I'll lead this introduction to our episode with Jason Estes with this quote from an article published in New York Weekly: 

"At the heart of Jason’s teachings is the concept of Self-Mastery—a journey that requires authenticity, integrity, and ownership of responsibility. MTVO’s mission revolves around cultivating this mastery, empowering individuals to navigate life’s challenges with grace and clarity."

Masters of the Void is an organization Jason founded, along with Void Space Technologies. And to understand what they're all about, you'd honestly need to sit down and let Jason fill you in. (letting myself off the hook in 300 words) We don't get too deeply into exactly what the organizations are about, but by the time you're finished listening to this interview, you may have a sense for the heart and mind behind both. At least, that is my hope.

I met Jason while volunteering at an event in DTLA, high atop a magnificent rooftop terraced garden and gathering space. It was a wellness event, and I was responsible for helping guests explore what is called the "Quantum Energy Wellness Bed." Check out Void Space Technologies and learn more about that, but it's mastermind was Jason, and I enjoyed connecting with him quickly, taking in his passion for all matters of the spirit, the energy spirit is made of, and the field containing it all.

"Quantum" wasn't a term I'd much familiarity with before meeting Jason, loose allusions came to mind but our conversation helped bring my understanding into clearer focus. I think it's a pretty mindbending thought, this life, our perception of life, and strategically, how to feel either horrific or ecstatic while experiencing it.

Follow Jason Estes:

Instagram

Website: mtvo.org

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Amina Zamani an executive coach and speaker, with 15 years of experience, guiding high potential executives and teams to achieve peak performance productivity, healthier communications, and emotional/spiritual well-being. 

Through her expertise in neuroscience and biohacking, she has developed an integrative approach to help individuals unlock, reconcile with, and make peace with the limiting beliefs and deeply rooted issues that subconsciously infiltrate and limit professional development. 

Using a unique coaching approach consisting of traditional coaching, neuro-linguistic programming, spiritual, and mindfulness techniques, she helps executives transform and guides them to permanent change, and a happier and purposeful life.

Amina has a very specific awareness of epigenetic trauma, and ways in which we can work on ourselves, and together, to alleviate generations of suffering from the same deep and innate causes. Whether by psychedelic medicine, neuro-linguistic programming or a number of other modalities, healing and evolving is possible. Amina has dedicated her life to showing people how. 

Follow Amina Zamani:

LinkedIn

Website: aminazamani.com

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Gina Joseph is a sensualist, intimacy guide and yoga teacher based in Miami, Florida. Her goal is to facilitate profound sensory experiences for individuals seeking to embrace their physical senses without the burden of shame, guilt, or societal stigmas associated with pleasure.

This, from Gina's website (ginajoseph.me) 

In our evolving world, sexuality has expanded its presence yet become entangled in commercialization and excessive stimulation. While discussions around sex have become more open, a tapestry of ideals and taboos still shrouds the sensual realm, calling for deeper healing and heightened vulnerability.

Within my sessions lies a sacred sanctuary, a haven where vulnerability is not just welcomed but celebrated—a space to tenderly acknowledge and address any emotional scars or traumas transcending mere physicality. Here, we embark on a journey to explore and embrace every facet of the self, to unearth new avenues of soulful stimulation and tend to our sensuality with the utmost care, preparing to grace future connections with beauty and nourishment unparalleled. We have our senses to work with in our waking lives. When we discuss psychedelic things, we are aware of the mind's capacity to manifest our experience of reality. An undeniable component of a human's reality, are the sensual, and further, the erotic energies. How can a more skillful relationship to these energies make for healthier, happier living?

Follow Gina Joseph:

Instagram

Website: ginajoseph.me

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast

Dr. Stephanie Michael Stewart is a holistic psychiatrist who brings a spiritual, environmental, and social justice perspective to her work. We met at a gathering in LA, and I knew I wanted to have her on the show to talk about her experience and insights into the challenges faced as we negotiated the psychedelic wellness space, with specific regard to the consideration of race when evaluating the efficacy and equity of the rapidly materializing care landscape.

After serving as Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Stewart led LA County’s West Central Wellness Center where she developed innovative programs for communities of color that integrated evidence-based psychiatric treatments with complementary therapies. She then founded Worldwide Wellness, where she expanded her approach to incorporate travel, immersion in nature, Indigenous wisdom and, more recently, ketamine-assisted therapy. Dr. Stewart is currently developing a psychedelic-assisted therapy training program for psychiatric residents at historically black colleges and universities. Dr. Stewart holds a BS in Biology from Spelman College and an MD from Morehouse School of Medicine. She is a psychedelic advisor to multiple organizations in the US and Canada and is a member of Chacruna’s Racial Equity and Access Committee. She is of Black, White, and Native American descent.

Follow Stephanie Michael Stewart:

Linked In

IG: dr.travelwell

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Jonathan Robinson is a psychotherapist, multiple-time best-selling author, and professional speaker from Northern California. His practical methods have reached over 250 million people worldwide, and his work has been translated into over 46 languages. Articles about Jonathan have been in USA TODAY, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as dozens of other publications. In addition, Mr. Robinson has made numerous appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and other national TV talk shows. He's spent over 35 years studying the most practical and powerful methods for personal and professional development.

Mr. Robinson’s first book, “The Experience of God,” includes interviews with such notable people as the late Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Louise L. Hay, and over 30 other well-known seekers. Jonathan’s second book, “Life’s Big Questions,” became a New York Times bestseller, as did his book “Communication Miracles for Couples.” Mr. Robinson’s other books include: Instant Insight; Real Wealth; Shortcuts to Bliss; Shortcuts to Success; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Awakening Your Spirituality; Find Happiness Now; Conversations With Dog; and The Little Book of Big Questions. Jonathan compiles practical wisdom, entertaining anecdotes, and miraculous methods in his latest— The Enlightenment Project.

I was thrilled to visit with Jonathan about his new book, which eloquently and compassionately compiles what he's learned over decades of working with MDMA in a therapeutic setting to help change peoples' lives in profoundly positive ways.

Follow Jonathan Robinson:

Email: [email protected]

Website: The Enlightenment Project

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Hilary Sparrow is a state of Colorado licensed professional counselor (Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies) and a national board-certified counselor (National Board of Certified Counselors). She is the founder, clinical director, and director of business development for Denver Psychotherapy Group. Hilary has over ten years of experience with clinical psychotherapy. She is trained in evidence-based BEST practices including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), stress inoculation training (SIT), mindfulness, and desensitization therapies. She leads others through trauma resolution, and they more fully express themselves and align with their purpose.

Hilary joins us to tell us all about her process, and how she decides when it is appropriate to put forth ketamine assisted psychotherapy for those who turn to her for their mental health care.

Follow Hilary Sparrow:

Website: Denver Psychotherapy Group

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Birth is a trip! A few years back I interviewed a psychotherapist working with ketamine assisted psychotherapy who had written on the psychedelic nature of childbirth, the parallels drawn between that ceremony, and plan medicine ceremonies that she had participated in. 

Some of the key figures on the frontline of birth and birthing in the US are doulas and midwives. They hold space and share knowledge leading up to, during, and after the birth experience and have a special bond with the mother. They know first hand how the perception of time changes in that very powerful process.

Haize Hawke came onto the show to discuss this work and dive deeper into the psychedelic nature of childbirth. This, taken from her website:

I am a Mother, Doula, Student Midwife, Meditation Teacher, Healer, Long- Distance Birth Coach, a Life Coach, and a Spiritual Counselor residing in Los Angeles, CA. My Doula training began with ACHI and completed with ALACE. I focus on creating the family unit in a way that allows for the most support and relaxation in birth. I also focus on Nutrition, and lifestyle during pregnancy, birth, and delivery. Pregnancy is a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical journey. The sessions I hold provide the mother with a safe place where she can ask questions, speak freely, and become empowered and supported. In private sessions, I offer birth related issues, including preconception planning your pregnancy, fear and labor, birth trauma (yours or your mother’s) miscarriages, stillbirths, or abortions and postpartum concerns. Phone and Skype sessions are available for those not able to meet in person for a fee. Lastly, I am the facilitator of Sister2Sister/Brother2Brother Coming of Age Spirituals and Rites of Passages Ceremonies. This is a celebration and support for a young girls and boys as well as women and men, evolving into adulthood. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to be taught the responsibilities and gain the support of embracing this new journey to come. 

Follow Haize Hawke:

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/haizehawke

WEB: Directory Website

EMAIL: [email protected]

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Diego Ugalde is the founder of The Trident Approach, where retired Navy Seals lead instructional programs for corporations, athletes and performance-minded civilians on how to emulate the efficiency and results-driven approach embodied by the ethos of the Seal Teams.

Diego has been influenced immeasurably by lessons learned during psychedelic medicine ceremonies. His life has been changed and he has seen the lives of his peers change as well, often in miraculous fashion, thanks to care provided by psychedelic medicine practitioners. His is an ongoing mission to discover his deepest purpose, and to provide support for men and women not only with military background, but anyone looking to evolve in our deepest understanding so spirit, purpose, and healing.

Diego has just published his first book: Leading From The Deep, and I was thrilled to have him on the show to discuss the process of putting the book together, and a number of the incredible anecdotes shared within.

Follow Diego Ugalde:

Linked In: Diego Ugalde

WEB: https://www.thetridentapproach.com/

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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The idea of being hypnotized has always fascinated me. What's actually taking place when one is under hypnosis? Where does your mind...go? And can modalities like past life regression hypnotherapy really help a person, much less be scientific proof for the phenomenon of reincarnation and therefore indicate definitively that there is indeed, life after death?

Bringing Cheyenne onto the show made sense, as a certified hypnotherapist is engaged on the daily with reaching people at, and taking people into, a state of "non-ordinary consciousness." Her work has many practical applications, such as smoking cessation and ultimately healing from past traumas. But as a seeker, she too is willing to look at the mystery with confidence and embrace the unknown in a spirit of integration.

This, from Cheyenne's website: allismindhypnotherapy.com:

The rewarding road to aiding others is a long-established tradition for Cheyenne. She has always known that her passion for science, spirituality and neurological development would be key components for her professional path. Setting her sights on these uncompromisable variables inevitably led her to the Hypnosis Motivation Institute of Tarzana, California, where she studied neuro-linguistic programming and countless techniques within the Kappasinian model for clinical hypnotherapy.

Cheyenne has found her calling within hypnotherapy as it provides opportunities for her to share the deeply impassioned training in the arts of mental alchemy. This is where she works to train others to hold the reins to their personal desires and steer forward and beyond.

Follow Cheyenne Kai Harding:

IG: @all.is.mind.healing 

WEB: allismindhypnotherapy.com

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Kerstin Hern (she/her), is a Los Angeles-based registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist (AMFT #139178) supervised by Gaea Woods (LMFT #117978).

She earned my M.A. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Spiritual, Jungian & Depth Psychology from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She also hold a B.A. in English Literature, spent many years working in the music industry, and has studied eclectic folk magick, Western astrology, and tarot since 1993.

I thought Kerstin would be a great guest for Mindbend as someone who has taken the academic route in the study of the psyche, as well as having studied ritual magick and its benefits + correlations with 3rd wave cognitive therapies. While not utilizing psychedelics in her personal practice, she is quite familiar with their therapeutic and ceremonial applications, and has traversed through many doors of perception in her own exploration and growth.

Kerstin is a person who was willing to "go there" with me, entertaining my interest in particular in learning about what "magick" means, why there are so many scary connotations to that topic for so many. Is there an irrefutable "demonic"  or "dark" energy that wants to mess with human beings in our attempt to understand what's happening here, and hopefully grow in the right direction? What do we make ourselves vulnerable to, exactly, by being vulnerable? By laying our psyches bare, under the care of psychotherapeutic practitioners, or plant medicine guides?

Follow Kerstin:

IG: @themirroredlantern

WEB: kerstinherntherapy.com

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Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mindbendpodcast

Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast