Christian Cintron is a comedian with on a mission to teach people that the expression of pain, personality, and power through comedy can be an incredibly healing, if not altogether psychedelic experience.

From his website: "Comedy comes from tension, pain, and discomfort. But on the other side of all of that is power. You can use humor to set boundaries, speak up for yourself, and even inspire and heal others. Through joke writing and comedy performance, Comedian & Writer Christian Cintron helps you dive into the darkness and come out the other side. Comedy can help you manage your mental and emotional space. It gives you a toolkit to speak your truth in a way that's not just digestible but even enjoyable."

Performance is non-ordinary consciousness, and comedy is a specific zone in that wide field. Christian opens up in a way that comics seem most adept, about his experiences with plant medicine, trauma, joy, identity, and all that informs his work.

Follow Christian IG: standup4yourpower

Standup4yourpower website: Standup4yourpower

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Megan and Nicole Michelena are the creators of Zenchronicty, a comprehensive program for wellness that includes guidance in consideration of utilizing psychedelic healing modalities. Their mission statement is as follows...

"Our mission at Zenchronicity is to take the fearful and hopeless on a journey to discover their innate selves. The synchronizing of the mind, body and spirit through the support of plant medicine to find what whole embodiment entails. Leaving behind patterns and beliefs to create a unified self through connection and purpose. Discovering the authentic self you were born to be!"

We covered a lot of ground in our hour together. Megan and Nicole are passionate about utilizing lessons learned along their own journey in helping others through some of the most awkward and challenging obstacles to be faced, with the asset of community.

Follow Zenchronicty IG: zenchronicity_sisters

Zenchronicity website: Zenchronicty

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Hannah Mason is a yoga instructor and entrepreneur who, through her work, is intent on creating a bridge between the earthly, and the ethereal.

I connected with Hannah at Light On Lotus yoga studio, here in Los Angeles. Hannah has made it a point to explore the integration of plant medicines, particularly cannabis, into her own yoga practice, and incorporates this method in her teaching programs. The concept of "BodyMind" is at the forefront of her thinking, a focus on the integrated relationship between the body and the mind. She has found the effect of cannabis to be grounding in empowering as students endeavor to affirm their relationship with their own BodyMind. 

Hannah shares with us some of the most challenging, and most heartening experiences she has had with psychedelics. She speaks to processing grief around the loss of her mother, and how practices entering on embodiment can bring lasting positive change into our lives.

Follow Hannah IG: Lit Yoga

SOMA Healing Arts Co-Op: SOMA

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Idahosa Ness is the founder of The Mimic Method. The Mimic Method is the name of the unique approach he used to learn six foreign languages (and counting). The conventional approach starts with reading and writing and ends with hearing and pronunciation, but The Mimic Method goes in the opposite (and natural) order: Master hearing and pronunciation first, so that your ears, mouth and brain are physically prepared to learn the language fast and natural. Pick up new words and expression “by ear,” by listening closely and mimicking the sounds exactly. Focus on “Connection over Correction.” Idahosa's mission is to help as many individuals as possible to cross the language barrier and build meaningful relationships with the people on the other side.

I met Idahosa at the Wonderland conference and enjoyed listening to him speak about his experience with language. I've always been envious of polyglots, but never enough to exact the discipline needed to master another tongue. 

The mind can manifest so much more between two people, when language is a bridge that can be used to more fully connect. And the dynamics entailed in adapting to and negotiating code of another culture through sound and expression, are fascinating. Language is something we use and are exposed to every day, but it's much trippier in nature than we often take time to consider.

Follow Idahosa: The Mimic Method Website

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Kat Walsh is the Creator and Host of TRIP ON THIS, a psychedelic podcast with one common through line — trippy stories and expansive thinking. Prior to launching TRIP ON THIS in December 2020, Walsh worked behind the scenes in the entertainment industry working with talent at Creative Artist Agency (CAA), developing series as Director of Development at Edyson Entertainment, and overseeing major marketing campaigns for BMW, HBO and Freeform.

Kat joined us on Mindbend to speak about "mystical experiences." She joined with a willingness to share anecdotes from her own life that she hadn't shared before, anecdotes centered around details of her experiences with psychedelic compounds used both "recreationally" and in ceremony.

I will always find this space fascinating with regard to how highly individualized each person's trip can be, what is seen, felt, heard, and learned. There is so much that we don't understand about the world we live in or the equipment we're using in navigating that world. Kat is brave in her vulnerability and eloquent candor here and we think you'll enjoy taking this trip with her.

Follow Kat IG: @triponthispod

Trip On This Website: triponthispodcast.com

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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Dr. Steven Mandel and his son, CEO Sam Mandel, founded Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles in 2014, which in psychedelic awareness and acceptance years seems eons ago. That's where we began our discussion, with Dr. Mandel relating just how foreign and at times scary navigating this novel territory was. As an anesthesiologist with a thriving practice and a deep interest in psychology, it took a professional and personal leap of faith to begin the journey.

Flash forward nearly a decade and there doesn't seem to be a week that goes by where there isn't a new newsworthy bit on how psychedelics of all sorts, are inching further and further into the mainstream's consciousness as a viable methodology for the treatment of a pantheon of disorders and conditions, long misunderstood and becoming disturbingly more prevalent in our families and communities.

Steven and Sam's vantage as some of the first entrepreneurs administering ketamine via the off-label IV infusion modality offers a very unique insight into how this space has evolved and continues to evolve. They are able to speak from the experience of innumerable hours of administration, observation, and adaptation. The goal has remained the same from the onset, helping people not only return from the depths of despondency resulting from chronic mood disorders to functionality, but to the ability to experience pleasure and a lasting value of wellness. The ketamine is but a component of the process, but the power of this tool inspires and motivates Dr. Steven and Sam daily, still.

Follow KCLA IG: @KetamineClinicsLA

KCLA Website: ketamineclinics.com

KCLA on Facebook: Facebook

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Paul Nolan is an Artist, Audio Engineer, Producer and Sound Designer, as well as a qualified Sound Therapist and Yoga Teacher, who works at the intersection of Electronic Music, Artist Development and Immersive Audio Technology.

Early on Paul was known to be an inspiration to friends on the floor. His exuberant embrace of the club scene was notorious. And he did it all without augmenting his central nervous system with any of the "club drugs" in fashion at the time. His peers urged him to stay exactly as he was, which he did while becoming a successful producer and performer of his own.

Eventually Paul would come to utilize the powerful therapeutic properties of psychedelics on his journey towards wellness. And now he has come to be involved with organizations like MAPS and Microdose in a capacity where he can help shape and influence the way that electronic music is engaged and implemented in a profoundly healing capacity.

Follow Paul Nolan IG: @paulnolansound

Paul on Microdose: Microdose

Paul on Spotify: Spotify

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"Biohacking" is a term that brings any number of pictures to mind. For me, it was often images of the exclusively privileged, with time and resources to spare, hellbent on prolonging an already fabulous and exceptional lifestyle with tighter skin, longer lifespans, and unwavering virility.

Then along came Nat Niddam, willing to share her perspective and paint a more informed picture. Nat is a self-proclaimed science geek with a passion for human health. She is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, an Epigenetic Coach and a member of the first graduating class of the Human Potential Training Institute.

As we soldier on in this psychedelic life, how much control do we have over the way our bodies respond to our environment? How does the body/mind connection work and what can we do, any of us, to foster a more harmonious internal relationship?

Follow Nat Niddam IG: @nathalieniddam

Nat's Podcast: Nat Niddam

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Breana Mazzagatte started a podcast called MY DEAD PARENTS to discuss the loss of both her parents in 2018, but that was only part of the story. The grief Breana sought to transcend through public discussion of personal pain and commiserating with others about loss, also included the residual hurt from the dissolution of her marriage, the anxiety of becoming a single mother, and a history of unreconciled trauma preceding everything else.

Part of Breana's healing journey was the experience of psilocybin in a recreational context, which provided her with a window through which she was able to see herself, outside the context of the suffering endured in the recent years leading up to the experience. She had no idea what she was in for and came away with a new perspective as to how these powerful compounds may be working to help many others like her. But she knows that the medicine itself can only get you so far.

Breana's story is relatable on many different fronts. Her willingness to discuss grief and mourning in a public context has served to help open the conversation for others. Trauma, photography, relationships, plant medicine, grief, and the shitstorm, all await you!

Follow Breana Mazzagatte IG: @breanahelders

Breana's Podcast: My Dead Parents

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Donick Cary is an Emmy-winning writer and producer who got his start writing for "Late Night with David Letterman" and would go on to work as co-Executive Producer for The Simpsons, Bored To Death, Just Shoot Me and so much more! But what got him onto MINDBEND was the film he wrote and directed for Netflix, HAVE A GOOD TRIP.

When I first saw the film, I thought it was hilarious. But I also saw it as a very thoroughly considered and well-rounded approach to the topic of psychedelics on celluloid. The silliness and satire of so much of the work belied a vulnerable and empowering sincerity present in what so many of the featured guests had to share about their experiences, whether overtly euphoric, harrowingly challenging, or somewhere in-between.

Cary and producing partner Mike Rosenstein continue to forge ahead with Good Trip Media, collecting anecdotes and stories for a sequel and more. We discuss how this storytelling is key to dispelling stigmas around psychedelics and matters of mental health, ushering in a new, wider familiarity with these ancient tools for holistic wellness and exploration that have been misunderstood by so many for so long.

Follow Donick Cary IG: @goodtripnetflix

Website: https://www.haveagoodtrip.com

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Website: www.mindbendcreative.com

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