So somehow Nick and I were on the same mats together in NJ for about 4 hours one day for a seminar, and managed to never speak to each other until I moved down to Mexico.  While we may have missed our chance to do one of these in person for now, Nick and I have quite a bit to talk about.

In this one we touch on a bit of his story of leaving a corporate job that was making him miserable, his transition to selling diamonds in NYC, and now his latest life upgrade of going all-in on launching a jiu jitsu apparel brand and moving with his wife from New Jersey to the new jiu jitsu Mecca - Austin, Texas.

Please excuse some hiccups in the audio quality given that we recorded this over zoom. But as you'll also hear us discuss, it's all about progress, not perfection. I'm looking forward to our next go-around (with cleaner audio) and to see how this gentleman's very exciting life continues to unfold.

Find señor Nick on his personal IG @nickytaranta or peep his new brand @tarantasport
Check out the podcast he recently started with his wife @goodatlifepodcast
Get notified of his product launch (and buy his shit) by signing up at tarantasport.com

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

While life in Mexico has a lot of upsides, one annoyance is the frequency of power and internet outages. So, on a recent day when I had a lot of work to be doing on my computer, we lost power, and I had to change plans.

Naturally, Cordi and I broke out the recorder to tape an episode and still make good use of our time. 

I wanted to do a bit more of an interview with her on this one, to hear some more about her journey getting into the world of medicine work that put her on the path she's on now. We also pontificate a bit on why we think adhering to traditions is so important, and the difference that authenticity can make. 

Hope you enjoy hearing some more of her story!

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

Joining me this week is my boy Scott, who was in town in Tulum for a Tantra Yoga retreat with his girlfriend. Since he had just gotten out of that retreat the very morning we recorded this episode, we didn't really get into it to give him some time to digest the entire experience. 

Scott is quite an interesting fellow, one who inspires me with his journey of self-growth and his current level of self-reliance, living out in the sticks and growing and hunting most of his food.   

While we didn't get into the weeds too much of any one part of his story today, I had a great time chatting with him about the sort of overview of his story so far, and I'm excited for round 2 when the day comes. 

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

Alright so it seems that these mini-episodes are just going to be about microdosing for the foreseeable future.

In this one we get into some Q&A's with questions that were written in to us over the past couple of weeks, and realize that we need to dedicate a full episode each to the additional practices we recommend along with microdosing (journaling, meditating, etc) and to the region of the brain known as the Default Mode Network and how that interacts with psychedelics.

Cordi has a course being released soon all about microdosing and how to get started with it - check out the info at BecomingOm.com

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

Dani is a friend that Cordi and I have connected with here in Tulum, Mexico, where she is currently staying and working as a yoga teacher. Dani has been traveling the world for almost 10 years, living in one place for more than a few months only when COVID caused all travel to grind to a halt.

I thought we would get into some of her travel stories on this one and talk about her road trips around the US as a tour manager for various bands and marketing brands, but the conversation tended to stay at the level of the 30-thousand-foot-view as we danced around topics of spirituality, what it means to be a human, and what our purpose is here in this life.

Dani is also an astrologer offering online chart readings. I've always been quite skeptical of this type of stuff in the past, but she offers an interesting perspective on it, and you'll hear me discuss some recent experiences that have me becoming more and more open to considering the effects that these unseen forces may have on our lives.

You can connect with Dani on Instagram or at her astrology site.

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

This episode is not intended to provide any medical advice, and certainly does not promote the use of illegal substances.

Cordi and I sit down this week (with a new background for anyone watching on youtube) to discuss microdosing psilocybin and LSD. In this episode we get into a bit of the why and how behind microdosing and some of our personal experiences with it. Stay tuned for part 2 to dig into a bit more of the research and neuroscience involved & to hear answers to some listener questions. 

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

When I first met my guest this week, I was pretty intimidated by him. He's a huge, gruff-seeming man who beat my ass on my first day at jiu jitsu in Mexico. 

But as we became friends, I came to know him more deeply and realized what a sweet guy he truly is. And after hearing some of his story, I can understand why his default is to project a tough, "don't fuck with me" kind of attitude. 

"Fredo" as we'll call him started off his criminal career getting into drugs when he was pretty young. Soon he was robbing stores at gunpoint in Mexico City to fuel his crack addiction. Beef with other gangs led to him moving to the U.S. to avoid being murdered back home in Mexico. He couldn't stay out of that life for long and pretty quickly became a small-time drug dealer, then a bigger distributor, supplying thousands of ecstasy pills at a time to NYC nightclubs. This eventually caught the attention of the DEA who set him up and busted him, landing him in New York prisons. He bounced around correctional facilities for several years trying not to get shanked too often. When he finally got let out, he was supposed to be on probation for several more years, which all too often really means a return to jail. So, with the help of a fake passport and some Mexican contacts, he ditched the U.S. and crossed the border back to Mexico. This time he was able to stay clean, stay out of trouble and re-establish a life here. 

Now, Fredo spends his time mauling gringos at jiu jitsu (only slightly kidding), doing real estate deals, and rescuing stray and abused dogs around town. 

I can't wait to get to see him again as he has become a good friend of mine through jiu jitsu, and because we need to continue telling his fascinating story on the podcast.   

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

I think one problem in the emerging world of psychedelics, of which I am definitely guilty, is painting these substances as a panacea.  No doubt society stands to benefit from the widespread adoption, normalization and use of psychedelics, but they are not without their dangers as well.

In this mini-episode, Cordi and I discuss psychedelic safety. We break down what types of people should not take psychedelics or must exercise extreme caution around their use, potential interactions with some common pharmaceutical drugs, and how to identify a reputable center to work with.

I'm trying out a different format on this one by skipping the intro/outro, so my apologies if you're caught off guard by that. 

As always, you can learn more about Cordi, her offerings as a psychedelic integration coach and breathwork facilitator, or find info on our Ayahuasca retreats at BecomingOm.com

You can also visit PlantMedicineProject.com to learn more about our non-profit organization aimed at supporting the center in Peru that we work with, preserving the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous Shipibo culture, and providing access to healing medicine for veterans suffering from PTSD and addiction.    

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

I am joined today by the AJP top ranked purple belt in Mexico and #2 ranked purple belt in all of North America, my Jiu Jitsu instructor Pedro Rodriguez.

We discuss his transformation from a rebellious, unhealthy teen to a high level vegan athlete & owner of Bahia Jiu Jitsu in his home town of Puerto Vallarta. And of course we, we discuss the role that psilocybin mushrooms played in this transformation.

Beyond being a ruthless competitor and excellent instructor, Pedro has a reverence for the culture & tradition around psychedelic use which surprised me to hear, and his healthy relationship with his feelings and sentimental side only made me respect him even more as a man.

It has been a real honor to share the mats with him, and I'm grateful that the team at Bahia Jiu Jitsu accepted this gringo so readily into their ranks. I'll definitely miss training with him when I move to Tulum, and I'm looking forward the next chance I have to get some rounds in here.

If you ever find yourself in Puerto Vallarta, Bahia is the place to train at. 

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/

Alright this is the first attempt at something new; we recorded this audio for the podcast as well as a video version which will be up on a future YouTube channel for Cordi's business, BecomingOm.

The idea with this series is to talk about a specific topic each time and leave you guys with some actionable ideas or strategies straightaway after listening. I want these to be "bite sized" episodes, but this one accidentally went for almost 45 minutes so I guess we'll keep working on that.

Quick recap of the practices we talked about:
- Some Lines A Day journal which we use to recap and rate each day
- Habit tracker which we fill out each night along with the recap of the day (hit the link and enter your email to have it sent to you to print out!)
- Week Review at the start of each week. Ask yourself:
--- What went well in the past week?
--- What could have used improvement?
--- What work do I need to accomplish this week?
- After reviewing the day you just had, plan your next day by identifying the one Most Important Thing plus 2-5 additional tasks you will accomplish, populating this list from the week review
- Open-Ended Journaling: choose a prompt, choose a time limit, put your phone away, and sit with yourself. See what comes up during that time.

We are big fans of Leuchtturm journals, but any paper will do.

Learn more about Cordi and her services as an integration coach, or find details on our upcoming retreats at BecomingOm.com

Or visit PlantMedicineProject.com to learn more about our non-profit organization aimed at supporting the center in Peru that we work with, preserving the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous Shipibo culture, and providing access to healing medicine for veterans suffering from PTSD and addiction.    

Thanks again for listening!

If you'd like to support the show, the best way is to share it with a friend and to leave a 5 Star rating on Spotify, or write me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks so much for your support.

To learn more about our coaching programs and retreat offerings, visit https://www.instagram.com/becoming.om/