Salish Wolf

Inner Alchemy is about transforming emotional lead into gold – not just healing, but braving the darkness to find the divine purpose and light of life. This is the weighty material that Lorie Eve Dechar, Benjamin Fox and I discuss in the laboratory of this episode as we forge a kindred-like bond. Lorie and Benjamin are not just professional practitioners and teachers of inner alchemy, they also li...

This is the second part of a riveting interview with the remarkable and wise shamanic healer Dar Pan. We pick up in this episode right where we left off in episode 37. Dar Pan wastes no time taking us into his vision for a more harmonious future in which we pry off the shackles of guilt, shame, and fear and emerge into the freedom of the healing power of love. This isn’t just a far-fetched, kumbay...

If this episode had a subtitle, it could be “Everything you ever wanted to know about Ayahuasca without taking it, and then a whole bunch more.” Based in a beautiful rainforest oasis in Byron Bay, Australia, Dar Pan has been co-creating with Ayahuasca for nearly thirty years. Having mentored under some of the most renowned “psychonauts” of modern times, including Terence McKenna and Stanislav Grof...

A native of Hong Kong, Stephanie Wang spent her formative years in a traditional culture steeped in mysticism, herbal medicine, and consciousness, and, on a personal level, one rife with challenges such as family unrest and emotional suppression. Eventually settling in New York City and later leaving behind a successful career in corporate finance, Stephanie found true alignment through plant medi...

I don’t know by what criteria National Geographic Society selects its six “Explorers for the Millennium”, but I imagine standards are fairly stringent. My guest in this episode, Ian Baker, earned a spot on that list for his extraordinary explorations in Asia, in particular through the Tsangpo gorges of Tibet. He also earned the trust and friendship of the Dalai Lama, from whom he has gained much w...

Dan Reid returns to Salish Wolf with another incredible interview during which we traverse the intense highs and occasional lows that have comprised the landscape of his life. Following narrative trails that he maps out in his 2-volume memoir, Shots from the Hip , we explore some of his most impactful experiences. Dan is best known as a leading author of all things related to Chinese culture, incl...

I first published this episode on Pacific Rim College Radio, but this conversation is too fascinating not to share with the Salish Wolf audience. My guest is Lonny Jarrett, one of the world’s most recognized practitioners, authors, and teachers in the field of Chinese Medicine. Lonny has a gift for making the esoteric seem simple, and you do not need to be an expert in Chinese Medicine, or even ha...

Finding meaning after losing a loved one – especially someone with so much life still to live – must be one of the most challenging journeys in the human experience. For Richard Stuttle, this journey was thrust upon him when his kid sister was murdered at only 19 years of age while travelling in Australia. How we react in the face of trauma indicates the gravity of the impact; what we do next indi...

Pouya Farmand found a deeper connection to nature, including people as part of nature, during his first psylocibin experience. Since then, he has become a self-described psychonaut and is currently CEO of Levitee Labs, an emerging multidisciplinary integrative wellness and psychedelics company that is promoting evidence-based psychedelic therapy. Growing up in war-ravaged Iran, Pouya received an u...

This interview with mental health champion Chad Guenter begins with a light-hearted discussion of standup paddle boarding on rivers and rapids and includes his takeaways from many years as a whitewater guide. And then, as if entering class V rapids, the intensity changes. Being most at home on the water, Chad is not afraid to go deep, and in this episode, we descend into the abyss of mental illnes...

This interview with Duff Gibson is a unique listener opportunity to go inside the head and heart of a former world class athlete and coach who is passionate about sport, competition, and fun. In 2006 Duff did the nearly impossible in the last race of his career by winning gold in the Torino Olympics in the sport of skeleton, a high velocity, headfirst, adrenaline rush down an ice track on top of a...

Kenneth Cohen is a legendary Qigong Grandmaster, Chinese scholar, and world-renowned health educator. In this interview he delivers powerful, insightful, and inspirational narrative that spans cultures and millennia and regularly reminds listeners of our interconnectivity, not just to each other, but to all that is. Ken is the author of the internationally acclaimed book The Way of Qigong and has...

Welcome to part 2 of my unforgettable interview with Taoist (Daoist) Abbot Lao Zhi Chang. If you have not yet listened to part 1, episode 26, I suggest starting there and then coming back to this episode. But you will still benefit from both regardless of the order you listen to them. Lao lost both of his parents to cancer at only the age of 6. He then ran feral for 2 years before meeting the Budd...

This interview with Taoist (Daoist) Abbot Lao Zhi Chang is so rich and profound, I have decided to separate it into 2 episodes. For best cohesion, I suggest listening to them in order, but regardless, there is abundance to be gleaned separately from each. Lao was orphaned at the age of 6 and ran feral for 2 years before meeting the Buddhist monk that would raise him. This benevolent monk became La...

More than two decades ago, The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity by Daniel Reid became a pivotal book in guiding my life journey toward natural medicine and healing philosophies. His prolific writings on Chinese Medicine, Martial Arts, Taoism, Nutrition, and Tea have likely shaped countless other personal journeys. Daniel’s life is replete with rich experiences and cultures. Growing up in East Afr...

Having an intimate, first-time conversation with someone can be as unpredictable as an open ocean paddle. Fortunately, I chose well as this conversation is with the person who makes the best paddles in the world. David Smart is perhaps not the typical dude you would expect to find carving a niche in surf culture. As much as he loves the water and the thrill of exploring it on a board, he also is p...

Michael Cobb is not your average real estate developer. He creates communities and lifestyle opportunities, and he does both with complete presence in the now and reverence for mother nature. Michael has a deep connection to spirit, which has helped him align with his greater purpose. When sudden illness threatened to take his life less than a decade ago, Michael was not faced with regret, anger,...

Barefoot Ted McDonald sprinted into the spotlight with the publication of the bestselling book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Barefoot Ted is one of the crazy, larger-than-life characters that springs off the pages of McDougall’s recount of their epic adventure to run a 50-mile race in the deadly Copper Canyons of Mexico with the legendary Tarahumara Indians. Growing up as a rebellious skat...

Jon Turk has lived an incredible life filled with enough adventures to incapacitate most, and enough hardship to extinguish the wildest passion. But Jon is no ordinary individual; he is an extraordinary human that even today, at 75-years-old, continues to live life on his terms and at the edge that only he defines. Fifty years ago, Jon earned a Ph. D. in organic chemistry, wrote the first environm...

In this episode, drug policy researcher Alan Cassels and I take a deep look into some less than desirable tactics of the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Alan has been investigating and reporting on nefarious industry strategies for more than 2 decades, and his books Selling Sickness and Seeking Sickness expose the dirty underbelly that some corporations and leaders would rather you did...

Michael Schiesser has been a powerful force in my life, helping me to grow in ways where I was not looking for growth. This in part is due to the curriculum he has created through the Inner Journey Institute that operates trainings in both the USA and Canada, and to his passion for serving others on their journeys. German born, Michael was raised under the influence and aftermath of World War II,...

This episode, like many others, is about the power and beauty of the human spirit. Yet this episode is not like any other. Joan Morris is an elder of the Songhees Nation of the Lekwungen People on Vancouver Island in British Columbia . As with many of her people, she has suffered greatly in the name of colonialization, and now she advocates for survivors of the draconian system that included resid...

My guest in this episode is crazy, and that is just one of his many strengths. Bruce Kirkby does not take life sitting down, unless he is exploring remote coasts and waterways in a canoe or kayak. His idea of a hike is not a loop in a nearby forest but instead a trek across jungles and deserts and entire landmasses. He plans 6-month rustic, transcontinental excursions with less stress than most pe...

It is always a pleasure connecting with Janne Robinson, a personal development coach, writer, surfer, mentor, and much more. This is Janne’s second time on Salish Wolf, and in her raw, vulnerable style, she again delivers a powerful message of truth and connection. Janne takes us inside her mega project of the year, a yearlong immersive program called “Your Truth is Your Medicine”, which is compri...

I first heard Wil’s music around 2003 in a nightclub in Victoria, BC. With that show, I became an instant fan of this crazy bearded man who could make more noise with a guitar than anyone I had ever encountered before. With wild guitar riffs, guitar drumming, his trademark broken strings, and his mesmerizing voice, Wil became my live act of choice. Over the years I have seen him up and down Vancou...