and how we can respond in better ways that lead to better outcomes.

Shannon & I discuss our current social polarization as an opportunity for us to confront and heal some underlying issues that have impacted our social experience for a long time. We talk about control stemming from fear and the conditioning legacy that is revealed through typical childhood and parenting experiences. We provide examples of how we can change this and how we can approach this time in a way that may help us to bring about a more harmonious existence. We talk about labels, how dehumanizing they can be and how much more we are than these limiting descriptions of a whole person.

We discuss our experiences of inner & outer conflict and the opportunities that lie in the provoking experiences all around us today. We talk about how psychedelic and spiritual experiences reveal to us that our inner experience or state reflects outwards and how we manifest opportunities to learn, sometimes in the form of events or people in our lives who challenge us in uncomfortable ways. Luc talks about fear as the driver of all aggression and how this understanding may bring us closer to responding in healthier ways to controversial events. As always we talk about the power of love and how we continue to return to this wisdom to help us navigate difficult times.

Maya and I discuss the healing process in these times of upheaval. We talk about upheaval and provocation as part of the healing process and an aspect of shamanic healing that we have experienced personally and that we see playing out in the world today. We discuss world events as seen through the lens of a healing process. We share our own journeys that involve trauma, victimhood and ultimately, choosing to stand in our power. We explore our relationship with power, recognizing where we're at with it and changing it to facilitate the emergence from victimhood into personal power. In this discussion we explore the topics of trauma, victimhood, free will, personal power & love.

Our discussion centres around things falling apart so that they can be recreated in a better way – the concept of rebirth playing out in our lives and in the integrative process. Instead of looking at depression as an illness, we explore the idea of seeing depression and other difficult states as an indicator or signal telling us that change is needed and underway. Depression is often a natural reaction to unhealthy experiences and events coming to a head. We talk about the integration process as becoming who we are and living authentically. We discuss practical situations we have encountered in our work life and how we applied what we learned with medicines to these experiences both in work interviews, in the workspace and ultimately choosing careers that reflect who we are and lend themselves to living an authentic life. We talk about the importance of allowing that inner voice and knowing to drive our experience rather than outside influences which have led us in directions that don’t always serve us well. We discuss how we learn lessons along the way and become comfortable with ‘making mistakes’. We relate stories that illustrate how humour can assist us through these challenging learning experiences – a form of ‘educational entertainment’. We talk about the value of open curiosity and how everything that happens in life is a response to our intentions and where we’re at. Ultimately, being in a state of love is what will help us to manifest more positive experiences in our lives.

Jonathan and Rebecca discuss different approaches to psychedelics: clinical, traditional and the many variations of these practices. Jonathan voices concerns about clinical set and setting and the implications of this with respect to the clinical approach to psychedelics and plant medicines. We talk about the idea of having a relationship with the medicines and how this concept may not be adopted by everyone. We agree that we’re all just finding our way with these phenomenal medicines and that one size does not fit all. We talk about how the DSM identifies mental conditions/illness decided based on a collection of symptoms, how this is now being questioned and how psychedelic medicines open us up to seeing these states and conditions differently and most importantly, what contributes to these unhealthy states. We talk about how psychedelics are often the beginning of us understanding ourselves better and how our life experiences and the way we live in the world has brought us to these unhealthy states of being. Instead of a miracle cure, although these experiences are truly magical, miraculous and transformative in many ways, they are often the beginning of a transformation that takes work that can last the rest of one’s life. We discuss the tremendous value of psychedelic experiences that not only offer individually transformative opportunities but also offer us different perspectives & changes in our worldview that may change the way that we approach our lives which is transforming our collective way of being for the better.