WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.860 Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. As 00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:03.759 always, my name is James Geering, and this week 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:05.900 it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:09.900 mind -body -medicine practitioner and the founder 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:14.320 of Red Path Spiritual Healing Retreats, Dr. Andrea 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.260 Lucey. So in this conversation, we discuss a 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.579 host of topics from her childhood in the Andes, 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.079 the ancient healing of her native tribe, her 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:29.260 journey to America, training Marines, her own 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:33.140 powerful mental health story, discovering ayahuasca, 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:36.700 healing veterans and first responders, and so 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:39.899 much more. Now, before we get to this incredible 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:42.780 conversation, as I say every week, please just 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:45.759 take a moment. Go to whichever app you listen 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.520 to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback, 00:00:49.619 --> 00:00:53.609 and leave a rating. Every single five -star rating 00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:56.729 truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making 00:00:56.729 --> 00:01:00.609 it easier for others to find. And this is a free 00:01:00.609 --> 00:01:05.590 library of over 1 ,200 episodes now. So all I 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:09.230 ask in return is that you help share these incredible 00:01:09.230 --> 00:01:12.269 men and women's stories so I can get them to 00:01:12.269 --> 00:01:15.409 every single person on planet Earth who needs 00:01:15.409 --> 00:01:19.349 to hear them. So with that being said, I introduce 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:43.650 to you... Dr. Andrea Lucey. Enjoy. Well, Dr. 00:01:43.769 --> 00:01:46.269 Andrea, I want to start by saying two things. 00:01:46.409 --> 00:01:49.689 Firstly, thank you to Angela and Tim for making 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.629 this connection from The Siren Project. And secondly, 00:01:52.689 --> 00:01:55.329 I want to welcome you today on to the Behind 00:01:55.329 --> 00:01:59.349 the Shield podcast. Well, thank you for the invitation. 00:01:59.609 --> 00:02:02.390 It was a surprise. I don't usually like to do 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:07.349 these things, but you're doing a great job. That's 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:09.849 what Angela and Tim and I love those two and 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:12.800 I trust them. Here I am. So thank you for the 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:15.500 invitation, for considering me to speak with 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:18.120 you. Well, thank you for the trust. I mean, it 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:21.979 means a lot, truly. All right. Well, very first 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:24.599 question. Where on planet Earth are we finding 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:29.319 you today? Right now, I am in Puerto Vallarta, 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:34.080 Mexico. I arrived from Chile yesterday and I 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.300 was there for 10 days, no, 15 days visiting family. 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:40.460 But I came back yesterday to Puerto Vallarta. 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.960 That's where home is right now. Brilliant. Well, 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.379 let's start in Chile. Let's start at the very 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:47.800 beginning of your journey then. So tell me where 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:49.819 you were born and tell me a little bit about 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.340 your family dynamic, what your parents did, how 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:55.860 many siblings. Sure. I'm glad you didn't ask 00:02:55.860 --> 00:03:00.439 me what year I was born. That's our secret. That's 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:04.360 okay. Yeah, I was born in Chile. My family is 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.500 from the south of Chile, from a place called 00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:10.360 Muchen, which is in the eighth region of Chile. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:16.539 And I think I was about four years old when my 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:18.840 mom took me to the south of Chile, where she 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:22.400 was born, and left me with my grandparents. And 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.900 my dad left when I was very young, maybe two 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:28.759 years old. So she couldn't work with me being 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.520 so little. So she took me to the south of Chile, 00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:35.400 left me with her mom and dad. And I stayed there 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:38.800 for a few years, pretty much until I was 10 years 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:42.680 old, I believe. And then I went back to Santiago 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.919 to live with my mom and to be educated in the 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:51.199 city. But the biggest impact, I guess. And why 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:56.080 that is related to what I do now is my upbringings 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.479 with my grandparents who were curanderos, they 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.539 were healers. They come from the native tradition 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:06.280 of the Mapuche tribe, which is Mapu means earth 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.159 and Che means people, which is people of the 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:13.400 earth. And we live in a small farm, no electricity, 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:21.009 no water, and live off the land. without any 00:04:21.009 --> 00:04:27.290 distraction from the city and the, I guess, electronics. 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:32.250 And my grandparents were farmers, but at the 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:34.129 same time they were the healers of the small 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:36.730 community. So people would come and they would 00:04:36.730 --> 00:04:39.610 do their thing, you know, using herbs. They didn't 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:42.170 use what we call psychedelic medicine, but they 00:04:42.170 --> 00:04:46.430 did use the rituals and the natural medicine. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.600 And they treated things like espanto, el susto, 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:53.540 or what is called the frightening of PTSD, or 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:58.839 they would call what else, so many affections. 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.720 It could be illness from what we call it from 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:04.399 the mind, or it could be actual physical illnesses. 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:09.000 And that was my normal. That's how I grew up. 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:13.339 That's the medicine that I knew. But then when 00:05:13.339 --> 00:05:19.860 I moved to Santiago as a teenager, I didn't, 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:23.839 I miss so much being with my grandparents. But, 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:27.220 you know, I got wrapped up in the modern, I guess, 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.639 upbringings, schooling. Then I moved to the US 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:34.220 and then everything changed. So how much more 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:36.040 would you like me to tell you about my childhood? 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.019 Well, let's go back even further then. What is 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:42.740 the history within the tribe of the healing and 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:46.189 using some of these holistic... um you know healing 00:05:46.189 --> 00:05:48.269 therapies because one of the things that's so 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:50.629 maddening at the moment is and i think now we're 00:05:50.629 --> 00:05:54.829 opening our eyes but up until 10 years ago any 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:57.350 sort of holistic healing method chiropractic 00:05:57.350 --> 00:06:00.509 acupuncture you know herbal medicine was was 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:03.689 um you know vilified by modern medicine a lot 00:06:03.689 --> 00:06:07.449 of times and yet that's such an crazy arrogant 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.649 way of looking at it because it survived millennia. 00:06:10.670 --> 00:06:12.810 So obviously there's something to it. So what 00:06:12.810 --> 00:06:14.949 is the origin story of the healing in your tribe? 00:06:16.269 --> 00:06:22.149 Well, I will have to say that the issue began 00:06:22.149 --> 00:06:26.910 with the Spaniards conquering, discovering and 00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:33.269 conquering the countries and imposing the Christians, 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:37.509 Catholic beliefs about all the rituals and ceremonies 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:40.949 the natives performed were evil. And so they 00:06:40.949 --> 00:06:43.389 kind of went underground, and they resurfaced 00:06:43.389 --> 00:06:47.310 in a way that was called syncretism, where some 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:50.610 part of the Catholic religion are mixed with 00:06:50.610 --> 00:06:53.430 the native traditions. And in the native traditions, 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:56.810 specifically for the Mapuche tribe, it's a very 00:06:56.810 --> 00:07:01.040 matriarchal society. where the assigned healer 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.980 of the tribe or the community is called machi, 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:06.660 and the machi is actually a female, always has, 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:12.220 always will. However, a male, physically male 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:15.899 figure can fulfill the role of the machi, but 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.279 they do dress with the traditional machi clothing, 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:24.850 the clothes. So it never... actually die off, 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:28.129 it went underground. And it was passed on from 00:07:28.129 --> 00:07:31.750 generation to generation. However, with the colonization 00:07:31.750 --> 00:07:36.810 and with that became the shaming of these practices. 00:07:37.430 --> 00:07:41.730 And the natives separated from the mestizos, 00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:43.829 which is the mix with the Spaniards and Europeans. 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:45.889 As you know, Chile and Argentina and all these 00:07:45.889 --> 00:07:47.870 South American countries, we have a lot of migration. 00:07:48.310 --> 00:07:52.310 Not only the original colonizers from Europe, 00:07:52.310 --> 00:07:56.870 Spain. But also later on, we have a lot of German, 00:07:57.110 --> 00:08:02.490 French, and Italian immigrants. So people in 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:05.069 society in general that were mixed with these 00:08:05.069 --> 00:08:08.290 Europeans look down to the pure -blood natives. 00:08:08.550 --> 00:08:10.990 And I think this happens in all societies right 00:08:10.990 --> 00:08:14.709 around the world. So that was a major reason 00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:18.029 for this native tradition to actually do go underground 00:08:18.029 --> 00:08:20.470 and to be only practiced in the small community. 00:08:23.290 --> 00:08:27.430 they never spoke about their native roots, although 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.189 my grandmother used to speak Mapuntungun, which 00:08:30.189 --> 00:08:32.350 is their original language, which is the Mapuche 00:08:32.350 --> 00:08:36.929 language. But even now in my own family, there 00:08:36.929 --> 00:08:40.029 is such a huge distinction between the ones that 00:08:40.029 --> 00:08:42.450 are mixed and the ones that are more pure blood, 00:08:42.710 --> 00:08:46.529 pure breath. And there is a sense of like, oh, 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:49.529 those are Indian, those are Mapuches. And that 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:53.909 comes from that conditioning from there. The 00:08:53.909 --> 00:08:56.929 migration, the immigrants into our countries 00:08:56.929 --> 00:08:59.169 and feeling like the natives are savages and 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:03.149 they're not worthy of looking into what they 00:09:03.149 --> 00:09:05.610 have to say and their beautiful wisdom. So my 00:09:05.610 --> 00:09:08.690 grandparents wrote that line of really incorporating 00:09:08.690 --> 00:09:12.070 some of those rituals that come from the Mapuche 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:15.710 lineage. But at the same time, the syncretism 00:09:15.710 --> 00:09:19.330 was present when they involved the Catholic prayers 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:25.830 and rituals as well. So it's a really thin line. 00:09:25.889 --> 00:09:29.429 Now, in Chile, there is a clear distinction. 00:09:30.149 --> 00:09:35.470 Mapuche and Mapuche medicine, they are present 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:40.809 in most of the hospitals in Chile. Oh, really? 00:09:41.490 --> 00:09:44.870 Yes, where they have the option to actually have 00:09:44.870 --> 00:09:48.039 the traditional biomedical, allopathic. method 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:50.899 of medicine, but they also have, especially in 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:53.220 communities that are very close to the Mapuches, 00:09:53.220 --> 00:09:56.460 which is the eighth, ninth region in the south 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:59.000 of Chile, but also even in Santiago, the capital, 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.639 there's an abject location where they can, if 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:07.139 they feel and they know, we don't have Mapuche 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.360 roots, unless you were absolutely born in Europe, 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:12.419 you have Mapuche roots. Now, it doesn't matter 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:15.200 what percentage, right? But if you feel like 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.340 you want to be treated by a machi, by that kind 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:21.940 of medicine, then you can do that. So it's an 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:25.220 incorporation and it's an appreciation of a relation 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:29.200 of this medicine, this ancient medicine. I think 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.100 we're waking up to that fact that it's important 00:10:31.100 --> 00:10:33.940 to understand that when we work with nature, 00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:37.779 we reconnect not only with nature, but with ourselves, 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.019 that we are part of it. And it is important that 00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:45.169 process in the healing process. You mentioned 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:47.250 about immigrants coming from all over Europe. 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:49.990 And one of the things people think of when they 00:10:49.990 --> 00:10:52.789 think of South America and Germany is some of 00:10:52.789 --> 00:10:56.110 the Nazis fleeing after World War II. But I would 00:10:56.110 --> 00:10:58.429 imagine that, you know, it's not all that, that 00:10:58.429 --> 00:11:00.590 there were just people from Germany fleeing as 00:11:00.590 --> 00:11:03.950 well from Poland, etc. So what did you see as 00:11:03.950 --> 00:11:06.470 far as generationally, as far as that part kind 00:11:06.470 --> 00:11:09.490 of during post -World War II and the immigration 00:11:09.490 --> 00:11:14.379 from Europe then? I can't remember exactly the 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:17.700 date, but it was in the late 1800s, I think 1890, 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:23.059 I'm not sure. And one of the presidents of Chile 00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:28.059 allowed European immigrants to settle in the 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:32.440 very south of Chile, which I believe it was in 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:36.320 the Patagonia. And these settlers, they were 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.059 given this large amount of land, and they were 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:44.500 actually... They were farmers. But they grew 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:51.100 sheep, cattle. And actually, that area of Chile 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:55.779 was populated by native Chileans. And they were 00:11:55.779 --> 00:12:03.539 exterminated by the settlers because the natives 00:12:03.539 --> 00:12:05.379 never believed that the land belonged to them. 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:07.779 They are part of the land. Therefore, they take 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:10.720 care of it. But then the settlers that were... 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.340 Given these pieces of land, they travel from 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:16.740 Europe, and they have these thousands of acres 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:21.519 to grow and to raise sheep and lambs, and they 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.080 needed to get rid of the natives because the 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:28.820 natives were against, obviously, what they were 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:36.480 doing. So not only from that history, other settlers 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.190 and other... not only Germans and Polish, like 00:12:40.190 --> 00:12:42.549 you say, and Italian and other. And remember 00:12:42.549 --> 00:12:46.350 also that Chile, before the Panama Canal, there 00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:49.070 was no other ways to actually go up to the other 00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:51.529 side of Latin America. You have to go all the 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:54.350 way down to Chile. So they stopped in Chile in 00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:58.990 two ports that were very important. So some of 00:12:58.990 --> 00:13:02.370 those merchants, they stay there. And that's 00:13:02.370 --> 00:13:06.730 how we become kind of hybrid because they stay 00:13:06.730 --> 00:13:10.159 in Chile. I'm not sure if I answered the question. 00:13:10.299 --> 00:13:13.700 No, no, you did. Absolutely. Well, I want to 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:16.860 go back to, you mentioned that your father left 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:18.860 when you were two, your mother left you with 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:21.940 your grandparents for quite a long time. Knowing, 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.320 as we will get into later in this conversation, 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:27.419 that childhood trauma or childhood struggles 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:30.600 are a big factor of men and women in the military 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:34.580 and the first responder professions. You lean 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:37.860 into or did your grandparents kind of offer up 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:42.120 the healing for your mental, you know, your your 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:44.700 emotional well -being with the therapies that 00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:47.940 they used? Being a child who in theory had lost 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:55.799 both parents for a while. You know, I think obviously 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:01.779 they what they did and how they raised me. had 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:04.779 a huge impact in my upbringing. I was always 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:09.700 a very introspective, introverted child. And 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:13.679 when I went back with my mom to Santiago, it 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.200 was really difficult for me to reinsert myself 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.019 into, well, actually insert, not reinsert, myself 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:23.379 into the society and to actually, you know, see 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:25.559 what is out there. There are cars, there is electricity, 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:29.220 there are telephones and TVs and radios, none 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:31.500 of that. I didn't grow up with none of that. 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.460 For me, it was just being in nature, playing 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:39.139 with animals, climbing trees, very naive. So 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.620 it was a really cultural shock for me to go back 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:45.059 to the city. And at the same time, going back 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:49.429 to my mom, that I was a single mom. who works 00:14:49.429 --> 00:14:51.590 pretty much during her seven, I was by myself 00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:54.429 day and night. And it was really, I mean, I can 00:14:54.429 --> 00:14:56.370 say now I can look back and say, well, that was 00:14:56.370 --> 00:14:59.169 difficult. But back then I didn't know any better. 00:14:59.269 --> 00:15:02.230 This is the way it is to live in a small room 00:15:02.230 --> 00:15:05.789 full of, you know, cracks in the ceiling and 00:15:05.789 --> 00:15:10.269 the walls and sharing one bathroom with six or 00:15:10.269 --> 00:15:12.970 seven different families. To me, that was the 00:15:12.970 --> 00:15:17.220 normal. That was normal. And in just one room 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:19.320 with one bed and maybe a little stove to cook, 00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:21.559 that was normal for me. I thought everybody lived 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:23.960 like that in Santiago. Then obviously growing 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.340 up and becoming a teenager, my mom was very, 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:32.320 how do you say? She didn't want me to be on the 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:36.440 street. So I would stay home and I really didn't 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.779 have any social life other than going from home 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:42.519 to school. So I immersed myself in books, just 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.860 reading books and writing and just being very 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:51.429 introspective. So I didn't realize until I finished 00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:54.549 high school when I was 16 or 17 that there was 00:15:54.549 --> 00:15:56.870 a big war out there where people would go to 00:15:56.870 --> 00:15:59.009 parties, people would have TVs, people would 00:15:59.009 --> 00:16:02.230 have radios, would have all these amenities that 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:07.169 I wasn't aware of. And it was such a shock for 00:16:07.169 --> 00:16:10.129 me. And I wanted all that, but at the same time, 00:16:10.129 --> 00:16:13.169 we couldn't have it because we didn't have any 00:16:13.169 --> 00:16:16.210 money. That's why she took me to my grandparents 00:16:16.210 --> 00:16:17.870 in the first place because she couldn't deal 00:16:17.870 --> 00:16:21.029 with... having a child. And back in those days, 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:23.610 you know, being a single mom, my mom and dad 00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:26.490 never got married. So being a single mom for 00:16:26.490 --> 00:16:29.529 her was ostracizing and society looked down upon 00:16:29.529 --> 00:16:33.610 her. So it was difficult. I guess if you look 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:36.370 back now, it was difficult. But that actually 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:42.809 paved the way for me to my being introspective. 00:16:43.049 --> 00:16:49.259 And I'm very introverted, actually. Yeah. So 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.019 how did that love of books end up sending you 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:56.200 to the US? Actually, no, it wasn't the love for 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.200 a book. It was the love for a guy. Oh, there 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:03.580 we go. Me too. Not a guy, though, a woman. It 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:06.259 will be okay. So it was the love for another 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:12.519 human being, actually. I met this guy in... Actually, 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:14.880 I was doing pretty well since I finished high 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.140 school, 16, 17 years old. We didn't have money 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:20.839 to go to college, but I did go to school to become 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:24.759 a nurse. So I was pretty young. But anyways, 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:28.960 I was doing okay financially. I was taking my 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.759 mom out of the place where we were living together. 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:37.420 We moved probably between the age of 10 to 20. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:40.769 We moved 10 times, 11 times. Because we couldn't 00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:42.430 pay the rent. So in the middle of the night, 00:17:42.529 --> 00:17:45.230 my mom would say, great time to go. And we'd 00:17:45.230 --> 00:17:47.569 pick up our bed and little belongings, put it 00:17:47.569 --> 00:17:50.190 in a little car, and let's go and move to another 00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:55.190 place. But I was doing well. Money -wise, I was 00:17:55.190 --> 00:17:59.769 doing really well. And I met a guy who was American. 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:02.849 And we started dating. And, you know, the next 00:18:02.849 --> 00:18:05.170 is history. I ended up going to the United States. 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:08.509 And that was another cultural shock for me because 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:12.309 I was very still. shelter by the Chilean society 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:16.150 and going to, actually, we went to North Carolina. 00:18:16.789 --> 00:18:22.049 And he was a Marine, of course. And it didn't 00:18:22.049 --> 00:18:24.509 work out. It wasn't exactly what I thought. Obviously, 00:18:24.509 --> 00:18:28.170 I had no idea about the American culture and 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:31.150 society. I didn't have any clue about the ways 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:35.150 of living. It was so different, the cultural 00:18:35.150 --> 00:18:38.089 shock. really rocked the relationship and we 00:18:38.089 --> 00:18:40.549 just didn't stay together. However, I was really 00:18:40.549 --> 00:18:43.049 embarrassed to go back to Chile and felt like 00:18:43.049 --> 00:18:46.990 a failure. I was pretty young. So I decided that 00:18:46.990 --> 00:18:48.690 I was going to stay in the U .S. and suck it 00:18:48.690 --> 00:18:53.029 up and become, you know, an immigrant and do 00:18:53.029 --> 00:18:55.509 whatever I had to do to survive, which was pretty 00:18:55.509 --> 00:18:59.369 fun, actually, because I started working in a 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:01.630 donut shop. It wasn't Daylight Donut. It was 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:04.089 another one. I can't remember the name of it. 00:19:05.789 --> 00:19:07.710 But anyway, I was working in the back of this 00:19:07.710 --> 00:19:10.440 donut shop. washing dishes. And since then, I 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:14.660 can't eat any donuts. I can't think of a more 00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:16.579 American place to start working than a donut 00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:19.960 shop. I know, I know. I was in the back washing, 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:22.400 you know, the trays and I ate the smell. But 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.920 anyways, and after that, I got another job cleaning 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:31.500 rooms in a local hotel. But all this happened 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:33.779 within 10 months of me being in the US, so I 00:19:33.779 --> 00:19:37.230 didn't speak any English. And I have to say this 00:19:37.230 --> 00:19:41.609 is kind of funny. I learned English by watching 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:45.109 TV, MTV. What else could I do? I was at home 00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:47.369 alone. I didn't speak English. What can I do? 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:50.329 So I watched MTV and I was pretty young. So be 00:19:50.329 --> 00:19:56.309 this and bad head. Those two were my English 00:19:56.309 --> 00:20:00.569 teachers. And then the second people that actually 00:20:00.569 --> 00:20:03.049 taught me English were the Marines because I 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:05.890 was right outside Marine Corps Base. And I started 00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:10.509 working on base in a little laundromat with a 00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:12.890 Mexican guy who actually gave me a job there. 00:20:13.529 --> 00:20:16.309 And then I started going to the gym and learning 00:20:16.309 --> 00:20:18.230 English from the Marines. So in my in -between 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:20.170 divas and bad hands, the Marines were kind of 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:24.549 English I spoke. Interesting mix. Profanity and 00:20:24.549 --> 00:20:29.450 Cornholio. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But I learned English 00:20:29.450 --> 00:20:32.509 pretty much within, I will say, within 10 months. 00:20:33.410 --> 00:20:38.269 But little by little, I went stepping up, I guess, 00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:42.029 into that, you call, the American dream of... 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:47.160 And that's how I got involved with the Marines. 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:51.980 I was working in the laundromat on base and I 00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:55.259 was working out at the gym. And somebody told 00:20:55.259 --> 00:20:57.859 me, hey, you look great because I used to do 00:20:57.859 --> 00:21:02.380 aerobics for myself. And they told me, why don't 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:05.480 you work here at the gym? So I did. And that's 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.099 how my career began with working in a Marine 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:11.220 Corps base, which then, you know, step by step, 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:16.119 I move up. very quickly so in the system that's 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:17.519 amazing because i thought you went through the 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:19.200 academic route and then found yourself in the 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.599 military but it was the reverse so i know you 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.140 have a doctorate in mind -body medicine so talk 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.339 to me about what that even looks like oh my god 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:33.420 so while i was working actually i i went to school 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:36.240 So I was doing both things. I was working all 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.240 day, and then I started going to school at night. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:40.619 So I began with psychology, then I moved from 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:44.759 psychology to anthropology. From anthropology, 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.839 I went to do a master at the University of Colorado. 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:54.140 No, sorry, University of North Carolina in Wilmington. 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:58.599 University of Colorado came later. And I was 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:03.819 always very interested in working with... with 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:07.819 people that I was driven to, people that had 00:22:07.819 --> 00:22:11.220 trauma. But I approached that from the beginning 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:13.359 from a different perspective, from the physical 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.660 fitness. So it was physical wellness. But then 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:22.380 I transitioned back to the mind -body medicine, 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:27.670 which is understanding the connection of... If 00:22:27.670 --> 00:22:30.589 you have something going on, emotional and psychological, 00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:33.470 how that's going to have an impact in your physical 00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:36.869 body and vice versa. So understanding that interaction 00:22:36.869 --> 00:22:39.890 and how to approach it, how to work with that 00:22:39.890 --> 00:22:43.450 to work with the symptoms, but without medication. 00:22:43.890 --> 00:22:47.950 So it will be through movement, through nutrition, 00:22:48.150 --> 00:22:51.730 supplementation, and different techniques, like 00:22:51.730 --> 00:22:55.650 biofeedback, neurofeedback. It was a career, 00:22:55.730 --> 00:22:59.750 actually, that it involves so much of what I 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:01.910 have been trained already before, actually, I 00:23:01.910 --> 00:23:04.470 went into my doctorate, that everything that 00:23:04.470 --> 00:23:09.089 I have learned working and living among the military 00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:14.569 base and in my education was pretty much everything 00:23:14.569 --> 00:23:18.190 that I was learning in my doctorate. Because 00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:22.190 I truly believe that now my personal path at 00:23:22.190 --> 00:23:26.140 this point. resurface of my personal traumas 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:30.259 and experiences as a child resurface and that 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:35.319 was the catalyst for me to understand that trauma 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:41.799 it is something that you can't heal unless you 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:45.720 involve the spiritual processes you can cure 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:49.140 a disease but you can't heal a disease so and 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:52.259 this is a disease of the soul It was my grandparent 00:23:52.259 --> 00:23:56.039 who called the susto, the frightening, or soul 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.519 fragmentation, or soul loss. So that is when 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.380 I understood, because my own symptoms actually 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:06.240 were resurfacing, my own symptoms with PTSD. 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:09.940 I had been diagnosed with PTSD, and I recognized 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:13.259 my symptoms when I was talking to the Marines 00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:15.940 and sailors that I worked with. And that was 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:20.730 back in 2006. That was a long time ago. You talked 00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:24.230 about going to the gym, but then you talked about 00:24:24.230 --> 00:24:26.690 the truly holistic upbringing that you have with 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:28.650 your grandparents and that, you know, movement 00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:30.789 was just, you know, running and climbing trees 00:24:30.789 --> 00:24:34.630 and all those things. Was there a moment when 00:24:34.630 --> 00:24:38.930 you realized that in like city society, because 00:24:38.930 --> 00:24:40.930 you couldn't have the moment, there was a thing 00:24:40.930 --> 00:24:43.009 called a gym that people would do for exercise 00:24:43.009 --> 00:24:44.710 instead? Because that must have been really strange, 00:24:44.809 --> 00:24:47.430 even the concept of a gym for someone who grows 00:24:47.430 --> 00:24:51.579 up in the wilderness as you did. Mm -hmm. Yeah. 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:56.759 Yeah, of course. And yeah, there was a need, 00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:01.660 but I wasn't aware back then. I wasn't aware 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:04.400 of my own trauma. I knew that I have gone through 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.559 some very traumatic events, but I have normalized 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:11.859 them. And also as, you know, my clientele, my 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:15.160 patients now, they're compartmentalized. You 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:17.119 know, tuck those little boxes away with memories 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:20.170 and say like, I'm not dealing with you or this 00:25:20.170 --> 00:25:22.630 didn't happen to me or this actually didn't affect 00:25:22.630 --> 00:25:27.390 me. What I was doing actually was my body needed 00:25:27.390 --> 00:25:31.309 to release this trauma, this energy that was 00:25:31.309 --> 00:25:35.630 stuck in my system. And that was probably why 00:25:35.630 --> 00:25:39.029 intuitively I was trying to do exercise so much 00:25:39.029 --> 00:25:42.240 because I did a lot of exercise. I became a fitness 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:44.400 instructor working with the Marines doing exercise 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:47.039 two or three times a day for them, for the units. 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:50.640 But it was a need for my body to release this 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.519 embattled, encapsulated energy from that intensive 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:00.000 trauma and loss that I had as a child. Because 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.619 it wasn't just the loss of my father, who first 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:08.799 is gone, and then he was killed. He was shot 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:12.460 in the head in a very traumatic way. And then 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:16.700 realizing how traumatic it was for me to leave 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:20.380 my family behind. And in between, growing up, 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:25.359 sustaining some physical abuse and some sexual 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.819 trauma as well, being molested by family members 00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:33.200 and by people that were supposed to be friends 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.559 and caregivers. So all that was stuck in my body. 00:26:38.349 --> 00:26:42.130 And somehow, intuitively, my body wanted to release 00:26:42.130 --> 00:26:46.750 that. So I guess that is why my intuition guided 00:26:46.750 --> 00:26:49.410 me into this path of physical fitness and wellness, 00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:56.950 where it kind of emerged with later on what my 00:26:56.950 --> 00:26:59.890 grandparents have taught me. And it was inside 00:26:59.890 --> 00:27:05.549 of me already, knowing that holistic way of addressing. 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:08.619 these traumas is the only way to actually help 00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:12.980 heal the spirit and the soul. What about yoga? 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:14.680 How did you find yourself getting into that? 00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:20.019 That's kind of funny because I was working in 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:25.599 Camp Lejeune in 2006 is when I was heavily involved. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.259 I was already escalated to be like a program 00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:33.240 director of one of the Semper Fit programs in 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.509 Camp Lejeune. which is the mobile unit, going 00:27:36.509 --> 00:27:41.470 out to do exercise for the units. And that's 00:27:41.470 --> 00:27:43.890 when we realized that the guys were coming back 00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:47.730 from war with invisible injuries that were very 00:27:47.730 --> 00:27:50.789 difficult to treat. And so I was involved with 00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:53.730 a program at the Naval Hospital called Back on 00:27:53.730 --> 00:27:59.059 Track that treated... this PTSD mainly and TBI 00:27:59.059 --> 00:28:03.380 with a holistic approach. And they actually asked 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:07.480 me if I can do something as I was running the 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:09.880 Semper Fit program in Camp Lejeune. They asked 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:13.160 me if I could do something with the Back on Track 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:16.019 program. And so I said, well, we can do meditation. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:19.359 We can do yoga. We can do mixed martial arts. 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:23.359 We can modify it. We can do everything that the 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:25.480 program right now is offering. We can just... 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:29.440 um, change and tweak and, and, and, and make 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.859 sure that they, they, when the warriors, they're 00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:35.359 able to do it, modify it in a sense. So that's 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:38.579 how I got involved. I, I started doing yoga out 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:41.440 of intuition and, and that was probably a few 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:45.000 months into it, but I got really involved into 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.559 it. I really love, but all of these sort of intuitions, 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:53.109 I have not, um, um, I guess. a certification 00:28:53.109 --> 00:28:56.509 of formal training. But the Marines and sailors 00:28:56.509 --> 00:28:59.529 were very responsive to yoga. And I was actually 00:28:59.529 --> 00:29:01.589 incorporating not only yoga, but mixed martial 00:29:01.589 --> 00:29:05.450 arts and boxing and meditation. And that's when 00:29:05.450 --> 00:29:12.710 actually I met David Emerson and Bessel van der 00:29:12.710 --> 00:29:17.410 Kolk. He was the director for the, what was it 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:23.829 called? Justice Resource Center in Boston, Massachusetts. 00:29:24.829 --> 00:29:28.730 So actually, Bessel was visiting the Back on 00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:31.549 Track program in Camp Lejeune. And he came and 00:29:31.549 --> 00:29:34.470 took a class with all the other Marines and sailors 00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:37.390 one morning. And I have no idea who Bessel was. 00:29:37.569 --> 00:29:39.970 He wasn't as famous as he is now. He's going 00:29:39.970 --> 00:29:45.099 to hate me for saying that. Sorry, Bessel. He 00:29:45.099 --> 00:29:47.420 came to the class, and then he came up to me. 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:49.240 He said, hey, that's great what you're doing. 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.759 You know that we do some training at the center 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:55.960 in Boston. And I said, sure, I would love to 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:58.140 go and do some training for myself and for my 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:02.039 instructors so we can offer this yoga to all 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:05.019 the wounded warriors. So I did. I contacted the 00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:09.029 director. David Emerson. And they went actually 00:30:09.029 --> 00:30:11.349 down to Camp Lejeune. So I brought them down 00:30:11.349 --> 00:30:13.589 to Camp Lejeune and they offered this big certification 00:30:13.589 --> 00:30:18.150 for trauma -sensitive yoga. And they were very 00:30:18.150 --> 00:30:20.250 surprised because we actually had a huge program. 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:24.009 But nobody really had the certification, right? 00:30:24.109 --> 00:30:26.950 It was just out of intuition. How do we modify 00:30:26.950 --> 00:30:29.650 this? How do we present yoga to the Marines? 00:30:30.930 --> 00:30:33.309 But anyways, that's how we began the relationship 00:30:33.309 --> 00:30:35.829 with... not only with yoga, but actually also 00:30:35.829 --> 00:30:39.190 with David and with Bessel van der Kolk. And 00:30:39.190 --> 00:30:41.750 later on, we, me and a couple of Marines went 00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:45.289 to present at a conference there. And then from 00:30:45.289 --> 00:30:49.049 there, for a few years down the road, I began 00:30:49.049 --> 00:30:51.789 doing some portion, a small portion of the training 00:30:51.789 --> 00:30:56.049 that Bessel had for, and the center had for clinicians. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:59.539 So teaching how do you talk to veterans, how 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:01.319 do you teach yoga for veterans and all that. 00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:04.019 But the funny thing is when I actually went to 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:09.259 do my own certification, I hated it. I was in 00:31:09.259 --> 00:31:14.380 Old Town Alexandria, and it was very kind of, 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:15.900 oh, they're going to hate me for saying this, 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:19.420 snobby, you know. It was different. So here I 00:31:19.420 --> 00:31:22.619 was right beside the News River. doing yoga, 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:24.920 you know, on the grass with the Marines and sailors. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.099 And it was yoga for real people, I guess. And 00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:32.839 then I am in a studio and it just didn't feel 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:35.359 right. But I did get the certification. I paid 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.220 a lot of money for it. And then I couldn't do 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:41.140 yoga anymore. It was fake to me. I couldn't. 00:31:41.690 --> 00:31:45.329 But then I reconcile and it always happened to 00:31:45.329 --> 00:31:47.630 me that I learned something that it doesn't align 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:51.309 with my intuition and my inner wisdom. But then 00:31:51.309 --> 00:31:54.470 I have to sit with it and then reconcile with 00:31:54.470 --> 00:31:57.269 it and say, OK, this is my validation, my certification 00:31:57.269 --> 00:32:01.369 or like my doctorate. Right. But this is what 00:32:01.369 --> 00:32:04.109 my upbringing says. This is what my intuition, 00:32:04.390 --> 00:32:08.029 my higher wisdom and what my ancestors are telling 00:32:08.029 --> 00:32:10.480 me. So I am going to do this. But I'm going to 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:14.180 take into consideration what I learned. And that 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:20.059 was my relationship to yoga, actually. It's interesting 00:32:20.059 --> 00:32:21.859 that you talk about intuition because this is 00:32:21.859 --> 00:32:23.940 something that I've noticed within myself. Like 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:26.480 I don't wear any wearables or anything like that. 00:32:26.859 --> 00:32:29.640 And they absolutely have the place. My wife has 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:33.049 some, you know, the kind of... I forget what 00:32:33.049 --> 00:32:34.970 the internet, but the wearable on her watch where 00:32:34.970 --> 00:32:37.309 it counts her steps and she does the app where 00:32:37.309 --> 00:32:40.809 she puts in her food. So it works for her. But 00:32:40.809 --> 00:32:43.230 what worries me about that whole technological 00:32:43.230 --> 00:32:46.529 side is that you lose the ability to just listen 00:32:46.529 --> 00:32:49.470 to your body. And I've always been very, very 00:32:49.470 --> 00:32:51.930 holistic and just feel, okay, today is probably 00:32:51.930 --> 00:32:53.990 the end. I'm not going to go to the gym. I'm 00:32:53.990 --> 00:32:55.410 just going to walk the dog. I'm going to listen 00:32:55.410 --> 00:32:57.849 to my body. I need a little extra rest. Or for 00:32:57.849 --> 00:33:00.259 some reason now I'm craving a lot more. meat 00:33:00.259 --> 00:33:03.140 today so all right i'll eat more meat and i think 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:07.220 there's a lot of value in again going you know 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:11.660 rediscovering ancient humans and and how incredible 00:33:11.660 --> 00:33:14.680 the human body actually is and it wants to heal 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:17.359 and it knows when it's thirsty or hungry or needs 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:20.599 more movement or needs more rest so talk to me 00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:23.099 about that as we progress more and more into 00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:25.160 the world where computers are telling us about 00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:27.920 our body Talk to me about the importance of that 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.500 intuition and for us to be able to tap back into 00:33:30.500 --> 00:33:40.779 that. That's what life is about. We are pure 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:44.180 intuition. We are pure consciousness. And I don't 00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:48.599 want to go down the rabbit hole because I know 00:33:48.599 --> 00:33:49.920 what people are going to think of me. I don't 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:54.640 care. Go down it. Slide down it. Here we go. 00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:57.839 No, no, no. We are pure consciousness. We are 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:01.779 pure energy. That we are in this shape, in this 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:05.000 form, in this physical suit, right? Having a 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.920 human experience in this beautiful physical house 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:13.139 called Earth, planet Earth, in this life, in 00:34:13.139 --> 00:34:19.800 this physical life. But our job as human beings... 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.300 with consciousness actually is connect to that 00:34:22.300 --> 00:34:24.820 consciousness and to realize that we are consciousness 00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:30.800 and this brain that we have is part of that physical 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:34.280 process and it's part of that physical element 00:34:34.280 --> 00:34:37.679 and environment that allow us to experience life 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:43.440 in this planet but our job is to realize that 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:47.920 we are way more than that that we have is beautiful 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:52.280 core that connect us to that higher wisdom and 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:56.400 intuition to the sacred and to the source if 00:34:56.400 --> 00:34:59.000 we get distracted and we do we get distracted 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:01.659 by technology and by all the things that our 00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:05.840 brain has have created our brains collectively 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:10.400 we have created including technology then we 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:14.400 get farther away from that consciousness and 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:20.010 we begin to act only based on this in what we 00:35:20.010 --> 00:35:26.269 have created. And that pulls us away from the 00:35:26.269 --> 00:35:29.769 source. And what is that source? It's the connection 00:35:29.769 --> 00:35:32.130 to the higher self, to the true consciousness 00:35:32.130 --> 00:35:39.489 that we are. It's the connection to nature. We 00:35:39.489 --> 00:35:44.329 are part of it. And we isolate ourselves from 00:35:44.329 --> 00:35:48.170 nature, from other people. and from our higher 00:35:48.170 --> 00:35:52.170 self and and when we are disconnected as when 00:35:52.170 --> 00:35:56.250 we feel the there's something that is not in 00:35:56.250 --> 00:35:59.469 harmony that is misaligned that is missing and 00:35:59.469 --> 00:36:02.610 some people call that you know the midlife crisis 00:36:02.610 --> 00:36:06.750 maybe or some people call that yeah whatever 00:36:06.750 --> 00:36:09.230 it is you can coin it you can name it any way 00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:11.969 you want to but all human beings we do have an 00:36:11.969 --> 00:36:17.199 opportunity to wake up to realize that We have 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:20.219 lost that connection and our purpose, our job 00:36:20.219 --> 00:36:24.579 in this beautiful schoolhouse called Physical 00:36:24.579 --> 00:36:29.360 Life in Planet Earth is actually to learn from 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:34.880 our, not only from these life lessons, to release 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.840 this attachment, these koshas, these karmas, 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:41.239 these layers of experiences that we have in this 00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:44.579 life and also our ancestors and our past lives. 00:36:45.179 --> 00:36:48.559 and actually move inward, inward, not outward, 00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:52.800 move inward towards that consciousness. And when 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:57.719 we get close and hopefully get to live life with 00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:01.280 absolute consciousness and as conscious human 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:06.519 beings, then everything aligns and we have a 00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:09.079 direct connection with the universe that is not 00:37:09.079 --> 00:37:11.260 out there. We look at the stars and the universe 00:37:11.260 --> 00:37:14.559 is there, it's here. And that's when everything... 00:37:14.730 --> 00:37:19.269 heals and flows harmoniously but to get there 00:37:19.269 --> 00:37:23.769 is very difficult because we have created steps 00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:27.730 and barriers instead of using them like you say 00:37:27.730 --> 00:37:29.670 your wife my husband does the same thing he wanted 00:37:29.670 --> 00:37:31.809 one of those freaking watches and i gave him 00:37:31.809 --> 00:37:36.809 one for christmas um but what happened is then 00:37:36.809 --> 00:37:41.070 yes you use your mind to be like bobbleheads 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:45.010 being up here living from this headspace and 00:37:45.010 --> 00:37:48.809 not really understanding that the true wisdom 00:37:48.809 --> 00:37:52.010 comes from that consciousness that you are and 00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:56.190 that you have disconnected. I will ask you this 00:37:56.190 --> 00:37:57.630 at the end. I always ask people, what do you 00:37:57.630 --> 00:38:02.369 do to decompress? And I would say 75, well, if 00:38:02.369 --> 00:38:04.389 it's not them talking about spending time with 00:38:04.389 --> 00:38:07.210 their family, then the other answer or the answer 00:38:07.210 --> 00:38:10.250 instead is some sort of being out in nature. 00:38:10.829 --> 00:38:13.349 And so there's that yearning to reconnect. And 00:38:13.349 --> 00:38:16.849 I think we saw the negative side during the pandemic 00:38:16.849 --> 00:38:18.630 when a lot of people were told to stay in their 00:38:18.630 --> 00:38:20.809 homes and don't go outside and don't be around 00:38:20.809 --> 00:38:23.230 the people that you love and don't move and, 00:38:23.269 --> 00:38:25.650 you know, get poor, you know, bad food delivered 00:38:25.650 --> 00:38:29.289 to your house. I mean, everything that we know 00:38:29.289 --> 00:38:32.989 is going to heal was held from people. So in 00:38:32.989 --> 00:38:36.329 the, you know, learn what not to do, the pandemic 00:38:36.329 --> 00:38:41.090 was a good example of. what the real pillars 00:38:41.090 --> 00:38:43.949 of health are and being outside and being connected 00:38:43.949 --> 00:38:46.570 to people and, you know, meditation and reducing 00:38:46.570 --> 00:38:49.889 stress and sleeping well and movement. I mean, 00:38:49.889 --> 00:38:52.650 these are all things that we know are so important. 00:38:53.170 --> 00:38:56.929 So, you know, it was so glaring during that time 00:38:56.929 --> 00:39:01.570 of what we are being withheld from and what we 00:39:01.570 --> 00:39:03.789 need to lean back into. And I've said even, you 00:39:03.789 --> 00:39:05.949 know, the obesity crisis, the mental health crisis. 00:39:06.590 --> 00:39:08.090 We're going to get into some really powerful 00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:11.489 healing modalities in a minute. But if we just 00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:14.590 went back to 100 years ago where people grew 00:39:14.590 --> 00:39:17.730 food and they had to walk, you know, to and from 00:39:17.730 --> 00:39:20.329 work and, you know, they had community and they're 00:39:20.329 --> 00:39:23.750 in a small town, that in itself would move the 00:39:23.750 --> 00:39:26.789 needle immensely on our physical and mental health. 00:39:26.969 --> 00:39:29.530 And the more disconnected we get from the real 00:39:29.530 --> 00:39:31.829 world, you know, really, you know, the fatter, 00:39:31.849 --> 00:39:33.929 the sicker, the more depressed and the more anxious 00:39:33.929 --> 00:39:41.239 we become. Mm hmm. Correct. Yeah. I also say 00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:45.039 to my groups and what I share with them is what 00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:47.820 my mentors have shared with me and also coming 00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:50.059 from my own intuition and my background as a 00:39:50.059 --> 00:39:52.820 child growing up in the farms. I call a farm 00:39:52.820 --> 00:39:55.179 was a small cabin with two rooms and a piece 00:39:55.179 --> 00:40:00.980 of land that we grew our vegetables. It's the 00:40:00.980 --> 00:40:03.320 sense of community is so important. You know, 00:40:03.380 --> 00:40:07.110 I. I spend more time in the U .S. than in Chile, 00:40:07.210 --> 00:40:11.769 so I consider myself a product of that society, 00:40:11.929 --> 00:40:15.070 which is pretty much all over the world. It's 00:40:15.070 --> 00:40:19.829 not just the U .S., right? But the conditioning 00:40:19.829 --> 00:40:26.630 to be independent, to solve preservation, and 00:40:26.630 --> 00:40:31.550 the lack of communitas, and how important it 00:40:31.550 --> 00:40:35.980 is to actually... help each other out in every 00:40:35.980 --> 00:40:40.480 possible way, to serve other people, to be able 00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:44.860 to volunteer, but not from that headspace because 00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:47.300 you want to bring the light onto you, but actually 00:40:47.300 --> 00:40:51.780 truly from the heart. And what I do, it's for 00:40:51.780 --> 00:40:56.059 my own well -being. I do spend a lot of time 00:40:56.059 --> 00:40:58.380 in the ocean. I love to go to the beach. That's 00:40:58.380 --> 00:41:02.039 my happy place. But I also, what I do is volunteer. 00:41:02.829 --> 00:41:06.070 I serve food with a group of volunteering and 00:41:06.070 --> 00:41:10.170 practice gratitude. That's one thing that I really 00:41:10.170 --> 00:41:13.289 push my groups and the people that come to see 00:41:13.289 --> 00:41:16.070 me to understand how blessed you are. You have 00:41:16.070 --> 00:41:19.769 no idea to get up and count your blessing. Just 00:41:19.769 --> 00:41:22.050 opening your eyes and be able to take a deep 00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:25.630 breath is such a blessing. And count your blessing 00:41:25.630 --> 00:41:28.650 and be grateful for what you have. And remember 00:41:28.650 --> 00:41:30.730 that you only have five basic needs. Everything 00:41:30.730 --> 00:41:35.119 else is... It's a blessing. So communitas, being 00:41:35.119 --> 00:41:41.559 in nature, serve other communities, being of 00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:45.980 service to others from the heart space, giving 00:41:45.980 --> 00:41:48.420 yourself to others and counting your blessing. 00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:51.559 Every day being grateful for what you have. You 00:41:51.559 --> 00:41:53.940 don't have to come from a really poor upbringing 00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:56.820 to really value what you have now because what 00:41:56.820 --> 00:41:59.440 you should value is not all that. material physical 00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:02.679 stuff that it can be going at any time and to 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:04.860 create such attachment a strong attachment to 00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:08.760 these things but what you have right now is not 00:42:08.760 --> 00:42:11.519 about giving it value but it's just being grateful 00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:14.099 grateful that you have it and grateful that you 00:42:14.099 --> 00:42:17.900 can share with other people as well yeah i think 00:42:17.900 --> 00:42:19.760 this is we talk about conditioning in the western 00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:22.079 world one of the biggest issues i see and i would 00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:24.760 say you know we are the worst in america as far 00:42:24.760 --> 00:42:28.679 as um what's pumped through our screens is that 00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:32.239 sense that you still don't have enough. No matter 00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:34.320 what you've got, oh, but you don't have this, 00:42:34.340 --> 00:42:35.940 oh, but you don't have that, but your house isn't 00:42:35.940 --> 00:42:37.739 big enough, but you don't have a speedboat, whatever 00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:42.039 it is, the MTV Cribs mentality. And it is destructive 00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:45.539 because as you've alluded to how people are living 00:42:45.539 --> 00:42:49.780 in Santiago or in the jungle, comparatively, 00:42:49.780 --> 00:42:53.599 the safety, the comfort that we have, even if 00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:56.679 you're not that well off in the US, is still 00:42:56.679 --> 00:42:59.500 incredible compared to, you know, if you're living 00:42:59.500 --> 00:43:02.519 in Syria or Gaza or, you know, wherever at the 00:43:02.519 --> 00:43:04.480 moment, there are people that their house doesn't 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:07.260 even exist. It's just a pile of rubble. So if 00:43:07.260 --> 00:43:09.079 you woke up and you've got a roof over your head 00:43:09.079 --> 00:43:11.219 and there's food in the fridge, you're doing 00:43:11.219 --> 00:43:14.980 so well, so, so well. And I love, someone was 00:43:14.980 --> 00:43:16.699 telling me the other day that there's two types 00:43:16.699 --> 00:43:20.599 of people, citizens and civilians. And they said 00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:23.000 a citizen just lives in a country. That's it. 00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:25.659 They use the resources, they live, they wake 00:43:25.659 --> 00:43:28.019 up, they go to work, they come home. A civilian 00:43:28.019 --> 00:43:31.360 is someone, sorry, I've got that around. A civilian 00:43:31.360 --> 00:43:34.360 just lives in the country. A citizen is someone 00:43:34.360 --> 00:43:38.280 who actually gives in that country. So they understand 00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:40.260 what they've got. They're grateful for what they've 00:43:40.260 --> 00:43:42.139 got. And then they're like, how can I be part 00:43:42.139 --> 00:43:45.139 of a community? How can I lift someone up with 00:43:45.139 --> 00:43:48.260 my mentorship, with my volunteers, volunteerism, 00:43:48.280 --> 00:43:51.019 et cetera? And I love that mentality. If you 00:43:51.019 --> 00:43:54.280 can look in the mirror and say, What can I do 00:43:54.280 --> 00:43:56.679 today that will benefit someone other than myself? 00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:00.019 If we all did that, 340 million people did that, 00:44:00.119 --> 00:44:02.619 we would completely revolutionize the way we 00:44:02.619 --> 00:44:04.719 look at things. But if we just turn on the television 00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:07.519 and we're angry about the opposite political 00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:09.840 party and we think that this group of people 00:44:09.840 --> 00:44:11.579 are trying to take all our money through welfare 00:44:11.579 --> 00:44:14.260 or whatever it is, we're missing the entire point. 00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:17.670 We woke up today. That in itself is a gift because 00:44:17.670 --> 00:44:20.449 a lot of people didn't. So I think if you could 00:44:20.449 --> 00:44:22.949 infuse one thing into the Western world, it would 00:44:22.949 --> 00:44:25.170 be gratitude and it would be life -changing. 00:44:26.989 --> 00:44:32.650 Exactly. Take for example what happened in Puerto 00:44:32.650 --> 00:44:35.090 Vallarta. I have no idea. I don't watch the news. 00:44:35.489 --> 00:44:37.849 I don't watch the news and I don't do social 00:44:37.849 --> 00:44:43.469 media. So I was in Chile when all this happened 00:44:43.469 --> 00:44:47.659 here in Mexico. What I receive, and I'm very 00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:50.599 grateful that so many people care enough to send 00:44:50.599 --> 00:44:53.420 me texts and messages when I was in Chile, asking 00:44:53.420 --> 00:44:56.239 me how I was doing, thinking that I was in Puerto 00:44:56.239 --> 00:44:59.960 Vallarta when this happened on Sunday. And they 00:44:59.960 --> 00:45:02.119 send me pictures and videos like, oh my God, 00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:04.380 Puerto Vallarta disappeared. It's pretty much 00:45:04.380 --> 00:45:07.980 like a war zone. I go home yesterday. I went 00:45:07.980 --> 00:45:10.500 to Costco to get some, I don't know even what. 00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:13.409 I was actually curious about to see how. Costco 00:45:13.409 --> 00:45:15.630 was burned down. Nothing. Everything's absolutely 00:45:15.630 --> 00:45:22.090 fine. But I guess this stuff sells on TV, so 00:45:22.090 --> 00:45:24.710 people think that that's what is going on. But 00:45:24.710 --> 00:45:29.190 the point is, what I see and what I have seen 00:45:29.190 --> 00:45:32.010 in these small communities is people actually 00:45:32.010 --> 00:45:37.489 working with each other to create a better space 00:45:37.489 --> 00:45:41.849 for the society. The group that I volunteer with, 00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:46.679 They went out on Wednesday and they served food. 00:45:46.760 --> 00:45:49.199 They shared food with, you know, the people that 00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:52.599 want to come and they have less resources. And 00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:55.699 they came out and ate, you know, a warm meal 00:45:55.699 --> 00:46:01.940 or whatever in downtown. But small gestures of 00:46:01.940 --> 00:46:06.199 every day. I get up today and I go outside and 00:46:06.199 --> 00:46:09.679 I clean the entire street. May not be like a 00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:12.840 big thing, right? Well, I'm bettering my environment 00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:15.840 and the environment for my neighbors. Do I get 00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:17.719 upset about that? Sometimes I do because they 00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:20.840 throw trash in the grass or on the floor or whatever. 00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.320 But I also know that my neighbors work all day 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:26.800 long and they're not here. The ones that are 00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:30.300 around me. So in a small gesture, it's just go 00:46:30.300 --> 00:46:32.420 outside and who cares? I'm going to clean the 00:46:32.420 --> 00:46:36.440 entire block. That is just a small analogy. But 00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:39.800 what if we just... get off of our head and our 00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:42.139 egos and say, I'm just going to do something 00:46:42.139 --> 00:46:46.360 that is going to benefit others and it's going 00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:49.800 to benefit us as a society. We can all do a little 00:46:49.800 --> 00:46:53.139 part in that. We will have such a different place 00:46:53.139 --> 00:46:55.000 to live. This world will be so much different. 00:46:55.780 --> 00:46:58.059 But like you said, we get caught up on these 00:46:58.059 --> 00:47:04.059 qualities and divisiveness and we send this negative. 00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:08.639 dark low frequency vibration into the world that 00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:13.000 feeds into it i'm developing a tv show at the 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:16.699 moment from books that i wrote and the kind of 00:47:16.699 --> 00:47:20.420 the theory behind it is simply if we want to 00:47:20.420 --> 00:47:25.440 bring kindness back and community then that involves 00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:28.139 healing because when i see the divisiveness and 00:47:28.139 --> 00:47:32.159 the nastiness and The addiction that then is 00:47:32.159 --> 00:47:34.739 forced into the underworld because of drug prohibition 00:47:34.739 --> 00:47:37.880 and now we have cartels, etc., etc., etc. All 00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:41.500 of that screams trauma to me. So to me, I think 00:47:41.500 --> 00:47:46.719 we have a global mental health crisis in a generation 00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:48.860 where really a lot of people should be living. 00:47:49.539 --> 00:47:51.900 We should be doing extremely well because the 00:47:51.900 --> 00:47:53.659 technology that we've got and the understanding 00:47:53.659 --> 00:47:57.860 and the communication, the potential for us to 00:47:57.860 --> 00:48:01.539 be thriving as a species is better now than ever 00:48:01.539 --> 00:48:04.199 in one respect. What is your perspective of that? 00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:06.940 When you do come across some of these things 00:48:06.940 --> 00:48:09.340 that are happening around the world, what is 00:48:09.340 --> 00:48:12.599 your perspective of the root of that being unaddressed 00:48:12.599 --> 00:48:15.059 trauma of when these men and women were small? 00:48:18.590 --> 00:48:23.010 So I believe that we are actually experiencing 00:48:23.010 --> 00:48:25.750 what is called the great change. And I talk to 00:48:25.750 --> 00:48:27.730 these, to my groups that come to the retreats 00:48:27.730 --> 00:48:31.510 with me. This unsettling, this divisiveness, 00:48:31.710 --> 00:48:35.409 this polarization, it's the preamble of people 00:48:35.409 --> 00:48:37.969 actually wanting to stay asleep and people actually 00:48:37.969 --> 00:48:41.230 wanting to wake up. To wake up that we have that 00:48:41.230 --> 00:48:43.510 consciousness. We all do. We are equipped with 00:48:43.510 --> 00:48:47.260 that consciousness. Maybe this is not your time 00:48:47.260 --> 00:48:49.739 to wake up, and that's okay too. I am not going 00:48:49.739 --> 00:48:51.559 to shake you up and say, please wake up. No, 00:48:51.659 --> 00:48:53.719 that's the most awful thing to do when somebody 00:48:53.719 --> 00:48:56.000 is sleeping, right? To go and shake them up and 00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:58.900 wake them up. No, really. It's in their own time. 00:48:59.260 --> 00:49:01.940 But this is the process of waking up, and there's 00:49:01.940 --> 00:49:04.940 a prophecy. It's called the Great Pachacutec, 00:49:04.940 --> 00:49:07.260 which is the time for the great change, where 00:49:07.260 --> 00:49:11.199 500 years of darkness is coming to an end. And 00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:19.250 we begin to wake up. To understand that we are 00:49:19.250 --> 00:49:21.789 conscientious human beings equipped with this 00:49:21.789 --> 00:49:25.989 beautiful gem that you can connect through the 00:49:25.989 --> 00:49:30.309 heart into the source, the consciousness that 00:49:30.309 --> 00:49:35.250 I'm talking about. And some people are listening 00:49:35.250 --> 00:49:37.750 and answering that call and some others are not. 00:49:38.010 --> 00:49:42.710 But those of us that have waken up and doing 00:49:42.710 --> 00:49:46.440 the work, we need to share it. but in a very 00:49:46.440 --> 00:49:52.039 subtle, loving, compassionate way, not hitting 00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:55.000 people, you know, with something in the head. 00:49:55.400 --> 00:49:57.800 And I have to say that's one of the reasons why 00:49:57.800 --> 00:50:00.539 I don't do podcasts and I don't do because I 00:50:00.539 --> 00:50:02.780 hate seeing all these people that are like, oh, 00:50:02.860 --> 00:50:04.619 my God, I have this medicine and I have this 00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:06.639 incoherent awakening and you should do it and 00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:09.219 this and that. That's not a way to do it. That's 00:50:09.219 --> 00:50:13.940 not a way. Don't talk. Shut your mouth and do 00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:19.219 the work. I always say, be the change that you're 00:50:19.219 --> 00:50:20.739 going to see in the world. I didn't say that. 00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:27.760 It's somebody else's. Quote, if you're doing 00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:31.639 your work, do it yourself, internally, quietly, 00:50:31.980 --> 00:50:36.280 and then be a better human being and create a 00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:39.880 ripple effect. Just be the change you want to 00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:47.909 see in the world. shouting around like like evangelists 00:50:47.909 --> 00:50:50.469 in the corner of your in your street i'm sorry 00:50:50.469 --> 00:50:55.650 for saying that but just just just be the change 00:50:55.650 --> 00:51:00.010 and and be the example that's it in a loving 00:51:00.010 --> 00:51:04.630 way i love that i want to go back to when you 00:51:04.630 --> 00:51:07.289 met basil vandercock he wrote the body keeps 00:51:07.289 --> 00:51:10.349 the score Up until that point, you've been very 00:51:10.349 --> 00:51:12.909 intuitive as far as your journey and realizing 00:51:12.909 --> 00:51:16.269 that there's a physical expression to some of 00:51:16.269 --> 00:51:19.010 the trauma that you've got bottled up still. 00:51:20.030 --> 00:51:22.489 Talk to me about that interaction when you meet 00:51:22.489 --> 00:51:25.150 someone more from the psychological, scientific 00:51:25.150 --> 00:51:28.579 side that's validating. I'm not even validating 00:51:28.579 --> 00:51:30.199 the wrong word because you already knew in your 00:51:30.199 --> 00:51:34.780 heart, but had put it out in a scientific way 00:51:34.780 --> 00:51:37.780 as far as the connection between the physical 00:51:37.780 --> 00:51:45.960 and the mental. Yeah. So back then, 2006, 2007, 00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:50.320 Bessel wasn't as famous as he is now. He's a 00:51:50.320 --> 00:51:57.760 major player in this. I guess, awareness of the 00:51:57.760 --> 00:52:00.780 body actually holding on to traumas and experiences. 00:52:02.739 --> 00:52:04.900 So for me, it was just somebody else that came 00:52:04.900 --> 00:52:08.260 to take my class. I was doing my thing in Camp 00:52:08.260 --> 00:52:10.659 Lejeune, working with the veterans, with the 00:52:10.659 --> 00:52:14.079 wounded warriors, and literally doing my thing. 00:52:14.139 --> 00:52:17.920 I had no expectation, no desire. There was nothing 00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:20.599 else in my life other than I'm here with my guys. 00:52:21.400 --> 00:52:23.639 and that are traumatized and we're doing a great 00:52:23.639 --> 00:52:26.159 job where you know the guys are coming out of 00:52:26.159 --> 00:52:28.400 their barracks they're doing exercise again they 00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:31.340 are becoming you know human beings more involved 00:52:31.340 --> 00:52:34.820 and and then when I met Bessley it's like okay 00:52:34.820 --> 00:52:37.659 well he's another doctor because he's a psychiatrist 00:52:37.659 --> 00:52:41.800 he's another doctor that is coming to check out 00:52:41.800 --> 00:52:44.780 my what I'm doing here and I didn't think anything 00:52:44.780 --> 00:52:52.409 of it but then When I went to Boston and I trained, 00:52:52.590 --> 00:52:56.190 no, actually, they came down to train us in trauma 00:52:56.190 --> 00:52:59.050 -sensitive yoga. We were invited, actually, to 00:52:59.050 --> 00:53:03.210 speak at the conference. I think it was 2008, 00:53:03.789 --> 00:53:08.469 the 19th International Trauma Conference. I think 00:53:08.469 --> 00:53:11.929 that was the name. And I realized that this guy 00:53:11.929 --> 00:53:15.900 is really on to something. He's actually putting 00:53:15.900 --> 00:53:19.440 it in and verbalizing and articulating what I 00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:23.039 feel. I am not really good. I hate writing, honestly. 00:53:23.300 --> 00:53:27.019 I have to write so much for school. But I am 00:53:27.019 --> 00:53:30.179 more like the person that sits down and feel. 00:53:30.579 --> 00:53:35.260 And so I really admire his ways of articulating 00:53:35.260 --> 00:53:37.800 exactly what it was in my heart and in my mind. 00:53:39.449 --> 00:53:42.090 Back then, I had a few interactions with him, 00:53:42.130 --> 00:53:45.050 obviously going to, I went a couple of times, 00:53:45.170 --> 00:53:49.409 three times, I can remember, to actually do the 00:53:49.409 --> 00:53:52.250 part of doing yoga or working with clinicians 00:53:52.250 --> 00:53:54.750 that were working with veterans. And I admire 00:53:54.750 --> 00:53:58.409 that. I admire anybody that is able to articulate 00:53:58.409 --> 00:54:01.489 what I am feeling and what I am thinking. So 00:54:01.489 --> 00:54:04.750 that was my interaction. I guess that's what 00:54:04.750 --> 00:54:09.960 I feel about Besson. He's done a great job. articulated 00:54:09.960 --> 00:54:12.539 what i feel and what i know in my heart you know 00:54:12.539 --> 00:54:14.860 the body is is really keeping the score of everything 00:54:14.860 --> 00:54:18.500 that we do and not only in this lifetime i mentioned 00:54:18.500 --> 00:54:22.119 earlier we bring some stuff from different lifetimes 00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:26.659 and from our ancestors as well so yeah our job 00:54:26.659 --> 00:54:28.840 is to wake up and to realize that we need to 00:54:28.840 --> 00:54:32.639 release this this energy that is stuck within 00:54:32.639 --> 00:54:36.050 us in this physical body Talk to me about the 00:54:36.050 --> 00:54:38.050 families. I know you work for the family readiness 00:54:38.050 --> 00:54:42.510 department as well. That's a lot of times the 00:54:42.510 --> 00:54:44.590 forgotten people when it comes to first responders 00:54:44.590 --> 00:54:46.929 or military. So how were you able to then start 00:54:46.929 --> 00:54:52.909 helping family members too? Did you mean in this 00:54:52.909 --> 00:54:55.789 medicine space or before? It's up to you, wherever 00:54:55.789 --> 00:55:00.849 you want to take this. Well, my involvement with 00:55:00.849 --> 00:55:05.539 the family readiness was the... With the 2nd 00:55:05.539 --> 00:55:09.159 Raider Battalion in completion, the Marine Special 00:55:09.159 --> 00:55:11.619 Operations Command, it was pretty much logistic, 00:55:11.679 --> 00:55:16.599 preparing the families, I guess, physically for 00:55:16.599 --> 00:55:20.119 whatever the deployment stress brought to them. 00:55:20.579 --> 00:55:24.159 But I also incorporated the personal touch, which 00:55:24.159 --> 00:55:27.119 was as much as I could, talking one -on -one 00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:30.760 with the families. I didn't develop what I really 00:55:30.760 --> 00:55:33.289 wanted to do. It was very... divided between 00:55:33.289 --> 00:55:36.530 the the counselors and the psychologists and 00:55:36.530 --> 00:55:39.989 the um they were just working with the families 00:55:39.989 --> 00:55:42.849 and my my piece was actually more logistic okay 00:55:42.849 --> 00:55:46.969 so your your loved ones is going to training 00:55:46.969 --> 00:55:48.670 for six months and then it's coming back for 00:55:48.670 --> 00:55:51.250 two and then he's gone for six months that fast 00:55:51.250 --> 00:55:53.889 tempo how is that going to affect you but in 00:55:53.889 --> 00:55:57.880 your physical environment And I wasn't very satisfied 00:55:57.880 --> 00:55:59.820 with just addressing the physical environment. 00:55:59.960 --> 00:56:01.599 Do you have your paperwork? Do you have your 00:56:01.599 --> 00:56:03.239 wills? Do you have this and do you have that? 00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:07.699 But when it really changed is when I moved to 00:56:07.699 --> 00:56:12.460 Puerto Vallarta. No, I take that back. Working 00:56:12.460 --> 00:56:15.239 at NICO, at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, 00:56:15.260 --> 00:56:18.699 actually before I went to MARSOC, I was working 00:56:18.699 --> 00:56:21.079 a little bit with the family and I understood 00:56:21.079 --> 00:56:26.099 how that affected the deployments. in the training, 00:56:26.260 --> 00:56:29.019 the fast tempo, how that affected their family 00:56:29.019 --> 00:56:32.260 and how that affected to the spouses. And also 00:56:32.260 --> 00:56:34.940 taking into consideration that I was myself a 00:56:34.940 --> 00:56:39.599 spouse of a Marine. And so I knew how that affected 00:56:39.599 --> 00:56:43.159 me and the people that I work with. But when 00:56:43.159 --> 00:56:46.400 I moved here to Puerto Vallarta in 2020, my intention 00:56:46.400 --> 00:56:51.019 was to do retreats also for the families. And 00:56:51.019 --> 00:56:54.420 to offer and extend these programs to the spouses, 00:56:54.500 --> 00:56:56.920 and that doesn't mean only female. It could be 00:56:56.920 --> 00:57:01.440 partners. It doesn't matter. Just the partner, 00:57:01.539 --> 00:57:05.860 whoever is supporting the veteran. Because for 00:57:05.860 --> 00:57:09.599 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years, you have been holding 00:57:09.599 --> 00:57:12.739 on this space for somebody that is going to training 00:57:12.739 --> 00:57:14.719 and deployments, and you never know if that person 00:57:14.719 --> 00:57:18.119 is coming back. And how you have to deal on your 00:57:18.119 --> 00:57:20.900 own with the kids and with all the, we have a 00:57:20.900 --> 00:57:23.960 saying, you know, for the spouses that when the 00:57:23.960 --> 00:57:26.820 guy goes away and he's on deployment, then you 00:57:26.820 --> 00:57:29.460 are stuck in the house. Everything, the entire 00:57:29.460 --> 00:57:32.260 house breaks loose pretty much. Everything breaks 00:57:32.260 --> 00:57:33.820 down in the house. And then you have to deal 00:57:33.820 --> 00:57:35.519 with that. And then you have kids, you have to 00:57:35.519 --> 00:57:38.320 deal with the kids and with illnesses. And then 00:57:38.320 --> 00:57:40.780 not being able, in the past, you couldn't hear 00:57:40.780 --> 00:57:42.739 from your loved ones when they were on deployment. 00:57:42.760 --> 00:57:45.170 They would call you maybe once a month. It wasn't 00:57:45.170 --> 00:57:47.349 now, like you have the ability to text or to 00:57:47.349 --> 00:57:51.210 call anytime you want. So, of course, you are 00:57:51.210 --> 00:57:53.889 on guard. Of course, physiologically, there is 00:57:53.889 --> 00:57:57.130 a dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system 00:57:57.130 --> 00:58:00.449 because you have to be on and on alert all the 00:58:00.449 --> 00:58:03.449 time. You have to keep the fort. So it's important 00:58:03.449 --> 00:58:07.250 to offer these, I guess, modalities also to the 00:58:07.250 --> 00:58:11.519 family members because they are affected. Okay, 00:58:11.840 --> 00:58:14.320 I'm talking about the veterans, I forgot. That 00:58:14.320 --> 00:58:18.199 is also true for law enforcement. And it's also 00:58:18.199 --> 00:58:22.440 true, obviously, for our firefighters. Absolutely. 00:58:23.079 --> 00:58:25.940 You talked about MARSOC, you know, you work with 00:58:25.940 --> 00:58:30.260 the high level operators. One of the things that 00:58:30.260 --> 00:58:33.559 I've started talking about, as far as this conversation 00:58:33.559 --> 00:58:36.539 and reframing it, because I don't know if you've 00:58:36.539 --> 00:58:39.219 seen the same kind of thing, but In my world, 00:58:39.260 --> 00:58:41.820 in the first responder world, when we're talking 00:58:41.820 --> 00:58:43.719 about mental health, it's still, oh, they're 00:58:43.719 --> 00:58:46.340 broken. We need to try and fix them, try and 00:58:46.340 --> 00:58:48.719 stop them taking their own lives, pull them from 00:58:48.719 --> 00:58:51.699 addiction. It's all a very negative story. And 00:58:51.699 --> 00:58:54.300 that's true. We do have to solve those things. 00:58:54.820 --> 00:58:57.260 But what I realize on the physical health side, 00:58:57.380 --> 00:59:00.360 on the mental health side, is if we reframe it 00:59:00.360 --> 00:59:03.019 to that person performing at the high level, 00:59:03.059 --> 00:59:05.420 which we are required to do as a Marine, as a 00:59:05.420 --> 00:59:08.489 firefighter, as a police officer. It's the same 00:59:08.489 --> 00:59:11.349 journey that, you know, your meditation, your 00:59:11.349 --> 00:59:13.150 yoga and your strength and conditioning and nutrition 00:59:13.150 --> 00:59:17.710 and your, you know, your addressing traumas that 00:59:17.710 --> 00:59:19.750 you buried down and maybe, you know, psychedelic 00:59:19.750 --> 00:59:22.190 journeys that you're going to forge performance. 00:59:22.329 --> 00:59:26.110 So being a better version of yourself, having 00:59:26.110 --> 00:59:28.809 that post -traumatic growth, being more apt to 00:59:28.809 --> 00:59:30.849 be able to get into a flow state in a gunfight 00:59:30.849 --> 00:59:34.630 or searching a house for a child, that offers 00:59:34.630 --> 00:59:38.440 a lot more hope than. the sad story of you're 00:59:38.440 --> 00:59:40.199 in a dark place let's try and pull you out the 00:59:40.199 --> 00:59:43.300 dark place you work with these high level war 00:59:43.300 --> 00:59:46.099 fighters what did you see as far as these same 00:59:46.099 --> 00:59:48.420 modalities that you're doing for healing when 00:59:48.420 --> 00:59:50.780 they're coming back from war as far as forging 00:59:50.780 --> 00:59:57.139 performance as a as a marine It's interesting. 00:59:57.219 --> 01:00:01.099 I remember this question came several times when 01:00:01.099 --> 01:00:02.719 I was working at NICO, at the National Institute 01:00:02.719 --> 01:00:05.219 of Excellence. I was doing a lot of different 01:00:05.219 --> 01:00:07.800 techniques like biofeedback, using meditation, 01:00:08.380 --> 01:00:12.500 visualization, imagery, just different techniques 01:00:12.500 --> 01:00:16.400 in general, even yoga, tai chi. And they were 01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:18.840 getting into that flow state, but they were also 01:00:18.840 --> 01:00:23.079 concerned that They will be too much in that 01:00:23.079 --> 01:00:25.639 flow state that they wouldn't be on alert and 01:00:25.639 --> 01:00:34.159 be good warriors. And the difference in the operational 01:00:34.159 --> 01:00:37.280 side is you are actually on alert or you are 01:00:37.280 --> 01:00:40.059 aware to different states. When you are aware, 01:00:40.300 --> 01:00:46.840 you have 360 degree of awareness of what is happening 01:00:46.840 --> 01:00:50.269 around. When you're on alert. you are on the 01:00:50.269 --> 01:00:52.929 activation side of the autonomic nervous system 01:00:52.929 --> 01:00:55.369 on the sympathetic mode, which is tunnel vision. 01:00:55.650 --> 01:00:58.389 So that is a huge difference, right? But if you 01:00:58.389 --> 01:01:00.489 are calm and if you are present and you are in 01:01:00.489 --> 01:01:02.769 the moment and you are in that flow state, you're 01:01:02.769 --> 01:01:04.909 going to actually be able to be a better warrior 01:01:04.909 --> 01:01:09.670 or a better whatever. So it definitely is more 01:01:09.670 --> 01:01:14.230 beneficial to be in that present awareness state 01:01:14.230 --> 01:01:20.030 as opposed to be on the alert state. So we talked 01:01:20.030 --> 01:01:22.409 a lot about still the physical side. Talk to 01:01:22.409 --> 01:01:26.969 me about when the idea of reconnecting with your 01:01:26.969 --> 01:01:29.349 childhood, with that ancient, you know, medicine 01:01:29.349 --> 01:01:32.929 that you'd been raised with and exploring the 01:01:32.929 --> 01:01:35.110 world of psychedelics as a healing modality. 01:01:36.869 --> 01:01:40.369 Yeah, actually, I was at NICO working. I have 01:01:40.369 --> 01:01:43.630 finished my work with the Wounded Warrior Detachment 01:01:43.630 --> 01:01:46.579 in Badassan, Walter Reed. And I already had a 01:01:46.579 --> 01:01:50.000 job actually lined up to move from, I guess, 01:01:50.019 --> 01:01:54.000 the green side into the other side, more clinical 01:01:54.000 --> 01:01:59.860 side with the NICO. And it was right before I 01:01:59.860 --> 01:02:03.760 moved to NICO, I believe it was 2009, 2010, a 01:02:03.760 --> 01:02:06.760 gentleman came to the detachment. He was looking 01:02:06.760 --> 01:02:09.619 for a nephew that was injured in Afghanistan. 01:02:10.320 --> 01:02:13.340 His name was Henry, and I call him Uncle Henry. 01:02:15.559 --> 01:02:19.639 Native American Lakota spiritual leader of the 01:02:19.639 --> 01:02:24.360 community. And we saw each other when he came 01:02:24.360 --> 01:02:28.900 to the detachment. And we recognized each other, 01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:32.039 I guess, from a previous life that we fell instantly 01:02:32.039 --> 01:02:35.300 for each other. He was back then probably 86, 01:02:35.739 --> 01:02:39.719 87 years old. We became instant friends. And 01:02:39.719 --> 01:02:42.239 he actually told me, he wanted to teach me the 01:02:42.239 --> 01:02:45.230 Lakota way of healing if I wanted to go. back 01:02:45.230 --> 01:02:48.630 to his farm sometimes and learn how to use the 01:02:48.630 --> 01:02:51.630 herbs and the prayers and whatever. And I said, 01:02:51.670 --> 01:02:54.429 sure, absolutely. I was working on my doctorate. 01:02:54.449 --> 01:02:57.610 So working full time on my doctorate, writing, 01:02:57.650 --> 01:03:00.829 reading on weekends, but I, I took it immediately 01:03:00.829 --> 01:03:04.030 as this is something I need to do. I don't know 01:03:04.030 --> 01:03:10.449 why, but I was incorporating already very, you 01:03:10.449 --> 01:03:13.369 know, spiritual teachings or I guess practices 01:03:13.369 --> 01:03:17.300 in my, in my, you know, interactions with the 01:03:17.300 --> 01:03:20.780 veterans. But there was something missing. And 01:03:20.780 --> 01:03:23.340 that felt right for me to do, to learn from these 01:03:23.340 --> 01:03:27.099 men. So, yeah, once I started going to Uncle 01:03:27.099 --> 01:03:29.500 Henry, he introduced me to the soil lodge, the 01:03:29.500 --> 01:03:32.880 Sundance, and all these Native American practices. 01:03:33.000 --> 01:03:38.739 Then I realized that, wow, that. Without me actually 01:03:38.739 --> 01:03:41.800 rationalizing, I don't really sit down and think 01:03:41.800 --> 01:03:44.340 about things. I just, I'm driven by my intuition. 01:03:44.360 --> 01:03:47.860 I always have. And I didn't realize, I didn't 01:03:47.860 --> 01:03:50.159 put two plus two together. You know, it's like, 01:03:50.219 --> 01:03:52.119 oh, I'm going back to my roots. No, I'm going 01:03:52.119 --> 01:03:54.460 to see Uncle Henry. And it feels really good 01:03:54.460 --> 01:03:56.840 that I'm going to learn about the soil. I'm going 01:03:56.840 --> 01:04:00.539 to get there. And no, it just felt right. And, 01:04:00.539 --> 01:04:05.599 but that start, that was the catalyst for my. 01:04:06.400 --> 01:04:10.400 need to change to get back to my own roots um 01:04:10.400 --> 01:04:14.199 I remember that I felt guilty at the beginning 01:04:14.199 --> 01:04:16.420 I felt guilty because I thought okay wait a minute 01:04:16.420 --> 01:04:19.199 Andrea you have gone through you have been in 01:04:19.199 --> 01:04:23.880 this path going from this physical fitness to 01:04:23.880 --> 01:04:28.679 this psychology and then back to this physical 01:04:28.679 --> 01:04:31.500 fitness I'm going to rehab and now you are incorporating 01:04:31.500 --> 01:04:34.800 yoga you had no business doing yoga until because 01:04:34.800 --> 01:04:38.119 that was around the time that I am actually learning 01:04:38.119 --> 01:04:40.320 how to do proper yoga getting the validation 01:04:40.320 --> 01:04:42.239 getting the certificate which is so important 01:04:42.239 --> 01:04:45.840 right and then I couldn't do yoga so I have all 01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:47.719 these ideas like why can't you just focus and 01:04:47.719 --> 01:04:49.619 I have this internal conversation with myself 01:04:49.619 --> 01:04:52.179 like why Why can't you just stay focused on one 01:04:52.179 --> 01:04:55.360 thing? Why do you have to go in so many different 01:04:55.360 --> 01:04:58.619 directions? And it's like, I was so involved 01:04:58.619 --> 01:05:07.400 now with Buddhism. And I was like, okay, I'm 01:05:07.400 --> 01:05:09.360 going to start learning traditional healings 01:05:09.360 --> 01:05:13.780 from the Lakota medicine and all the Lakota tradition. 01:05:16.900 --> 01:05:19.360 why can't I just focus on one thing and don't 01:05:19.360 --> 01:05:23.380 even look at what else is out there? And I remember 01:05:23.380 --> 01:05:26.019 going the first time to Uncle Henry's, and he's 01:05:26.019 --> 01:05:29.699 sitting in a circle with a group of people, and 01:05:29.699 --> 01:05:32.500 he's talking about Buddhism. And he's talking 01:05:32.500 --> 01:05:37.300 about, you know, walking the middle path. And 01:05:37.300 --> 01:05:41.380 I was like, wait a minute. Uncle Henry, he's 01:05:41.380 --> 01:05:45.260 out. medicine man who's done like 50 sun dances 01:05:45.260 --> 01:05:48.320 and he's talking about buddhism he's talking 01:05:48.320 --> 01:05:50.300 about the buddha and they walk in the middle 01:05:50.300 --> 01:05:53.860 path like and that gave me permission i felt 01:05:53.860 --> 01:05:57.699 that gave me permission to actually be okay with 01:05:57.699 --> 01:05:59.920 learning about different traditions and incorporate 01:05:59.920 --> 01:06:01.860 them because at the end of the day they're talking 01:06:01.860 --> 01:06:06.699 about the same thing and So that was very interesting 01:06:06.699 --> 01:06:10.039 that that allowed me to fully immerse myself 01:06:10.039 --> 01:06:12.980 in what Uncle Henry wanted to share with me, 01:06:13.019 --> 01:06:15.639 which was such a beautiful gift. But anyway, 01:06:15.739 --> 01:06:18.559 so he was the catalyst to actually for me to 01:06:18.559 --> 01:06:21.360 start looking inward and say, like, what is missing 01:06:21.360 --> 01:06:23.619 in my life and what is missing in my professional 01:06:23.619 --> 01:06:28.219 life is the spiritual path. So I need to resolve 01:06:28.219 --> 01:06:32.630 my own issues with my own trauma, which. I had 01:06:32.630 --> 01:06:35.530 awful symptoms. One of them was rage, anger. 01:06:36.170 --> 01:06:40.429 That was the worst one. And then I needed to 01:06:40.429 --> 01:06:42.789 deal with that with my own healing. But also 01:06:42.789 --> 01:06:46.969 I needed to incorporate into my path as a professional 01:06:46.969 --> 01:06:50.730 spiritual healing and offer that to the people 01:06:50.730 --> 01:06:53.110 that I was working with. So it was during the 01:06:53.110 --> 01:06:56.949 2012 Sundance that I got the message from the 01:06:56.949 --> 01:06:59.050 Great Spirit telling me that I needed to leave. 01:06:59.230 --> 01:07:03.610 I was already in a really weird position with 01:07:03.610 --> 01:07:07.050 my marriage where I absolutely loved my ex -husband, 01:07:07.269 --> 01:07:10.610 but we were in love. And he wasn't in love either, 01:07:10.690 --> 01:07:14.849 but neither of us wanted to really call it quits. 01:07:16.489 --> 01:07:18.989 And I was absolutely, I loved my job at Nyko. 01:07:19.150 --> 01:07:21.070 I loved what I was doing, but it was something 01:07:21.070 --> 01:07:23.409 that was misaligned. And I always say this, you 01:07:23.409 --> 01:07:25.309 know when the highway is right beside you, but 01:07:25.309 --> 01:07:28.010 you're on the side road? I fell on the side road, 01:07:28.070 --> 01:07:31.400 and I wasn't flowing. with the traffic on the 01:07:31.400 --> 01:07:36.159 main road. So I, after the Sundance, I decided 01:07:36.159 --> 01:07:39.139 that I needed to, I needed to leave and that 01:07:39.139 --> 01:07:44.579 I needed to leave everything. And I did. I, it 01:07:44.579 --> 01:07:47.840 was hard, but I followed the advice of great 01:07:47.840 --> 01:07:51.840 spirit, which was follow the sun to Mexico. And 01:07:51.840 --> 01:07:55.559 I did. I decided to just quit my job, which I 01:07:55.559 --> 01:07:59.260 absolutely love at Nyko. and to get a divorce. 01:07:59.679 --> 01:08:02.840 And I packed my car with two suitcases, my little 01:08:02.840 --> 01:08:07.260 Chihuahua, and I drove south and never looked 01:08:07.260 --> 01:08:09.380 back. I'm not going to say that it didn't hurt. 01:08:09.559 --> 01:08:13.320 It hurt so much, so much, so much to leave everything. 01:08:14.280 --> 01:08:18.159 But I needed to find my own healing. I needed 01:08:18.159 --> 01:08:21.859 to find my way, my path, my true path, because 01:08:21.859 --> 01:08:25.630 I was on the side road. And my intuition just 01:08:25.630 --> 01:08:27.550 told me, just got to go. But Uncle Henry was 01:08:27.550 --> 01:08:30.989 the one who actually was the catalyst. And he 01:08:30.989 --> 01:08:33.770 taught me so much. He was such a generous man, 01:08:33.909 --> 01:08:37.810 such a beautiful mentor. He transitioned in 2016 01:08:37.810 --> 01:08:44.449 or 15. Yeah. But he was the catalyst for my change. 01:08:45.710 --> 01:08:50.729 So you're driving south with... A car and a chihuahua. 01:08:50.729 --> 01:08:53.329 How did that end up finding psychedelic medicine? 01:08:56.189 --> 01:09:00.789 Well, it wasn't then. What I did is I needed 01:09:00.789 --> 01:09:06.569 to reconnect with my native roots. And I did. 01:09:06.649 --> 01:09:09.029 I reconnected with some people that practice 01:09:09.029 --> 01:09:13.109 traditional, I wouldn't say traditional healing. 01:09:13.229 --> 01:09:15.829 Yes, they do, but not with psychedelic medicine. 01:09:18.409 --> 01:09:21.569 They're Nahuas. They're my friends, and we actually 01:09:21.569 --> 01:09:24.029 work together. I invite them to participate in 01:09:24.029 --> 01:09:28.630 my retreats. So I reconnected with my roots, 01:09:28.689 --> 01:09:34.409 with my native roots, doing ceremonies like the 01:09:34.409 --> 01:09:37.909 Temezcalo, the soil lodge, and going with them 01:09:37.909 --> 01:09:40.250 to the sand dances and to the vision quests and 01:09:40.250 --> 01:09:44.659 things like that, the rituals they perform. But 01:09:44.659 --> 01:09:47.300 then I went back to the U .S. in 2015. There 01:09:47.300 --> 01:09:49.060 was something that I needed to complete there. 01:09:49.159 --> 01:09:51.579 And I don't know. Again, my God told me, you 01:09:51.579 --> 01:09:53.720 need to go back to the U .S. Something that you 01:09:53.720 --> 01:09:57.340 need to do there. You're not ready yet. And I 01:09:57.340 --> 01:09:59.079 went back to Camp Lejeune. That's when I was 01:09:59.079 --> 01:10:06.100 working with the MARSOC. And in 2020. During 01:10:06.100 --> 01:10:08.399 the pandemic, I was already working at the University 01:10:08.399 --> 01:10:10.720 of Colorado in a program very similar to the 01:10:10.720 --> 01:10:14.920 NICO in Bethesda, working with veterans and actually 01:10:14.920 --> 01:10:18.479 professional athletes with TBI and PTSD. And 01:10:18.479 --> 01:10:21.060 a lot of people there, and that was my intuition 01:10:21.060 --> 01:10:24.000 telling me, you need to go from working with 01:10:24.000 --> 01:10:27.220 the green side, go to the civilian side. Don't 01:10:27.220 --> 01:10:28.739 know why, but you need to do that because you're 01:10:28.739 --> 01:10:30.239 going to meet people there that are going to 01:10:30.239 --> 01:10:32.159 tell you that psychedelic medicine is the way 01:10:32.159 --> 01:10:34.699 to go for the veterans back then. Just the veterans. 01:10:35.060 --> 01:10:38.380 And I did. I met so many people. Again, the veterans 01:10:38.380 --> 01:10:42.760 are the ones that start talking about, hey, you 01:10:42.760 --> 01:10:45.159 know that ayahuasca can help us heal, right? 01:10:45.220 --> 01:10:47.979 You know that, the bufo, you know that, the mushrooms. 01:10:48.739 --> 01:10:53.739 And I knew about it, but I have no idea how to 01:10:53.739 --> 01:10:56.359 incorporate that, how to even bring that into 01:10:56.359 --> 01:11:03.279 the civilian. clinical environment in Colorado. 01:11:03.720 --> 01:11:07.260 What I was doing was bringing them, the veterans, 01:11:07.399 --> 01:11:09.380 to the sweat lodge with another friend, another 01:11:09.380 --> 01:11:15.239 mentor, good father, dad, good father. But still 01:11:15.239 --> 01:11:18.479 there was that dismissing. And honestly, I had 01:11:18.479 --> 01:11:20.859 some beautiful moments in Colorado, but it wasn't 01:11:20.859 --> 01:11:22.920 my environment. Physically, it was cold and it 01:11:22.920 --> 01:11:25.930 was high. It was snowy. I absolutely... I hate 01:11:25.930 --> 01:11:29.609 the cold weather. But I needed to be there to 01:11:29.609 --> 01:11:33.090 hear from the veterans again, hey, this is what 01:11:33.090 --> 01:11:36.689 we need. And you are the one to actually open 01:11:36.689 --> 01:11:40.949 the door for us. And so I did. And there's so 01:11:40.949 --> 01:11:43.670 many people, so many players in that during the 01:11:43.670 --> 01:11:46.670 two years that I was in Colorado. So I decided, 01:11:46.770 --> 01:11:49.390 okay, now that the pandemic is closing the doors 01:11:49.390 --> 01:11:51.189 and we're working from home, I'm going to leave 01:11:51.189 --> 01:11:54.420 and I'm going to do it. So I did. Again, I was 01:11:54.420 --> 01:11:56.979 remarried to my beautiful husband, who's a Mexican 01:11:56.979 --> 01:12:00.840 boy, a Mexican guy. And I told him, I said, guess 01:12:00.840 --> 01:12:03.340 what? We're going back to Mexico. And he's like, 01:12:03.479 --> 01:12:05.899 are you crazy? He's like, yeah, I lost my mind 01:12:05.899 --> 01:12:11.979 again. And that's a good thing. Not again. Not 01:12:11.979 --> 01:12:16.560 again. Lost your mind and sold the house in August 01:12:16.560 --> 01:12:21.140 2020 and moved to Mexico. And I said, I'm going 01:12:21.140 --> 01:12:25.779 to do these treatments, and I'm going to offer 01:12:25.779 --> 01:12:28.500 to the community that I know, which was the military 01:12:28.500 --> 01:12:31.560 community. And that's how I began offering these 01:12:31.560 --> 01:12:37.060 retreats. I knew the medicine, but before I began 01:12:37.060 --> 01:12:42.060 the retreats, I actually came to the understanding 01:12:42.060 --> 01:12:46.539 that I needed to. open myself to my own healing. 01:12:46.640 --> 01:12:49.079 And that happened when I was before here in 2014, 01:12:49.760 --> 01:12:53.600 15, 14, when I was here with this group of friends 01:12:53.600 --> 01:12:56.020 that I was following around and doing native 01:12:56.020 --> 01:13:00.579 ceremonies. That's when I understood that my 01:13:00.579 --> 01:13:04.220 trauma was so profound and I haven't dealt with 01:13:04.220 --> 01:13:08.760 it. I haven't dealt with all the physical sexual 01:13:08.760 --> 01:13:11.100 abuse and I haven't dealt with abandonment. I 01:13:11.100 --> 01:13:12.539 haven't dealt with a lot of things. So anyways, 01:13:12.720 --> 01:13:17.159 I was... healing myself in the process. But I 01:13:17.159 --> 01:13:20.619 knew that I needed to explore the medicine, the 01:13:20.619 --> 01:13:23.140 sacred medicine, and I went with ayahuasca. That 01:13:23.140 --> 01:13:26.300 was my first medicine. No, I lied. It was peyote. 01:13:26.979 --> 01:13:28.920 So we did Hikurian, but that was a beautiful 01:13:28.920 --> 01:13:31.659 experience. But with ayahuasca, it wasn't. I 01:13:31.659 --> 01:13:33.880 mean, it was a great experience, but it was very 01:13:33.880 --> 01:13:38.180 painful. Opening those boxes and actually facing 01:13:38.180 --> 01:13:42.020 all my shadows, which is, you know. the manifestation 01:13:42.020 --> 01:13:44.319 of all the pain and trauma that I have suffered. 01:13:44.979 --> 01:13:48.760 But I understand that it's necessary. It's a 01:13:48.760 --> 01:13:53.319 process of facing it, accepting it, and letting 01:13:53.319 --> 01:13:56.979 go. And that's what I did. And that's when I 01:13:56.979 --> 01:14:01.260 was ready to say, okay, now I understand how 01:14:01.260 --> 01:14:04.840 this works, and I'm going to offer this to my 01:14:04.840 --> 01:14:07.039 community, the military community. So I did. 01:14:07.279 --> 01:14:09.979 And at the beginning, I wanted to do only four 01:14:09.979 --> 01:14:13.420 retreats. because it takes a lot of energy to 01:14:13.420 --> 01:14:17.380 actually put together the retreat in the way 01:14:17.380 --> 01:14:20.140 that I want it. It is not you come and do the 01:14:20.140 --> 01:14:23.680 medicine and then you go. You do a lot of different 01:14:23.680 --> 01:14:26.800 activities before the preparation and then during 01:14:26.800 --> 01:14:29.920 the retreat, which I don't like the word retreat, 01:14:30.039 --> 01:14:32.079 but I haven't found another one. You do a lot 01:14:32.079 --> 01:14:35.380 of work during the week that you spend with me, 01:14:35.439 --> 01:14:37.960 and then you have the medicine. And then you 01:14:37.960 --> 01:14:39.720 go back and we continue with the integration 01:14:39.720 --> 01:14:43.340 process. But I wanted to do only four retreats. 01:14:43.340 --> 01:14:47.119 I ended up doing last year's 27. So it's been 01:14:47.119 --> 01:14:53.079 crazy. It's been fast -paced, but it's not, how 01:14:53.079 --> 01:14:58.079 do I want to say? It's not an effort. It flows 01:14:58.079 --> 01:15:03.239 so naturally to do it when you're doing things 01:15:03.239 --> 01:15:08.619 from the heart space. When you do everything 01:15:08.619 --> 01:15:12.600 for love and compassion, and whoever needs to 01:15:12.600 --> 01:15:15.600 be here will be here. If at some point everything 01:15:15.600 --> 01:15:17.460 is legalized in the U .S. and nobody wants to 01:15:17.460 --> 01:15:20.300 come see me and do the medicine the traditional 01:15:20.300 --> 01:15:24.060 way, then that's fine too. I am absolutely fine 01:15:24.060 --> 01:15:27.560 with that. Whoever needs to be here to do it 01:15:27.560 --> 01:15:30.380 the right way, with traditional healers, with 01:15:30.380 --> 01:15:34.560 the preparation, they will be here. I am not 01:15:34.560 --> 01:15:38.149 pushing any agenda on anybody. you will hear 01:15:38.149 --> 01:15:42.149 you need to now with ayahuasca you know specifically 01:15:42.149 --> 01:15:45.050 in in mexico again what's the history of that 01:15:45.050 --> 01:15:46.949 being used you know what was the application 01:15:46.949 --> 01:15:52.109 in the traditional sense for myself no just just 01:15:52.109 --> 01:15:53.789 for the people in general the people of those 01:15:53.789 --> 01:15:58.909 tribes that were using it before well okay so 01:15:58.909 --> 01:16:01.010 going back to the beginning of our conversation 01:16:01.010 --> 01:16:04.630 right people that grows in the crow in the jungle 01:16:04.630 --> 01:16:08.319 in the farms in nature We have such a deep connection 01:16:08.319 --> 01:16:13.180 to everything that it is. We believe, and I say 01:16:13.180 --> 01:16:17.840 we as of native backgrounds, that everything 01:16:17.840 --> 01:16:22.359 has a spirit and everything has something to 01:16:22.359 --> 01:16:26.199 teach us, even the rocks and the water, the elements. 01:16:27.220 --> 01:16:30.800 But we need to truly listen to them. So we spend 01:16:30.800 --> 01:16:36.550 time in nature alone. That's why Native Americans, 01:16:36.750 --> 01:16:40.109 not only the U .S., Canada, the U .S., and Latin 01:16:40.109 --> 01:16:43.470 American countries, they do vision quests. Because 01:16:43.470 --> 01:16:45.569 when you sit in silence for four days without 01:16:45.569 --> 01:16:48.970 food or water, you truly listen. You truly see 01:16:48.970 --> 01:16:53.850 what is going on. And that's what happened to... 01:16:54.319 --> 01:16:57.340 People that live in these settings, they are 01:16:57.340 --> 01:17:00.039 able to truly listen to the plants and to the 01:17:00.039 --> 01:17:03.380 trees and to open themselves to the consciousness, 01:17:03.600 --> 01:17:06.159 to receive information from nature. That's what 01:17:06.159 --> 01:17:09.100 it is there for. And they start using, I mean, 01:17:09.100 --> 01:17:11.560 think about how many combinations of plants you 01:17:11.560 --> 01:17:14.420 have to take to actually come up to ayahuasca 01:17:14.420 --> 01:17:16.500 and chacruna to have the mix and the brew called 01:17:16.500 --> 01:17:20.659 ayahuasca, right? That doesn't happen in a vacuum. 01:17:20.779 --> 01:17:24.659 That doesn't happen in... As a coincidence, that 01:17:24.659 --> 01:17:27.699 doesn't happen if people try a hundred thousands 01:17:27.699 --> 01:17:30.899 of times different combinations. That comes out 01:17:30.899 --> 01:17:35.720 from either a dream, a vision, or a direct conversation 01:17:35.720 --> 01:17:39.439 with nature where you receive information from 01:17:39.439 --> 01:17:44.800 them through your consciousness. And that's how 01:17:44.800 --> 01:17:48.560 you're able to understand that this plant or 01:17:48.560 --> 01:17:52.319 this combination is used for this. And it is 01:17:52.319 --> 01:17:58.760 here to help us to heal, to release all traumas, 01:17:58.760 --> 01:18:02.279 and to actually strengthen that connection with 01:18:02.279 --> 01:18:04.420 the human size, with that consciousness that 01:18:04.420 --> 01:18:09.859 we have. So people always ask me, how did these 01:18:09.859 --> 01:18:12.560 natives realize, you know, they can use these 01:18:12.560 --> 01:18:15.399 two plants to mix them and cook them or brew 01:18:15.399 --> 01:18:19.180 them to become ayahuasca? I'm just grateful that... 01:18:20.160 --> 01:18:24.260 they did and we can all do that too if we are 01:18:24.260 --> 01:18:27.260 i think it's possible to do it now but with all 01:18:27.260 --> 01:18:29.500 the technology but to actually shut off completely 01:18:29.500 --> 01:18:32.100 and just be you a part of the nature and just 01:18:32.100 --> 01:18:34.560 truly listen and immerse yourself and truly listen 01:18:34.560 --> 01:18:37.880 to the environment when nature with earth with 01:18:37.880 --> 01:18:40.199 elements they have to tell us they have to teach 01:18:40.199 --> 01:18:42.460 us and humbling ourselves because we were so 01:18:42.460 --> 01:18:46.500 arrogant we think that we our technology and 01:18:46.500 --> 01:18:49.600 our titles and our validation and certifications 01:18:49.600 --> 01:18:54.079 we are all that and no we're not we're not in 01:18:54.079 --> 01:18:57.600 we're not better than an ant and a cockroach 01:18:57.600 --> 01:19:00.180 and a tree and a rock we are part of it and we 01:19:00.180 --> 01:19:02.739 should respect them and listen to them and and 01:19:02.739 --> 01:19:06.520 live in harmony with all of that only then we 01:19:06.520 --> 01:19:10.779 become conscientious human beings absolutely 01:19:11.609 --> 01:19:15.270 You mentioned about this basically spawned from 01:19:15.270 --> 01:19:18.949 your work with the military. One of the biggest 01:19:18.949 --> 01:19:21.590 lessons that I've learned doing this podcast 01:19:21.590 --> 01:19:24.869 so far was, and this was outside the psychedelic 01:19:24.869 --> 01:19:27.390 space, but was the prevalence of childhood trauma 01:19:27.390 --> 01:19:30.649 in our men and women in uniform and how a lot 01:19:30.649 --> 01:19:33.369 of times that drives us into this tribe, this 01:19:33.369 --> 01:19:35.569 wanting to be the protector, not wanting other 01:19:35.569 --> 01:19:37.770 people to feel the pain that we felt, wanting 01:19:37.770 --> 01:19:42.180 to fill our... mind space with busyness and excitement 01:19:42.180 --> 01:19:43.760 so that we don't have to think about the things. 01:19:44.119 --> 01:19:47.319 And so I've heard so many times that when people 01:19:47.319 --> 01:19:49.659 have really, especially in the psychedelic space, 01:19:49.960 --> 01:19:52.640 have gone into these journeys expecting that 01:19:52.640 --> 01:19:58.630 Afghanistan or a fatal car accident. was going 01:19:58.630 --> 01:20:01.069 to be the root of their trauma, but more often 01:20:01.069 --> 01:20:03.090 than not, it was actually their formative years, 01:20:03.149 --> 01:20:04.649 their childhood, were the things that were really 01:20:04.649 --> 01:20:07.449 buried down. What have you seen as far as first 01:20:07.449 --> 01:20:10.909 responders and military, these kind of awakenings 01:20:10.909 --> 01:20:16.149 of the root of some of their struggles? Yeah, 01:20:16.189 --> 01:20:20.890 it's very common to see childhood trauma in the 01:20:20.890 --> 01:20:23.029 first responders community and in the veterans 01:20:23.029 --> 01:20:27.659 community. Again, and that's a coincidence. And 01:20:27.659 --> 01:20:31.220 I don't believe that because you have childhood 01:20:31.220 --> 01:20:34.420 trauma, you are driven to join the military, 01:20:34.439 --> 01:20:36.880 just let's say the military, because you're looking 01:20:36.880 --> 01:20:42.460 for a family, a mentor, a community. Yeah, that 01:20:42.460 --> 01:20:45.920 is true. But that is true at the physical, cognitive, 01:20:46.079 --> 01:20:50.460 psychological level. Yes, that is true. But beyond 01:20:50.460 --> 01:20:55.719 that, at the spiritual level, is that... your 01:20:55.719 --> 01:20:58.880 spirit knows that you need to complete a cycle. 01:20:59.000 --> 01:21:02.319 You need to close a cycle. So if you have experienced 01:21:02.319 --> 01:21:08.159 trauma, you need to release that. You may not 01:21:08.159 --> 01:21:12.239 know it, but by doing what you are doing, either 01:21:12.239 --> 01:21:14.979 being a first responder or being of service, 01:21:15.079 --> 01:21:18.539 being a police officer, firefighter, or even 01:21:18.539 --> 01:21:22.520 a veteran, somehow those experiences that you're 01:21:22.520 --> 01:21:26.510 going to have, in your life are going to help 01:21:26.510 --> 01:21:29.970 you, one, to address those traumas, and two, 01:21:29.989 --> 01:21:33.869 to close those cycles of trauma. So I think it 01:21:33.869 --> 01:21:36.350 goes two levels. The psychological one, the need 01:21:36.350 --> 01:21:40.569 for finding that community, that safetiness, 01:21:40.649 --> 01:21:43.289 finding that, in the case of the military, that 01:21:43.289 --> 01:21:47.010 family that didn't embrace you or whatever, any 01:21:47.010 --> 01:21:49.930 human being that came from a broken family, drug 01:21:49.930 --> 01:21:54.010 addiction or whatever. But at the spiritual level, 01:21:54.350 --> 01:21:58.069 we are carrying these layers of trauma that goes 01:21:58.069 --> 01:22:04.329 sometimes beyond this physical life. And intuitively, 01:22:04.810 --> 01:22:08.250 we're going into and putting ourselves into positions 01:22:08.250 --> 01:22:11.909 where we can close those cycles and those chapters. 01:22:12.369 --> 01:22:17.510 So it's absolutely common that pretty much everybody 01:22:17.510 --> 01:22:19.970 that comes to finding healing, they're going 01:22:19.970 --> 01:22:24.090 to have some childhood trauma. So what are some 01:22:24.090 --> 01:22:26.689 of the, I mean, I'm sure there's so many, but 01:22:26.689 --> 01:22:29.409 some of the success stories that, you know, you 01:22:29.409 --> 01:22:31.569 still remember fondly as far as the military 01:22:31.569 --> 01:22:33.529 side before we go to the first responder side. 01:22:36.189 --> 01:22:41.869 I will say without quoting or just thinking about 01:22:41.869 --> 01:22:45.939 one particular case, but I will say. Going back 01:22:45.939 --> 01:22:49.779 to what my grandmother used to treat, and in 01:22:49.779 --> 01:22:52.399 general, most of the curanderos, the healers, 01:22:52.500 --> 01:22:57.859 which it is to help people to find pieces of 01:22:57.859 --> 01:23:01.039 the soul that are fragmented. Because in the 01:23:01.039 --> 01:23:05.300 tradition, when you have a traumatic event, sometimes 01:23:05.300 --> 01:23:08.760 part of the soul leaves and is fragmented, and 01:23:08.760 --> 01:23:11.460 that's when you have a sensation of feeling completely... 01:23:14.609 --> 01:23:18.770 I guess the word, and that your soul left your 01:23:18.770 --> 01:23:23.890 body. I heard that from a few veterans. And the 01:23:23.890 --> 01:23:26.869 shaman, the curandero, the healer, actually goes 01:23:26.869 --> 01:23:30.810 in, traveling to that physical, beyond the physical 01:23:30.810 --> 01:23:33.029 dimension, traveling to that spiritual dimension, 01:23:33.029 --> 01:23:36.229 and is able to call the pieces of the soul back 01:23:36.229 --> 01:23:41.250 and make your whole again. The medicine can actually 01:23:41.250 --> 01:23:44.020 do the same thing. It can actually... But the 01:23:44.020 --> 01:23:47.100 difference is that you are the one that is, after 01:23:47.100 --> 01:23:50.439 you have the medicine, then you're opening, lifting 01:23:50.439 --> 01:23:53.279 the veil of the mind, and you're traveling into 01:23:53.279 --> 01:23:55.779 that, beyond the physical, into the spiritual 01:23:55.779 --> 01:23:58.880 dimension, and able to call yourself those fragmented 01:23:58.880 --> 01:24:00.920 pieces of the soul and bring it back together 01:24:00.920 --> 01:24:03.140 so that you are feeling whole again. So it's 01:24:03.140 --> 01:24:05.279 an interaction between the spirit of the medicine 01:24:05.279 --> 01:24:10.399 and your own spirit. I forgot what you asked 01:24:10.399 --> 01:24:13.460 me at the end. Sorry. No, it's okay. No, I was 01:24:13.460 --> 01:24:17.619 saying some of the success stories. The success 01:24:17.619 --> 01:24:20.960 story, yes. So among those lines, the success 01:24:20.960 --> 01:24:23.619 stories come when you see people going back to 01:24:23.619 --> 01:24:28.720 wholeness. When you see the light back into their 01:24:28.720 --> 01:24:32.699 eyes, it's easy to recognize. You know, people 01:24:32.699 --> 01:24:35.829 used to see... of our veterans that have gone 01:24:35.829 --> 01:24:39.010 to war, they have their cells and yards there. 01:24:39.229 --> 01:24:41.930 What's it called? There's nothing behind their 01:24:41.930 --> 01:24:44.829 eyes. They can see, but really, what is behind 01:24:44.829 --> 01:24:49.029 those eyes? And just to see the sparkle back, 01:24:49.130 --> 01:24:52.189 to just see life. I don't know if you have seen, 01:24:52.310 --> 01:24:54.489 probably you have, when somebody transcends. 01:24:56.369 --> 01:24:59.210 It's very amazing to see how that sparkle actually 01:24:59.210 --> 01:25:04.199 just dimmed and is gone. But you can see also 01:25:04.199 --> 01:25:09.420 people that is alive with all functioning, but 01:25:09.420 --> 01:25:12.739 still there is no sparkle in the eyes. And after 01:25:12.739 --> 01:25:16.640 the medicine, that sparkles back. So life, soul 01:25:16.640 --> 01:25:20.479 is back. And that's the success story. It's not 01:25:20.479 --> 01:25:23.960 just one person. It's just seeing them back to 01:25:23.960 --> 01:25:27.039 be fully alive, not just existing, not going 01:25:27.039 --> 01:25:32.239 through the motions and doing like a robot. They 01:25:32.239 --> 01:25:35.220 are about to be actually fully living human beings. 01:25:35.699 --> 01:25:39.340 Those are the success that I see. One of the 01:25:39.340 --> 01:25:41.520 themes of the last book I wrote is generational 01:25:41.520 --> 01:25:44.600 trauma and kind of understanding these dominoes 01:25:44.600 --> 01:25:48.529 that were falling before us. can actually do 01:25:48.529 --> 01:25:51.210 our own healing that we can hopefully prevent 01:25:51.210 --> 01:25:53.329 the domino falling from our children or at least 01:25:53.329 --> 01:25:56.050 our grandchildren and and heal from both sides 01:25:56.050 --> 01:25:59.069 from a spiritual point of view what is the perspective 01:25:59.069 --> 01:26:01.750 on this generational trauma like you mentioned 01:26:01.750 --> 01:26:03.909 your childhood i would assume then probably there 01:26:03.909 --> 01:26:06.449 was trauma in in your mother's life in your father's 01:26:06.449 --> 01:26:08.970 life so how is that viewed from the spiritual 01:26:08.970 --> 01:26:14.750 side yeah i mentioned earlier that we come into 01:26:14.750 --> 01:26:20.369 this physical, you know, place in this physical 01:26:20.369 --> 01:26:24.550 body to close cycles. Cycles that are not only 01:26:24.550 --> 01:26:28.670 our own from this lifetime. But I also believe 01:26:28.670 --> 01:26:32.050 that what happened to us in this lifetime, in 01:26:32.050 --> 01:26:36.170 this physical body, in this present life, is 01:26:36.170 --> 01:26:39.890 also, there is a reason for it. It's because 01:26:39.890 --> 01:26:42.649 something is unleft and undone and finished and 01:26:42.649 --> 01:26:46.539 healed from a previous life. And this is going 01:26:46.539 --> 01:26:50.899 to sound harsh, right? But perhaps it could be 01:26:50.899 --> 01:26:57.039 that what I experienced in this life, the pain 01:26:57.039 --> 01:27:02.579 of losing my father, perhaps, maybe, in a previous 01:27:02.579 --> 01:27:07.119 life, I was somebody that left somebody and that 01:27:07.119 --> 01:27:11.159 caused pain. And I came into this life to actually 01:27:11.159 --> 01:27:15.640 complete that cycle of pain. and to close it. 01:27:15.760 --> 01:27:20.840 I needed to experience abandonment and to accept 01:27:20.840 --> 01:27:26.880 it and to forgive and to let it go. So then future 01:27:26.880 --> 01:27:30.800 generations in my blood lineage wouldn't have 01:27:30.800 --> 01:27:36.710 to experience that. So it's not only the... trauma 01:27:36.710 --> 01:27:40.390 generation and generational trauma that we are 01:27:40.390 --> 01:27:42.489 healing you know native americans say that you 01:27:42.489 --> 01:27:45.189 can heal seven generations before seven generation 01:27:45.189 --> 01:27:48.550 after but it's also closing cycles and and that 01:27:48.550 --> 01:27:52.130 goes into you know a more extreme i guess difficult 01:27:52.130 --> 01:27:57.390 belief that we don't come into this life with 01:27:57.390 --> 01:28:01.029 the people that are our sibling as a coincidence 01:28:01.029 --> 01:28:06.579 we do have already predetermine ourselves. Who 01:28:06.579 --> 01:28:10.079 is going to be the player in my life? Who's going 01:28:10.079 --> 01:28:12.319 to be my mother? Who's going to be my father? 01:28:12.859 --> 01:28:15.119 Who are going to be my brothers and sisters? 01:28:15.739 --> 01:28:19.060 My boyfriend, my husband, the people that hurt 01:28:19.060 --> 01:28:23.800 me so much, right? I already know. But as soon 01:28:23.800 --> 01:28:27.359 as I transition from that source into this life, 01:28:27.659 --> 01:28:32.220 I forget. However, my intuition and my consciousness 01:28:32.989 --> 01:28:37.710 that remains should guide me to actually heal 01:28:37.710 --> 01:28:42.989 those processes, traumas from before, trauma 01:28:42.989 --> 01:28:46.569 in my own blood lineage. And in a different setting, 01:28:46.630 --> 01:28:49.789 obviously, in a different time, in a different 01:28:49.789 --> 01:28:52.930 physical body, I may not have been a female. 01:28:53.069 --> 01:28:56.810 I may not have been, I don't know. I don't know 01:28:56.810 --> 01:29:00.989 what I was before. But I know and I trust that 01:29:00.989 --> 01:29:05.399 my higher self, My higher consciousness decided 01:29:05.399 --> 01:29:08.140 that I needed to live this life this way and 01:29:08.140 --> 01:29:11.020 go through all this pain and suffering so that 01:29:11.020 --> 01:29:15.020 I can heal and close those cycles so I can move 01:29:15.020 --> 01:29:19.180 on a little bit lighter into the next one. I 01:29:19.180 --> 01:29:21.880 love that perspective. It's kind of extreme, 01:29:21.960 --> 01:29:24.640 I know. No, I like it. I mean, even just if you 01:29:24.640 --> 01:29:26.800 look at it slightly different when you were talking, 01:29:27.060 --> 01:29:30.159 having had a childhood and experienced trauma 01:29:30.159 --> 01:29:33.739 yourself. I'm thinking like like a river, you 01:29:33.739 --> 01:29:36.800 know, you can even let that same experience pass 01:29:36.800 --> 01:29:39.300 you pass through you and onto your children and 01:29:39.300 --> 01:29:42.600 they experience the same trauma. Or you can take 01:29:42.600 --> 01:29:44.960 the pain and effort that it causes to build a 01:29:44.960 --> 01:29:47.779 dam and then stop that. So it's the same thing, 01:29:47.779 --> 01:29:49.600 no matter how you reframe it, it's the same kind 01:29:49.600 --> 01:29:53.560 of kind of, you know, perspective is if you have 01:29:53.560 --> 01:29:56.359 the courage, excuse me, if you have the courage 01:29:56.359 --> 01:29:59.880 to actually. you know, deal with this pain, look 01:29:59.880 --> 01:30:03.159 in the mirror, you know, address it. What a beautiful 01:30:03.159 --> 01:30:05.439 gift it is to the world, to the next generation, 01:30:05.619 --> 01:30:07.840 to not pass it on. So whether, as you said, it 01:30:07.840 --> 01:30:09.779 was a penance from a previous life, or whether 01:30:09.779 --> 01:30:12.760 it's just simply watching this seven generations, 01:30:12.840 --> 01:30:15.380 as the Native Americans have said, and here you 01:30:15.380 --> 01:30:18.720 are. I think I find it very exciting. I've said 01:30:18.720 --> 01:30:21.199 this recently. My generation, our generation, 01:30:21.359 --> 01:30:25.020 has one foot in the old ways, one foot in this 01:30:25.020 --> 01:30:27.359 new conversation, exactly like we're having now. 01:30:27.949 --> 01:30:30.609 When I say the old ways, I'm talking about modern 01:30:30.609 --> 01:30:35.510 medicine mentality, where we can now forgive 01:30:35.510 --> 01:30:38.770 everything that happened in the past, not pass 01:30:38.770 --> 01:30:42.109 it on to the front. So I see that we really are 01:30:42.109 --> 01:30:45.130 the dam. We have the opportunity to really be 01:30:45.130 --> 01:30:50.609 this courageous generation that debunks some 01:30:50.609 --> 01:30:52.310 of the things that we were raised to believe 01:30:52.310 --> 01:30:55.729 from mental health and ancient medicine and all 01:30:55.729 --> 01:30:58.779 these things, reframe it. work on ourselves. 01:30:59.060 --> 01:31:01.520 And then, as you said, those seven generations 01:31:01.520 --> 01:31:03.479 ahead of us are going to benefit from it. So 01:31:03.479 --> 01:31:08.479 I think it's a great perspective. Yes, it is. 01:31:08.659 --> 01:31:13.140 And thank you for validating that. Sometimes 01:31:13.140 --> 01:31:16.720 that's why I don't talk very much about these 01:31:16.720 --> 01:31:20.920 things, because it's difficult to understand 01:31:20.920 --> 01:31:24.850 and even more difficult to accept. that we do 01:31:24.850 --> 01:31:28.550 have a role in this trauma because of past experiences 01:31:28.550 --> 01:31:32.390 and past lives. Absolutely. Well, for people, 01:31:32.430 --> 01:31:34.109 I want to get to the SIREN project, but before 01:31:34.109 --> 01:31:36.810 we do, for people that were going to attend a 01:31:36.810 --> 01:31:39.770 retreat, what would that week look like? Give 01:31:39.770 --> 01:31:41.710 us an overview of what it would look like from, 01:31:41.810 --> 01:31:44.770 you know, even before they arrive, any sort of 01:31:44.770 --> 01:31:47.310 preparation to, you know, what that week experience 01:31:47.310 --> 01:31:49.329 would be. And then we can even get into the integration 01:31:49.329 --> 01:31:55.220 after as well. Sure. In this case, they will 01:31:55.220 --> 01:31:57.439 go through a preparation that usually should 01:31:57.439 --> 01:32:00.539 be at least a month out. I try to do it three 01:32:00.539 --> 01:32:04.159 months out where the directors of the organization 01:32:04.159 --> 01:32:07.779 will identify the people that are able to join 01:32:07.779 --> 01:32:12.119 the retreat. Because there is a process of elimination, 01:32:12.180 --> 01:32:14.359 let's just say at the beginning. First is going 01:32:14.359 --> 01:32:18.600 to be the interview with the director where they 01:32:18.600 --> 01:32:21.600 will... realize that they have some, for example, 01:32:21.600 --> 01:32:23.640 taking some medications or if they have some 01:32:23.640 --> 01:32:28.100 conditions that will be a contraindication for 01:32:28.100 --> 01:32:31.859 any of the medicine. And if they're able to continue 01:32:31.859 --> 01:32:34.020 on, they will go to the second step, which is 01:32:34.020 --> 01:32:36.000 the medical intake, which is a questionnaire 01:32:36.000 --> 01:32:39.479 that I send out. And based on that, they will 01:32:39.479 --> 01:32:41.520 go through this first step, which is the medical 01:32:41.520 --> 01:32:44.640 screening or safety screening. So say, for example, 01:32:44.640 --> 01:32:49.380 that Angela or Tim, in this case, they will identify 01:32:49.380 --> 01:32:55.300 somebody that has, I don't know, somebody that 01:32:55.300 --> 01:32:59.760 has taken SSRIs for, say, 20 years. Can somebody, 01:32:59.899 --> 01:33:02.300 yes, they can, but they have to actually stop 01:33:02.300 --> 01:33:05.100 taking the medication and be symptom -free two 01:33:05.100 --> 01:33:07.640 weeks prior to the retreat. So I would say, yeah, 01:33:07.720 --> 01:33:10.640 send them to me. Then I send them the medical 01:33:10.640 --> 01:33:12.539 questionnaire, and then I will see they are more 01:33:12.539 --> 01:33:14.579 in detail what kind of medication, how long they 01:33:14.579 --> 01:33:16.880 have been taking it, and a little bit more in 01:33:16.880 --> 01:33:19.640 detail. Based on that, I will determine if they 01:33:19.640 --> 01:33:21.920 can go through the safety screening. Then they 01:33:21.920 --> 01:33:23.659 go through the safety screening with a medical 01:33:23.659 --> 01:33:29.699 doctor. Then the last step will be if you're 01:33:29.699 --> 01:33:32.840 able to get off these SSRIs with the help of 01:33:32.840 --> 01:33:35.140 your own prescriber, then we can absolutely bring 01:33:35.140 --> 01:33:38.060 you here if you're willing to. taper off the 01:33:38.060 --> 01:33:40.399 medication safely. And if you have been taking 01:33:40.399 --> 01:33:42.220 medication for 20 years, you're not going to 01:33:42.220 --> 01:33:44.319 be able to do probably this in three months safely. 01:33:44.979 --> 01:33:47.380 But if you're taking this for five years, you 01:33:47.380 --> 01:33:49.140 can do that in three months. You can taper off 01:33:49.140 --> 01:33:51.899 the medication, be symptom -free. We can help 01:33:51.899 --> 01:33:53.979 you with some suggestions for supplementation. 01:33:54.439 --> 01:33:56.619 But know that it's going to be difficult, right? 01:33:56.699 --> 01:33:58.699 It's going to be very difficult physically. You're 01:33:58.699 --> 01:34:00.720 going to have all these symptoms because literally 01:34:00.720 --> 01:34:02.479 you're going to go through withdrawal symptoms. 01:34:03.340 --> 01:34:05.319 And this is how they look like. Are you willing 01:34:05.319 --> 01:34:07.659 to do that? And if they say, yes, we can do that. 01:34:07.699 --> 01:34:10.680 Okay, let's go on. Start the preparation that 01:34:10.680 --> 01:34:14.079 includes their own prescriber should help them 01:34:14.079 --> 01:34:16.279 to taper off the medication. So going from a 01:34:16.279 --> 01:34:18.600 20 milligram to like zero milligram within three 01:34:18.600 --> 01:34:22.539 months, if it's possible. And then the preparation 01:34:22.539 --> 01:34:27.340 includes the dieta, which is, and a lot of people, 01:34:27.420 --> 01:34:29.659 you know, raise an eyebrow and say like, why 01:34:29.659 --> 01:34:31.920 do you send them a diet that is so strict? Well, 01:34:31.979 --> 01:34:34.960 because I follow a tradition that is the Mazatecan 01:34:34.960 --> 01:34:39.680 tradition to do the medicine. It means that you 01:34:39.680 --> 01:34:43.119 have to pretty much follow an anti -inflammatory 01:34:43.119 --> 01:34:46.840 detoxifying diet, which includes you're not going 01:34:46.840 --> 01:34:50.960 to have red meats or pork, alcohol, definitely 01:34:50.960 --> 01:34:56.119 no alcohol, no caffeine, pretty much wholesome. 01:34:56.820 --> 01:35:00.420 you know, food based on grains, vegetables, fish 01:35:00.420 --> 01:35:05.000 and chicken. And obviously it is not only what 01:35:05.000 --> 01:35:08.060 you eat, but it's also what you hear, you know, 01:35:08.100 --> 01:35:11.939 data from the electronic, from the news, the 01:35:11.939 --> 01:35:15.760 music that you listen. So it's a full data. It's 01:35:15.760 --> 01:35:18.060 not just only what you consume through your mouth. 01:35:18.180 --> 01:35:19.880 It's what you see, what you watch, what you hear, 01:35:19.979 --> 01:35:23.539 what you listen. Developing a practice, you know, 01:35:23.560 --> 01:35:26.920 a practice as simple as gratitude. some spiritual 01:35:26.920 --> 01:35:30.340 practice, some mindfulness, meditation, yoga, 01:35:30.399 --> 01:35:33.800 something. We send you all the guidelines. And 01:35:33.800 --> 01:35:37.760 then when the time comes, we have two preparation 01:35:37.760 --> 01:35:40.399 calling groups, and they also have some coaching 01:35:40.399 --> 01:35:44.300 that the director will set that up, you know, 01:35:44.319 --> 01:35:50.520 with our coaches. When they get here, they arrive 01:35:50.520 --> 01:35:53.100 one day before the retreat. And we get together 01:35:53.100 --> 01:35:55.399 that evening. We go and have dinner. We get to 01:35:55.399 --> 01:35:57.279 know each other physically. We have been already 01:35:57.279 --> 01:36:02.000 talking via Zoom. And also in a group that we 01:36:02.000 --> 01:36:05.180 have in Signal. When they get to the retreat 01:36:05.180 --> 01:36:09.260 the next day, we get to work. You know, we have 01:36:09.260 --> 01:36:14.199 a lot to do. So we get to work by... We do the 01:36:14.199 --> 01:36:18.819 sweat lodge. It's the first... Well, before the 01:36:18.819 --> 01:36:21.039 soil lodge, we do an introspective work where 01:36:21.039 --> 01:36:24.840 we encourage people to take their mask off, to 01:36:24.840 --> 01:36:27.279 allow themselves to be vulnerable, to show themselves 01:36:27.279 --> 01:36:31.800 as they are, be vulnerable, to let the guard 01:36:31.800 --> 01:36:35.420 down, because in the American society, it's pretty 01:36:35.420 --> 01:36:40.979 much conditioned to be very much not show emotions 01:36:40.979 --> 01:36:45.390 and to be a stoic and to be... you know, put 01:36:45.390 --> 01:36:49.390 together and hold it together. And we encourage 01:36:49.390 --> 01:36:52.869 students at first, and 99 % of the time opens 01:36:52.869 --> 01:36:55.989 up, everybody opens up, the mask comes off, the 01:36:55.989 --> 01:36:59.350 armor comes off, and show how vulnerable we are, 01:36:59.470 --> 01:37:01.710 and this is what we're here for. So I always 01:37:01.710 --> 01:37:04.649 say, show up and speak your truth. That's all 01:37:04.649 --> 01:37:06.529 that I'm asking you right now. Show up and speak 01:37:06.529 --> 01:37:10.350 the truth. And this is a safe container, a safe 01:37:10.350 --> 01:37:12.630 environment for you to do that. That's why you're 01:37:12.630 --> 01:37:14.930 here. That's why you're here to do the work. 01:37:15.310 --> 01:37:18.310 So don't come to the retreat thinking that we're 01:37:18.310 --> 01:37:19.970 going to do the work for you, not even the medicine. 01:37:20.050 --> 01:37:22.189 You have to do the work. That is an understanding 01:37:22.189 --> 01:37:24.430 from the beginning, including the preparation, 01:37:24.789 --> 01:37:28.869 right? The dieta. So we do the sweat lodge, which 01:37:28.869 --> 01:37:31.770 is uncomfortable for so many people. It is long. 01:37:31.909 --> 01:37:34.409 It's about two hours. It is hot, incredibly hot. 01:37:34.729 --> 01:37:37.449 And people are scared to be in a small, confined 01:37:37.449 --> 01:37:41.729 space in darkness. But that's the first. door 01:37:41.729 --> 01:37:45.170 that we open which is the allow yourself to be 01:37:45.170 --> 01:37:48.090 uncomfortable and to be okay with the discomfort 01:37:48.090 --> 01:37:52.510 because we're so we're in a society that we quickly 01:37:52.510 --> 01:37:55.510 we have a little bit of pain we take a pill if 01:37:55.510 --> 01:37:58.189 we are too hard we turn the AC on if we have 01:37:58.189 --> 01:38:00.029 to call we take the heat and so everything is 01:38:00.029 --> 01:38:02.090 going to be like immediate gratification right 01:38:02.090 --> 01:38:06.050 now instead of like sitting with it let me sit 01:38:06.050 --> 01:38:09.130 with it what is this about So the first uncomfortable 01:38:09.130 --> 01:38:11.489 is going to be the introspective work where we 01:38:11.489 --> 01:38:13.750 take the mask off. The second one, getting in 01:38:13.750 --> 01:38:15.710 the sweat lodge. It's not easy. People are scared 01:38:15.710 --> 01:38:18.050 to death when they get in. And when you hear 01:38:18.050 --> 01:38:20.729 the healer, the people that are doing the sweat 01:38:20.729 --> 01:38:24.670 lodge, chanting and drumming inside, that's another 01:38:24.670 --> 01:38:28.310 layer of fear factor, right? Confined space, 01:38:28.550 --> 01:38:31.329 dark, with a lot of other people, extreme heat, 01:38:31.510 --> 01:38:35.170 and native healers singing, drumming, chanting. 01:38:35.890 --> 01:38:39.289 Yeah. You have to overcome that. And it's a beautiful, 01:38:39.390 --> 01:38:42.069 powerful ceremony of cleansing and purification 01:38:42.069 --> 01:38:47.850 and overcoming. And then we have dinner, we go 01:38:47.850 --> 01:38:50.609 to bed, the next day we do medicine. But we start 01:38:50.609 --> 01:38:53.270 with a practice in the morning. So it could be 01:38:53.270 --> 01:38:55.989 some somatic -based practice, could be yoga, 01:38:56.050 --> 01:38:59.090 tai chi, could be some breath work. Then the 01:38:59.090 --> 01:39:02.680 preparation is the medical doctor gets. to do 01:39:02.680 --> 01:39:04.739 the checkups, the vitals, make sure obviously 01:39:04.739 --> 01:39:06.500 the blood pressure is going to be high because 01:39:06.500 --> 01:39:12.180 everybody's anxious, but it's okay. Then we do 01:39:12.180 --> 01:39:14.279 the flower bath, which is another clinching ceremony. 01:39:15.100 --> 01:39:18.619 And from there, before the flower bath, we do 01:39:18.619 --> 01:39:20.460 what is called opening the cardinal point, the 01:39:20.460 --> 01:39:23.079 rumbos, opening the rumbos, where we ask permission 01:39:23.079 --> 01:39:28.199 to the earth, the environment around us, to have 01:39:28.199 --> 01:39:31.359 a ceremony. We call the guardians of the space. 01:39:31.979 --> 01:39:34.680 We call them ancestors. And we ask the elements 01:39:34.680 --> 01:39:38.880 that are connected with one stage in our life 01:39:38.880 --> 01:39:41.680 and the cardinal points to actually support us 01:39:41.680 --> 01:39:44.460 in this journey. After that, we do the flower 01:39:44.460 --> 01:39:46.579 bath. And then immediately after that, we go 01:39:46.579 --> 01:39:49.319 into the ceremony. And the ceremony brings on 01:39:49.319 --> 01:39:53.659 traditional healers from the native tradition 01:39:53.659 --> 01:39:59.189 in Mexico. And we have live music, and the ceremonies 01:39:59.189 --> 01:40:01.609 will last between four and eight hours. It will 01:40:01.609 --> 01:40:04.369 depend, you know. But the process are deep, very 01:40:04.369 --> 01:40:11.489 deep, beautiful, and very, they're a catalyst. 01:40:11.810 --> 01:40:15.810 The medicine is a catalyst for you to decide 01:40:15.810 --> 01:40:20.850 to release those traumas. And then usually the 01:40:20.850 --> 01:40:24.659 next thing that we do is a group share. then 01:40:24.659 --> 01:40:27.199 dinner, and then we're tired, go to bed. The 01:40:27.199 --> 01:40:29.180 next day, we're going to do the second ceremony, 01:40:29.439 --> 01:40:32.500 which is one -on -one with the toad. And this 01:40:32.500 --> 01:40:34.720 is the case of the siren project, right? Because 01:40:34.720 --> 01:40:36.779 some other groups only do one ceremony, or maybe 01:40:36.779 --> 01:40:38.779 they do three ceremonies of the same medicine. 01:40:39.560 --> 01:40:41.979 But in this case, with the siren project, we'll 01:40:41.979 --> 01:40:44.960 do the mushrooms one day, and the next day will 01:40:44.960 --> 01:40:48.279 be the toad, which is the 5 -MeO -DMT, the bufalvarius. 01:40:48.840 --> 01:40:52.460 And we get up in the morning, we do a hape ceremony, 01:40:52.640 --> 01:40:55.899 which is tobacco sniff. And we do that because 01:40:55.899 --> 01:40:59.520 it helps us to ground ourselves and to open ourselves 01:40:59.520 --> 01:41:04.260 up to really open those energetic channels and 01:41:04.260 --> 01:41:06.520 whatever is stuck in the body. Trust me, the 01:41:06.520 --> 01:41:09.619 tobacco, pure tobacco is going to push it out 01:41:09.619 --> 01:41:13.600 of the body. That in itself is a ceremony. It's 01:41:13.600 --> 01:41:17.880 very intense. And after that, we do medical checkups 01:41:17.880 --> 01:41:20.100 again. And then one by one, they receive the 01:41:20.100 --> 01:41:22.430 medicine again with a traditional healer. one 01:41:22.430 --> 01:41:26.789 by one. And how are they supported? In the mushroom 01:41:26.789 --> 01:41:30.970 ceremonies, you will have one, two, three, three 01:41:30.970 --> 01:41:34.470 healers, a musician, and then the cleaner, which 01:41:34.470 --> 01:41:36.409 is the copalera, who's cleaning the energies, 01:41:36.750 --> 01:41:39.949 the medical doctor and myself. So we have a ratio 01:41:39.949 --> 01:41:42.010 one -on -one. So we have eight people, participants. 01:41:42.090 --> 01:41:47.130 We have eight people working the space. And the 01:41:47.130 --> 01:41:49.819 same for the toad. We have a list for people 01:41:49.819 --> 01:41:51.960 working the space while you're receiving the 01:41:51.960 --> 01:41:55.000 medicine, including my dogs. My dogs are little 01:41:55.000 --> 01:41:56.859 curanderos. They like to sit in bed with the 01:41:56.859 --> 01:42:02.500 participants. They're really cute. And then the 01:42:02.500 --> 01:42:05.579 next day is, well, during the second ceremony, 01:42:05.640 --> 01:42:08.260 after they finish the talk, that evening we will 01:42:08.260 --> 01:42:11.779 do, again, integration or shared group, and then 01:42:11.779 --> 01:42:14.710 dinner. If we do have some time that evening 01:42:14.710 --> 01:42:16.430 and they're not so tired, we will do something 01:42:16.430 --> 01:42:19.510 else. If not, we're going to bed. The next day 01:42:19.510 --> 01:42:22.369 is a fun day. We get up, we do some more somatic 01:42:22.369 --> 01:42:25.670 work, then breakfast, and then I take them out 01:42:25.670 --> 01:42:28.329 on a boat ride to the beach. They go to this 01:42:28.329 --> 01:42:31.489 beautiful place where they play like children. 01:42:31.550 --> 01:42:35.350 They have so much fun. We go back to the house. 01:42:35.390 --> 01:42:38.710 We have a late lunch. Then we do another celebration, 01:42:38.869 --> 01:42:42.090 which I call the cacao ceremony, because I serve 01:42:42.090 --> 01:42:45.369 cacao and prepare in the traditional way of the 01:42:45.369 --> 01:42:49.949 Mayans and the Aztecs, the way they prepare it. 01:42:50.409 --> 01:42:53.050 And we have a celebration, which is a beautiful 01:42:53.050 --> 01:42:57.090 celebration of finishing up the ceremonies. I 01:42:57.090 --> 01:43:00.770 bring the traditional Aztec dancers and my, you 01:43:00.770 --> 01:43:03.619 know, my healer, my team, they are now us. And 01:43:03.619 --> 01:43:07.039 they bring their music and dances. So we're grateful 01:43:07.039 --> 01:43:09.539 for the land and for the medicine, for the great 01:43:09.539 --> 01:43:12.560 spirit, for the guardians. And we close the ceremonies 01:43:12.560 --> 01:43:16.020 in that way. The next day we get up, we have 01:43:16.020 --> 01:43:18.180 breakfast, hang out together, and then we're 01:43:18.180 --> 01:43:22.359 ready to go home. So it's intense, it's fast 01:43:22.359 --> 01:43:26.029 -paced, and it's beautiful. It sounds incredible. 01:43:26.250 --> 01:43:28.289 It really does. I've seen, you know, a couple 01:43:28.289 --> 01:43:31.210 of documentaries on some of the other, you know, 01:43:31.229 --> 01:43:33.050 Ibogaine and some of the other facilities down 01:43:33.050 --> 01:43:35.789 there as well. But, you know, I think you've 01:43:35.789 --> 01:43:39.130 laid it out in a way that probably reduces a 01:43:39.130 --> 01:43:40.590 bit of fear, because I think some of the fear 01:43:40.590 --> 01:43:42.869 comes from not knowing anything about it at all. 01:43:43.930 --> 01:43:46.710 seeing that laid out and hearing the benefits 01:43:46.710 --> 01:43:48.750 and the journeys that people have been, especially 01:43:48.750 --> 01:43:52.449 I love to hear the five MAODMT journeys where 01:43:52.449 --> 01:43:55.130 people say they have this realization that as 01:43:55.130 --> 01:43:57.170 you alluded to before, that we're all connected 01:43:57.170 --> 01:44:00.029 to everything, the trees and the ocean and the 01:44:00.029 --> 01:44:03.449 rocks and the animals and the fear of death, 01:44:03.609 --> 01:44:05.710 the fear of our mortality kind of melting away. 01:44:08.229 --> 01:44:11.789 Right. And I think what is missing, I guess, 01:44:11.850 --> 01:44:16.319 is And what I like to offer is the ceremony and 01:44:16.319 --> 01:44:20.420 the ritual, which are so important, that are 01:44:20.420 --> 01:44:23.960 lost in our modern society. We need to bring 01:44:23.960 --> 01:44:26.399 those rituals back. And that's why I said from 01:44:26.399 --> 01:44:29.039 the beginning, the point of the medicine is sacred 01:44:29.039 --> 01:44:31.140 and it cannot be served in a different way. For 01:44:31.140 --> 01:44:34.539 me, my beliefs. Obviously, they saw that people 01:44:34.539 --> 01:44:37.539 are really different than me. And that's okay. 01:44:39.399 --> 01:44:42.220 And I think the ceremonies and the rituals make 01:44:42.220 --> 01:44:44.460 a huge difference in the way that people receive 01:44:44.460 --> 01:44:47.319 the medicine, how deep they actually go into 01:44:47.319 --> 01:44:49.640 their own healing process and how lasting that 01:44:49.640 --> 01:44:53.060 can be. Well, expand on that then. What are your 01:44:53.060 --> 01:44:56.000 fears? Because, for example, we all know now 01:44:56.000 --> 01:45:00.609 that in the States, there are a lot of... drug 01:45:00.609 --> 01:45:03.090 companies that make a lot of money synthesizing 01:45:03.090 --> 01:45:05.109 what is originally a natural product, whether 01:45:05.109 --> 01:45:08.289 it's insulin, whether it's even cigarettes. You 01:45:08.289 --> 01:45:10.409 talked about tobacco. What is in a cigarette 01:45:10.409 --> 01:45:13.510 now is engineered to be as addictive as possible 01:45:13.510 --> 01:45:16.829 versus what might have been used by the Native 01:45:16.829 --> 01:45:19.630 American a few hundred years ago. So what are 01:45:19.630 --> 01:45:23.109 your fears as far as where this could be abused? 01:45:23.329 --> 01:45:26.970 And what would the right kind of offering look 01:45:26.970 --> 01:45:29.779 like, even if it was replicated in the... us 01:45:29.779 --> 01:45:32.159 for example but obviously ideally in in the country 01:45:32.159 --> 01:45:41.460 that it originates so i don't know if the word 01:45:41.460 --> 01:45:44.100 is fear what i feel i think it's a little bit 01:45:44.100 --> 01:45:47.359 of sadness and i have gone through a range of 01:45:47.359 --> 01:45:50.779 different emotions right going from anger anger 01:45:50.779 --> 01:45:55.300 has been a big one um you know cultural appropriation 01:45:55.300 --> 01:45:58.909 comes to mind as well Well, you're taking something 01:45:58.909 --> 01:46:02.229 that I'm not saying only native tradition can 01:46:02.229 --> 01:46:04.369 have this medicine. That's not what I'm saying. 01:46:04.550 --> 01:46:07.390 What I'm saying, these medicines are here for 01:46:07.390 --> 01:46:10.869 all human beings to benefit from. But there is 01:46:10.869 --> 01:46:17.430 a way to offer this medicine that are honoring 01:46:17.430 --> 01:46:20.390 the ancestors and the tradition and the culture 01:46:20.390 --> 01:46:24.949 where the medicine comes from. First, I became 01:46:24.949 --> 01:46:29.810 really angry when they're talking about mixed 01:46:29.810 --> 01:46:32.670 feelings about the legalization process. But 01:46:32.670 --> 01:46:36.789 the synthesizing, the taking the components, 01:46:36.989 --> 01:46:40.069 or maybe becoming commercialized, or maybe it's 01:46:40.069 --> 01:46:41.930 going to be a pill. And then it's not going to 01:46:41.930 --> 01:46:44.270 be different than cigarettes and the nicotine. 01:46:44.310 --> 01:46:46.149 It's not going to be different than an SSRI. 01:46:46.869 --> 01:46:51.310 And then sadness kind of hit me a little bit. 01:46:52.670 --> 01:46:57.569 I don't want this sacred medicine to be prostituted. 01:46:57.750 --> 01:47:01.210 That's the word. At the end of the day, it's 01:47:01.210 --> 01:47:07.069 not what I want. It's not what I feel. But I 01:47:07.069 --> 01:47:11.430 am in a point of acceptance that whatever happens 01:47:11.430 --> 01:47:14.149 is going to happen because it's a process of 01:47:14.149 --> 01:47:20.159 human beings learning how to deal with. these 01:47:20.159 --> 01:47:23.260 healing processes. And there will be always minds, 01:47:23.500 --> 01:47:28.100 human beings, not connected with their own consciousness. 01:47:28.800 --> 01:47:32.439 They're acting from a place of unconsciousness 01:47:32.439 --> 01:47:37.560 to benefit, to make profit from it. I can't blame 01:47:37.560 --> 01:47:41.340 them because they are not awake. They are not 01:47:41.340 --> 01:47:44.819 connected to consciousness. And like I said earlier, 01:47:44.979 --> 01:47:48.239 we can grab them by the arms and say, like, wake 01:47:48.239 --> 01:47:53.300 up. No, it's on their own time, their own process. 01:47:53.859 --> 01:47:58.539 What we can do is only promote in a very gentle, 01:47:58.619 --> 01:48:01.619 compassionate way, and we can be the examples. 01:48:02.399 --> 01:48:06.560 Listen, you know, this is sacred medicine. It 01:48:06.560 --> 01:48:10.699 is here for everybody. There is a process. There's 01:48:10.699 --> 01:48:13.239 a way to do this. This is the way that you prepare 01:48:13.239 --> 01:48:16.569 yourself. These are not chemical compounds. These 01:48:16.569 --> 01:48:20.109 are not just one molecule of 5 -amyl DMT. This 01:48:20.109 --> 01:48:23.310 is not just psilocin. This is not just mescaline. 01:48:23.529 --> 01:48:29.829 This is not just ibogaine. These are plants and 01:48:29.829 --> 01:48:34.149 animals that have a spirit that are helping us 01:48:34.149 --> 01:48:39.229 to heal, to become more aware, to wake up to 01:48:39.229 --> 01:48:42.989 consciousness, to heal ourselves, to reconnect. 01:48:43.760 --> 01:48:46.439 with the higher self, to reconnect with the source. 01:48:47.220 --> 01:48:52.979 And for that process to happen, you have to follow 01:48:52.979 --> 01:48:56.979 the process, which our ancestors did. So you 01:48:56.979 --> 01:49:02.640 have to clean yourself. You have to prepare yourself 01:49:02.640 --> 01:49:07.279 so that your body and your mind is ready to receive 01:49:07.279 --> 01:49:10.510 the medicine and the spirit. of the medicine 01:49:10.510 --> 01:49:14.310 to reconnect with your own spirit where the magic 01:49:14.310 --> 01:49:17.510 happened. And together, in the case of PTSD, 01:49:17.930 --> 01:49:20.649 find the fragments of the soul that have been 01:49:20.649 --> 01:49:23.289 dispersed because of the trauma, bring it back 01:49:23.289 --> 01:49:26.069 together into your physical body so you can feel 01:49:26.069 --> 01:49:33.430 better. But can we actually do that in a society 01:49:33.430 --> 01:49:37.689 where the pill is more welcome than a process? 01:49:38.800 --> 01:49:42.079 The pill instead of the ritual and the ceremony 01:49:42.079 --> 01:49:46.760 and the personal responsibility in this healing 01:49:46.760 --> 01:49:51.300 process is more important. The pill, the medicine 01:49:51.300 --> 01:49:54.840 is just the catalyst. Remember what Maria Sabina 01:49:54.840 --> 01:49:57.140 says. Maria Sabina says, you are the medicine. 01:49:57.939 --> 01:50:03.560 We are the medicine. But are we willing to put 01:50:03.560 --> 01:50:07.720 the effort into reuniting with our own medicine? 01:50:08.510 --> 01:50:12.050 to get out of our head, to reunite, walk that 01:50:12.050 --> 01:50:16.329 journey to the heart, and to do the work. Not 01:50:16.329 --> 01:50:18.909 too many people are willing to do that. And of 01:50:18.909 --> 01:50:20.710 course, if somebody, pharmaceutical company, 01:50:20.970 --> 01:50:23.529 politician, whatever, is telling you, here is 01:50:23.529 --> 01:50:26.689 a quick solution for your problem, our conditioned 01:50:26.689 --> 01:50:31.390 mind is going to take that. Not everybody, but 01:50:31.390 --> 01:50:33.949 a lot of people will go that route. And I guess 01:50:33.949 --> 01:50:38.350 that is not my fear. It's just, I have... come 01:50:38.350 --> 01:50:42.149 to accept it but like i said at the beginning 01:50:42.149 --> 01:50:44.670 you know it's whoever needs to be here to receive 01:50:44.670 --> 01:50:48.050 the medicine in a traditional way will and there 01:50:48.050 --> 01:50:55.029 is a space for everybody it does make so much 01:50:55.029 --> 01:50:57.210 sense and it's something i talked about recently 01:50:57.210 --> 01:51:00.229 with these glp -1 drugs that they have for weight 01:51:00.229 --> 01:51:03.300 loss at the moment i think they absolutely have 01:51:03.300 --> 01:51:06.800 a place in the morbidly obese where maybe bariatric 01:51:06.800 --> 01:51:09.739 surgery was the alternative and very, very dangerous. 01:51:09.840 --> 01:51:13.439 I've lost two friends because of that. But now 01:51:13.439 --> 01:51:15.960 it's being seen as a quick fix. And just to your 01:51:15.960 --> 01:51:19.619 point, let's say I took a drug and now I've lost 01:51:19.619 --> 01:51:23.460 100 pounds. My cardiovascular system isn't really 01:51:23.460 --> 01:51:26.340 any healthier. My mental state isn't healthier 01:51:26.340 --> 01:51:28.119 because I haven't had the discipline of going 01:51:28.119 --> 01:51:30.319 to the gym. I haven't sweat. I haven't been uncomfortable, 01:51:30.439 --> 01:51:34.310 as you said. The nutrition side, my body hasn't 01:51:34.310 --> 01:51:36.489 been satiated with all the nutrients that it 01:51:36.489 --> 01:51:39.250 needs through the correct diet that I should 01:51:39.250 --> 01:51:42.710 have been eating. So is it a tool? Yes. Is SSRI 01:51:42.710 --> 01:51:45.649 a tool when someone's manic or deeply, deeply 01:51:45.649 --> 01:51:48.470 depressed just to pull them from the void temporarily? 01:51:48.970 --> 01:51:51.590 Yeah, maybe. But it was never meant to be, as 01:51:51.590 --> 01:51:54.149 you said, a 20 -year prescription. That's completely 01:51:54.149 --> 01:51:57.890 irresponsible. So I couldn't agree more. We've 01:51:57.890 --> 01:52:01.789 obviously been conditioned to be. to need this 01:52:01.789 --> 01:52:03.350 quick fix because this is what we're told this 01:52:03.350 --> 01:52:06.510 is what our society is but it's as you said that 01:52:06.510 --> 01:52:10.369 the ceremony the process the the location of 01:52:10.369 --> 01:52:13.550 you know this this you know plant medicine um 01:52:13.550 --> 01:52:15.710 that is where the healing is and even just to 01:52:15.710 --> 01:52:18.949 use a synthetic conversation for a moment ketamine 01:52:18.949 --> 01:52:22.029 where i've heard the ketamine success stories 01:52:22.029 --> 01:52:24.699 of when they're with someone who's leading them 01:52:24.699 --> 01:52:27.239 through almost like a shaman on the ketamine 01:52:27.239 --> 01:52:29.720 side when i've heard that it didn't work because 01:52:29.720 --> 01:52:31.239 they just stuck it in their arm and they walked 01:52:31.239 --> 01:52:34.119 out the door and no one was guiding them so even 01:52:34.119 --> 01:52:36.699 though that's a much more clinical example it's 01:52:36.699 --> 01:52:39.039 the same kind of thing it's the work that's really 01:52:39.039 --> 01:52:41.380 doing it and the the medicines are certainly 01:52:41.380 --> 01:52:44.119 assisting but without the work what have you 01:52:44.119 --> 01:52:46.619 got you've got a quick fix pill and you know 01:52:46.619 --> 01:52:48.520 you might you might feel good for a moment but 01:52:48.520 --> 01:52:51.539 you know there's not that long -term game i'm 01:52:51.539 --> 01:52:59.180 assuming Right. And everything narrows back to 01:52:59.180 --> 01:53:04.420 the idea that we are in this moment, in this 01:53:04.420 --> 01:53:07.579 physical body, and in this physical world, in 01:53:07.579 --> 01:53:13.100 this beautiful schoolhouse called Earth, to remember 01:53:13.100 --> 01:53:18.319 who we are, to remember where we come from. And 01:53:18.319 --> 01:53:22.420 to open ourselves up to consciousness, to understand 01:53:22.420 --> 01:53:27.020 that we are consciousness. And if we're numbing 01:53:27.020 --> 01:53:31.239 ourselves with all these prescriptions, all these 01:53:31.239 --> 01:53:36.739 synthetic medicines, we are closing the doors 01:53:36.739 --> 01:53:40.920 and the gates to that possibility. We are wasting 01:53:40.920 --> 01:53:46.239 one lifetime away of the possibilities of releasing. 01:53:47.439 --> 01:53:52.399 and layers of trauma that we carry from this 01:53:52.399 --> 01:53:57.119 life and past. But I also understand that some, 01:53:57.220 --> 01:54:02.359 in the case of kids, can break a suicidal ideation 01:54:02.359 --> 01:54:05.659 of somebody who is depressed in the moment and 01:54:05.659 --> 01:54:09.739 can't come out of it. It's a quick fix. And definitely 01:54:09.739 --> 01:54:13.819 I agree with that. But there's got to be then 01:54:13.819 --> 01:54:17.640 what is next now that I... I pull somebody out 01:54:17.640 --> 01:54:21.359 and you're not suicidal anymore. I said, let's 01:54:21.359 --> 01:54:25.579 look at what is the problem. And it is not, this 01:54:25.579 --> 01:54:28.979 is not easy. It's a process. But are you willing 01:54:28.979 --> 01:54:31.300 to actually go through that process of exploration 01:54:31.300 --> 01:54:33.399 and to realize that what is it that you need 01:54:33.399 --> 01:54:35.899 to let go? What is it that you're stuck with? 01:54:36.000 --> 01:54:40.300 And sometimes also, are you willing to, did you 01:54:40.300 --> 01:54:44.119 want to let it go? Whatever it is, it's stuck 01:54:44.119 --> 01:54:49.340 with you. Absolutely. How did you come across 01:54:49.340 --> 01:54:51.800 Tim and Anja? And let's just talk about the SIREN 01:54:51.800 --> 01:54:53.699 project for all the first responders listening 01:54:53.699 --> 01:54:56.420 that probably didn't even realize that this was 01:54:56.420 --> 01:55:01.100 an option for them as well. Yeah, actually I 01:55:01.100 --> 01:55:06.119 met Angela first. Angela, she went to a retreat 01:55:06.119 --> 01:55:12.000 where I was facilitating. in Rosarito, in between 01:55:12.000 --> 01:55:14.279 Tijuana and Rosarito, with another organization 01:55:14.279 --> 01:55:16.560 called the Mission Within. And I was working 01:55:16.560 --> 01:55:19.659 with Martín. Martín Polanco is the founding director 01:55:19.659 --> 01:55:25.579 of that organization. And so Angela came for 01:55:25.579 --> 01:55:27.439 the weekend. I think it was two and a half days, 01:55:27.479 --> 01:55:29.800 three days, and did medicine. I was facilitating. 01:55:31.180 --> 01:55:35.500 When she came out of that retreat and that experience, 01:55:35.680 --> 01:55:40.270 she said, I need to bring this medicine. to my 01:55:40.270 --> 01:55:43.449 first responders, to my people. I need to do 01:55:43.449 --> 01:55:48.489 something about it. And we stay in touch. But 01:55:48.489 --> 01:55:51.909 I think a year later, she texted me and she said, 01:55:52.029 --> 01:55:55.470 hey, I got an organization. It's called the Siren 01:55:55.470 --> 01:55:58.630 Project. And we need to talk about sending new 01:55:58.630 --> 01:56:04.189 people. So yeah, so she did. And she sent the 01:56:04.189 --> 01:56:06.550 first group. I think it was. I don't know, three, 01:56:06.590 --> 01:56:08.670 four years ago. I can't remember now. We have 01:56:08.670 --> 01:56:14.510 done 17 tries. And so the first one that came 01:56:14.510 --> 01:56:18.409 to the retreat was try one. It was actually Tim, 01:56:18.609 --> 01:56:22.930 her husband, and a few other firefighters. They 01:56:22.930 --> 01:56:25.649 were all firefighters. And that was the first, 01:56:25.689 --> 01:56:27.729 actually, retreat that we did for silent. It 01:56:27.729 --> 01:56:31.520 was beautiful. I did it in the same way that 01:56:31.520 --> 01:56:34.220 I like to do the retreats, you know, bringing 01:56:34.220 --> 01:56:38.920 that spiritual healing into the healing process. 01:56:39.739 --> 01:56:42.560 And they love it. I mean, Angela already kind 01:56:42.560 --> 01:56:47.720 of knew my way of working and Tim needed convincing, 01:56:47.779 --> 01:56:52.000 I guess, because he didn't know me by then. But 01:56:52.000 --> 01:56:55.460 I guess Angela told him. You need to see how 01:56:55.460 --> 01:56:59.199 these things are done there and just try. And 01:56:59.199 --> 01:57:01.500 so he was sold in the idea that this is the way 01:57:01.500 --> 01:57:05.560 to do it. So I am very grateful. I absolutely 01:57:05.560 --> 01:57:09.119 love those two. They're very close to my heart. 01:57:09.560 --> 01:57:14.579 They trust me and they send people and they let 01:57:14.579 --> 01:57:20.079 me run the ceremonies the traditional way and 01:57:20.079 --> 01:57:22.640 they love it. And I'm very grateful to them. 01:57:23.680 --> 01:57:26.399 No, it's amazing. I think this is the conversation 01:57:26.399 --> 01:57:29.000 now is, you know, obviously you have the whole 01:57:29.000 --> 01:57:31.619 prohibition thing up here. And from a synthetic 01:57:31.619 --> 01:57:33.520 point of view, obviously another one that seems 01:57:33.520 --> 01:57:36.199 to be working very well is MDMA led psychotherapy 01:57:36.199 --> 01:57:38.579 as well. So that's another conversation. But 01:57:38.579 --> 01:57:41.960 for us to have the ability to come to Mexico 01:57:41.960 --> 01:57:45.359 and go through this healing, because one of the 01:57:45.359 --> 01:57:48.239 saddest things I hear in many of these interviews. 01:57:48.810 --> 01:57:50.930 people that have been presented just with you 01:57:50.930 --> 01:57:53.869 know psych meds and talk therapy and they end 01:57:53.869 --> 01:57:55.729 up sitting in front of someone through an eap 01:57:55.729 --> 01:57:59.449 program who's just not even qualified to work 01:57:59.449 --> 01:58:01.970 with first responders and they have this awful 01:58:01.970 --> 01:58:04.210 experience and now they've you know they've lost 01:58:04.210 --> 01:58:07.569 hope Um, there's so many people that are desperate 01:58:07.569 --> 01:58:09.170 and I know that there's several of my friends 01:58:09.170 --> 01:58:10.670 that went through the siren project that have 01:58:10.670 --> 01:58:12.689 been down with you and they, it was absolutely 01:58:12.689 --> 01:58:14.789 life -changing. I had another firefighter introduced 01:58:14.789 --> 01:58:19.329 to me. We sent him to a different one. Um, but 01:58:19.329 --> 01:58:22.170 the first day he said, you know, he was, it was 01:58:22.170 --> 01:58:24.210 stupid. It doesn't work. You know, what a waste 01:58:24.210 --> 01:58:26.850 of time. And he was suicidal. He'd come out of 01:58:26.850 --> 01:58:29.609 alcoholism, become sober, gone back into alcoholism. 01:58:30.029 --> 01:58:33.149 And he said, day two, the second ceremony, he 01:58:33.149 --> 01:58:36.539 said, including. Becoming a firefighter and the 01:58:36.539 --> 01:58:39.340 birth of my children, it was the most powerful 01:58:39.340 --> 01:58:42.420 experience he ever had. And it completely saved 01:58:42.420 --> 01:58:44.399 his life. There's no other way to describe it. 01:58:44.500 --> 01:58:48.520 So hearing the success stories firsthand of how 01:58:48.520 --> 01:58:51.739 powerful this experience is, and then obviously 01:58:51.739 --> 01:58:55.699 the ongoing integration after that, it's a ray 01:58:55.699 --> 01:58:58.140 of hope in a profession where so many people 01:58:58.140 --> 01:59:01.039 are so desperate and so hopeless. So I think 01:59:01.039 --> 01:59:03.960 it's... So incredible. And, you know, kudos to 01:59:03.960 --> 01:59:06.399 you and obviously all the generations prior that 01:59:06.399 --> 01:59:09.260 even created this in the first place. But to 01:59:09.260 --> 01:59:13.260 Angela and Tim to create something so powerful 01:59:13.260 --> 01:59:17.039 that now first responders in the U .S. and Canada, 01:59:17.119 --> 01:59:19.399 you know, can come down and get their healing 01:59:19.399 --> 01:59:26.899 as well. Yeah. Yeah, we are very blessed, all 01:59:26.899 --> 01:59:30.340 of us, to actually be able to find each other. 01:59:31.070 --> 01:59:35.770 and to work together to do this, to offer this, 01:59:35.770 --> 01:59:38.149 this place of healing for people to come and 01:59:38.149 --> 01:59:42.489 to have hope that they can have a better life, 01:59:42.550 --> 01:59:45.310 they can truly live their life from that hard 01:59:45.310 --> 01:59:47.909 space. But it's people that are really willing 01:59:47.909 --> 01:59:50.069 to do the work, you know what I mean? It's people 01:59:50.069 --> 01:59:52.250 that are willing to put the hard work into it. 01:59:52.850 --> 01:59:57.130 So, yeah, I am absolutely blessed. I absolutely 01:59:57.130 --> 02:00:00.869 love what I do. I adore Angela and team. They 02:00:00.869 --> 02:00:03.649 do. And all the first responders, firefighters, 02:00:04.010 --> 02:00:06.890 police officers, wow. Yeah, they have a really 02:00:06.890 --> 02:00:08.909 warm place in my heart. They know that. I tell 02:00:08.909 --> 02:00:11.550 them all the time, you're stuck with me. And 02:00:11.550 --> 02:00:14.869 I do. You know, we have 17 tribes, according 02:00:14.869 --> 02:00:20.229 to the 18, and we have a group in Signal. And 02:00:20.229 --> 02:00:25.609 I am very active on that group. And I do. I do 02:00:25.609 --> 02:00:28.270 care for each of them, each and every one of 02:00:28.270 --> 02:00:31.859 them. Well, I'll put the links on the website. 02:00:31.880 --> 02:00:34.619 I think the Siren Project's website, if I remember, 02:00:34.760 --> 02:00:38.039 was either thesirenproject or sirenproject .org, 02:00:38.180 --> 02:00:39.859 but I'll put it on there. I think you can Google 02:00:39.859 --> 02:00:42.439 that and they're the ones that come up. Where 02:00:42.439 --> 02:00:46.000 can people find Red Path Spiritual Healing Retreats 02:00:46.000 --> 02:00:51.199 if they want to look at your website? Oh, I have 02:00:51.199 --> 02:00:54.380 a website that I put together because I was supposed 02:00:54.380 --> 02:00:58.939 to look professional, I guess. I don't use it. 02:01:00.020 --> 02:01:03.479 Again, you know, it's called the Red Path Retreat 02:01:03.479 --> 02:01:07.340 .org. But the thing is, I am not commercial. 02:01:07.520 --> 02:01:10.560 I only do these retreats for nonprofit organizations. 02:01:11.180 --> 02:01:13.640 Once in a while, I will do a retreat for all 02:01:13.640 --> 02:01:16.579 hands, meaning like self -pay, but end up being 02:01:16.579 --> 02:01:19.640 alumni from different organizations. So I don't 02:01:19.640 --> 02:01:23.199 promote the Red Path because it's not commercial. 02:01:25.630 --> 02:01:27.670 I don't do retreat and say, like, come to my 02:01:27.670 --> 02:01:29.609 retreat. Like I say again, you know, the people 02:01:29.609 --> 02:01:32.170 that need to be here will be here. I don't see 02:01:32.170 --> 02:01:34.130 that's going to change. So I do have the website, 02:01:34.229 --> 02:01:37.829 but it's just for information, I guess. What 02:01:37.829 --> 02:01:41.189 about veterans? Which nonprofits normally send 02:01:41.189 --> 02:01:48.369 people to you? So Vets, no, Vets, they send spouses. 02:01:49.729 --> 02:01:52.109 Heroic Heart Project, absolutely love Jesse. 02:01:53.819 --> 02:01:59.880 Yeah, it's my boy. Jesse and Hope is also in 02:01:59.880 --> 02:02:02.800 partnership with Heroic Heart Project that is 02:02:02.800 --> 02:02:05.640 run by Alison Wilson. I love that woman, too. 02:02:05.939 --> 02:02:11.939 And she sent spouses. And for a little bit, Invisible 02:02:11.939 --> 02:02:14.720 Wound, which is Alison Wilson's husband, Jonathan 02:02:14.720 --> 02:02:21.659 Wilson's organization. And so, yeah, it is Heroic 02:02:21.659 --> 02:02:28.300 Heart Project. hope, vets, and invisible wounds 02:02:28.300 --> 02:02:32.640 and desire. And so the latest one is a partnership 02:02:32.640 --> 02:02:35.260 that I just developed. Actually, I'm super excited 02:02:35.260 --> 02:02:39.560 because it's my next retreat is with an organization 02:02:39.560 --> 02:02:46.840 called Save a Warrior. They have been doing a 02:02:46.840 --> 02:02:50.279 lot of beautiful work based on psycho -spiritual 02:02:50.279 --> 02:02:57.579 approach. to healing and I have known them since 02:02:57.579 --> 02:03:00.859 2010 when I was working at Nyko I actually met 02:03:00.859 --> 02:03:05.199 the founding director Jake and one of those beautiful 02:03:05.199 --> 02:03:09.739 synchronicities we reconnected and he sent somebody 02:03:09.739 --> 02:03:13.060 to observe one of my retreats actually I invited 02:03:13.060 --> 02:03:15.619 Justin which I have grown to absolutely love 02:03:15.619 --> 02:03:18.359 him too And he observed one of my retreats with 02:03:18.359 --> 02:03:20.760 Siren, which was an ayahuasca retreat in November. 02:03:20.939 --> 02:03:23.779 And he was fascinated. And he said, we have never 02:03:23.779 --> 02:03:26.300 done any kind of psychedelic medicine retreats, 02:03:26.300 --> 02:03:28.659 but we will with you. So now they're going to 02:03:28.659 --> 02:03:30.539 start sending people. And the first one is actually 02:03:30.539 --> 02:03:32.800 coming up now in March. So I'm super excited 02:03:32.800 --> 02:03:35.949 about that. and see how it goes because it's 02:03:35.949 --> 02:03:37.590 an organization that has been around forever. 02:03:39.229 --> 02:03:42.270 And we're finally actually partnering to do retreats 02:03:42.270 --> 02:03:45.430 for the alumni. So the participants are people 02:03:45.430 --> 02:03:49.810 that have gone through the Sable Warrior retreats, 02:03:49.810 --> 02:03:52.270 and now they're going to come and do medicine 02:03:52.270 --> 02:03:54.989 with me. So those are the organizations. work 02:03:54.989 --> 02:03:57.649 with that's amazing it was jake clark that opened 02:03:57.649 --> 02:04:00.670 my eyes to the childhood trauma in in our profession 02:04:00.670 --> 02:04:03.789 so it's amazing now you know with with all the 02:04:03.789 --> 02:04:06.770 successes i've heard i just had uh um one of 02:04:06.770 --> 02:04:08.930 their alumni on just literally last week who 02:04:08.930 --> 02:04:11.270 uses a lot of equine therapy now as well but 02:04:11.579 --> 02:04:14.699 to go through that and then to integrate the 02:04:14.699 --> 02:04:16.859 psychedelic medicine as well. I mean, that just 02:04:16.859 --> 02:04:19.779 sounds incredible. So it's really amazing to 02:04:19.779 --> 02:04:22.699 watch these organizations, these amazing humans 02:04:22.699 --> 02:04:25.979 now start to cross -pollinate what they're doing. 02:04:27.220 --> 02:04:30.399 It's kind of funny because I heard of three firefighters, 02:04:30.800 --> 02:04:35.260 or first responders, should I say. casually they 02:04:35.260 --> 02:04:37.399 dropped, you know, like, oh, yeah, I went to 02:04:37.399 --> 02:04:39.880 the Save a Warrior. And then I heard that two 02:04:39.880 --> 02:04:42.079 or three times, and I said, Save a Warrior? It's 02:04:42.079 --> 02:04:45.100 like, is it still around? And then I got curious 02:04:45.100 --> 02:04:46.840 because I said, you know, when I was at NICO, 02:04:46.880 --> 02:04:49.819 actually, I met Jake, and I went to this place, 02:04:49.840 --> 02:04:53.239 and I, you know, I don't even remember. I think 02:04:53.239 --> 02:04:56.779 I did a meditation class for the retreat. I can't 02:04:56.779 --> 02:05:00.720 remember, 2010. So I actually sent an email to 02:05:00.720 --> 02:05:03.510 Jake, and I said, hey, Jake. are you still doing 02:05:03.510 --> 02:05:06.949 retreats? Because I heard that three of the firefighters, 02:05:07.229 --> 02:05:09.789 first responders actually have gone there. So 02:05:09.789 --> 02:05:12.350 he was like, of course I remember you. And we 02:05:12.350 --> 02:05:15.090 got the conversation going. And it's funny because 02:05:15.090 --> 02:05:20.109 he was against doing psychedelic, but the people, 02:05:20.189 --> 02:05:24.699 the alumni have been asking for it. So he saw 02:05:24.699 --> 02:05:26.859 that I was pretty much asking him to send me 02:05:26.859 --> 02:05:28.380 people, I guess. And I was like, no, no, no, 02:05:28.399 --> 02:05:30.380 that's not my intention. Trust me, I have plenty 02:05:30.380 --> 02:05:33.119 of retreat I have. But I just wanted to see how 02:05:33.119 --> 02:05:36.220 are you doing and how is the organization doing? 02:05:36.380 --> 02:05:38.420 And then the next thing that I heard from him 02:05:38.420 --> 02:05:40.760 is like, by the way, I'm sending you somebody 02:05:40.760 --> 02:05:43.779 so you can show them what you do. And I was like, 02:05:43.840 --> 02:05:46.880 okay, we'll see. And then from that interaction 02:05:46.880 --> 02:05:50.779 with Justin, one of his directors, now we have... 02:05:51.359 --> 02:05:54.539 Four retreats lined up for 2026 and who knows 02:05:54.539 --> 02:05:58.539 what else next year. So like I say, it's synchronicities, 02:05:58.539 --> 02:06:01.060 you know, people that really need to come together 02:06:01.060 --> 02:06:05.699 to be able to show and to offer these healing 02:06:05.699 --> 02:06:10.079 processes to other human beings. We come together, 02:06:10.180 --> 02:06:13.279 we find each other, base away. It just happens. 02:06:14.140 --> 02:06:17.000 Absolutely. Well, I want to thank you so much. 02:06:17.000 --> 02:06:19.319 It's been such an amazing conversation. Thank 02:06:19.319 --> 02:06:21.359 you so much for trusting me with your story. 02:06:21.479 --> 02:06:24.619 But as we see so often, you know, it's people 02:06:24.619 --> 02:06:26.560 that have gone through their own healing journeys 02:06:26.560 --> 02:06:28.859 that are usually, you know, the beacons of light 02:06:28.859 --> 02:06:31.899 for everyone else. And to give up the structure 02:06:31.899 --> 02:06:34.479 and stability that you had working with the military 02:06:34.479 --> 02:06:36.960 and, you know, grab your chihuahua and drive 02:06:36.960 --> 02:06:39.399 south and help veterans and first responders, 02:06:39.560 --> 02:06:42.489 I think it's phenomenal. I want to thank you 02:06:42.489 --> 02:06:44.930 so, so much for being so generous with your time 02:06:44.930 --> 02:06:47.250 and coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today. 02:06:48.689 --> 02:06:53.850 No, I am grateful to you and obviously the Connectors 02:06:53.850 --> 02:06:58.470 Angel and team. Yeah, it was wonderful talking 02:06:58.470 --> 02:07:02.609 to you. Thank you so much for inviting me. I 02:07:02.609 --> 02:07:06.500 feel very honored and very humbled. an honor 02:07:06.500 --> 02:07:09.819 to continue working to offering this to their 02:07:09.819 --> 02:07:11.380 first responders and veterans.