The Universe Within Podcast

Una nota: para ver las  notas del episodio en español,  visite mi sitio web a:  https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/nelson-barbaran-gomezHey everybody! Episode 19 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Nelson Barbaran Gómez. Nelson and I have worked together for a number of years running ayahuasca ceremonies. He comes from the Shipibo lineage of working with plants and brings a joy and openness to his work that is tangible. He also works with a great deal of integrity and has a real desire to help and to share. For these reasons, I think he is a really good example of a great curandero. He is leading the way for a new generation of doctors and he has a lot to share and offer. I think you all will get a lot out of this episode. And a big thank you to my friend Carolina for translating and opening up the conversation to a much larger audience. Thank you! As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. Enjoy! “Nelson’s Shipibo name is Isasina, meaning “a bird who takes care of others.”Nelson comes from a family of curanderos; both his father and grandfather practiced medicine. His parents died when he was very young, and very early on he started sitting in ceremonies held by his older brother, who is also a curandero. Lacking parental guidance, Nelson learned from the medicine “how to be a good human being.”Nelson drank ayahuasca for the first time at age twelve and was immediately fascinated by the medicine world… After a year, his brother agreed to initiate Nelson on the path to become a Shipibo Onanya…He is also passionate about his own culture and sees his work as a vehicle to recover and preserve traditional practices and knowledge in a rapidly changing world. He enjoys seeing schools in some native communities teaching the Shipibo language again, encouraging kids to dress in their traditional clothes, address each other in their Shipibo names, and is proud of his role in the current revitalization of the Shipibo culture.”For Nelson’s bull bio, visit: https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/nelson-barbaran-gomezConnect with Nelson on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/nelson.barbaran.7Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, leave comments, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at:https://www.NicotianaRustica.orgSupport this podcast on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithinDonate directly with PayPal:https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanikMusic courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 18 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Safa. Safa is a yoga instructor, pranic healing and plant medicine practitioner who I met at the Amazon healing center The Temple of the Way of Light, where she led worked as a teacher and facilitator of ceremonies. She spent a long time living in India studying deeply yoga and pranic healing and eventually came to the Amazon to learn in-depth the traditional Shipibo lineage of working with plants. She works in the Sacred Valley of Peru with her partner Felix, who I interviewed in episode 14. Safa has a lot to share and I think you all will very much enjoy this conversation. And check out Patreon for the full interview. Best!“Safa (Soi Kete in Shipibo) brings a wide variety of skills to the team and has been dedicated to the medicine for over twelve years. Residing in India for several years, she trained in yoga, specializing in breathwork and study of the subtle or energy body. She ran her own yoga school and lead yoga trainings worldwide from 2011-2015. Through this work she gained extensive experience facilitating groups through deeply personal and transformational experiences.Safa has been deeply involved in the study and practice of energetic healing for over fifteen years. Originally certified in Pranic Healing, she has since studied with many teachers of various modalities to broaden her repertoire of skills. She has been working with the Shipibo to learn energetic healing directly from the plants and brings this highly specialized work into the ceremony space.Facilitating for various medicine centers in Peru, she has acquired a strong repertoire of emotional/mental processing tools that help to bridge western pathology and understanding with the Shipibo paradigm of healing. Honoring the Shipibo lineage, she continues to study and diet with her maestro Soi in his community of Nueva Betania.For more information on Safa and her work, visit: https://bodyofprana.com/Instagram: @bodyofpranaFacebook: Safa RobertsShare the show, Subscribe or Follow, leave comments, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 17 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with Carlos Tanner. Carlos is the founder and director of the Ayahuasca Foundation, one of the leading ayahuasca retreat, education, and research centers located in Iquitos, Peru. I really enjoyed this conversation. It’s always good to speak to someone who has a depth of knowledge that comes from years of experience working in this field. I think you all will get a lot out of this episode as Carlos really expressed lucidly and beautifully this work on many different levels. Enjoy! And starting next episode I will begin releasing extended interviews of most of the episodes exclusively on Patreon, so check out more on that below.“Carlos Tanner is the director of the Ayahuasca Foundation, where he organizes healing retreats, educational courses, and plant medicine research led by Shipibo curanderos in the rainforest of Peru. His journey with ayahuasca began in 2003 with his own profound healing experience, leading him to move to Iquitos, Peru in 2004 to live and apprentice with a curandero named don Juan. Four years later he came up with the idea for the Ayahuasca Foundation, which has helped over a thousand retreat participants as well as over five hundred students of the Shipibo healing tradition. Along the way he got married, had a child, and built a research center that hosts ayahuasca medical research. He supports the decriminalization of plant medicines on a global scale and looks forward to a new era of medicine that centers around a consciousness based understanding of health.”For more on Carlos, the Ayahuasca Foundation, and his work, visit:https://www.ayahuascafoundation.org/https://www.instagram.com/ayahuascafoundation/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMhs4h2WMbYZ1_d58I4j8DwShare the show, Subscribe or Follow, leave comments, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 16 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Marta. Marta is a yoga instructor and plant medicine practitioner who I met at the Amazon healing center The Temple of the Way of Light, where she led workshops combining yoga and plant work. She draws on a lot of different traditions and modalities and bridges them together in a beautiful way. She is currently working on a book and offering one-on-one mentorship. I enjoyed this conversation and if you have any interest in yoga, plant medicine, and connecting the mind, body, and heart, I think you’ll enjoy this conversation as I did. And starting next episode I will begin releasing extended interviews of most of the episodes exclusively on Patreon, so check out more on that below.“Marta Wanderlust is a space holder, spiritual mentor, a Yoga teacher and a Breathwork facilitator. Born in Poland with a history of having cities like London, Berlin or Rio de Janeiro as her home, Marta has spent the last six years living between India and Peru. She has studied across diverse traditions, devoted to understanding our human physicality and the pathways to Spirit. Her deep immersions into the realms of Advaita Vedanta, Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Plant Medicine, high-Andean and Amazonian shamanism have led her to understand that all paths are complementary, and ultimately lead to the very same realization of Unity, which she likes to refer to as 'remembering'. Marta is currently based in Europe, working on self-publishing her first book, sharing her practice with her online community, mentoring private clients, all while looking forward to the day when her greatest love, hosting of small transformative retreats internationally, will again be possible. “Marta’s links:www.martawanderlust.comwww.instagram.com/martawanderlustyogawww.facebook.com/martawanderlustyogawww.insighttimer.com/martawanderlustyogaAnd to purchase Marta's newly released book, Miracles From The Abyss, visit: https://amzn.to/3sR2gvGShare the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hello everybody. Episode 15 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Joe Tafur. Joe and I met in the Amazon where we were both working at Shipibo plant-medicine centers, myself at the Temple of the Way of Light and Joe at Nihue Rao. Joe is a medical doctor and was drawn to come to the Amazon to work with and learn from traditional Shipibo curanderismo. Joe is a really interesting guy as he bridges the more ‘Western’ medical model with the more ‘traditional’ plant-healing systems. Joe has immersed himself deeply in both worlds and has the ability to speak to them both and how to bridge them together, respecting and learning from both systems. I always enjoy speaking with Joe and I think you all will enjoy this episode. To support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. “Dr. Tafur has been an Integrative Medicine activist throughout his medical career, while in medical school at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, and during his Family Medicine Residency at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After residency, Dr. Tafur completed a two-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the UCSD Department of Psychiatry… In 2011, he helped to found Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual, a traditional healing center in the Peruvian Upper Amazon. At Nihue Rao, Dr. Tafur underwent traditional apprenticeship in Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine and Shipibo curanderismo…In March of 2017, he published his book The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine about his unique journey into spiritual healing work…He also started the nonprofit Modern Spirit, dedicated to demonstrating the value of spiritual healing in modern healthcare… Modern Spirit is currently focused on supporting the Modern Spirit Epigenetics Project, a groundbreaking substudy of the MAPS MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy research trial…Dr. Tafur has also been the primary host of the Modern Spirit Podcast...”For Joe’s full bio, visit: https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/joe-tafurJoe’s sites: https://www.drjoetafur.com & https://www.modernspirit.orgShare the show, Subscribe or Follow, and go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  Donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 14 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Felix Durden. Felix and I met working together at the Amazonian plant medicine center The Temple of the Way of Light. Felix came to plant medicine in search of meaning and healing. And he has gone deep into the process of learning how to do this work, particularly in the Shipibo tradition. There aren’t many people from outside the Shipibo tradition that have gone this deeply into it. So he really has a deep knowledge of plants, of tradition, and the journey it takes to become a practitioner of this work. I always enjoy talking to Felix and I think you all will gain a lot of information and wisdom in this episode. And check out Patreon (see below) for access to the full episode. I hope you enjoy it!“Felix (Soi Pino in Shipibo) first began his medicine journey attempting to heal from Lyme disease contracted in 2008. At its worst, he experienced a wide array of symptoms: anxiety attacks, memory loss, brain fog, and organ failure. After little success with conventional treatment, his research led him to consider exploring ayahuasca as an alternative. In 2013 Felix traveled to Peru to receive the medicine, and after experiencing relief from his symptoms, decided to stay on long term to learn more about traditional healing modalities. Felix has spent the last five years working closely with the medicine and the Shipibo people. For the first two years of his apprenticeship Felix worked at well-established amazonian center assisting over 1000 people in ceremonies. Felix later left to go to Pucallpa receive more in depth healing and instruction with his maestro. Through the medicine he was able to find incredible healing and relief from the pains of Lyme. Through his maestro’s lineage, he has been given full permission from his teacher to serve medicine and to provide healing diets. With the blessing of his teacher Felix holds this medicine with great love and respect, and has a deep passion for service.” To learn more about the work Felix does, visit: https://bodyofprana.com/For Felix’s podcast, called Beyond Words with Felix and Allen, visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-words-with-felix-and-al/id1524513312Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 13 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Allen. Allen and I have worked together for a number of years at the Amazonian plant medicine center The Temple of the Way of Light. Allen has worked there as a facilitator, essentially a bridge between the guests who come down and the indigenous doctors who work there. He has a wealth of experience in that field and has worked with a number of master plant medicines and really has a deep grasp on what this work is and how to express it in different ways. Allen and I have had many conversations over the years and it’s always a pleasure to sit down and speak with him. He has a lot to share and teach and I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode. Cheers!“Allen is a plant medicine facilitator and space holder. He is the co-host of the Beyond Words with Felix and Allen podcast, available on iTunes and Spotify. He spent the past 6 years in Peru learning from various plant medicine traditions and facilitating retreats at the Temple of the Way of Light healing retreat center in the Amazon. He is fascinated by plant medicine traditions and initiation rituals. He also loves baseball. In his previous lives, amongst other things, Allen studied acting in New York City, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, and he was a bus driver in Colorado. He can be found at: https://www.albanick.com “If you enjoy the show, it would be a big help if you could share it with your own audiences via social media or word of mouth.  If you’re watching on YouTube if you could take a second and Subscribe to the channel and if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts to leave a starred rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    And finally, with the pandemic, most people doing this work have been without access to work since March and the future is uncertain.  If you are able to and would like to donate to the show to help out with new content that would be deeply appreciated.  For just a few dollars a month you can subscribe through Patreon and it gives you some really nice added benefits like early access to shows, bonus episodes, and a chance to ask personalized questions.To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Another way you can support the show is if you are ordering anything from Amazon.com, and you use this link, the show will get a small commission with no additional cost to you: https://amzn.to/2Gw51PSMusic courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  And please leave any questions or comments in the comment section or email at:https://www.UniverseWithinPodcast.comThis will help me with ideas for future shows.Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 12 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Tsu-Yin Chang. Tsu-Yin is a Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapist who I met working at the Amazonian plant-medicine center The Temple of the Way of Light, where she came as a guest. I found her story fascinating as she has spent a number of years studying meditation in a monastic setting. She combines her mindfulness-based training in her work as a psychotherapist. Spawned by her own experience and interest, she recently began the process of training in psychedelic-assisted therapy through the well-known organization MAPS. I always find people interesting who bring various backgrounds together to better understand the mind and to assist people in their journeys with that. I really enjoyed talking to her and I think you will enjoy listening. As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. “Tsu-Yin Chang is a Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapist who integrates empirically-based Western psychological modalities with the knowledge & wisdom she’s gained through dedicated practice with mindfulness teachers in Asia, Australia and the US.Since 2000, she has been fortunate to be immersed in the study of therapeutic & contemplative approaches to personal & interpersonal growth, psychological healing & transformation, alongside some of the world’s most respected psychologists, therapists, and teachers.After completing a couple years of intensive Buddhist monastic training in Asia, the integration of spirituality into therapy became one of her passions, as well as helping others realize that the fulfillment they might be looking for on the outside can instead be found deep within.She has a private practice in Boston, Massachusetts, and supports clients all across the country in mindfulness meditation online. She can be found at: https://www.mindful-living-center.org/ “Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 11 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with Mark Flaherty. Mark Flaherty is a consultant astrologer with clients in over 60 countries. He has studied with Dr. Geoffrey Cornelius, former President of the Astrological Lodge of London, and Bob Mulligan of the Astrology Company, Florida. He is adept at translating the astrological symbols into simple English so that everybody can use this information to better understand themselves and live happier, more fulfilling lives. As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. Enjoy! I’m really interested in the stars, cosmology, ancient civilizations, numerology, and esoterica, so it was interesting for me to hear his knowledge about astrology. I enjoyed this conversation and I hope you will too. Cheers!To learn more about Mark’s work visit his website at: https://mark-flaherty.com(This is a footnote and follow-up from Mark on the significance of the number 12: "Astrology is essential about the union between the masculine/feminine, yin/yang - the Sun and the Moon. 12 comes from the relationship between the Sun and the Moon. The Sun symbolically speaking is the 1 (one year is one orbit of the Earth around the Sun) and the duality/dividing of the One into the many is made by the Moon. There are roughly 12 lunar cycles (29.5 days from New Moon to New Moon) in the year. So the Sun is 1 and Moon 2 (duality), which also come together as 12. So the full circle of astrology is divided into 12 parts - the One into the many. So 12 essentially represents the Sacred symbolic marriage of the Sun and Moon. I got it from an astrologer friend, Acyuta-bhava Dasa.")Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  And please leave any questions or comments in the comment section or email at:https://www.UniverseWithinPodcast.comThis will help me with ideas for future shows.Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast

Hey everybody! Episode 10 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Claude. Claude is a Peruvian anthropologist and ‘‘bridgekeeper,” an apt title for what he has become. I met Claude working at the Peruvian Amazonian plant medicine center, The Temple of the Way of Light. I find Claude to be a truly great bridge between many of the indigenous cultures he has studied and worked alongside with, and the outside world. He holds a depth of wisdom and an ability to communicate complex and different ideas in a very human and simple way. I could speak to Claude for hours, as we ended up doing in this show. Its three hours long but I think you will find Claude’s insights invaluable and very enlightening. This was one of my favorite conversations. I always enjoy talking to him and I think you will too. As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. Enjoy! “With experience living and studying in the West, and apprenticing with Peruvian and Ecuadorian curanderos, Claude calls his mission at the Temple “bridge keeping”: the art of establishing and facilitating smooth communications and understanding between different worlds.Claude was born and raised in Lima, geographically close but very far away from the medicine traditions of the Peruvian jungle. While living in Europe he learned about Peruvian shamanism, and the idea of teacher plants such as San Pedro and ayahuasca fascinated him enough to return to Peru. But Claude’s first experience with San Pedro sent him directly back to Europe to study anthropology before he traveled to Iquitos for his first experience with ayahuasca in 2003.Here, he found the perfect setting for his research fieldwork as he became deeply engaged in how local ayahuasquero traditions were being understood by Westerners and how traditional medicine practitioners were interacting and understanding their foreign guests. Right before graduating with an Anthropology License, Claude met an Ecuadorian mestizo curandero who traveled often to Europe and chose him as a helper and apprentice. After five years working with this man and his beautiful medicine in Europe and Ecuador, Claude again decided to return to the roots of the medicine in Peru. He has been working and learning from Maestra Ynes Sanchez and her family since early 2013 and collaborating with the Temple of the Way of Light since June 2015.”These are the links Claude mentioned: https://www.facebook.com/bridgekeepers and https://chaikuni.orgShare the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you in advance!If you would like more information on plant medicine and the work I do, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.org    To support this podcast on Patreon, visit: https://www.patreon.com/UniverseWithin  To donate directly with PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/jasongrechanik Music courtesy of Nuno Moreno. See his work at: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/  Thanks and until the next episode!https://www.facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcast https://www.instagram.com/UniverseWithinPodcast