Adventures Through The Mind - podcast cover

Adventures Through The Mind

James W. Jessowww.jameswjesso.com
Adventures Through The Mind is an interview-based podcast hosted by Canadian author and public educator, James W. Jesso. Although the show topics range---from spirituality, mental health, and emotional maturity; to love, relationships and sexuality; to history, philosophy, and neuroscience---there are two underlying themes that intersect them all: psychedelics & the mind. James W. Jesso is the author of Decomposing The Shadow: Lessons From The Psilocybin Mushroom and The True Light Of Darkness, both about his experiences exploring the potentials of psychedelics.

Episodes

MICRO:05 - MDMA: Losing The Magic (and getting it back) | Matthew Baggott

Matthew Baggott discusses the phenomenon of "losing the magic" with MDMA use, where frequent users experience diminishing therapeutic effects over time, likely due to decreased serotonin transporters in the brain; as well as N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) supplementation as a potential avenue for getting the magic back. ... This is a clip from 'Entactogens, MDMA, and Bringing New Love Drugs To Market | Matthew Baggott ~ ATTMind Podcast 177' FULL INTERVIEW Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Watch in Vid...

Apr 11, 202522 minEp. 195

Suggestibility and Ayahuasca: Managing Influence | Jerónimo Mazarrasa ~ ATTMind 195

In this episode, Gerónimo Mazarrasa discusses suggestibility and influence in ayahuasca ceremonies, exploring how facilitators can unintentionally harm clients by mishandling increased openness and vulnerability. The conversation covers specific scenarios, the importance of self-knowledge for facilitators, and ways participants can protect themselves. Mazarrasa emphasizes the need for hygiene and care in guiding psychedelic experiences, highlighting potential pitfalls and offering practical advice for both facilitators and participants.

Mar 20, 20252 hr 43 minEp. 195

MICRO:04 - Dangers Of Excessive 5-MeO-DMT and How to Protect Yourself and Loved Ones From Harm, Chad Charles

Facilitator Chad Charles discusses the dangers of excessive 5-MeO-DMT use in participants and facilitators, as well as how to notice when people need help. ... This is a clip from 'Building Best Practices In The Underground Subculture Of 5-MeO-DMT | Chad Charles', Adventures Through The Mind Podcast, episode 113 FULL INTERVIEW Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Watch in Video Read the show notes What happened to Tobias Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube Show notes SUPPORT THE PO...

Mar 07, 202516 minEp. 194

Microdosing Psilocybin; Effects on Stress Resiliency and Compulsive Behaviours | Dr. Mikael Palner ~ ATTMind 194

🥰 Support ATTMind and join the community on Patreon 💌 Stay In Contact Through Signing Up For James' Newsletter Video Episode 👈 Dr. Mikael Palner is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark, studying the biological correlates of maladaptive neuropsychiatric diseases—such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome. He joins us to discuss his research on the positive effects of psilocybin microdosing on str...

Feb 14, 20251 hr 21 minEp. 194

MICRO:03 - Assessing and responding to psilocybin-induced psychosis, with Justin Townsend MycoMeditations

Justin Townsend of MycoMeditations retreat center in Jamaica discusses psilocybin-induced psychotic states and how to respond to them. In particular, how to differentiate between what he calls a "normal psychotomimetic response" and a psychotic episode; and how knowing the difference is important in supporting people undergoing these experiences, safely. ... This is a clip from 'The Business and Practice of Psilocybin Therapy in Jamaica | Justin Townsend' ~ ATTMind Podcast 170 Watch in Video her...

Jan 17, 202521 minEp. 193

The Conscious Intelligence Of Fungi | Nicholas P. Money ~ ATTMind 193

Become a Patreon to Receive Exclusive Content Stay In Contact Through Signing Up For James' Newsletter EPISODE DETAILS Nicholas P. Money is Professor of Biology and Western Program Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is an international expert on fungal biology and author of popular science books that celebrate the microbial world including his most recent, Molds, Mushrooms, and Medicines: Our Lifelong Relationship with Fungi (2024) He joins us on the podcast to deep dive into the b...

Dec 13, 20242 hr 49 minEp. 193

MICRO:02 - Kratom Side Effects, Does Kratom Damage Your Liver? with Dr. Oliver Grundmann

Dr. Oliver Grundmann talks about kratom's adverse effects, including addiction risks, constipation, nausea, and potential liver toxicity. He emphasizes that liver concerns are rare, dose-dependent, and often complicated by other factors like alcohol use, while stressing the need for better product regulation. ... This is a clip from 'All About Kratom | Dr. Oliver Grundmann'- ATTMind Podcast Episode 121 Watch in Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BdhEwSZ5lw Full Episode and show notes h...

Nov 22, 202416 minEp. 192

Tripping into Post-Scarcity: AI, Psychedelics, and the Future of Filmmaking | Jeffery Lando

Full Show Notes And A Video Version Of This Episode Can Be Found At Jameswjesso.com Become a Patreon to Receive Exclusive Content Stay In Contact Through Signing Up For James' Newsletter This episode features an interview with Jeffery Lando , an experienced filmmaker who recently directed the psychedelic-themed movie "Lissa's Trip". Our discussion explores the intersection of psychedelics, artificial intelligence, and filmmaking. We discuss into how Lando used AI and other emerging technologies ...

Oct 18, 20242 hr 47 minEp. 192

Adventures Through The Mind Podcast | James W. Jesso

Adventures Through The Mind is an interview-based podcast focusing on psychedelics . It is hosted by Canadian author and public educator, James W. Jesso. Thanks for listening. Enjoy. SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso Toss me a tip on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=383635S3BKJVS Toss my a Tip on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso Buy some merchandise: https://www.jameswjesso.com/shop/ More Options: https://www.jameswjesso.com/support ...

Sep 28, 20243 min

MICRO:01 - The Greatest Risk Of Psychedelic Work Is Ego Inflation, Chris Bache PhD

Chris Bache, the author of LSD and The Mind Of The Universe, talks about the value of psychedelic integration and how ego inflation is one of the greatest risks of psychedelic work. ... This is a clip from Global Collapse, Spirituality, and The Birth Of The Future Human | Chris Bache, Ph.D. - ATTMind Podcast Episode 142 Watch in Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upd2JpIq_F8 Full Episode and show notes here: https://bit.ly/ATTMind142 SUPPORT THE PODCAST Become a member of my Patreon: ht...

Sep 20, 20248 minEp. 191

Empowering Our Joy For Life Through Honoring Our Pain for the World | John Seed ~ ATTMind 191

In this episode of the podcast, we interview deep ecology teacher and rainforest activist John Seed. Together, we discuss the importance of altering our sense of self such that it includes the natural world, the role psychedelics can play in that process, and how, even if the world as we know it burns and collapses, life itself will thrive through it all as it always has. We also talk about the philosophy of deep ecology and healing ourselves from the illusion of anthropocentrism; falling into t...

Sep 06, 20242 hr 36 minEp. 191

Laughing Through the Chaos: Psychedelics, Comedy and Society's Growing Pains | Nick Sun ~ ATTMind 190

In this episode of Adventures Through the Mind, we interview Nick Sun, stand up comedian, former psychedelic facilitator, and now the author of "No Mo Trippin" . We discuss Nick's personal experiences with psychedelics, including his high usage and how it led him to both become a facilitator and to stop facilitating; his criticisms of Western psychedelic culture; the concept of spiritual bypassing; and the challenges of integrating psychedelic experiences. We also touch on the potential of psych...

Aug 02, 20242 hr 37 minEp. 190

cPTSD, The Climate Crisis, and Healing Trauma with Coral Reefs and Ayahuasca | Greg Wrenn (189)

We welcome Greg Wrenn to the show to share his experience of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD) and how it was that his explorations of coral reefs and journeys with Ayahuasca turned the tide on his lifelong struggle with the condition. Additionally, as both his experience of and healing from cPTSD is intertwined with his journalism on climate science, we also explore how the ecological and psychological effects of the climate crisis weave into our personal and collective experiences...

Jun 27, 20242 hr 45 minEp. 189

Treating Traumatic Brain Injury with Ibogaine | Dr. Nolan Williams ~ ATTMind 188

Nolan Williams, MD joins to talk about brain injury, ibogaine, and the incredible results of his study (conducted at Ambio Life Sciences Center ) on ibogaine for treatment of traumatic brain injury, "concussions" in particular. We also talk about ibogaine as an oneirogen; the cardiac risks of ibogaine; how ibogaine compares to other treatments methods for brain injury, including other psychedelics; microdosing ibogaine for traumatic brain injury; and that ibogaine can seemingly “de-age” the brai...

Jun 01, 20242 hr 47 minEp. 188

The Legal and Cultural Landscape of Psilocybin Mushrooms in Mexico | Mijal Schmidt ~ 187

In this episode of the podcast, we explore the present day legal and political conundrum psilocybin mushrooms are facing as they sit on the verge of a significant change in their criminal status; the historical impact of mushroom tourism on the indigenous cultures that work with psilocybin; how that history is impacting those cultures today; and how all of this is influencing the complex political situation mushrooms now sit in the middle of. Our guest is Mijal Schmidt . ... For links to Mijal's...

May 03, 20242 hr 56 minEp. 187

Deep Time, Extinct Cephalopods, and The Evolutionary Gift of Death | Sky Otter ~ ATTMind 186

Led by the inspiration of a cephalopod now extinct 66 million years, Sky Otter and I explore what is means to live our lives in alignment with life, creatively, and with heartbreak, grief, endings, and death as not only necessary parts of the process, but gifts that can deepen, enrich, and guide our limited days. Some of the topics we explore include ammonite as example of death and creative change in evolution; why life requires death and heartbreak is necessary; finding our way out of mass ext...

Apr 05, 20241 hr 28 minEp. 186

How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense Of The Meta-Crisis | Alexander Beiner ~ ATTMind 185

Alexander Beiner joins us to explore how psychedelics can help us make sense of the meta-crisis. This includes topics like complexity tolerance and the overwhelming deluge of information in modern digital life; “How” and “why” we solve a problem is as important as the “what” of the solution itself; the mythological impact of sci-fi narratives on identity and perception; and whether AI will become a new god. Additionally, we speak on extended-state DMT (DMTx) and interacting with entities; overla...

Mar 08, 20242 hr 44 minEp. 185

Herbalism, Animism, and The Language Of The Body | Marie Zak & Travis Cartwright, Althaea Herbals ~ 184

Travis Cartwright and Marie Zak are clinical herbalists from Althaea Herbals, an apothecary in Nelson, BC, Canada. They join us on the show today to talk about herbalism as a way of being in the world, as well as a clinical practice. We also explore why herbalism is not just a plant replacement for pharmaceuticals; how an animistic worldview can empower us to cultivate a direct and living relationship with plants and nature as a whole; how we can learn to communicate with plants through the dire...

Feb 09, 20242 hr 37 minEp. 184

Integrating Ayahuasca Experiences (And Psychedelics In General) | Mijal Schmidt ~ ATTMind 183

This episode is with Mijal Schmidt and presents a rather robust exploration of what psychedelic integration is and the specifics of what an ayahuasca integration requires. We talk about the importance of good preparation, and what that looks like; various integration practices and activities; the most common challenges in integrating ayahuasca experiences, including integrating HUGE experiences and difficult experiences; the integration of experiences of exogenous material, e.g. entities or abso...

Dec 08, 20232 hr 53 minEp. 183

Kilindi Iyi and High Dose Psilocybin As A Form Of Martial Arts | Acacea Lewis ~ ATTMind 182

Acacea Lewis is our guest for this episode of Adventures Through The Mind. Our interview explores a number of vignettes into her scholarly explorations of psychedelic mushrooms throughout human history, and especially in various African traditions. But the two main thematic arcs we travel in the interview are the work of the late Kilindi Iyi and the value and potential of high dose psilocybin experiences as a form of marital arts, primarily through the lens of Acacea’s personal experiences. ... ...

Oct 28, 20232 hr 38 minEp. 182

The Schizophrenia Complex and The Turbulent Waters of The Unconscious Mind | Dr. Eve Maram ~ ATTMind 181

Dr. Eve Maram is a clinical and forensic psychologist and a certified Jungian Analyst in private practice in Orange, California. She joins us to share her perspective on schizophrenia, of it as a condition wherein the organizing function of the ego is overwhelmed by the turbulence waters of the unconscious (a statement that will be well flushed out in the interview); but we also go deep into her model of the schizophrenia complex, which is the bundle of “thoughts and feelings constellated by enc...

Oct 06, 20232 hr 35 minEp. 181

Psychedelics and the Healing Power of Love | Dr. Adele LaFrance

Dr. Adele Lafrance joins us to explore psychedelics and the healing power of Love. Our conversation begins with an exploration of emotional processing and how difficulties and deficiencies in emotional processing both our mental health, our relationships, and our general wellbeing. We then step into psychedelics and the role they play in supporting our emotional processing capacities. From there we turn towards Love, what it is and all the accidental ways we conflate it with things that can incl...

Sep 09, 20231 hr 26 minEp. 180

UPDATE: Changes To The Podcast Release Schedule | July 2023

Here is a short but important update to the Podcast release schedule. TLDR: Rather than every two weeks, podcasts will now be released every 4 to 6 weeks for the next few months in order to allocate more time to writing a book: a follow-up to my first book, Decomposing The Shadow: Lessons From The Psilocybin Mushroom --- SUPPORT THIS PODCAST — ► Donate monthly on Patreon: https://patreon.com/jameswjesso ► Tip Me on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/jameswjesso ► Donate via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/...

Jul 20, 20234 min

Swimming In The Sacred: Wisdom From The Psychedelic Underground | Rachel Harris

Rachel Harris, PhD joins us to talk about her new book, Swimming In The Sacred Swimming in the Sacred offers a revelatory look into the past half-century of psychedelics use via in-depth interviews Harris conducted with women elders who have worked underground guiding sacred entheogenic journeys to cultivate insight, healing, and spiritual development. Specifically, we talk about working with unseen worlds and unseen others; thin veils, absorption, and being accidentally overdosed by psychedelic...

Jun 30, 20232 hr 1 minEp. 179

From Broken to Blessed on The Bipolar Spectrum | Sara Schley ~ ATTMind 178

Today’s episode is a bit of a lateral step from psychedelics specifically as we are going to talk about bipolar with Sara Schley, the author of the highly-acclaimed memoir BrainStorm: From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum. We talk about bipolar as a spectrum and the different variations of bipolar disorder; why it is that so many people with bipolar are misdiagnosed and the issues this presents to those individuals and their families; major triggers for bipolar episodes and why medicati...

Jun 16, 20231 hr 26 minEp. 178

Entactogens, MDMA, and Bringing New Love Drugs To Market | Matthew Baggott ~ ATTMind 177

This episode features Matthew Baggott of Tactogen Inc. and will explore entactogens, which are drugs like MDMA, 2C-B, and Methalone. We start with setting a basic framework for what an entactogen is and a few example drugs, before exploring the complexities in their various effects, mechanisms of action, and both the legislative and technical process of the development of novel or new entactogenic drugs. ... For links to Baggott's work, full show notes, and a link to watch this episode in video,...

Jun 02, 20232 hr 54 minEp. 177

Using Psychedelic Molecules to Explore Alternate Worlds | Andrew Gallimore, PhD ~ ATTMind 176

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Andrew Gallimore to explore the content of his new book 'Reality Switch Technologies: Psychedelics as Tools for the Discovery and Exploration of New Worlds'. We discuss how the brain builds an experiential world model from patterns of information at the neural level; how all of those worlds are correlated with specific neural patterns; how we can disturb that neural pattern to encounter new worlds; essentially, using psychedelic molecules to explore alternate...

May 18, 20232 hr 7 minEp. 176

The Visionary San Pedro Cactus: Healing, Sustainability, and Sacred Relationships with Huachuma | Laurel Sugden ~ ATTMind 175

Today’s episode explores the mescaline-containing cactus known as San Pedro, otherwise known as Huachuma. Our guest is Laurel Anne Sugden. We discuss the objective side of the cactus; that is habitat, history, sustainability, poaching, pollination, propagation, fruits, flowers, and alkaloids. However, we also explore what we might, for lack of better language, call the subjective side of San Pedro; we explore “who is San Pedro”, the qualities of experience it catalyzes, and what it asks of us an...

May 05, 20232 hr 30 minEp. 175

The 6 Pitfalls: Safety and Best Practices for Ayahuasca Facilitators in Non-Traditional Contexts | Jeronimo M.M. ~ ATTMind 174

This episode features Jeronimo MM of ICEERS Foundation and explores the potential dangers and pitfalls present for ayahuasca/plant medicine facilitators in non-traditional contexts. Dangers specific to the facilitators, that Jeronimo refers to as The 6 Pitfalls: Sex, Money, Power, Intercultural Relationships, and Legal Situations. We also do a deep dive into what a “non-traditional context” is and two potential harms that might come up for participants, namely “when the experience is too much” a...

Apr 21, 20232 hr 46 minEp. 174

Psychedelic Hope In The Treatment Of Cluster Headaches | Bob Wold of Clusterbusters Inc ~ ATTMind 173

Bob Wold is from Clusterbusters Inc. He joins us on this episode of Adventures Through The Mind podcast to present cluster headaches, one of the most painful conditions known to humankind—their patterns, symptoms, and pathophysiology; as well as the treatments presently available, with a specific deep dive into psychedelic tryptamines as the most effective treatment discovered thus far and how those with clusters use those tryptamines. ... For links to Bob and Clusterbusters', full show notes, a...

Apr 07, 20232 hr 47 minEp. 173