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Max C Wood is a graduate student studying developmental neuroscience and psychopathology at the Anna Freud Center in London. He is finishing his studies at Yale, studying the impact that attachment styles have on a psychedelic treatment design, using ketamine.  

We talk all about how developmental neuroscience came to be, and why this goes hand in hand with understanding the brain using psychedelics... in addition to using psychedelics to treat human suffering. Going a little deeper into the placebo response, we speculate why it works on both a neuro-biological level and a spiritual level. 

Then we dive a little bit into micro-dosing, speculating if the full psychedelic experience is actually necessary to healing or not which ultimately leads us to a discussion on the soul and the spirit and where that fits into all of this. 

Reach Max via email at [email protected]

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For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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Mind-Body Medicine was until recently, dismissed by modern medicine. The idea that the mind could influence the body was paradoxically deemed just not true--- it's no surprise the current data is saying otherwise. It is know widely accepted that increased stress experienced in the mind lowers the immune system and influences a wide variety of disease, most notably cardiac and metabolic.

In this episode we break down the autonomic nervous system (to round out the neurological side of the stress response we started in our adaptogenic episode when we talked about the endocrine side of the stress response).

This inflammation and stress response is also vital to understanding why COVID was so detrimental, and we will talk all about why.

We will discuss a range of mind-body therapies that have been proven to be beneficial in the literature, including breath work, mindfulness and medical hypnosis. We will also discuss some of the newer literature looking at hypnosis as a replacement for anesthetic drugs during surgery.

Inevitably we will hop down a few rabbit holes talking about out of body experiences, Jung's archetypes and his idea of the collective unconscious... and how that might relate to why occult practices like Tarot  and other religious texts like the Bible actually share a scary amount of similarities.

Mentions:
- Book: 'Woke. An Anesthesiologists  View.' by Madhava Setty MD
- App: Waking Up with Sam Harris

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For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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Adaptogenics and nootropics have become buzzwords in posh grocery stores-- on every botanical elixir and new sparkling water. But what exactly are they? Do they actually work? And what does the data tell us? Find it all out in the episode!

Adaptogenic herbs: panax ginseng, rhodiola, ashwaganda, licorice root, milk thistle
Adaptogenic mushrooms: maitake, reishi, cordyceps, lion's mane
Adaptogenic foods: ginger, garlic, green tea

Nootropics mentioned: caffeine, GABA, L-theanine

Mentions
Chicago Market - Foxtrot
Botanical Elixir - Kin Euphorics

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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The benefits of yoga have been proven extensively in the medical literature. We dive into the science of how yoga works to treat mental health disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease and even the cognitive decline that comes with age. 

Then, for our very first guest interview we have Shelby Caldwell here to answer all of our yoga questions. She is a certified yoga instructor and currently manages the Ritual Hot Yoga Studio in Chicago. We have an open and honest conversation about addiction and how that can look different for every person, we discuss the dichotomies of life and a new way of looking at ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and finally we get philosophical about the practice of yoga and how it truly invites you to choose to live your fullest life.

Mentions in this episode:

Yoga Studio: Ritual Hot Yoga

Yoga Teacher Training: The Yoga Teachers Lab

Book: ‘The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali’ by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Book: ‘Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve’ by Stanley Rosenberg

Book: ‘Between Heaven and Earth: A guide to Chinese Medicine’ by Harriet Beinfield and Efem Korngold

Social Media:
Shelby Caldwell - IG @shelbsyoga
Ritual Hot Yoga - IG @ritualhotyoga
The Trip Lab - IG @thetriplabpodcast

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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This episode is going to be all about MDMA (also known as Molly or Ecstasy). We will explore the history of this compound and it's use, the neuroscience of how it works, what the latest clinical trials have shown, and even look at the shadow side of these sort of therapy sessions. 

Mentioned Links:

Netflix Docuseries: 'The Business of Drugs'

Book: ‘The Gateway of the Heart: Accounts of Experiences with MDMA and other Empathogenic Substances’ compiled and edited by Sophia Adamson 

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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An overview of magic mushrooms and LSD (aka Acid). We will chat about the history of these compounds, why they were banned, why they are making a comeback, and how they are being used to treat anxiety, depression, addition and so much more. We will explain the neuroscience in an easy to understand way, and what this might mean for the future of psychiatry (and just life!). 

Book: 'The Immortality Key' by Brian C. Muraresku

New Neuronal Connections Depiction

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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What actually is integrative medicine? How does it differ from 'alternative' or 'naturopathic' medicine? When should you see an integrative medicine doctor? All of your questions answered below.

0:45 - What is integrative medicine? 

3:10 - Alternative vs. Complementary vs. Integrative Medicine

3:50 - Eastern vs. Western Medicine

5:00 - Principles of Integrative Medicine

7:20 - Osteopathic (DO) vs. Allopathic (MD) Medicine

9:35 - Naturopathy, Homeopathy & Functional Medicine

12:40 - Psychedelics

15:25 - Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine

16:45 - Aryuveda & Yoga

17:49 - Mind-Body Medicine

18:38 - Art, Music, Dance & Nature as Medicine

18:50 - Nutrition & Food as Medicine

19:15 - Herbal Medicine & Supplements

21:40 - When should you see an integrative medicine doctor?

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

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An introduction to your host, what the podcast will be about (integrative medicine & psychedelics) and a primer on evidenced based medicine.

0:00 - Bio, Mary Ella Wood, DO

Undergrad: Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA
Medical School: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dothan, AL
Residency: General Surgery, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, CT
Residency: Family Medicine, West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park, IL

1:06 - Journey to Integrative Medicine

3:50 - What is Integrative Medicine?

4:25 - Psychedelics

5:08 - Podcast Format

6:50 - Evidenced Based Medicine

Support the show

For more from me beyond the podcast, come hang out on Between Mind & Body on Substack, where I share full podcast transcripts and deeper companion content, essays, physician-created guides, emerging research, and the questions medicine has not quite answered yet.

Substack: Between Mind & Body
Instagram: @drmaryella
LinkedIn: Mary Ella Wood, DO, ABOIM

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribing, sharing it with a friend, or leaving a review helps more than you know.