Conscious Physician: Medicine & Psychedelics

From Musician to Community Builder

Kevin Herig is a musician from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who started playing guitar at 12 and founded Rock 101 Music Academy at 21. What began as a summer programme teaching kids how to play in bands has grown into a vibrant community serving hundreds of students each week.

Kevin shares how his own experience as a young musician shaped Rock 101 and why music became about much more than learning an instrument. It became a way for young people to build confidence, communicate, collaborate, and discover their place in the world.

Music as a Tool for Confidence & Connection

One of the central themes of the conversation is how music creates opportunities for people to step outside their comfort zones. Kevin talks about young musicians performing on stage, developing confidence, learning to work with others, and gaining skills they can carry into adulthood.

Rock 101 also creates opportunities for different generations to learn from one another, with former students returning as instructors and mentors.

Authenticity & Creative Expression

Kevin believes authentic expression is at the heart of meaningful creativity. When teaching songwriting, he encourages students to write for themselves first rather than worrying about what an audience might think.

The conversation explores how this principle extends far beyond music. Writing, singing, dancing, journaling, and other creative practices can all help people reconnect with themselves and ultimately connect more deeply with others.

Music, Community & Healing

Kevin shares powerful examples of how music has brought people together, including a multigenerational family band that gave one grandfather the opportunity to fulfil his lifelong dream of playing bass with his family.

The episode also explores the importance of creating spaces where adults can rediscover music, overcome self-doubt, and simply have fun together through programmes such as Rock 101's Sip and Strum.

Chasing Curiosity

For Kevin, discovering your path doesn't have to begin with money or a detailed business plan. He encourages young people to identify what makes them curious, what excites them, and what they genuinely want to keep learning about.

His philosophy is simple: chase your curiosities.

Building Something That Grows Organically

Kevin also reflects on the evolution of Rock 101 and the importance of learning to delegate. As the organisation has grown, he has built an administrative and teaching team and learned to trust others with responsibilities he once felt he had to handle himself.

At its heart, Rock 101 isn't simply about becoming the biggest music school. It's about creating a community where people can learn, mentor one another, express themselves, and experience the lifelong impact of music.

Connect with Kevin Herig

Kevin's music is available under his own name, and Rock 101 offers a variety of music programmes for children, teens, and adults. Listeners can also find Rock 101's performances and community events in Albuquerque.

What if we stopped asking, “What’s wrong with you?” and started asking, “What happened to you, what do you need, and how can we heal together?”

In this episode of Conscious Physician Medicine and Psychedelics, we sit down with Megan Butler, a therapist, educator, startup founder, adjunct professor, and advocate for community-based mental health.

With around 20 years of experience across education and mental health, Megan's work focuses on changing how mental health is done and creating systems that genuinely meet people where they are.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• Megan's journey from teaching to counselling and community mental health
• The transformational Uvalde Love Project
• How art, music, dance, food and connection can support healing
• Collective trauma and community healing
• Why healing doesn't always need to happen in a therapy room
• The regulate, relate, reason approach
• How rhythm and movement can support nervous system regulation
• Giving children agency in their own healing
• Why everyone has their own timeline for healing
• The development of Lucero, a youth-centred mental health app
• Supporting parents and caregivers through community and technology
• The future of accessible, community-based mental health care
• Healing-centred engagement and the importance of culture, agency, relationships, meaning and aspirations

From Education to Mental Health

Megan began her career in education before moving into counselling, school mental health, crisis response and community-based care.

Across these roles, one theme has remained consistent: connection, service and challenging the status quo.

Her experience with the Uvalde Love Project became particularly transformative. Through therapeutic community art, creative expression and connection, survivors, families, teachers and community members created a 40-foot mosaic mural representing grief, hope and their vision for the future.

The experience helped Megan see mental health through a broader lens, focusing not only on symptoms and diagnosis, but also on strengths, relationships, dreams and community.

Regulate, Relate, Reason

Megan explains the importance of regulating the nervous system before expecting someone to process cognitively.

1. Regulate – Use breathing, movement, music, sensory experiences and other strategies to help the nervous system settle.

2. Relate – Build connection through presence, compassion and attunement.

3. Reason – Then move toward reflection, problem-solving and understanding.

She also explores why rhythm and repetitive movement, such as walking, singing, dancing or making art, can support regulation.

Children Have Wisdom Too

A powerful message throughout the episode is Megan's belief that children can have remarkable self-awareness when given the right environment.

Instead of immediately telling children what their behaviour means, adults can create enough safety and regulation for them to discover those connections themselves.

Everyone has their own timeline.

Lucero & Supporting Families

Megan also shares her work with Lucero, a digital mental health platform developed with young people rather than simply for them.

The platform offers tools for emotional regulation, strengths, purpose and self-care, including the Spark Wheel, which provides real-time regulation strategies based on how a young person is feeling.

Her work is also expanding to support parents and caregivers through Tia's Circle and Tia, an AI-based parent coach designed to provide accessible, neuroscience-informed and trauma-informed support.

Healing-Centred Engagement

Megan introduces healing-centred engagement, highlighting five key elements:

Culture • Agency • Relationships • Meaning • Aspirations

Together, these ideas challenge us to think beyond symptom-focused care and consider the role of community, creativity, relationships, purpose and connection in healing.

The Bigger Question

Maybe healing isn't always about sitting in a therapy room and talking.

Maybe sometimes it looks like dancing, making art, sharing food, walking together, listening to music, being part of a community, feeling safe and being seen.

And sometimes, healing means creating the space to discover the wisdom that already exists within you.

What happens when someone spends two decades inside the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and then turns toward plant medicine and community-based healing?

In this episode of Conscious Physician Medicine and Psychedelics, we sit down with Joe Robinson, a former pharmaceutical marketing professional and the founder of Psilosafe, to explore the changing landscape of psychedelic medicine and the importance of approaching these medicines with intention, responsibility, and respect.

Joe shares how his 20-year career in Big Pharma led him to question the traditional medical model and ultimately transition toward work focused on addressing the root of health concerns rather than simply managing symptoms.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• Joe's journey from the pharmaceutical industry into plant medicine
• The evolution of psychedelic medicine and the growing interest in psilocybin
• What Joe means by community-based healing initiatives
• The role of nature, community, connection, and traditional healing practices
• Why psychedelic medicine needs responsible standards around safety and consistency
• The different segments of today's psychedelic market
• The importance of testing psilocybin-containing products
• Potency, consistency, and certificates of analysis
• Why set, setting, preparation, and experienced guidance matter
• The difference between simply using a medicine and consciously working with it
• How conscious life practices can support psychedelic preparation and integration
• The importance of integration after a psychedelic experience
• Why the psychedelic space should develop slowly and mindfully rather than becoming another purely profit-driven industry

From Big Pharma to Plant Medicine

Joe spent approximately 20 years working in pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing, giving him firsthand experience with patient populations, research and development, education, and go-to-market strategy. Over time, he began questioning whether the conventional healthcare model was addressing the root causes of people's struggles or primarily managing symptoms.

That questioning eventually led him toward sacred earth medicine and plant-based approaches to healing.

Today, through his branding and marketing firm Conscious Connoisseur and his work with Psilosafe, Joe supports people and organisations entering the plant medicine space.

What Is Community-Based Healing?

One of the central themes of this conversation is the importance of community-based healing.

Joe describes a model that exists outside the traditional medical environment, connecting people with nature, experienced facilitators, practitioners, physicians, psychiatrists, and community members.

Rather than viewing psychedelic medicine simply as another substance to consume, the conversation highlights the relationship between the individual, the medicine, the guide, the environment, and the practices surrounding the experience.

Psilocybin Safety, Testing & Consistency

A major focus of the episode is the importance of testing and consistency in psychedelic products.

Joe explains that Psilosafe works with organisations seeking greater standardisation and guidance around cultivation, manufacturing, product testing, and facilitation.

The discussion also explores why potency can vary between batches of naturally cultivated and ground mushroom material, and why consistent cultivation, handling, curing, storage, and periodic testing can help producers understand the potency of their products.

Psychedelic Medicine Is More Than the Medicine

A particularly important part of the conversation is the idea that psychedelic work should not be reduced to simply taking a substance and expecting it to create change.

Joe emphasises the importance of working with the medicine, while the Conscious Physician approach discussed in the episode incorporates conscious life practices, preparation, and ongoing integration.

The conversation explores how practices such as meditation, breathing, exercise, reflection, and other conscious life practices can help people identify and work through patterns that may otherwise remain hidden.

Preparation & Integration

The episode also highlights the importance of preparing people before introducing psychedelic medicine.

The Conscious Physician approach described in the conversation begins with several weeks of conscious life practices before introducing psilocybin, followed by continued integration.

The message is clear: the medicine is not the entire journey.

Preparation, intention, guidance, set and setting, personal responsibility, and integration all play an important role.

Moving Into the Future Mindfully

Joe also shares his perspective on the future of psychedelic medicine and the tension between pharmaceutical development, commercialisation, and community-based approaches.

Rather than rushing to turn psychedelics into the next major commercial industry, he advocates for moving slowly and mindfully, with respect for the medicines, the communities working with them, and the traditions from which many of these practices originate.

What if grief isn't something we are meant to let go of?

In this episode, Dr Lida Fatemi is joined by Dr Rohini Caniganti for a rich conversation about grief, trauma, palliative medicine, psychedelic experiences, and the many transitions we experience throughout life.

Rohini invites us to look at grief differently. Rather than seeing it as something we need to overcome or release, she describes it as a fundamental human experience that can connect us to love, belonging, and the fullness of being human.

Together, Lida and Rohini explore:

• Why grief is not a linear experience
• The connection between grief, trauma, burnout, illness, relationships, and life transitions
• Why there may be nothing to “let go” of when it comes to grief
• How compassion, curiosity, confidence, and community can help us become more present with ourselves
• The role of psychedelic medicine in grief and healing
• Why psychedelic experiences are different for every person, and every journey can be different
• The importance of preparation, integration, and creating space after profound experiences
• Grief and loss within hospice and palliative care
• Why death doesn't always need to be approached as an emergency
• Reframing dying as an emergence process
• The importance of allowing, belonging, and co-creation when navigating illness and death
• How our stories around illness and dying can shape the decisions we make
• Why healing is not necessarily about curing, but about returning to wholeness, meaning, and connection
• The relationship between rest, nervous system regulation, and healing
• Why slowing down can allow us to hear the deeper wisdom within ourselves
• How play, joy, nature, breathwork, contemplation, and prayer can support healing
• Why we need to honour real trauma without using positivity or play to bypass suffering
• The historical roots of medicine and the connection between healing, dreams, consciousness, and the unconscious
• The importance of approaching psychedelic medicine with respect rather than seeing it as a “magic bullet”

One of the most powerful themes throughout this conversation is the idea that pain can be a doorway.

Whether we're experiencing grief, illness, a relationship ending, a career transition, or a psychedelic experience, we often want to rush through discomfort and find an immediate solution. Rohini encourages us to consider another possibility: slowing down, allowing ourselves to feel what is present, and trusting that something new may emerge from that space.

The conversation also explores what it means to integrate healing into the body. Rest, sleep, nourishment, movement, play, hydration, nature, and simply allowing ourselves to be can all become part of the integration process.

Ultimately, this episode is an invitation to take the slow train.

To pause.

To feel.

To allow.

And to trust that even in grief and uncertainty, there may be something new waiting to emerge.

About Dr Rohini Caniganti

Dr Rohini Caniganti works across hospice and palliative care and the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy. She is also faculty with the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, where she contributes to education and training in integrative psychiatry and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

What happens when we begin to understand burnout, addiction, anxiety, and other struggles through the lens of trauma?

In this episode, Dr Lida Fatemi is joined by Dr Christine Gibson, a family physician, trauma therapist, author of The Modern Trauma Toolkit, and advocate for making trauma-informed healing tools more accessible.

Christine shares how being caught in the 2015 Nepal earthquakes became a turning point in her own understanding of trauma. As she began exploring her own post-traumatic symptoms, she also recognised how frequently complex trauma was present in the patients she cared for, particularly those experiencing refugee health challenges, addiction, and health inequities.

Together, Lida and Christine explore:

• Why trauma is often misunderstood in traditional medical education
• The connection between trauma and physician burnout
• How unresolved trauma can show up in the body, relationships, work, and everyday life
• Somatic approaches to trauma healing, including Havening, tapping, and tremoring
• How Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) can help people process traumatic memories
• Developmental trauma and the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM)
• Why trauma-informed therapy does not have to be shame-based
• The importance of nervous system regulation and understanding fight, flight, freeze, and collapse responses
• How physicians can experience vicarious trauma from caring for people who are suffering
• The role of psychedelic medicine and integration in trauma healing
• Why set, setting, preparation, and guidance matter when working with psychedelic experiences
• The relationship between trauma, social inequity, and access to mental health care
• How collective trauma can influence communities, systems, and even our relationship with the planet
• Why healing can be approached with self-compassion, curiosity, creativity, and even playfulness

Christine also shares her vision for making trauma education more accessible to everyday people, parents, teachers, physicians, and therapists through practical tools and resources.

At the heart of this conversation is a powerful message: we don't have to approach healing through shame or suffering. We can build greater awareness, compassion, connection, and agency in ourselves and in the generations that follow.

About Dr Christine Gibson

Dr Christine Gibson is a family physician, trauma therapist, educator, keynote speaker, and author of The Modern Trauma Toolkit. Her work focuses on making trauma-healing education accessible, practical, inclusive, and grounded in emerging approaches to trauma therapy.

Learn more about Christine and her work through The Modern Trauma Toolkit and her professional resources.

In this episode of The Conscious Physician Podcast, Dr. Lida Fatemi sits down with Heather Lee, a licensed clinical social worker, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, author, speaker, and one of the early licensed psychedelic practitioners in Colorado.

With more than 30 years of experience in mental health, Heather shares how psilocybin-assisted therapy has transformed the way she approaches healing, trauma, grief, cancer, end-of-life anxiety, and personal transformation. Rather than viewing psychedelics as a stand-alone intervention, Heather describes them as an ally that can help people reconnect with their own inner wisdom.

The conversation explores the importance of psychedelic preparation and integration, including practices such as journaling, visual art, dream work, time in nature, mindfulness, and reconnecting with play and curiosity. Heather explains how slowing down and becoming present in nature can provide a powerful setting for processing insights that emerge through non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Heather also shares her deeply personal experience of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis immediately after completing her psychedelic therapy training. She describes turning to psilocybin during that pivotal moment and how the experience influenced the emotional, spiritual, and practical way she approached her cancer journey.

Dr. Fatemi and Heather discuss the growing potential for psychedelic-assisted therapy in cancer care, hospice, palliative medicine, grief, trauma, and end-of-life distress, as well as the need for physicians and other healthcare professionals to recognize the psychological and spiritual dimensions of serious illness.

They also explore why psychedelic therapy requires thoughtful screening, experienced practitioners, trauma-informed care, preparation, and long-term integration. Heather emphasizes that psychedelics are not appropriate for everyone and that patients should carefully evaluate the training and credentials of anyone offering psychedelic facilitation.

The episode ultimately asks a larger question: What changes when medicine begins addressing not only the physical body, but also the mind, nervous system, relationships, meaning, spirituality, and the way we experience our own lives?

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy and mental health
• Psychedelic preparation and integration
• Connecting with inner wisdom during psychedelic therapy
• Nature-based and ecotherapy practices for integration
• Journaling, dream work, creativity, and non-ordinary states
• Trauma, stored emotions, and psycho-spiritual healing
• Heather's personal experience with breast cancer and psilocybin
• Psychedelic therapy for cancer-related distress and anxiety
• Psilocybin in hospice and palliative care
• End-of-life anxiety, grief, and mortality
• The intersection of spirituality, medicine, and psychedelics
• Why screening and trauma-informed psychedelic care matter
• Choosing a qualified psychedelic facilitator
• The importance of long-term integration after a psychedelic experience

Heather is also the author of The Psilocybin Sessions, a collection of stories exploring women's experiences of healing and transformation through psychedelic medicine.

About The Conscious Physician Podcast:
Hosted by Dr. Lida Fatemi, The Conscious Physician Podcast explores psychedelics, medicine, consciousness, healing, spirituality, and emerging approaches that invite healthcare professionals and patients to think differently about what it means to heal.

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice or as a recommendation to use psychedelic substances. Psychedelic laws, regulations, risks, contraindications, and clinical availability vary by jurisdiction and individual health history.

Inside Oregon’s Legal Psilocybin Program: Safety, Access & the Future of Psychedelic Healing with Myles Katz

What does legal, regulated access to psilocybin actually look like in practice?

In this episode of Conscious Physician: Medicine & Psychedelics, Dr. Lida Fatemi welcomes Myles Katz, a licensed psilocybin facilitator in Oregon and founder of Confluence Retreats, for a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the first regulated psilocybin access models of its kind.

Myles' work in psychedelics began well before Oregon's program. In 2018, he co-founded Synthesis, an organization that operated psilocybin retreats in Amsterdam and raised more than $10 million in capital. His experience eventually brought him to Oregon as the state prepared to implement its newly legalized psilocybin services system.

In this conversation, Myles breaks down exactly how Oregon's model works—from the different licenses required for growers, laboratories, service centers, and facilitators to the training required to legally facilitate a psilocybin experience.

Dr. Fatemi and Myles also explore an important distinction: Oregon intentionally created a model that isn't structured strictly as a traditional medical program. This creates unique opportunities for access and flexibility while also raising important questions about facilitator qualifications, medical screening, accessibility, and safety.

Myles shares what he has learned from running five-day psilocybin retreats within this regulatory framework, including why precise dosing has become more valuable to him than he initially expected and how Oregon's required testing allows facilitators to better understand the potency of the psilocybin being administered.

They also discuss set and setting, what licensed psilocybin service centers actually look like, why psilocybin must currently be consumed at licensed facilities, and some of the challenges this creates for people with disabilities or those who may not easily be able to travel.

The conversation then turns to one of the most important pieces of psychedelic care: what happens after the experience?

As Myles explains, mushrooms themselves aren't necessarily going to change someone's life. They may provide insight and create an opportunity for change, but individuals still have to integrate those insights and do the work when they return home.

Dr. Fatemi and Myles also discuss antidepressant use, medical screening, microdosing, affordability, social equity, and the importance of creating systems that prioritize harm reduction while expanding responsible access.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Myles' journey from Synthesis in Amsterdam to legal psilocybin facilitation in Oregon
• How Oregon's regulated psilocybin services model works
• The four major license categories within the system
• What it takes to become a licensed psilocybin facilitator
• The financial and training requirements facilitators face
• The benefits and limitations of Oregon's current model
• Why Oregon's system isn't structured as a traditional medical program
• The importance of laboratory testing and more precise psilocybin dosing
• What licensed psilocybin service centers actually look like
• How Myles structures five-day psychedelic retreats
• Set, setting, breathwork, preparation, and integration
• Accessibility challenges for people unable to travel to licensed centers
• Medical screening and areas where Myles believes additional safeguards could be considered
• The complexities surrounding antidepressants and psychedelic experiences
• Microdosing and what some participants consider after a retreat
• Why psychedelics are not a substitute for the work that follows
• The cost of regulated psilocybin services and retreats
• Oregon's social equity requirements
• Why Myles prefers intimate retreat groups with multiple facilitators
• What Oregon's experience could teach other states developing psychedelic programs

As more states explore pathways toward regulated psychedelic care, Oregon offers something incredibly valuable: real-world experience.

This conversation provides a thoughtful look at what is working, where challenges remain, and how safety, accessibility, education, integration, and responsible facilitation can continue evolving alongside psychedelic medicine.

From PTSD to Purpose: Psychedelic Healing, Forgiveness & Rebuilding a Life with Dr. Charlie Powell

What happens when the life you worked so hard to build no longer feels like your own?

In this powerful episode of Conscious Physician: Medicine & Psychedelics, Dr. Lida Fatemi sits down with Dr. Charlie Powell, a former military physician, entrepreneur, veteran, filmmaker, and mental health advocate whose personal healing journey completely changed the direction of his life.

Charlie shares his path from joining the Army as a young combat medic to building a career in military and emergency medicine, eventually growing and selling a healthcare organization in North Texas. But beneath the professional success, he was living with PTSD, insomnia, chronic neuropathic pain, night terrors, isolation, and years of dependence on multiple medications just to remain functional.

After reaching what he describes as one of the darkest periods of his life, an unexpected conversation introduced him to psychedelic medicine.

Despite a traumatic early experience with psychedelics as a teenager, Charlie began researching modalities including Ayahuasca and Ibogaine. Eventually, he traveled to Mexico for an Ibogaine experience that would become one of the most consequential decisions of his life.

He describes how the experience helped him revisit memories he believed he had already processed, uncover deeper lessons, and redefine forgiveness—not simply as releasing blame, but as finding meaning and even gratitude within painful experiences.

One particularly profound experience brought Charlie back to a heartbreaking trauma case from his years in emergency medicine. By revisiting the memory from a different perspective, he was able to hear something he had missed the first time and finally release a burden he had carried for years.

That experience became a turning point.

Charlie ultimately walked away from his previous career, marriage, lifestyle, and even the country he had been living in, spending time rebuilding his identity and asking what he wanted the next chapter of his life to represent.

His answer centered around purpose, service, connection, veterans, and special needs families.

Today, Charlie is building multiple projects dedicated to those communities, including a resort designed for special needs families and the documentary Healing Heroes: No Mind Left Behind.

The film follows veterans living with trauma before, during, and after a psychedelic-assisted healing experience in Mexico. Rather than focusing solely on the medicine itself, Charlie emphasizes the preparation, integration, community, emotional work, and daily practices necessary to turn an experience into lasting change.

Dr. Fatemi and Charlie also explore one of the larger themes running through both of their work: psychedelic medicine cannot simply become another medication-centered model.

Healing requires responsible stewardship, preparation, integration, skilled support, connection, and a broader understanding of the person behind the diagnosis.

They also discuss the loss of community and purpose that many veterans face when transitioning out of military life, the mental health consequences of increasing social isolation, the stigma surrounding PTSD, and why mental health can no longer be treated as secondary to physical health.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Charlie's path from combat medic to physician and healthcare entrepreneur
• His experience with PTSD, night terrors, insomnia, chronic pain, and long-term medication use
• Why traditional treatment left him functional but still deeply unhappy
• How he first became interested in psychedelic medicine
• Preparing for and experiencing Ibogaine
• The advice to "say yes" during difficult psychedelic experiences
• How psychedelics changed his understanding of trauma and forgiveness
• A haunting emergency medicine case he carried for years
• Why forgiveness became a pivotal part of his healing
• Walking away from the identity and career he had spent decades building
• Reconnecting with spirituality, intuition, and purpose
• The creation of Healing Heroes: No Mind Left Behind
• Why psychedelic medicine may be only one piece of the healing process
• Preparation and integration as essential parts of psychedelic-assisted healing
• PTSD and the loss of military community
• The importance of purpose, connection, gratitude, forgiveness, and self-love
• Mental health stigma among physicians and veterans
• The risks of irresponsible psychedelic use and poorly run treatment centers
• Why Charlie believes responsible education and stewardship must shape the future of psychedelic medicine
• The unexpected connection between Charlie's work and Dr. Fatemi's Conscious Physicians Psychedelics Academy

This episode is ultimately a conversation about what becomes possible when we stop defining ourselves by what we've survived and begin asking what those experiences might be preparing us to do next.

What allows someone to perform at their best when the pressure is at its highest?

In this episode of Conscious Physician: Medicine & Psychedelics, Dr. Lida Fatemi welcomes her friend Jose Maresma, a clinical exercise physiologist with 35 years of experience who now focuses much of his work on performance coaching.

Jose takes a holistic, actionable approach to helping people maximize their potential—from elite athletes and corporate leaders to physicians, students, and everyday individuals who simply want to show up more fully in their lives.

One of the most fascinating stories in this conversation centers around Jose's work with Olympic runner Josh Kerr. Jose shares what happened when Josh reached out during the Tokyo Olympics after a preliminary race didn't go as planned—and how a brief coaching conversation helped bring his attention away from the outcome and back to the work he had already done, his breathing, his body, and the present moment. Josh ultimately went on to win an Olympic bronze medal.
But these tools aren't reserved for Olympic athletes.

Jose and Dr. Fatemi explore how nervous-system regulation, mindfulness, breathwork, gratitude, self-talk, and intentional daily practices can influence the way we respond to stress and challenge. They also discuss an important shift in how we think about motivation: sometimes we don't need to wait until we feel motivated. Taking one small action can begin creating the momentum that allows motivation to follow.

Jose also shares his approach to creating a morning "warm-up" and evening "cool-down," including stepping away from the phone, practicing breathwork or meditation, and intentionally focusing on gratitude.

The conversation closes with the cold-plunge community Jose has helped cultivate over the past several years. What began as a physical and mental challenge evolved into something deeper: a community built around connection, vulnerability, trust, resilience, and the willingness to do difficult things together.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Why being present is essential to performing at your highest level
• The mindset coaching Jose used with Olympian Josh Kerr
• Why motivation often comes after action
• How small behavioral changes can begin building momentum
• Nervous-system regulation and responding differently to stress
• Breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, and gratitude
• The importance of self-talk and developing useful mindsets
• Why high performers need to become intentional about distractions
• Jose's morning "warm-up" and evening "cool-down"
• The relationship between trauma, fear, behavior, and self-regulation
• Why values can help guide where you spend your attention
• Cold exposure as a mental and physical challenge
• How doing hard things together can create connection and community
• Why taking care of yourself is foundational to how you show up for others

Jose leaves listeners with a powerful reminder: your effort, attention, and attitude are within your control. When you focus your energy there, you can begin influencing your health, performance, and the way you experience your life.

Functional Mushrooms Explained: The Science Behind Lion's Mane, Reishi & Brain Health

Can functional mushrooms really improve focus, sleep, immunity, and long-term brain health?

In this fascinating conversation, Dr. Lida Fatemi is joined by Stephanie, founder of Troop, a functional mushroom company dedicated to making evidence-based mushroom supplements approachable, delicious, and backed by science.

The episode begins with Stephanie sharing her remarkable family story—from their Moroccan roots and their family's immigration journey to the United States—to how a skiing accident during the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly sparked the creation of their company.

Together, they dive into the growing world of functional mushrooms, explaining the science behind Lion's Mane, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Chaga, and Maitake. They discuss why extraction methods matter, why not all mushroom supplements are created equal, and why bioavailability is one of the most overlooked aspects of mushroom products.

Dr. Fatemi also shares her clinical perspective on medicinal mushrooms, discussing their potential role in supporting cognitive health, sleep, immune function, gut health, and integrative medicine.

Beyond mushrooms, this conversation explores entrepreneurship, resilience, family businesses, community, and the personal growth required to build a mission-driven company.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Stephanie’s inspiring Moroccan family history and immigration story

• How a life-changing injury during COVID led to the creation of Troop

• The difference between functional mushrooms and psychedelic mushrooms

• Why extraction methods dramatically affect mushroom potency

• The benefits of Lion's Mane for memory, focus, and cognitive health

• How Reishi supports relaxation and restorative sleep

• The immune-supporting properties of Turkey Tail, Chaga, Maitake, and Cordyceps

• Why quality, sourcing, and bioavailability matter when choosing mushroom supplements

• The importance of community, purpose, and resilience in entrepreneurship

• Why building a business often requires building yourself first

If you're curious about functional mushrooms or looking for evidence-informed ways to support your health naturally, this episode is a fantastic place to start.