Adventures Through The Mind

We welcome Greg Wrenn to the show to share his experience of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD) and how it was that his explorations of coral reefs and journeys with Ayahuasca turned the tide on his lifelong struggle with the condition. Additionally, as both his experience of and healing from cPTSD is intertwined with his journalism on climate science, we also explore how the ecological and psychological effects of the climate crisis weave into our personal and collective experiences and expressions of trauma. Enjoy ... For links to Wrenn's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind189 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Toss my a Tip on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso Buy some merchandise:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More Options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support Newsletter:  https

Nolan Williams, MD joins to talk about brain injury, ibogaine, and the incredible results of his study (conducted at Ambio Life Sciences Center) on ibogaine for treatment of traumatic brain injury, "concussions" in particular. We also talk about ibogaine as an oneirogen; the cardiac risks of ibogaine; how ibogaine compares to other treatments methods for brain injury, including other psychedelics; microdosing ibogaine for traumatic brain injury; and that ibogaine can seemingly “de-age” the brain. Additionally, we talk about context vs pharmacology in the healing benefits of psychedelics; separating high-technology from time; and how and why using the vehicle of capitalism to fund psychedelic research may be a good thing. Enjoy ... For links to Dr. Williams' work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind188 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.

In this episode of the podcast, we explore the present day legal and political conundrum psilocybin mushrooms are facing as they sit on the verge of a significant change in their criminal status; the historical impact of mushroom tourism on the indigenous cultures that work with psilocybin; how that history is impacting those cultures today; and how all of this is influencing the complex political situation mushrooms now sit in the middle of. Our guest is Mijal Schmidt. ... For links to Mijal's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind187 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Toss my a Tip on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso Buy some merchandise:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More Options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support Newsletter:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter Telegram Channel:  https:

Led by the inspiration of a cephalopod now extinct 66 million years, Sky Otter and I explore what is means to live our lives in alignment with life, creatively, and with heartbreak, grief, endings, and death as not only necessary parts of the process, but gifts that can deepen, enrich, and guide our limited days. Some of the topics we explore include ammonite as example of death and creative change in evolution; why life requires death and heartbreak is necessary; finding our way out of mass extinction through creativity in service to life; building heart-full community in relationship with Nature; deep Time and the ever-present is-ness of all things from all time; and why acting in alignment with life is a gift to all life, across all time. ... For links to Sky's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind186 FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW ... Sky's previous features on ATTMind Podcast -▷ Episode 156: Deep Ecology, Earth Connection, and The Circle of Life -▷ Psychede

Alexander Beiner joins us to explore how psychedelics can help us make sense of the meta-crisis. This includes topics like complexity tolerance and the overwhelming deluge of information in modern digital life; “How” and “why” we solve a problem is as important as the “what” of the solution itself; the mythological impact of sci-fi narratives on identity and perception; and whether AI will become a new god. Additionally, we speak on extended-state DMT (DMTx) and interacting with entities; overlaps in the perceptual impact of phenomena like DMT entities and UAPs; and emotionally managing the potential of our world slowly declining into a nightmare dystopian future. ... For links to Beiner's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind185 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Toss my a Tip on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.c

Travis Cartwright and Marie Zak are clinical herbalists from Althaea Herbals, an apothecary in Nelson, BC, Canada. They join us on the show today to talk about herbalism as a way of being in the world, as well as a clinical practice. We also explore why herbalism is not just a plant replacement for pharmaceuticals; how an animistic worldview can empower us to cultivate a direct and living relationship with plants and nature as a whole; how we can learn to communicate with plants through the direct experience of the body; some of Travis and Marie’s favourite herbs; where psychedelic plants and fungi fit in a practice of herbalism; and how herbalism can support us in our experiences with psychedelic plants.  Enjoy ...   For links to Travis and Marie's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind184 ... B E L O N G I N G -- A PATHWAY HOME (course) Marie and Travis are running a 7-week long online course to deepen your capacity to connect with plants and practice herbal

This episode is with Mijal Schmidt and presents a rather robust exploration of what psychedelic integration is and the specifics of what an ayahuasca integration requires. We talk about the importance of good preparation, and what that looks like; various integration practices and activities; the most common challenges in integrating ayahuasca experiences, including integrating HUGE experiences and difficult experiences; the integration of experiences of exogenous material, e.g. entities or absorbing other people’s processes; and how to know when we have successfully completed our integration. We also explore the difference between psychedelic integration and psychotherapy; learning to accept what is happening in our journeys, even when we don't like it or want it or think it's what we are supposed to be experiencing; as well as how to support someone in a post-psychedelic crisis, and when to intervene for their own safety. Enjoy! ... For links to Mijal's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episod

Acacea Lewis is our guest for this episode of Adventures Through The Mind. Our interview explores a number of vignettes into her scholarly explorations of psychedelic mushrooms throughout human history, and especially in various African traditions. But the two main thematic arcs we travel in the interview are the work of the late Kilindi Iyi and the value and potential of high dose psilocybin experiences as a form of marital arts, primarily through the lens of Acacea’s personal experiences. ... For links to Acacea's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind182 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   EPISODE SPONSOR The Spirit Plant Medicine Conference 2023 Happening in-Person and Online, Nov 3-5  Head to http://www.jameswjesso.com/spmc and use the promo ADVENTURES to get a 30% off the price of your ticket.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Tos

Dr. Eve Maram is a clinical and forensic psychologist and a certified Jungian Analyst in private practice in Orange, California. She joins us to share her perspective on schizophrenia, of it as a condition wherein the organizing function of the ego is overwhelmed by the turbulence waters of the unconscious (a statement that will be well flushed out in the interview); but we also go deep into her model of the schizophrenia complex, which is the bundle of “thoughts and feelings constellated by encounters with what we call schizophrenia, for those who experience symptoms, and for those others impacted by them” (another statement that will be fully flushed out throughout the interview).  Throughout this interview we also explore what a complex is; the role schizophrenia played in the development of Jung’s theories; the vital important of relationship for those with schizophrenia; how schizophrenia attacks relatedness; the various ways the schizophrenia complex arises within us and why; pharmaceutical vs non-pharm

Dr. Adele Lafrance joins us to explore psychedelics and the healing power of Love. Our conversation begins with an exploration of emotional processing and how difficulties and deficiencies in emotional processing both our mental health, our relationships, and our general wellbeing. We then step into psychedelics and the role they play in supporting our emotional processing capacities. From there we turn towards Love, what it is and all the accidental ways we conflate it with things that can include love but aren’t love itself: romance, lust, infatuation, attachment, obsession, etc. We talk about the healing power of Love, both in our day-to-day lives and in various forms of healthcare, and why as a society we need to better learn how to wield and integrate that healing power of love. We then talk about encounters with Love as a transpersonal force during psychedelic experiences, the role of love in supporting people in their psychedelic experiences, and even the strange phenomenon of being harmed by too much

Here is a short but important update to the Podcast release schedule. TLDR: Rather than every two weeks, podcasts will now be released every 4 to 6 weeks for the next few months in order to allocate more time to writing a book: a follow-up to my first book, Decomposing The Shadow: Lessons From The Psilocybin Mushroom    --- SUPPORT THIS PODCAST — ► Donate monthly on Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso ► Tip Me on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso ► Donate via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS ► Crypto Donations: https://www.jameswjesso.com/bitcoin/ ► Merchandise: https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ ► More options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support/ -- STAY IN TOUCH -- ► Newsletter: https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter ► Telegram Channel: https://t.me/jameswjesso  

Rachel Harris, PhD joins us to talk about her new book, Swimming In The Sacred Swimming in the Sacred offers a revelatory look into the past half-century of psychedelics use via in-depth interviews Harris conducted with women elders who have worked underground guiding sacred entheogenic journeys to cultivate insight, healing, and spiritual development.    Specifically, we talk about working with unseen worlds and unseen others; thin veils, absorption, and being accidentally overdosed by psychedelics; the uncanny connection between guide and journeyer during ceremony; and how psychedelic guiding work is NOT therapy and how therapy and guiding are two different skill sets. Furthermore, we talk about the complexity of good dosing; the value of lower doses and the risks of putting larger doses on a pedestal; the strange emerging phenomenon of “competitive ego deathing”; and learning to work with life in a bigger way by learning to let our psychedelic insights work on us over time. We talk about the risks of harm

Today’s episode is a bit of a lateral step from psychedelics specifically as we are going to talk about bipolar with Sara Schley, the author of the highly-acclaimed memoir BrainStorm: From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum.  We talk about bipolar as a spectrum and the different variations of bipolar disorder; why it is that so many people with bipolar are misdiagnosed and the issues this presents to those individuals and their families; major triggers for bipolar episodes and why medication isn’t enough to keep people stable; the self-care system Schley has developed for living with a bipolar brain; and how to support your friends/family that are in a bipolar crisis. Enjoy. ... For links to Schley's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind178 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Paypal Donation: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Tip Me on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso Merc

This episode features Matthew Baggott of Tactogen Inc. and will explore entactogens, which are drugs like MDMA, 2C-B, and Methalone. We start with setting a basic framework for what an entactogen is and a few example drugs, before exploring the complexities in their various effects, mechanisms of action, and both the legislative and technical process of the development of novel or new entactogenic drugs. ... For links to Baggott's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind177 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Paypal Donation: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Merchandise:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More Options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support Newsletter:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter Telgram Channel:  https://t.me/jameswjesso *** Extra BIG thanks to my patrons on Patreon for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially my $23+ patrons, Andreas D, Ian C, Yvette FC,

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Andrew Gallimore to explore the content of his new book 'Reality Switch Technologies: Psychedelics as Tools for the Discovery and Exploration of New Worlds'. We discuss how the brain builds an experiential world model from patterns of information at the neural level; how all of those worlds are correlated with specific neural patterns; how we can disturb that neural pattern to encounter new worlds; essentially, using psychedelic molecules to explore alternate worlds.  We explore how different classes of psychedelics affects the brain differently and thus switch us to different potential worlds, focusing specifically on the neural and world-switching effects of classical psychedelics, tropane alkaloids, and ketamine. We also explore why the brain doesn’t care if its models are true, only if their adaptive; how perception of reality flows from conceptual hypothesis down, not from sensory information upwards; the self-model and its disintegration (ego death); we talk about sc

Today’s episode explores the mescaline-containing cactus known as San Pedro, otherwise known as Huachuma. Our guest is Laurel Anne Sugden. We discuss the objective side of the cactus; that is habitat, history, sustainability, poaching, pollination, propagation, fruits, flowers, and alkaloids. However, we also explore what we might, for lack of better language, call the subjective side of San Pedro; we explore “who is San Pedro”, the qualities of experience it catalyzes, and what it asks of us and offers us in perspective, healing, and relationship.  We also explore the impact anthropocentrism has on our capacity to be in relationship with sacred plants, safe preparation methods of cactus powder, the subjectivity of ethics, why it takes more than breaking the ego to make us wise, and a deconstruction of the modern fascination of “hyperspace entities” and aliens, among a handful of other topics throughout the flow of the conversation.  --LINKS--  Huachuma Collective Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huachum

This episode features Jeronimo MM of ICEERS Foundation and explores the potential dangers and pitfalls present for ayahuasca/plant medicine facilitators in non-traditional contexts. Dangers specific to the facilitators, that Jeronimo refers to as The 6 Pitfalls: Sex, Money, Power, Intercultural Relationships, and Legal Situations. We also do a deep dive into what a “non-traditional context” is and two potential harms that might come up for participants, namely “when the experience is too much” and “Ayahuasca told me that…” To use Jeronimo’s words from the interview you are about to hear, this episode explores “How to avoid harming people who have put themselves under your care” We welcome Jeronimo back to Adventures Through The Mind for his fourth feature. His previous episodes were a dedicated interview on the complexity of the ongoing mainstreaming of psychedelics and the others were psychedelic cafes on how to protect from corporate influence and bad actors in the psychedelic scene, and the importance o

Bob Wold is from Clusterbusters Inc. He joins us on this episode of Adventures Through The Mind podcast to present cluster headaches, one of the most painful conditions known to humankind—their patterns, symptoms, and pathophysiology; as well as the treatments presently available, with a specific deep dive into psychedelic tryptamines as the most effective treatment discovered thus far and how those with clusters use those tryptamines. ... For links to Bob and Clusterbusters', full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind173 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Paypal Donation: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Merchandise:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More Options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support Newsletter:  https://www.jameswjesso.com/newsletter Telgram Channel:  https://t.me/jameswjesso *** Extra BIG thanks to my patrons on Patreon for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially my $

Dr. Tim Read is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and author based in London.  He joins us on the show to discuss the deep unconscious, complexes, being triggered, and why we need a new way to treat mental illness. We talk about the difference between spiritual crisis and psychosis; how modern psychiatry is broken; and why psychiatrists should undergo psychedelic therapy. Additionally, we explore the difference between being in process and processing; how our triggers are an opportunity to step into our healing journey; the role of relationships in our healing; how to help shift culture and community to better support people in crisis; how to support people in psychotic delusion (without colluding in their delusions); and the point at which we should involve psychiatric intervention. Enjoy   ... For links to Jordan's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.ly/ATTMind172 *** FULL TOPICS BREAKDOWN BELOW**   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Paypal

Jessica Corneille, MSc is a Research Psychologist specializing in spontaneous spiritual awakening experiences. On this episode of the podcast we start by presenting a definition of a spontaneous spiritual awakening experience before going on to explore the after-effects of these experiences; how they seem to affect both atheists and strongly religious people; common preceding factors; the neurobiological and psychological factors correlated with spontaneous awakening experiences; as well as negative spiritual experiences, e.g spiritual crisis or spiritual emergencies.  We also deconstruct the exclusive pathologizing of psychosis, bipolar, and schizophrenia and the delegitimization of the mystical states of other cultures as a kind of racism. And we end with a discussion on integrating spontaneous awakening experiences and how to support people in their integration of spontaneous mystical experiences.   ... For links to Corneille's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video, head to bit.l