Voices of Esalen

Dr. Hyman is an eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of functional medicine. He is the Director the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and a regular medical contributor on many television shows, including CBS This Morning, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The View, and The Dr. Oz Show. We talked about many topics, including healthy fats, what NOT to eat, organ meats, dairy (nature's perfect food, if you're a calf, says Mark), fluoridated water, and more. This podcast is full of actionable knowledge. Have a listen.

Today's episode is part of a series of panels presented at the 9th annual Blue Mind Summit at the Esalen Institute in the summer of 2019. The Blue Mind summit is the brainchild of Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, whose stated mission is to create the new story of water and share it with the world, focusing on the cognitive, emotional, psychological, social, physical, and spiritual benefits that we can derive from healthy waters throughout our lives. By connecting neuroscientists and psychologists with aquatic experts and artists, Dr. Nichols advocates for the health and well-being of people and planet earth. He is currently Chief Evangelist for Water (CEH2O) at Bouy Labs, a Senior Fellow at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies, a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and co-founder of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates. He is also the author of the national bestseller Blue Mind, published in 2014, and the upcoming book, Live Blue. This year at Esalen, he partnered with Dr. Shauna Shapiro and Dr. Dan Siegel to explore the topic of Blue Mindfulness.

Encore : Dr. Han Ren is a practitioner of decolonial mental health: she offers liberation-oriented, anti-oppressive, culturally informed therapy, and practices from a justice-oriented, systems-informed framework. Some of her specialties include Asian-American mental health, anxiety, perfectionism, high achievers, children of immigrants/third culture kids, anti-racism, and parenting. Dr. Ren is also a force to be reckoned with on TikTok, amassing a large following on a platform she uses in an attempt to make therapy accessible and applicable to our everyday lives. Together we talked about how white supremacy can be internalized, what it looks like when you center BIPOC mental health in treatment, how one decolonizes language, the conceptual shift from a dyadic trauma perspective to a more collective, societal notion of trauma, and her struggles as a recovering perfectionist. https://www.drhanren.com

Dr. Ben Sessa is a psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, and currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. Ben and I spoke at length about the current state of psychedelic psychotherapy, exploring topics such as success rates for clients, how to work with trauma in a psychedelic state, whether depression is in fact treatable by this method, ego loss, shedding negative personal narratives, and much more. He is a stupendous voice of reason and is very much poised on the cutting edge of clinical research in regards to the sanctioned use of psychedelics for healing.

Dr. Kamilah Majied is a mental health therapist, professor, and internationally engaged consultant on social justice and inclusive contemplative pedagogy. The practice of Buddhism spurred a curiosity for Dr. Majied about the causes of unhappiness, particularly unhappiness as created by social oppression. A professor of social work, she is skilled in using Buddhist and contemplative practices to help people heal from racism, sexism, homophobia, and other types of oppression to reclaim joy in their lives. Together we spoke about privilege and some of the limitations it imposes, the various blind spots built into the human potential movement, some of the impediments to apprehending privilege, and how not to get stuck in guilt and shame while grappling with the challenge of confronting racism. No part of this broadcast can be duplicated or distributed without the written permission of Dr. Kamilah Majied. If you wish to make a gratitude offering for Dr. Majied's talk, please do so via her paypal or venmo accounts which can be accessed via her email address, kamilahmajied@yahoo.com, at which she is also available for any follow up questions or comments

Dr. Kamilah Majied is a contemplative inclusivity and equity consultant, mental health therapist, clinical educator, researcher, and internationally engaged consultant on building inclusivity and equity using meditative practices. After 15 years of teaching at Howard University, Dr. Majied joined the faculty at California State University, Monterey Bay as Professor of Social Work. She teaches clinical practice to graduate students employing psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness-based, and artistic approaches to well-being, and authored a chapter in the second edition of Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy, “Contemplative Practices for Assessing and Eliminating Racism in Psychotherapy.” Dr. Majied gave opening remarks at the first White House Conference of Buddhist Leaders on Climate Change and Racial Justice, where she also facilitated a dialogue on ending racism amongst the internationally represented Buddhist leadership. She is the author of the forthcoming book Joyfully Just: Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living (Sounds True, 2024). In this episode we discuss her latest work, 'Joyfully Just: Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living ,’ a book that not only challenges us to rethink our approach to justice but also invites us to engage with joy as a radical act of resistance. Through this discussion, Dr. Majied shares how interdependence and Buddhist insights, when blended with Black wisdom traditions, can offer rich perspective and possibility for both justice and joy. In this conversation, we explore how language and culture play pivotal roles in shaping our approach to liberation, and how art, music and contemplative practices can nurture joy as well as help us confronting the biases of our own intuition. So dig in, and get ready to build your discomfort resilience and stoke your fierce compassion. Music credits - Blue Dot Sessions tracks: Milkwood https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/251374 10c Coffee https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/251382 Santo Apure https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/251383 Slow Rollout https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/251384 Buy the Book: https://www.kamilahmajied.com/joyfully-just

Dr. Han Ren is a practitioner of decolonial mental health: she offers liberation-oriented, anti-oppressive, culturally informed therapy, and practices from a justice-oriented, systems-informed framework. Some of her specialties include Asian-American mental health, anxiety, perfectionism, high achievers, children of immigrants/third culture kids, anti-racism, and parenting. Dr. Ren is also a force to be reckoned with on TikTok, amassing a large following on a platform she uses in an attempt to make therapy accessible and applicable to our everyday lives. Together we talked about how white supremacy can be internalized, what it looks like when you center BIPOC mental health in treatment, how one decolonizes language, the conceptual shift from a dyadic trauma perspective to a more collective, societal notion of trauma, and her struggles as a recovering perfectionist. Upcoming at Esalen: Money should never be a barrier to transformation. Our scholarship program features up to 90% coverage of workshop tuition and accommodations, travel expenses, and a mission to increase diversity. If you’re interested in coming to Esalen to learn, be, and explore, we’re accepting applications now. We’ll also accept support of this amazing program if you want to give and support personal transformation for others. Apply or Give Visit: https://www.esalen.org/visit/scholarships Do you seek answers about the meaning of life… or what it means to be happy from the broadest possible perspective? R.D. Laing in the 21st Century is a workshop exploring the practical aspects of Laing’s legacy August 30 - September 3rd. This workshop is best suited for those familiar with Laing - at one time the most widely-read psychiatrist in the world. His take on altered states, the nature of love, authenticity, and spirituality forms the foundation for workshop leaders Michael Guy Thompson, Nita Gage, and Fritjof Capra. Explore fundamental happiness through experiential exercises for modern life and an ongoing journey of self. Register now: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/r-d-laing-in-the-21st-century-what-is-happiness What’s your number? If you apply the numbers theory of personality, you may be able to do more profound inner work for a big impact on the world. Together, Russ Hudson - renown enneagram expert - and Dr. Deborah Egerton - diversity and inclusion specialist, who’s known as the Enneagram Jedi - launch an incredible new program at Esalen August 15 - 20. You’ll cultivate a deeper understanding of the Enneagram process of self-observation to free yourself from the roots of your own biases to become a true agent of healing in the world. Register: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/the-enneagram-social-justice-and-racial-healing

Today our episode centers on a talk given at Esalen in 1985 by Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Weil is a prominent figure and a trailblazer in the field of integrative medicine, which combines conventional medical practices with alternative and complementary therapies such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, and mind-body techniques. (All of this of course used to be rather fringe; Esalen in the 1980’s, was a bit fringe, too. Nowadays, things like acupuncture and herbal medicine raise nary an eyebrow, and Esalen, to be honest, is pretty darn mainstream too.) On this date in 1985, Dr. Weil speaks about various drugs and psychedelics, as well as the cultural attitudes attached to them. Weil to this point had had a curious relationship to psychedelics: in the early 1960s, while a student at Harvard, he observed the infamous Harvard Psilocybin experiments conducted by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, and then reported on them in the Harvard Crimson, ultimately leading to the academic downfall and subsequent dismissal of Leary and Alpert. Later in his life, Weil would reconnect with Alpert, who had by then assumed the moniker of Ram Das, and he would finally taste the forbidden fruit, and henceforth become an advocate of psychedelics. Weil speaks a great deal during this talk about the drug MDMA, otherwise known as Ecstasy, which on June 1st of that very year was made illegal and classified as a Schedule 1 substance. MDMA had been widely used as a therapy drug for nearly 15 years since its rediscovery in the 1970s by chemist Sasha Shulgin, but in the early 1980s, it also became quite popular in dance subcultures, particularly in the gay community, and most notably in Dallas, Texas. Of course, in the mid 1980’s, Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs was raging, and it provided the perfect storm for MDMA to be made unlawful. So given this context, it’s both interesting and informative to hear Weil, the former psychedelic whistleblower turned hippie physician, speak at length and quite intelligently about MDMA. He also addresses a host of other topics, including whether or not marijuana causes brain damage, peyote, how DEA scheduling works, the so-called new physics , how belief interacts with the physical mechanisms of the body, hypnotherapy, fire-walking, coffee, chocolate, and more. It's a fun episode. By the way . . . Esalen Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing human potential and promoting positive social change. Your support helps us continue to offer transformative programs and retreats that promote personal growth and collective wellbeing. To learn more about Esalen and how you can support our mission, visit our website at esalen.org.

Dr. Adele Lafrance is a clinical psychologist, research scientist, and a leader in the research and practice of psychedelic medicine. Currently, she is the clinical investigator and strategy lead for the MAPS-sponsored MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study for eating disorders and a collaborator on the Imperial College study for psilocybin and anorexia nervosa. We talked about her history as a clinician, and why she believes psychedelics may offer a different and perhaps more successful way of treating eating disorders than traditional methods. We also spoke about a system she developed known as emotion-focused family therapy. Dr. Lafrance believes emotion focused family therapy can used effectively in conjunction with psychedelic therapy to treat eating disorders. https://dradelelafrance.com/ Coming soon at Esalen - The new LEEP program. Live and learn at Esalen for 4 weeks as part of our Live Extended Education Program, or L.E.E.P.  Under the guidance of our skilled faculty and surrounded by a cohort of twelve other learners, students will be challenged to expand their personal growth edges and open up to greater discoveries of self and community. THE STUDY COMPONENT Engage in a rigorous course of study, up to 26 hours per week over the span of four weeks. Daily deep dives led by world-class faculty members allow you to learn heartfully about the essential teachings and practices of Esalen. Areas of study may include Gestalt practices, massage, somatics, yoga, leadership, and more. THE SERVICE COMPONENT As a cement to your studies into body and mind, you will be required to dedicate 26 hours of service each week in one of Esalen’s operational departments. The campus is rugged and students should anticipate robust physical activity. Areas of service are assigned and hours are typically performed in the kitchen or housekeeping. https://www.esalen.org/learn/live-extended-education-program

Leah Song is one half of the musical duo Rising Appalachia - alongside her sister Chloe, they are an internationally touring folk ensemble steeped in the soul of the South that blends Americana music with lyrics, rhythm and poetry to form a unique sound influenced by a blend of Appalachian, Irish, Latin and world roots music. Leah was at Esalen Institute for a week this summer to dance and make music with Lucia Horan and Douglas Drummond’s 5 Rhythms workshop, and she was kind enough to do a live interview on a Wednesday evening for a rapt audience of more than a hundred lucky souls. She spoke wisely about her history with activism, her love of 90's hip hop, her dynamic relationship with the festival scene, what slow music means to her, and a lot more. She even played several songs. What a gem!