Derek Januszewski has sat with Ayahuasca more than 150 times and is the founding pastor of Pachamama Sanctuary in Maine. A father of three and a survivor of profound trauma and addiction, Derek came to the medicine in 2017 and has since devoted his life to service, healing, and integration work.

In this conversation, Derek addresses purge fears, explains how the medicine works on the body, mind, and spirit.  Derek walks us through ceremony prep and everything that goes down at a Pachamama Retreat weekend.

We also explore other sacred medicines offered at Pachamama Sanctuary, including Hapé, Bufo, and Kambo, and why integration—not the ceremony itself—is what helps us grow, heal, and remember who we truly are.

Even if you have zero desire to ever sit with Ayahuasca, there is deep wisdom here for anyone seeking to live with more intention, compassion, clarity, and devotion to their own life force.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• What Ayahuasca actually does in the body, mind & spirit
• Purging myths & fears (and why they’re misunderstood)
• How to prepare for an Ayahuasca ceremony
• Retreat weekend logistics & what to expect
• Other medicines: Hapé, Bufo & Kambo
• Why integration is where real healing happens

More about Derek

Derek Januszewski is the founding pastor of Pachamama Sanctuary in Maine. After surviving severe abuse and a decade-long battle with addiction, Derek found healing through deep inner work and service to the medicine. He now dedicates his life to helping others heal, integrate, and walk their own path toward wholeness.

🔗 Learn more about Pachamama Sanctuary:
pachamamasanctuary.org

Discussed in the episode 

I Greet This Day With Love in My Heart: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-greatest-salesman-in-the-world-by-og-mandino/252850/#isbn=055327757X

This episode is for anyone curious about Ayahuasca, plant medicine, psychedelic healing, ceremony, integration, and conscious spiritual growth.

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Often spirituality pulls us up and out.  We often wanna connect into the crown chakra, the ether, the beyond. But somatic work, the practice of tuning into the body’s sensations, brings us right back in.  Back into this miracle suit we live in, this body that carries us through our entire human experience.

Tierra Karoua, is an embodied movement guide helping people reconnect somatically to their inner power, to the truth that lives in the tissues, in the breath, in the subtle shifts of energy we often ignore.

In this ep we get into Movement and somatics-  ways we can begin to heal on a cellular level - we also get into primal movement...the raw, ancient, unfiltered expression most of us (especially women) are not encouraged to access. 

Tierra radiates light. She is truly a bright spark in this world.  This conversation with made me want to move. To reconnect. To remember that spirituality isn’t just happening somewhere “out there.” It’s happening here, in the body, in the bones, in the breath.

This episode brought me right back into myself. And I hope it does exactly that for you as well.  

More About Tierra

Tierra Karou is a certified Dance Alive Movement Instructor & Coach with over 15 years of dedicated practice in the Dance Alive System. She is a burst of sunshine, bringing warmth, enthusiasm, and love of life everywhere she goes. She truly believes that movement is some of the GREATEST medicine there is, and has a deep commitment to bringing movement into the world!  She teaches “Ride The Wave” classes LIVE ON THE BEACH once a month in Laguna Beach and weekly “Ride The Wave” classes online! She holds a degree in Holistic Health Studies from UCSC, and lives in Laguna Beach with her husband Ki Karou (who she met in her first Dance Alive class!) and her two daughters!

Follow Tierra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movement.mama

EVERY TUESDAY LIVE Dance Alive Virtual Class: https://ridethewave.vhx.tv/products/ride-the-wave-single-class-tuesday

LAGUNA CLASSES: https://www.dancealive.com/programs/movement-laguna-beach

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Ayahuasca - an ancient Amazonian plant medicine. A brew made from two plants that somehow unlocks a portal to your inner world. 

People drink ayahuasca for many reasons - to heal trauma, to understand their purpose, to peel back layers that life has piled on. 

It is not a casual trip. It’s not cute. It’s profound, humbling, and, yes, it can get messy, maybe you've heard about the purge...and we get into that more in this episode...but Ayahuasca is also one of the most powerful invitations to transformation we have on this planet. 

This episode is mostly limited to my experience while on the medicine - with a smattering of context here and there, and as always when I’m with matt I feel like it’s a little off the rails - so sorry about us.  

There is just so much to explain!  But later this month, Derek from Pachamama Sanctuary (where I went both times) is coming on the podcast to get into the experience in way more detail.  He's sat with Ayahuasca over 150 times and he's seen it all.  So stay tuned for that! 

HOUSEKEEPING

- A heads up - I was all flustered at the beginning of this interview and didn’t press the record button on the mics until 3 minutes in - so please bare with the first 3 minutes of bad audio, I promise it kicks in in no time.  

- If you're feeling called to do Ayahuasca and want to discuss - I am happy to chat about it with you!  Please don’t hesitate to reach out.  

Email: [email protected]

DM: @theWooReport

AYAHUASCA RETREAT CENTER

Pachamama Sanctuary in Maine 

Discussed in the episode

"I Greet This Day With Love In My Heart" Scroll from The Greatest Salesman In The World

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Once you start really digging into unseen energies...it’s a slippery slope. In the world of woo-woo, there is a lot out there.  Past lives/ numerology / astrology / human designs / dreams / hypnotherapy / understanding chakras / and a million more modalities or systems or symbols, or charts all offering us something. A peak into the metaphysical, into what makes us tick, into the energies behind what we can and cannot see, helping us discover more about why we’re here, what’s our purpose, how can we heal, and so I totally get when one thing leads to another - and you start a whole podcast to explore all these off the beaten path modalities that can help us know ourselves better, help us live the life of our dreams, help us find peace or forgiveness or permission. 

Like me, Lynnsey Robinson has gone deep into the woo-woo rabbit hole. A hypnotherapist and intuitive guide, Lynssey is a curious soul who has extensive knowledge in so many of my new favorite things and today we really run the gamut of her expertise- how to activate your subconscious mind, how that lack mentality is keeping us stuck, we get into human design and eft taping and even runes!! Which I thought were only plot lines in fantasy novels but she is using them for divination and how freaking cool is that. So if you’re ready for a very 5D woo geek out sesh you are in the right place.  

In this episode we discuss:

- Hypnotherapy

- Activating your subconscious

- Human Design

- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping)

- Runes

- Gene Keys 

- Signs 

About Lynnsey

Lynnsey Robinson is a Certified Hypnotherapist and Intuitive Guide. She is passionate about helping women all over the world rewire their minds to achieve their biggest goals and awaken to their limitless potential. In addition to hypnotherapy, Lynnsey has extensive knowledge in behavioral science, manifestation, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/tapping), handwriting analysis, dream therapy, Human Design, tarot/oracle reading, Reiki, past lives, and so much more to help her clients get their subconscious minds (as well as their energetic systems) working 24/7 toward every personal and success desire they have! 

More about Lynnsey here: https://website.beacons.ai/lynnseyrobinson

Follow Lynnsey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnseyrobinson/

Get in Touch with Lynnsey: [email protected]

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Kate Neligan is an animal communicator and healer who specializes in equine-partnered spiritual growth. Meaning: she works with her horses to help people heal, offering greater clarity, focus, empowerment, improved communication, deeper self-awareness, more love, courage, confidence, reduced stress… truly the whole spectrum. Sometimes this looks like sitting quietly in a chair near a horse, closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and allowing the horse to come to you and do its energy work. Maybe you’ve seen those viral clips of people on massage tables in a horse pen receiving this kind of healing — and yes, people feel real results.

Horses have always intimidated me, and it turns out… there’s meaning behind that, too. Kate is so attuned to these majestic beings, and she shares how this beautiful modality can help us tap into the power within ourselves. And even if you don’t have access to a horse, she talks about how we can all communicate with nature and the animals around us every single day.

Even the squirrels... who might actually have something to say to us - And Honestly… I believe it - we are often so removed from the natural world, but of course the universe is providing guidance to us in that way, among a million other ways. It’s just on US to be open enough to hear it.

More about Kate

Kate Neligan is an Equine-Partnered Life/Business Coach who supports her clients' intuition, emotional intelligence, and empowered leadership both virtually and in-person with horses and goats. Kate left her VP of Marketing career at a movie studio to pursue her calling for the transformation that happens within the human-animal bond. She brings her Master's degree in Spiritual Psychology and numerous trainings in various healing modalities to her 15 years as a coach. The Awakening With Equines certification program and horse wisdom card deck she created is for new or next-level equine-partnered coaches who are trailblazing new paths with humans and horses. 

For more on Kate: www.kateneligan.com

For AWE card deck: https://www.kateneligan.com/carddeck

Follow Kate on IG: @KateNeliganEquineCoach

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/awakeningwithequines

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Content Warning: This episode contains a conversation about an act of childhood sexual assault.

MDMA — also known as the pure form of Ecstasy or Molly — is a psychoactive substance that increases serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin in the brain. It’s illegal, mainly because the U.S. government classified it in the ’80s as a Schedule I drug. But like many political decisions made 30+ years ago, it’s definitely worth another look.

These days, most people know MDMA from the party scene... raves, festivals...where it’s known to make people feed really good - it also heightens empathy, connection, and emotional openness. Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

MDMA can also be a powerful tool for healing trauma.

My friend, screenwriter Serena Turner, is sharing how MDMA therapy completely changed her life. Through it, she finally was able to process and release a deep wound from childhood, a moment in third grade when a teacher did something so awful, it stayed buried in her body for decades.

So if there’s a medicine that can support us in our healing, help us release trauma, release fear, feel unstuck, and reconnect to ourselves, why wouldn’t we, safely and intentionally, in a therapeutic setting, use it? Serena is advocating for exactly that.

About Serena
Serena Turner is a writer and producer who lives in New York City. As a writer, she recently had a personal essay about her experience with MDMA therapy published in Marie Claire’s September issue. She’s currently writing a screenplay based on the essay, and also recently completed three original feature scripts and a TV pilot. As a producer, Serena sold a scripted drama series to a major streamer earlier this year. Notable producing projects also include a dark comedy series with Mark Gordon Pictures and Ley Line Entertainment; a romantic comedy with Burn Later Productions and Milana Vayntrub (starring opposite Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Project Hail Mary) set to direct; a police procedural based on Tom Turner’s Palm Beach mysteries, and two documentaries -- one about the best parties of all time with XTR and a true crime series with Hot Snakes Media.

Follow Serena on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sturneround

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Our homes should feel like sanctuaries, places that nourish and restore us. But so often, everyday things we use, from our beauty products to our cleaning supplies, are not nourishing at all.  They could be draining our energy or even making us sick. 

Alexandra Brook-Clark, founder of ARMUR Health, is here to help us detox our lives from the inside out. After navigating her own battle with Lyme disease, mold infection and parasites she is now helping others live nontoxic, healthy, vibrant lives.

This episode is all about creating a home (and a body) that actually supports your energy.  Because if your home is meant to be your sanctuary, it shouldn’t be secretly plotting against you.

Alexandra Brook-Clark on a remarkable journey of resilience and healing. In 2021, her life took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a condition that has tested her in ways she never imagined. Despite the setbacks and obstacles, Alexandra has remained resolute in her determination to regain her health and vitality, learning the true meaning of strength and perseverance along the way.

Her experiences have given her a unique perspective on life, sparking a passionate drive to raise awareness about Lyme disease and other related conditions, including mold poisoning, food intolerances, and parasites. Through her story, Alexandra aims to inspire others facing their own health battles, offering a message of solidarity and hope even in the darkest of times.

Her company ARMUR Health is here to help you and your family live a nontoxic lifestyle.

Discussed in this episode:

Alexandra's Favorites:

Tea Brands: RISHI, ORGANIFI, PIQUE, ROWE CASA

Dishwashing Detergent: TRULY FREE, BRANCH BASICS, MOLLY'S SUDS

All purpose Cleaner: BRANCH BASICS, KOALA ECO, TRULY FREE

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

What does it mean to be a witch in 2025? 

This week, I’m talking to the incredible Mia Magik — modern witch, spiritual teacher, viral rage-ritual pioneer, and a total force of nature.
Her new book, Witchual, is all about bringing magic back into the everyday. 

Mia is also at the forefront of reclaiming pleasure, using what she calls Sex Magic and teaching it to droves of women at her retreats!  Your eyebrows WILL raise.  Mine did, and also I LOVE how she is empowering women in these spaces.  

She’s practicing and preaching something that’s still considered taboo, and she owns it with such power.

In this episode we talk about:
• The meaning of witchcraft today
• Rituals you can create with what you have at home
• Sex magic and taboo pleasure rituals
• Rage rituals and reclaiming your power
• Witch wounds, sister wounds, and transforming scarcity into strength
• Our innate connection with nature
• Lessons from the Dark Ages

So light your candle, and hop on your metaphorical broomstick, because this conversation?  May just make you remember just how powerful your inner witch really is.

Discussed in the episode:

The Mountains of Tibet

Follow Mia on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/miamagik/

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Past Life Regressions are so WILD!  And my experience with Mayra Rath of Soul Signs Hypnosis, was exactly that.  We talk all about it in this episode and we also discuss:

- Doubt and Ego during your Past Life Regression

- All the logistics and the prep for a Past Life Regression

- Soul Families 

- Soul Contracts

- Light Language

- Mayra answers listener questions

Mayra Rath is a certified as Hypnotherapist (C. Ht) and Past Life Regression Therapist.  Mayra guides clients in Past Life Regression sessions, Life Between Lives sessions and Quantum Healing Hypnosis as well as Soul Ascension Sessions (her own method developed over the years).  Mayra's goal for these sessions is to empower you with renewed clarity, passion and purpose.  All that is required is an open mind and Mayra will guide you through the rest. 

Follow Mayra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soul_signs_hypnosis/

Connect further with Mayra: https://www.soulsigns.net/

Past Lives with Mayra Rath: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/past-lives-with-mayra-rath/id1651714977

The Starseed Collective: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-starseed-collective-past-lives-galactic-memories/id1792542169

Also Discussed in the Episode

Many Lives Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss

A Sister's Karmic Relationship - QHHT Session https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVRau8l_MSk

 

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.

Andrea Choate is the founder of Soul Mechanics Healing and the pioneer of Integrative Quantum Mindset Coaching. She supports success-minded people to transform their inner world and create the meaningful results they most desire in their business, career, relationships and life. 

In this episode we discuss:

- Upgrading your mindset

- Discovering the root issue behind blocks

- Re-writing neuorpathways 

- How to tackle challenging relationships

To experience your own individually customized and highly transformative personal growth experience, contact Andrea at: [email protected] and/or connect with her on LinkedIn.

"The Woo Report Podcast" explores all the unseen energies of the #universe and maps how this magic helps us grow and live better.

Watch the conversation on YouTube

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewooreport

YouTube⁠: http://youtube.com/@thewooreportpodcast

Join the mailing list: https://thewooreportpodcast.com

Laura Scarpati is an Award-Winning filmmaker and producer. After a life-changing NDE (Near Death Experience), Laura launched Chelsea Park Films, a boutique production house creating and supporting projects that spread light and encourage healing on all sides of the frame. By re-framing her trauma as an opportunity, Laura is now using her unique skillset to explore all the unseen energies of the universe and mapping how this magic helps support us all on The Woo Report Podcast.

Thank you for subscribing, liking, sharing and rating this podcast! So grateful you are here.