Wellness for Vets Podcast with James Conner, USMC (Ret.)

In this episdoe, my friend and former mentor John "Ranger" Dailey talks about his early days in the Marine Corps, failing the Recon indoc, Budapest at the end of the Cold War, being a founding member of Det-One and the birth of MARSOC. After retiring from the Marine Corps Ranger stayed with MARSOC to oversee the growth of the unit, specifically the Marine Raider Training Center (MRTC) wh...

Jeff is a veteran of the elite Irish Army Ranger Wing. In this episode Jeff discusses how he ended up in the elite special operations force, what learned along the way, and how he used this knowledge building his own brand after retirement. Jeff has authored a book and runs a prep-program where he teaches people how to be confident and builds they're leadership skills by overcoming adversity.

In this episode, I welcome Steve Trevelise from 94.1 WIP and New Jersey 101.5 for a deep dive into the unique world of sports talk radio and its ability to connect people with the essence of home, regardless of their location. Whether you're serving overseas, stationed in distant lands, or a first responder working tirelessly through the night and holidays, this conversation is a reminder of t...

Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is mostly known as a tool used in physical therapy or some form of recovery.  In this episode Kalyn Steranko of Amped Advantage joins me from Calgary, Canada to explain and discuss how how EMS is used in achieving physical fitness as well as overall health and well being. I tried EMS for six weeks when I was living in Romania and now, two years after that exp...

Leckey is a 16 year veteran firefighter who joins us to discuss the benefits of practicing TRE. In this episode Leckey explains how he was introduced to TRE, what happens to the body during when it is stuck in a cycle of being in a high alert status, the benefits of, and differences in lifting weights vs. TRE for decompression. Leckey was great during this interview and his fun and zany way of exp...

Ron Millward is a 7.5 year Air Force veteran.  In this episode Ron discusses his handling of his own traumatic experiences, being placed on a cocktail of prescription drugs, a suicide attempt, and eventually a breakthrough using cannabis which lead him to path of emotional healing and an exploration with other mind-body therapies. 6:20 Ron and I highlight the trauma or anxiety that comes from...

Dr Aimee Dordevic is a Registered Nutritionist with both the Nutrition Society of Australia and the Association for Nutrition (UK). She works in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University as a Nutrition Science Lecturer and Researcher. Aimee's PhD titled the 'Investigation of the acute nutrigenomic response of adipose ti...

In this episode, Ranjana and I pick up our conversation about tantra after a short break, and turn the focus to recovering from sexual trauma.  Ranjana shares how she would assist someone through a progression of being a victim, to recovery, to becoming empowered and taking back control of their life again.  Recognizing the psychological effects sexual trauma can have on people, Ranja ex...

https://ranjana.one/ https://tantrashamanicessence.com/ Ranjana works as a psychotherapist, and Tantra counselor and facilitator in self-development for individuals and groups. From an early age, she felt a longing to experience life in all its dimensions, where everything is included as ONE, instead of split off from experience. In 1988, she learned about Osho's Active Meditations and began pract...

In this episode of the Wellness for Vets Podcast, Jesse Gould, former Army Ranger and founder & president of @heroicheartsproject joins me to discuss the use of psychedelics and ayahuasca for treating post traumatic stress. Heroic Hearts Project offers a proprietary program to veterans who are interested in pursuing psychedelic treatment options.  They primarily work with ayahuasca retrea...

In response to listeners wanting to learn more about entrepreneurship after, or during the military for that matter, my Marine Corps buddy Jesse Jordan joins me to talk about how he got started in coffee and has launched a successful in person and online coffee business.   In this episode Jesse shares with us how he went from being a non-coffee drinker from Alabama to experimenting with coffe...

Mike Bruns is an Army veteran and a Trauma Focused Therapist specializing in Amazonian Plant Medicine Therapies, Moral Injury, Combat Trauma, Sexual Trauma, Opioid-Addictions Detoxification, Traumatic Brain Injury, Master Past Life Therapist, Mike has done extensive work with veterans suffering from addiction, PTSD, and TBI.  You can read more about his work on his LinkedIn profile. In this e...

In this second part of a two part D-Day special, author and combat historian Patrick O'Donnell joins me to discuss specific events of WWII and the D-Day landing.  Patrick's book catalog is the result of years of making friends with former operatives of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS - predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency) and veterans of various wars including those who parti...

In this first part of a two part D-Day special, British Army Media Affairs Officer Paul "Barney" Barnes joins me to talk about the British and Canadian role in the Normandy invasion and some of the events leading up to D-Day. From Dunkirk to Africa to Burma the Brits were spread all over the globe before the US joined the fight sending bombers and troops into Britain. The show opens with a segment...

Joshua James is a former US Army counterintelligence agent and currently pursuing his MBA in Aberdeen, Scotland.  After leaving the Army he worked as a contractor but found getting the positions he wanted difficult due to not having a college degree.  Having spent time visiting Europe he decided if was going to pursue a degree he was going to do it in Europe and eventually earned his bac...

Rob Sarra is a police officer in Illinois and is a former Marine and fellow 2nd Battalion 1st Marines "Professional."  Rob and I served together during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.  In this episode Rob shares his thoughts on the benefits of having veterans in first reponder units to deal with other veterans.   Around 7:08 Rob begins talking about how he handles crisis situations...

Not only is he a history buff, my old high school class mate Sean Protas is also a Civil War reenactor.  In this episode Sean provides us with a history lesson of the American Civil War leading up to Decoration day which eventually becomes Memorial Day.  The Episode opens with the playing of Taps to mark the solemnity of the holiday and ends with a playing of the US Armed Forces Medley l...

My high school classmate, Father Michael Vannicola, OSFS, joins the show to discuss spiritual fitness.  Fr. Michael is an ordained Catholic priest in the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales, and among his many duties has served as a chaplain for a local police department in one of his previous communities.   In this episode Fr. Michael shares the story of his brother Matthew who took his o...

Bernadette is a yogi and a military spouse.  She runs runs her own yoga clothing line, Doll Yoga Wear and has just published an ebook At Ease: Ancient Yoga Tools for Modern Military .  In this episode Bernadette talks with me about the history of yoga, what makes yoga yoga, and what is the difference between doing yoga verses doing exercise.    We also talk about the physi...

Ted Dinan is Professor of Psychiatry at University College Cork. He was previously Chair of Clinical Neurosciences and Professor of Psychological Medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. Prior to that, he was a Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin. He has worked in research laboratories on both sides of the Atlantic and has a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Lon...

   Andre Bosier is a career United States Marine. Beginning his career as a Force Reconnaissance Marine, “Bo” was hand selected to be a member of the experimental Detachment-1, the Marine Corps’ proof of concept composition to US Special Operations Command, which eventually gave birth to Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Now Bo is the Chief Instructor for Standard Elite, develo...

Fritz is a 22 year Marine Corps Veteran.  He was an infantryman, Scout Sniper, intelligence collector, special operations instructor and special operations intelligence collector.  In this episode we talk about a piece Fritz wrote as a Facebook thought, and go over transitioning from military to civilian life, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, listening to your body when it comes to physical...

In this episode I reference two news article published in the beginning of 2019 addressing the alarmingly high rates of suicide within the US Special Operations Command and the United States Marine Corps. I offer up my three takeaways on what I believe to be some key missing pieces to a suicide prevention program: 1. Nutritional interventions 2. Examining and monitoring hormones and neurotransmitt...

Josh began his career in the Naval Special Warfare community before going on to retire as a chief warrant officer in the Marine Corps. Marti Jo works for Refit Revolution. In this episode of the Wellness for Vets Podcast Josh and Marti Jo talk with me about life with Josh's traumatic brain injury (TBI), Marti Jo's daily fight with diabetes, the ketogenic diet and their pursuit of optimal health, a...

In the first recorded episode of the Wellness for Vets podcast, high school football and track coach, and health teacher Justin Moreau talks with us about transitioning from military life to civilian life, coaching high school age kids in sports, the weight room, and nutrition, and the overall health of the general population.  Coach Moreau also offers up some tips on his view of how to live...