Modern Spirit Podcast

For this next episode, we speak to Sam Believ, Founder of La Wayra, one of the highest-rated ayahuasca retreats in South America, and Ian McCall, a retired MMA World Champion, performance coach, and founder of Athletes Journey Home – a nonprofit that helps athletes and high performers heal from trauma and injury.  They worked together to create an ayahuasca retreat for fighters and athletes, using...

“Trees have all of this medicine…fruits, the bark is medicine, the leaves. All of that is waiting; it’s potent, it’s dormant.” Jason Grechanik has spent more than 25 years immersed in the study and practice of plants as medicine. As a tabaquero, he guides plant medicine dietas in Peru and internationally, weaving Amazonian tobacco traditions with Celtic tree wisdom. He facilitated for many years a...

In this episode, Dr. Tafur and Natasha spoke to Tatiana Aya Tupinambá and Charles Johnston. Tatiana is a Brazilian born Indigenous woman and traditionally trained spiritual healer, who has been an ayahuasca curandera for over 10 years. Charles has guided thousands through psychedelic experiences and is an author, producer and educator in the fields of addiction and psychedelics. Together, drawing...

Why are wild peyote populations shrinking, and what can be done about it? In this episode, we explore the sacred medicine of peyote and efforts to conserve it with Leonardo Mercado. We discuss restrictive U.S. laws, unregulated harvesting, ongoing debates, conservation work led by some Native communities, wild vs. greenhouse cultivation and more. For 40 years, Leo has been dedicated to preserving...

Today’s mini episode welcomes back Xochi Bucuru - Colombian traditional healer, educator, and community activist. Xochi shares details about her upcoming course, Spiritual Medicine for Integrative Health – part of Modern Spirit’s wider offerings and learning resources. The 5-week live online course will run from Feb 24th to March 24th 2026. More details HERE . Limited scholarships available. If yo...

For this episode, Dr. Joe Tafur and Natasha Pentin spoke with Tania de Jong AM, an award-winning social entrepreneur, acclaimed soprano, inspirational speaker and storyteller, creative alchemist, philanthropist and spiritual journey woman. Many of our listeners wanted to learn more about the power of music for healing and the neuroscience of singing together, so in this episode we explore all of t...

Dr. Joe Tafur and Natasha Pentin spoke with Edward James, Ph. D., and Joachim Keppler, Ph. D. Edward brings expertise across pharmacology, psychedelic compounds, and biochemistry. Joachim is a quantum field theory physicist, devoted to the study of consciousness and uncovering its fundamental mechanisms. With their colleagues, they published a paper together in 2022 about DMT, ayahuasca plant medi...

Dr. Joe Tafur and Natasha Pentin sat down with Roman Palitsky M.Div. PhD., Director of Research Projects for Emory Spiritual Health. He’s also Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and faculty in the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. We discuss Spiritual, Existential, Religious, and Theological (SERT) experiences around psychedelics, how some reli...

Dr. Joe Tafur and Natasha Pentin spoke with Canadian adult and pediatric neurologist Dr. Evan Cole Lewis to explore how epilepsy, trauma, and brain networks intertwine. We discuss pediatric epilepsy, cannabis for seizures, Functional Neurological Disorders (FND), and emerging psychedelic-assisted therapy treatments. Dr. Lewis talks about the differences between structural brain injury and brain “s...

Natasha Pentin is joined by Dr. Joe Tafur himself and Xochi Bucuru. Dr. Tafur is a Colombo-American integrative physician, traditionally trained spiritual healer (Ayahuasquero), and highly acclaimed author. Xochi is a Colombian traditional healer (Yagecera), educator, and promoter of Indigenous community projects.  They discuss supporting Indigenous traditions, navigating the learning curve of anc...

Modern Spirit Podcast hosted by Dr. Joe Tafur & Natasha Pentin. 

Great interview with my friends and colleagues, Ray and Amalia Baca. Together we started the Ocotillo Center for Integrative Medicine, which continues to evolve. Raymond Alonzo “Two Bears” Baca describes himself as a Christian Taoist, walking the Red Road. I call him a Medicine Man and a Breathworker. Amalia Baca obtained her doctorate’s from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & He...

Wonderful discussion with my old friend, research and spiritual mentor Dr. Paul Mills. Paul J. Mills was Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health and Director of the Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Integrative Health. He was also Chief of the UC San Diego Behavioral Medicine Division, Director of the UC San Diego Clinical Research Biomarker Laboratory, and Co-director of th...

Great interview with my old friend and Modern Spirit Board Member Dr. Shamini Jain PhD. Dr. Shamini Jain is the Founder and CEO of the Consciousness and Healing Initiative (CHI), a collaborative accelerator that facilitates the transdisciplinary science and real-world application of consciousness and healing practices. As a clinical psychologist, as well as a research scientist in the fields of ps...

Thought-provoking interview with my friend and colleague educator and researcher Ronan Hallowell M.A., Ed. D. Ronan is Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Education at the USC School of Medicine. As a member of the Learning Sciences Team in the Department of Medical Education at Keck, he works with colleagues to provide a suite of curriculum and instruction services to faculty and administrato...

Claudia Cuentas, Cantante, Terapista, Educadora comparta su alegría y su sabiduria en este fanscinante conversación sobre el valor de la medicina ancestral en nuestro mundo moderno. Sobre donde entra la espiritualidad y el misticismo en la práctica de la pscicología y la terapía. Aprende más sobre Claudia, originalmente de Peru, y escucha su musica inspirante en la pagina claudiacuentas.com Learn...

David Schumann, joins us for a very special interview. David Schumann is a mathematician, engineer, researcher, and writer working in the fields of natural health, green energy, science, spirituality, and technology. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Arizona and spent fifteen years in the pyrotechnic device business as engineer and program lead. His company, Synergy Energy...

Rael Cahn, MD PhD, joins us for a fascinating interview. Dr. Cahn is a clinician scientist at the USC Brain and Creativity Institute. He has extensive personal experience as a meditation practitioner and experience teaching mindfulness meditation practices to clinicians and patients alike. His research expertise is in the neuroscience of meditation and altered states of consciousness. Dr. Cahn is...

Nuestro primer episodio en español con mi amiga y colega Sandra Nogueira-Lopes. Sandra lleva muchos años dedicado a su camino espiritual y a la sanación espiritual. Nos habla de su proceso, de la alegría y el camino espiritual, de la situación de nuestro mundo y de la vida. Por favor, disfruta. Learn more at modernspirit.org .

John Quintal, spiritual seeker and Canadian heavy machine operator, shares with us about his journey into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine and through early-stage prostate cancer. I had met him first years ago in Peru and have been hoping to follow-up with him on his progress. Please join us for an inspiring exploration in to the path of human healing. Learn more at modernspirit.org .

Benjaman has spent more than half his life as a student and practitioner of shamanism and Earth medicine. His own journey of personal healing and discovery led him to study and train with master healers and medicine people of North and South America as well as the Celtic traditions of his ancestry. These paths have helped Benjaman find his deepest, most profound healing transformation, as well as...

Deirdre Kelley Lic Ac. has spent over 11 years providing health and wellness to her patients, first as a Certified Veterinary Nurse working with companion animals and wildlife, and now as an acupuncturist for both humans as well as animals. Her unique healing journey continues to inform her practice, as she learns through her own medicine. Learn more about Deirdre’s work through her website: http:...

Fascinating interview with artist/healer Cvita Mamic and somatic experience therapist/healer Martina Drassl. A great discussion with my spiritual sisters and Nihue Rao family Cvita and Martina, the sound quality is rough, but that's because it was recorded on location in the maloka at Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual. I think it's worth working through the parrots and roosters, always so impressed with...

Rachel Harris, PhD, is a psychologist with both a research and a clinical background. She was in the 1968 Residential Program at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA and remained on the staff for a number of years. During the decade she worked in academic research, Rachel received a New Investigator’s Award from the National Institutes of Health and published over forty scientific studies in peer-reviewe...

Candace Lewis, PhD, joins us for a fascinating interview. Candace is an Alaskan native and earned her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at Arizona State University while investigating the effects of early life stress on addiction behavior and neuroepigenetics. Dr. Lewis received a Fulbright Fellowship to learn advanced neuroimaging and psychedelic research methods at the University Hospital of Zurich...