The Universe Within Podcast

Hey everybody! Episode 47 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Publio Valle. Publio and I met while working together at the Amazonian plant medicine center, The Temple of the Way of Light. Publio has taught yoga, meditation, and self-inquiry there, facilitated ceremonies, and also managed the center. Publio has a varied background of practices including yoga, meditation, Bud...

Hey everybody! Episode 46 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Joey Greenstone. Joey was introduced to me by mutual friends who had worked with him, and they both spoke very highly of him. Joey works with the Andean plant medicine Wachuma (also Huachuma or San Pedro). We spoke about Joey’s background, his voyage into the world of plant medicines, what he has learned, some of the pitfa...

Hey everybody! Episode 45 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Tree Carr. Tree was introduced to me by a mutual friend, Luis, who I interviewed in episode 25. Tree is a Death Doula and a Dreaming Guide. I find these two topics fascinating, because for me, if this path with plants and shamanism had to be boiled down to two topics, death and dreaming could certainly be seen as two of th...

Hey everybody! Episode 44 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Roman Hanis. I have known about Roman since I arrived in the Amazonian jungles of Peru. And having worked in this field for the past decade, I've come to hear about many centers and people working with these medicines. It's rare to only hear good things about a place, but that's just the case with the Paititi Institute, wh...

Hey everybody! Episode 43 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Mike Brancatelli. Mike and I met when he came to the Amazonian plant healing center the Temple of the Way of Light. We hit it off right away, both coming from New York and having an interest in the ideals of Liberty. I’ve been on Mike’s podcast twice, so it was great for me to finally have him on mine. We got int...

Hey everybody! Episode 42 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Martina Drassl. Martina and I met about a decade ago when we both arrived in the Peruvian Amazon and were working in respective plant medicine centers, myself at the Temple of the Way of Light and Martina at Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual. Martina is originally from northern Italy and spent time in the Peruvian Ande...

Hey everybody! Episode 41 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Stefan Kistler. Stefan and I met about a decade ago when we both arrived in the Peruvian Amazon. Stefan has been living and working in the Amazon focusing on indigenous peoples’ rights and forest conservation. We got into a lot of topics around these issues as well as some of his personal story and how his work a...

Hey everybody! Episode 40 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Beth Weinstein. Beth has been working with plant medicines for a number of years and has been focusing on how to integrate what she and her clients have learned to create a path forward in life. She focuses on what she calls spiritual business and entrepreneurship. This is a really important topic as I find many people who...

Hey everybody! Episode 39 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Aline Horwath. Aline and I are actually neighbors at the moment during the pandemic and I often admire her beautiful garden. Aline is a botanist and plant biologist who has been studying mosses to find data about climate change. It was really interesting for me to hear about her research and learn more about the...

Hey everybody! Episode 38 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Ute Behrendt. Ute and I met at the Amazonian plant medicine center, the Temple of the Way of Light, where she works as a facilitator for plant-medicine ceremonies working with the Shipibo lineage of medicine. I’ve worked with Ute for a number of years now and really enjoy her partnership, wisdom, kindness, and ca...

Hey everybody! Episode 37 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Will Spencer. Will and I met at the Amazonian plant medicine center, the Temple of the Way of Light, where he came down as a guest to work with ayahuasca in the Shipibo lineage. I befriended Will and followed his journey as it transpired from there onto a four-year journey around the world in a search for inner a...

Hey everybody! Episode 36 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Irene Pérez Méndez. Irene and I met working at the Amazonian plant medicine center, the Temple of the Way of Light, where she initially came down to do research with ICEERS on the long-term effects of ayahuasca. While there, she also taught art therapy and worked with Jungian archetypes, and eventually started fa...

Hey everybody! Episode 35 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with Monica Gagliano. Monica is a scientist and the author of the very good book, Thus Spoke the Plant . Monica’s scientific research has focused on plant intelligence, communication through sound, and cognition. She has a really interesting story and has not only experienced plants and life through her scientific work, but als...

Hey everybody!! Episode 34 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Richard Condon. Richard and I met at the Amazonian plant healing center, The Temple of the Way of Light, where he came to drink medicine and began offering his work to help align, deepen, and bring distinctions to the organization. I have learned a lot from Richard and consider him a teacher. His work with ontology...

Hey everybody! Episode 33 of the show is out. A number of people have been asking me to do some more solo talks so I thought this would be a good episode to release an interview I did recently with my friend Will Spencer on his podcast, The Renaissance of Men. On his podcast, we got into a number of topics including my story, my journey into plant medicine, ontology, and what I have come to learn...

Hey everybody! Episode 32 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with Dennis McKenna. Dennis is one of the pioneers of plant medicine work and has been a bridge for shedding light and bringing plant-medicine wisdom to the public. He and his brother Terence McKenna, I think, are great ambassadors for this work at large. Dennis has been involved in research, writing, and teaching for decades and...

Una nota: para ver las  notas del episodio en español,  visite mi sitio web a:  https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/imika-tariru Hey everybody! Episode 31 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Imikā Tariru Bary Vera Kuary Baru. Imika comes from the Tubú nation in the Vaupes region of the Colombian Amazon, on the Apaporis river. I have worked with Imika o...

Hey everybody! Episode 30 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Brian James. Brian and I met working together at the Amazonian plant-medicine center the Temple of the Way of Light. Brian is a yoga teacher and plant-medicine practitioner. I always really enjoy talking to Brian as he has a real depth of knowledge of yoga from a perspective that not many people have. He does a wond...

Hey everybody! Episode 29 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Eduardo Carvalho. Eduardo and I met working together at the Amazonian plant-medicine center the Temple of the Way of Light. ‘Edu’ has a really interesting story and I’ve gotten to know him and seen him do really good work. He approaches this work through his own journey of healing and knowledge and brings that depth...

Hey everybody! Episode 28 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend and colleague Merav Artzi. I have known and worked with Merav for a number of years. We did the same plant-medicine initiation and training, working with tobacco and tree diets. Merav is a great wealth of knowledge and has a depth of experience working with plant medicines. She runs ceremonies and dietas in the toba...

Hey everybody! Episode 27 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke Tatayo. I have known about Tatayo for a number of years as we share mutual friends and he comes from the same tradition that I worked with iboga with. He was called to Gabon and to iboga over forty years ago where he has been living and working ever since. It was an honor to talk to someone with so much experience working with suc...

Una nota: para ver las  notas del episodio en español,  visite mi sitio web a:  https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/wilma-pinedo Hey everybody! Episode 26 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Doña Wilma Pinedo. Wilma was introduced to me through mutual friends. She comes from a long lineage of respected Quechua paqo’s – Wisdom Keepers - in the mystical...

Hey everybody! Episode 25 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Luis Solarat. Luis and I met recently and it has been a pleasure getting to know him. He is a director of a number of films including the very good plant-medicine documentary Reconnect, by London Real. He has recently begun dieting plants in the Shipibo tradition and has a real interest in plant medicine, esoteric t...

Hey everybody! Episode 24 of the show is out. In this show, I spoke with my friend Chase Moore. Chase and I met in the Sacred Valley where he teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu and runs ceremonies with Huachuma or San Pedro. Chase has a really interesting story and it was a pleasure speaking with him. We got into talking about plant medicine, martial arts, and life in general. I have a lot of respect for...

Una nota: para ver las  notas del episodio en español,  visite mi sitio web a:  https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/b-r-best Hey everybody! In this show, I spoke with my friend Brian Best. Brian and I met when I first came to the Amazon. Brian is a fascinating guy who I have a lot of respect for. He has a knowledge of the Shipibo language and culture that is unparalleled....