FAR OUT: Adventures in Returning Home

Fall is a season of letting go and in the spirit of that we explore purging.

As a culture we tend to see purging as something to avoid at all costs, a sign of illness and definitely not something to do voluntarily.

But what if that narrative gets it all wrong? What if our attitude toward purging is the problem —not purging itself? What if by avoiding purges—whether physical, emotional, energetical or spiritual—we're hampering the very process by which we might be healed and purified?

Sitting is the core activity of most meditation practices, yet very little time is spent talking about exactly how we should sit.

Today, we bring Will Johnson, author of The Posture of Meditation, on the show to discuss why our posture might be the most important part of meditation, connecting to our somatic experience, what happens when we channel the force of gravity instead of resist it, the relationship between meditation and plant medicines, and so (so!) much more.

Tune in for a mind-blowing and insightful conversation with a genuinely inspiring elder!

There's been a lot of big changes for us in the last few months.

We've been pretty quiet on the podcast about we've been up to lately, mainly because it's all been happening so fast. This episode we slow down to talk about some of big changes we're making, where we are now (it's the last place we expected to be!), what we're doing and how we're thinking about things.

It's another good old-fashioned leap into the unknown with all the excitement, reflection and speculation that comes with such times (and we thought we had things figured out!) We hope you enjoy :)

Let's get into it!

What if women chose to stay home to give birth?

That's the radical question that's sparked a global movement. As the leader of the Free Birth Society, Emilee Saldaya is working to change our Western narrative of birth and remind us what birth is all about.

Emilee joins us on the show to talk about the untold risks and man-made trauma of birthing in our current medical system and why a woman-centered birth is so critically important for a healthy mother-baby, healthy families and a healthy society.

Let's get into it!

Perhaps no other travel book has had such an influence on our generation as Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts. Indeed, it was the book which opened Alasdair's eyes to the possibilities and freedom of long-term travel at the beginning of his journey in 2014.

Vagabond, an old latin-derived term referring to a wanderer with no fixed home, is a word that Rolf's work has elevated to encapsulate a way of life for travelers ever since 2002.

In his book, Rolf provides an incredibly useful and relevant guide for approaching long-term travel while also laying out an uncommon outlook on life that emphasizes the virtues of wandering, simplifying, taking it slow, living intentionally and truly experiencing where we are. As such, the philosophy Rolf writes about is as relevant (if not more) in our post-pandemic world as when it was originally written.

We invited Rolf on the show to talk about vagabonding as a way of life, its virtues and the things that most commonly get in the way.

Let's get into it!

For a lot of our lives we've experienced movement and stillness as ways of being that are mutually exclusive.

Travel has helped us see these two postures toward life as complimentary, combining to create something greater than their parts.

In this episode we explore the qualities and virtues of movement and stillness, the Western malady of busyness, what it means to create a life that embraces both attitudes and some of the challenges we've encountered in attempting to do so.

Let's get into it!

What's it like to be a student on the medicine path?

We're glad you asked! On this week's episode we sit down with our friend Michael Peterson who has been "working with the medicine" intensely for the last two years.

We met Michael on an ayahuasca retreat earlier this year in March and have since participated in many kambo and ayahuasca ceremonies together.

We explore how after completing two graduate degrees, Michael ended up in the jungles of Peru drinking ayahuasca. Michael shares his journey to that point, along with his experience training as a tobaquero (one who specifically works with tobacco), the power of dieta and a wide-range of fascinating thoughts and reflections on spirituality, meditation, trauma, healing and life on the medicine path.

This is one conversation you'll want to listen all the way to the end, trust us.

Let's get into it!

Collectively our failures are often much more interesting and useful to explore than our successes, yet we rarely talk about them.

On this episode, we dive into some of the devastating failures we've experienced, what they taught us and how they look now from the benefit of hindsight. We explore what it means to fail and why the word failure can often be a limiting and narrow way to label our experience.

Let's get into it!

Ayahuasca and sex --- do we need to say more?

Well, we probably should because it's not what you are thinking! We have our friends Jess and Zach back on the podcast to explore how ayahuasca has influenced their marriage (it was how they met) and the potential of ayahuasca for relationships.

Like all our conversations in our Exploring Ayahuasca series, this conversation leads to some interesting topics, to say the least. We discuss the energetic transfer of sex, two different spiritual paths and why one tends to cause a lot of confusion in the West, the joys and challenges of committing to another's spiritual growth and much more.

Let's get into it!

We think of a moonshot as trying to go somewhere you've never been before and don't know how to reach.

There are four important stages to shooting for the moon, all with their specific tasks and challenges.

Alasdair and Julie-Roxane explore these four stages using examples from their own lives.