How To Feel Nothing | Processing Psychedelics From The Inside Out

Trauma shapes how we live—organizing our lives as if the past is still happening. The body holds onto these experiences, leaving us disconnected from our most powerful resource: our felt sense. In this episode, we will go through the profound connection between your body and mind. We'll explore how mindlessness—ignoring your felt sense—keeps you stuck in cycles of stress, disconnection, and unreso...

We're going through a psychedelic therapy revival. Join psychotherapist Todd Brossart as he introduces the Somacology channel and discusses some of his personal journey following a near-death injury and the innovative practices that helped him reconnect with his body and mind. Gain insights into: The felt sense as a critical pathway to accessing the body's innate ability to process and resolve tra...

If you could have a conversation with yourself back when you started your career in healthcare, what would you say? What does that person need to know in order to sustain their mental health over the arch of their career? Would you talk to them about naivete? Or how to approach one's naivete as it comes up in their career? Consider where you're at today in your career. Would you be willing to talk...

If you've listened to this podcast for a while, you'll know that I hold a belief that there's still someone out there who I haven't met yet, that will change my life in profound ways. This episode is an attempt to honor someone who left a lasting impact on my life. In April 2019 during my lengthy stay in the hospital, I was privileged to have a very special person care for me. Her name was Rachel...

We all have to do things. Some things we are excited about. Other things, not as much. Rarely do we consider what we get to do in our lives, taking it for granted. In this episode I offer a quick mindfulness reframe to help you shift your perspective to living with more presence and gratitude. Because when we get to do something versus have to do something, we show up more completely and openly. ....

Should self-care always mean you get to feel calm? Should self-care be limited to feeling good? Let's reimagine self-care for a moment. Instead of adding things to your life in the name of self-care, consider what you could subtract in order to practice better self-care. Continually adding activities of self-care could become exhausting, and may make you feel worse. What could you let go of today...

What doesn't kill us, can make us stronger! On the two-year anniversary of a near death experience, I invite a friend of the podcast, John Evans to sit down for an extended conversation about post-traumatic growth. Post-traumatic growth refers to the positive psychological changes that a person can experience as a result of adversity. John and I cover a lot of ground in this episode, referencing S...

So often we feel hopeless and powerless after tragedy and trauma. I know I've felt that way recently with the tragedies in Atlanta and Boulder. Both events serve as reminders of how violence can devastate community, trust, and desecrate the ideals, values, and freedoms we hold as sacred. In this week's episode, I discuss what moral injurious events are, and offer a mindful approach to touch feelin...

Life serves up discomfort to us in many ways. At times we've all avoided challenges in order to escape the stress that goes with feeling uncomfortable. This week's episode examines how our struggle against discomfort can cause additional suffering in our lives.  . Think of unhealthy discomfort as something you do to avoid coming into contact with what doesn't feel good. Healthy discomfort on the o...

"Just breathe." Depending on how stressed you might be, hearing those words may not be well received. Enter box breathing! It's a proactive breathing exercise aimed to help you regulate your nervous system. . Box breathing is a common breathing technique used by Navy Seals, mindfulness practitioners, and recovery programs. During my time as the lead facilitator of the mindfulness group at the Vete...

Do good things only happen to good people? Do bad things only happen to bad people? And are all honorable actions eventually rewarded? The Just World Belief states that your actions are inclined to bring morally fair and just consequences to you, or others. But what happens when something unexpected and traumatic happens to you? . To be honest, I'm not so sure where I fall with this belief/hypothe...

There are two kinds of emotions. The first kind of emotions are those that happen naturally. We often experience natural emotions as they unfold after something happens. The second kind of emotions are the manufactured type. They're not based on the facts of an event, but on your interpretations of it. . Push play to learn more about how you might be manufacturing emotions, and how to stop adding...

Our human lives are inundated with the needs of the Self. The self (I/me/my) has many preferences, needs, biases, desires, and conditioned habits. While we're often unaware of how we are being controlled by the causes and conditions of our needs and wants, remembering mindfulness offers a path to greater awareness and choice. When remembering mindfulness we remember to come back to our present sta...

New Year's tends to bring about a newfound motivation for change. After a taxing 2020, I think we're all ready to turn the page! When making New Years resolutions we tend to hope for the best. Behind our desire for change there's a hope for the quick fix. Unfortunately, (myself included) we set ourselves up for disappointment, forgetting to update our expectations. With mindful living, we realize...

What word would you use to describe the past year? I asked 70 people that very question and received many different responses. But I also asked a second question. What did you learn to value about the experience from the pandemic? Tune in to hear how the two questions elicited different responses, and why it's vital to reflect on difficult experiences. After all, you may not realize how the things...

You have the ability to focus your attention on just about anything! Yet sometimes we become so close to our worries that we struggle to see what's beyond the thinking mind. This week I talk about our ready-to-experience mind, and three simple ways to pay attention more mindfully.    . Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  mindfulness journal . It's dedicated t...

One of the greatest gifts we can offer anyone is our true presence. Unfortunately this year, many of us won't be able to congregate for the holidays. Does this mean we won't be able to be present or thankful in other ways? Of course not. Tune in for this week's episode and learn how to practice presence whether you're congregating with others or not. . Looking to further your mindfulness practice?...

"Don't talk. Don't trust. Don't feel." Rules that were taught early and often to my guest in this week's episode. In this special interview, I connect with friend and colleague, John Evans, peer support specialist, musician, and Army Veteran. Looking inward and breaking the patterns of suffering was a path John fully committed to in July of 2007. John experienced many adverse events in his childho...

We all have core yearnings that make us human. In today's episode I'll introduce you to six core human yearnings that stem out of the therapeutic approach of acceptance and commitment therapy, and how trauma can impact these essential core yearnings. Coherence Feeling Orientation Belonging Self-directed Meaning Competency Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  m...

I recently summited my 21st different 14er mountain (14,000 ft.) in my home state of Colorado. The 12 mile trek was a grueling experience that lasted over 8 hours. It was a commitment. If I wasn't clear about my values, it's safe to say I likely would have never gone! In this episode I introduce the the therapeutic aspect of committed action - a step-by-step process of acting to create a life of i...

To practice mindfulness means to bring a direct awareness to what you are experiencing as you experience it. It's purposely tuning into what's going on with your mind and body, and the outside world, without trying to change whatever is present. In this episode I share a mindfulness practice called "Will I Remember This?" and provide context of how it can transform our relationship with the presen...

Assuming today was your last day, what would you do to live now, while you still had time? Today's episode dips into the stoic mindset of living our life as if it were bonus time. "We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it." Seneca Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  mindfulness journal . It's dedicated...

A friend once told me that trauma is like a shape-shifter. I couldn't agree more. In this episode I share a few insights that I recently stumbled up on in my ongoing recovery from a near-death experience. Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  mindfulness journal . It's dedicated to examining the workability of the mind's proposed solutions to problems, and offe...

It goes without saying moving is both time consuming and exhausting. This weeks episode is a quick one. I talk about the importance of saying No, in order to say Yes to what matters. Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  mindfulness journal . It's dedicated to examining the workability of the mind's proposed solutions to problems, and offers an opportunity to s...

Catastrophic thinking is more common than you might realize! In this episode I talk about what catastrophizing is, and seven ways to step back from distorted thinking. . Looking to further your mindfulness practice? Check out the Mental Events  mindfulness journal . It's dedicated to examining the workability of the mind's proposed solutions to problems, and offers an opportunity to step back from...