This week, I’m revisiting one of my favorite topics: Psychedelics & Spiritual Practice. I’ve used psychedelics in clinical settings and have found them to have a unique place in the treatment of mental health disorders. But I’m personally very interested in their use for spiritual purposes. Especially because, in my own clinical experience, many mental health issues have a strong root in spiritual and existential challenges.
Continue readingEp. 116: The Importance of Rites of Passage
In this episode, we talk about rites of passage: not just how we can celebrate external and internal moments of growth and maturation, but also how to overcome society’s biggest challenges we face as we grow towards our Soul Purpose.
Continue readingEp. 115: Making Quality New Friends
If you’re like me, after you finished college, you found moments in your life when your friendships with others changed. Maybe you wanted to grow and evolve spiritually, and they did too. But you’ve also probably walked away from friendships that, for one reason or another, no longer served you.
Continue readingEp. 114: Renunciation + The Joy of Simplicity
I’ve often thought about the concept of renunciation – and how I have a resistance to it. Don’t get me wrong. I lived out of my car for 7 years and I was a climbing guide who only made $14k a year for a looooong time, so I understand how living simply can be really fulfilling. That chapter of my life was one of the happiest.
Continue readingEp. 113: The One Thing
The to-do list and project ideas are endless and it all seems really important. And the really annoying part is that when we look at the lists and get overwhelmed, we end up doing nothing instead. The secret is that it’s NOT all as important as it might seem.
So how do we narrow down that list and figure out what ACTUALLY needs to get done?
Continue readingEp. 112: Greatest Hits Vol. 6 – Commitment & Massive Action
With passive action, you’re doing something but not creating a result. So, you might be reading or learning or studying – which feels really good. It’s like you’re doing something, but not in a massive action sense because you haven’t created a result.
Continue readingEp. 111: Judgment and Blame
This episode is all about releasing one of the most common toxic patterns many of us have (and that easily that hooks me, personally): judgment and blame.
Continue readingEp. 110: The Miracle of Being Alive
This past week when I was on a silent retreat, as the days went by and we all got deeper into our meditation practice, I could see that people were walking really slowly…taking long pauses to enjoy the nature around us; stopping and touching the leaves of a bush and even petting it in appreciation; gazing at a wild turkey and laughing at all its sounds and attempts at impressing us with displays of their feathers, or perma-grinning up at the full moon.
Continue readingEp. 109: The Gift of Silence
This past week I went to Maui with my good friend, Angela on a bit of an informal retreat. We had an absolute blast together – not just because we share so much in common and can laugh until we almost pee ourselves, but also because we both realized what we could change and what we couldn’
Continue readingEp. 108: Existential Anxiety and Crisis
In 1991, my life seemed perfect. I had just started at UCSC, my first choice for schools, not just because of the amazing reputation of the rebel professors, but also because of the ancient redwood forests and proximity to the beach – nature was important to me, and this place had it ALL.
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