When it comes to ketamine therapy, there’s one piece almost nobody talks about—and yet it can completely shape your journey: music.

I can’t tell you how many clients have shared stories of bringing all sorts of music into their sessions—everything from spa tracks to heavy metal. (Nothing against heavy metal, but deep dissonance and aggressive lyrics can actually work against the coherence your brain is trying to create in a psychedelic state.)

In this episode of Ketamine Connections, Your Ketamine Coach Anna Krishtal breaks down:
✨ Why music is more than just background noise—it’s a co-facilitator of your journey
✨ The neuroscience of how music influences brainwave states, coherence, and emotional processing
✨ Best practices for choosing music that supports your ketamine experience (spoiler: ambient, lyric-free, seamless playlists are your friend)
✨ The dangers of commercials, dissonant sounds, or sharp instrumentals mid-journey
✨ How subliminal tracks can supercharge your results by planting affirmations directly into the subconscious

💡 Pro tip: The music you listen to during your journey can also support integration. Playing the same tracks later in meditation, nature walks, or quiet reflection can help re-anchor you to the insights and states you touched in your session.

🌟 Free Resource for You

If you want to experience this firsthand, I’ve created a free 10-minute subliminal track designed to support your subconscious during ketamine and integration. You’ll find it inside my Ketamine Starter Portal—along with every freebie I’ve ever shared on this podcast.

👉 Grab your free subliminal + the entire portal here: yourketaminecoach.com/offers/a5piQPRz

Keywords to Boost SEO

ketamine music playlist, ketamine therapy preparation, psychedelic music, ketamine journey tips, ketamine subliminal, subconscious reprogramming ketamine, best music for ketamine, psychedelic playlist, ketamine integration

In this expansive conversation, Anna sits down with Alli Waddell, wellness expert and co-founder of Illumma, Austin’s leading ketamine infusion clinic. With two decades of experience in healing and over 14,000 ketamine infusions under her belt, Alli shares what she’s learned about who ketamine really works for, and who might not be ready.

Whether you’re considering ketamine therapy or supporting others on their psychedelic path, this episode breaks down the patterns that lead to success, the red flags of avoidance, and how to approach this work from a place of radical honesty, preparation, and deep self-trust.

You’ll hear:

• How to know if you’re ready for ketamine therapy
• Why “just showing up” isn’t enough (and what to do instead)
• The most common patterns in clients who thrive
• What gets in the way of deep transformation
• How your relationships, mindset, and daily habits influence your healing
• Why ketamine isn’t the work—it’s the catalyst

If you’re feeling unsure, not-quite-ready, or just overwhelmed by all the options...you’re not alone. And you’re in the right place.

💊 Want to Feel Truly Ready for Ketamine?

The Ketamine Preparation Protocol was designed to help you prepare mentally, emotionally, and energetically for a life-changing ketamine journey.

Whether you’ve already booked your sessions or you’re still deciding if this path is for you, KPP will help you:

✅ Clarify your intention
✅ Understand what ketamine can (and can’t) do
✅ Rewire your subconscious patterns
✅ Avoid the most common mistakes
✅ Feel supported before, during, and after your sessions

🌀 Learn more: annakrishtal.com/kpp

🧠 About Alli Waddell

Alli Waddell is a respected wellness expert with 20+ years of experience and a fierce commitment to radical honesty and self-love as core components of healing. As co-founder and CEO of Illumma, she’s helped shape Austin’s most trusted ketamine infusion clinic. Her vision for the psychedelic space is rooted in ethical, sustainable, and consciously led business.

Connect with Alli:
 🌐 illumma.com
📸 @alliwaddell
📸 @illummaclinic

🔗 Links + Resources

• Illumma Ketamine Clinic: illumma.com
• Follow Alli on Instagram: @alliwaddell
• Follow Illumma: @illummaclinic
• Ketamine Preparation Protocol: annakrishtal.com/kpp

💬 Loved this episode?

Please leave a review, share it with a friend, or tag us on Instagram with your biggest takeaway!
 And make sure you’re subscribed so you never miss a moment of ketamine wisdom.

Relief, rewiring, and why the real work is never done.

Have you ever wondered if it’s okay to go back for another ketamine session, even if you’re no longer in crisis? Are you afraid that your relief is fading and that something went “wrong”? Or maybe you’re asking the big question: Did the ketamine even work if it didn’t last?

In this powerful listener-inspired episode, Anna answers a nuanced and common question:

“Is it okay to return to ketamine even if my depression is under control?”

This episode breaks down what it really means when ketamine “stops working,” and what you can do to deepen, sustain, and build on the relief you’ve already experienced.

You’ll learn:

• Why some people feel better after 1 session, while others need 6+
• The difference between temporary relief and lasting change
• What upregulated neuroplasticity really means (and how long it lasts)
• The psychedelic model of healing vs. the psychiatric model
• How contrast (even fleeting lightness) is actually a crucial breakthrough
• Why wanting a ketamine booster isn’t “abuse” and how to decide if it’s right for you
• What it means to heal in layers, and how to know when you’re ready for the next one
• Why preparation + integration are what make the ketamine experience transformational

✨ Plus: Anna shares personal stories of moving from white-knuckle survival to joyful permission, and reclaims the radical truth that feeling good is a legitimate reason.

🔗 Resources & Links

📘 Referenced Episodes:

• 🎙 Episode 12 – Ketamine Integration vs. Psychedelic Integration
• 🎙 Episode 15 – I Didn't Expect This After My First Psychedelic Ceremony - Here's What Happened
• 🎙Episode 28 – Should You Go Solo or Have a Trip Sitter? Pros and Cons of Ketamine Journeys
• 🎙 Episode 36 – How to Choose a Ketamine Clinic: Questions to Ask Before You Book
• 🎙 Episode 39 – Ketamine & Astrology: A Psychedelic Integration Convo with Danielle Mercurio

🧠 Explore the Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP):
Ready to prepare deeply, or return to the medicine with clarity? KPP is for you.
→ Join the Ketamine Preparation Protocol: https://www.annakrishtal.com/kpp

📖 Book Mentioned:

• Drug Use for Grown-Ups by Dr. Carl Hart

Ever look back and realize just how far you’ve come… but at the time, you couldn’t see it at all?
That’s what we’re talking about today with the lovely Dr. Ashley Irizarry, functional medicine doctor, ketamine therapy advocate, and co-founder of New Wave Medicine up in the Seattle area in Burien and Renton, WA.

This episode is one big pep talk, and explains why that's important.

We talk about that oh-so-human habit of being so focused on the next goal that we forget to witness our own becoming, about how ketamine has a funny way of bringing us face-to-face with who we really are, and helping us build the courage to step toward it, one small, scared, beautiful step at a time.

Inside this conversation:

• Why it’s totally normal to feel scared before ketamine, and why that’s not a sign you’re doing it wrong
• The real magic of ketamine retreats (yes, time and space do matter)
• How functional medicine and ketamine work together to create lasting change
• The power of choosing yourself again and again, especially when it’s hard
• Why “stuck” isn’t actually real (it just feels very, very real)
• What integration looks like beyond the journal and into your life

If you’re in a season of questioning, transitioning, or low-key wrestling with your comfort zone… this one’s for you.

🔗 Resources & Links

• Explore Ashley’s work + retreats: www.newwavewa.com
• Upcoming retreat: October 23–26, 2025 – Cle Elum, WA (mention Ketamine Connections for 10% off!)
• Follow Ashley: @dr.ashley.irizarry | @newwavemed

Ready to prepare for ketamine with intention? Learn about my signature guide: Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP) https://www.annakrishtal.com/kpp

Welcome back to Ketamine Connections! 🎉 We're celebrating 51 episodes with a casual fireside-style chat about one of the most powerful forces shaping your life: your brain, aka your subconscious mind.

🧠 In this episode, Anna dives into:

• What the subconscious mind actually is (and why it makes up 95% of your brain)
• Why rewiring your subconscious instead of relying on willpower is the key to real transformation
• The science behind neuroplasticity and how the brain stays malleable at every age
• A powerful client story that shows how belief change can feel so natural you forget you ever struggled
• A tree analogy to help you understand the roots of subconscious patterns
• Why trying to change your life with conscious effort alone often leads to burnout
• A simple toothbrush trick to start retraining your brain tonight

✨ If you've ever wondered:

• “Can I actually rewire my brain?”
• “Why do I keep falling back into the same habits?”
• “Is it possible to feel ease instead of effort when making changes?”

…this episode is for you.

🔥 Want more tools to work with your subconscious? Join the Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP) to go deeper into subconscious reprogramming, psychedelic prep, and monthly live support. 

✨ Join the Ketamine Preparation Protocol

Keywords for SEO: subconscious mind, rewire your brain, neuroplasticity, subconscious reprogramming, ketamine therapy, psychedelic preparation, ketamine coach, willpower vs subconscious, change beliefs, nervous system healing, KPP, Ketamine Preparation Protocol, belief rewiring

What if the thing you’ve been hoping for in your healing journey is actually possible?

In this rich and heart-centered conversation, I’m joined by Justin Lubin, founder of Perspective Wellness in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: a nonprofit ketamine clinic pioneering a low-and-slow facilitation model designed to make ketamine therapy more accessible, affordable, and effective.

We explore:

• Why feeling “stuck” is often a symptom of a missing direction (and how ketamine can reintroduce momentum)
• The difference between facilitation and therapy in psychedelic healing
• How low-dose intramuscular ketamine protocols can reliably deliver feelings of safety, comfort, and okay-ness
• The “Big Five” emotional breakthroughs clients often experience on their journeys
• Why integration is more than a buzzword, it’s how we shape neuroplasticity into lasting change
• The risks of psychedelic overuse and chasing “the one big insight”
• How grief, trauma, and old emotional patterns surface during ketamine work, and how to hold them with care
• The difference between creating meaning vs. trying to decode messages from a trip
• Justin’s training program for facilitators seeking practical, client-centered psychedelic skills

Whether you’re a practitioner, someone curious about ketamine therapy, or deep in your own healing process, this episode will leave you feeling more grounded, more human, and more hopeful.

🌐 Learn more about Perspective Wellness:
Perspective Wellness Ketamine Services
Facilitator Training Info

🌟 Want to do Ketamine right?  Preparation is the key!

If you're new to the world of ketamine and feeling unsure where to start, my Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP) was made for you. It’s a self-paced guide designed to help you reduce anxiety, set powerful intentions, and get the most out of your ketamine experience.

Whether you’re working with a clinic, using at-home ketamine, or exploring for the first time, KPP helps you prepare mentally, emotionally, and practically so ketamine isn't just another thing you try,but rather THE thing that transforms your life.

🎓 Learn more or enroll here → annakrishtal.com/kpp

🎧 Like what you heard? Leave a review or share this episode with a friend who’s curious about ketamine therapy.

In this episode of Ketamine Connections, Anna sits down with Melanie Yost, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Brain Health Coach, and co-owner of Complete Ketamine Solutions in Destin, FL, to explore what real transformation looks like—and why it might leave you literally unrecognizable.

Together, they dive into:

• Why Melanie says “you won’t recognize yourself” after ketamine (and why Anna’s Face ID agreed)
• How ketamine helped Melanie’s best friend survive the unthinkable loss of her son
• What happens when you bring compassion and kindness into the clinical setting—and why it shouldn’t be radical
• The real cost of high-functioning anxiety and how ketamine can finally offer relief
• Why their clinic sometimes interrupts a “bad trip”—and why that might be the kindest option
• Why IV ketamine is their method of choice (and the difference it makes)
• The importance of preparation and how skipping it could set you back

Whether you’re preparing for your first ketamine journey or guiding others through theirs, this episode will leave you feeling clearer, braver, and way more seen.

About the Guest:

 Melanie Yost is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Personal Development Coach for stressed-out business owners and high achievers, and the owner of Be Well Solutions and Complete Ketamine Solutions in Destin, FL. She is a Certified Brain Health Coach and Certified HeartMath Practitioner with over 30 years of experience helping people identify the belief patterns keeping them stuck and empowering them with tools to reconnect with themselves and create lives on their own terms.

🔗 Website
📸 Instagram
📘 Facebook

Featured Resource: 

The Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP)

This episode touches on one of the biggest truths in the ketamine space: ketamine is powerful—but only if you know how to work with it.

The Ketamine Preparation Protocol is your step-by-step guide to make sure ketamine actually works for you. Inside, you’ll get:

• Proven tools to calm pre-journey anxiety
• Scripts to set powerful intentions
• The neuroscience behind how to rewire your brain
• What to do with what comes up after your session

✨ Whether you're days away from your first treatment or supporting a loved one on their journey, KPP gives you the clarity and confidence to get the most out of your investment.

👉 Explore the Ketamine Preparation Protocol here

In this episode, Anna breaks down why your pre-journey environment, mindset, and nervous system state matter just as much as the medicine itself.

Whether it’s your first ketamine session or your fifteenth, this episode covers exactly what to avoid, what to do, and how to set yourself up for a powerful, grounded experience.

Plus, Anna shares lessons from the 2025 MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference and how prep is finally getting the spotlight it deserves.

🔍 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why the hours before ketamine impact the depth of your journey
• What your subconscious mind is doing before you even take the medicine
• 3 things to absolutely avoid the day of your session (hint: it includes your phone)
• 3 ways to support yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally before ketamine
• Why hypnosis, movement, and intention setting can make all the difference

🌿 Resources Mentioned:

• 🧠 Free Hypnosis Library: Nervous system-regulating tracks to calm your mind before your journey
• ✨ Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP): The complete system to prepare for your ketamine experience—mind, body, and soul
• 🧘‍♀️ Nervous System Reset Yoga: Available free on the Ketamine Connections YouTube channel

🎧 Love this episode? You might also enjoy:

• Episode 3: The One Thing To NOT Do Before Ketamine
• Episode 31: When Should I Start Preparing for My Ketamine Journey?
• Episode 42: 3 Things Most People Miss When Preparing for Ketamine

🔗 Stay in the loop: Join Anna’s Email List to hear about live events, free calls, and upcoming workshops. (No social media? No problem.)

📩 Questions or thoughts about this episode? Email Anna directly via the contact form.

What if the quietest place on earth could unlock the loudest transformation of your life?

In this episode, Anna sits down with long-time friend and floatation therapy evangelist Alissa Bestwick, aka @floatgirlofficial, to explore how float tanks (aka sensory deprivation tanks) offer one of the most effective, overlooked tools for ketamine integration and subconscious healing.

You’ll hear how Alissa found floating during one of the hardest chapters of her life and how it became a portal for personal transformation, creativity, trauma resolution, and nervous system reset. If you’ve ever wondered what float tanks are, how they work, or why they matter for people healing through psychedelics, this one’s for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• How floating mimics psychedelic states (without substances)
• What to expect during your first float and and how to get the most out of it
• Floating as a powerful tool for ketamine integration
• How float tanks can help with trauma, anxiety, chronic pain, and creativity
• Why sensory deprivation is anything but boring
• Float tanks + psychedelics: could this be the future of healing spaces?
• Tips for overcoming discomfort and building stillness tolerance

Guest Spotlight: Alissa Bestwick (@floatgirlofficial)

Alissa is a wellness enthusiast, writer, and the voice behind Float Girl, a platform dedicated to making floatation therapy more accessible and understood. Based in Austin, TX, she documents float spas across the country and uplifts the stories of transformation that emerge from these sacred saltwater spaces.

✨ Ready for Your Ketamine Journey?

Introducing the Ketamine Preparation Protocol (KPP) your go-to guide for preparing your mind, body, and nervous system before your first (or next) ketamine experience.

🧠 Built by integration expert Anna Krishtal
 💛 Designed to maximize transformation and minimize confusion
 📅 Self-paced, structured, and accessible

🎧 Loved this episode? Then KPP is your next step.
 👉 Join the Ketamine Preparation Protocol here 

Links & Resources:

• 🌊 Explore Float Girl: www.floatgirl.com
• 📸 Follow Alissa on Instagram: @floatgirlofficial
• 💌 Join Anna's newsletter 

Try everything twice. Especially floating.
Let your body rest. Let your subconscious speak. Let the healing begin.

Most ketamine clinics talk about meds, diet, and sleep—but no one talks about this.

In this special two-part episode of Ketamine Connections, I (Anna, your favorite Ketamine Coach) reflect on one full year off social media, and what it has taught me about subconscious programming, nervous system regulation, and why your phone might be sabotaging your ketamine journey.

If you’re prepping for a psychedelic experience (ketamine or otherwise), this episode is a must-listen. I dive deep into how media, including apps like Instagram, TikTok, dating platforms, even Spotify can affect your subconscious mind, attention span, and ability to integrate your experience. And I share personal insights from both one month and one year off social media, including how it impacted my business, mental health, and connection to my purpose.

🔑 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why social media is the #1 ketamine preparation step no one is talking about
• How media inputs shape your subconscious mind (and what that means for integration)
• My top three tools for reducing compulsive app use
• How a year off social gave me back my attention span, creativity, and presence
• The real reason I stayed off (hint: MAJOR censorship + nervous system clarity)

Whether you’re about to start ketamine therapy or already in it, this episode offers grounded insight, practical tips, and inspiration to help you get the most out of your journey.

✨ Resources mentioned:

• Ketamine Preparation Protocol – Your step-by-step guide to preparing for ketamine
• GetBrick App – The lockout tool I used to take back control 
• Free Monthly Mental Hygiene Moments – Zoom link (next call: June 23)

🎧 Listen if you’ve ever thought:

• “Why do I feel off after scrolling?”
• “I want ketamine to actually help me—not just be another experience”
• “How do I make my prep phase more intentional and effective?”

💌 Stay Connected:
Want more behind-the-scenes stories, tools, and guidance? Join my email list for real talk and real support: Sign up here.