Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is purely for educational purposes and should not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific treatment plan, medicinal plant, or course of action for medical treatment. None of the statements or ethnobotanical information in this episode have been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The purpose of the information conveyed in this podcast is simply to explore the ancient healing practices of indigenous cultures. Please consult a professional if you are considering the use of plant-based medicines.

     In many ways people have become disconnected, dislocated, and dislodged from their place in the world as a result of trauma.  Trauma due to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, or just everyday unmanaged stress as an important social determinant of health. These traumas can actually change the chemical makeup of the brain and increase the risk for developing certain physical ailments, including digestive problems, diabetes, chronic pain, and heart disease. Unfortunately, the American healthcare system is not effective in addressing the root causes of the chronic issues we face at a psycho-emotional level. Western culture is now looking for alternative ways to stem the epidemic of anxiety, depression, and stress we see in the modern world.  Is there an opportunity in health transformation to seek alternative and ancient sources of healing medicine that finds coherence between the mind and heart and the body and the spirit?

     This week we are offering our listeners with a Bonus episode to discuss the healing potential of ayahuasca. Our guest is Kevin Johnson (also known by the Q’ero people of Peru as Puma Blanco). He is a shamanic healer who has become a popular public speaker, giving presentations on consciousness, shamanism, plant medicines and psychedelics. He’s been featured in several magazines and periodicals, and has appeared on many popular podcasts including; “Tangentially Speaking” with Christopher Ryan, “The Duncan Trussell Family Hour”, “The Warrior Poet” with Aubrey Marcus, “Not Just Paleo” with Evan Brand, “Fat Burning Man” with Abel James, and “The Truth Junkie Podcast” with Kevin Bates…just to name a few. This won’t be your typical Race to Value episode.  Not only are we exploring the congruency between ayahuasca and healing and the parallels between shamanism and Western medicine, but we will also be learning about the Q’ero people of Peru who have a special relationship with the planet and an approach to energy balancing that maybe we could all learn from.

     If you have an open mind and an open heart, you will find this conversation to be quite enlightening and informative as people around the world are retracing the ancient pathways of shamanism, the oldest spiritual practice of healing on the planet. So let’s now hear from Kevin Johnson, who is joining us for this special bonus episode of the Race to Value!

Episode Bookmarks:

01:30 Trauma as an overlooked social determinant of health that leads to chronic disease.

02:30 Introduction to Kevin (Puma Blanco) Johnson – a shamanic healer and popular public speaker on the topics of consciousness, shamanism, plant medicines, and psychedelics.

03:00 The healing potential of ayahuasca, parallels between shamanism and Western medicine, and the Q’ero people of Peru.

05:45 Referencing prior episode with Dr. Charles Nemeroff, the Co-Director for the Center for Psychedelic Research & Therapy.

06:00 Inspiration from Hippocrates: “The greatest medicine of all is teaching people how not to need it.” “Foolish the doctor who despises the knowledge acquired by the ancients.”

06:30 Ayahuasca is a very ancient medicine, with archaeological evidence for the consumption of ayahuasca going back at least a thousand years.

07:30 An overview of ayahuasca as a plant medicine and how it can provide healing, alleviate suffering, and enhance spirituality.

09:45 Is cultural appropriation of ayahuasca in the West necessarily a bad thing according to indigenous healers?

11:00 Celebrities like Prince Harry and Aaron Rodgers are touting the benefits of ayahuasca.

11:45 Dr. Rick Strassman was the first person in the U.S. to undertake human research with DMT (the psychoactive component of ayahuasca) and called it “The Spirit Molecule.”

12:45 Research shows that most ritualistic ayahuasca users have a shared experience with something that is deeply spiritual and mystical in nature.

13:30 “There is an intelligence behind the medicine that is directing the experience.”

14:00 “A hygienic process for psychology” — the universe has an energetic impact on human beings (positive and negative), and ayahuasca can help people purge negative energies.

15:30 Is there a potential physical healing component to ayahuasca?

16:45 The psychological healing of a ceremonial ayahuasca experience.

17:45 The “mother” can provide clarity, insight, discernment, and wisdom.

18:30 The ancient culture of the Q’ero – a Quechua-speaking community that live in one of the most remote places in the Peruvian Andes.

19:30 The Q’ero have kept their ancient teachings, secret codes and Andean cosmovision intact and alive for centuries.

20:00 The destructive nature of Western Culture that leads to domestication and conditioning that is incongruent with living as a spiritual being in Nature.

21:00 A pilgrimage to the Q’ero Nation in the Peruvian Andes and the ancient wisdom ofDon Gino Chaka-Runa.

22:00 How the Q’ero people experience happiness by living in close connection with the earth and their community.

22:45 The Mystical World of the Q’ero as “Masters of the Living Energy”

23:00 “The game is energy, and you play it through acquisition, maintenance, and investment.”

23:45 Living in reverence and harmony to the spirit of nature (Pachamama) and managing a system of living energy.

24:45 How Western culture creates physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual sickness due to living incongruently with the natural world.

27:30 The ancient Q’ero healing principles and approach to energetics (the balance of “Sami and Hucha” – light refined energy vs. heavy dense energy).

30:00 The domestication of Western culture that leads to an atrophy of the energy system (“Poq’po”), resulting in trauma and sickness.

32:00 “We must always be in Ayni – living in sacred reciprocity.”

33:00 The Q’ero as “wisdom keepers” and their prophecy to restore ancient wisdom for the healing of the world.

33:45 The Ancient Prophecy of the Eagle and Condor and why the Q’ero moved to South America to preserve their wisdom.

36:30 A planetary realignment that shifted Earth into a new epoch and signaled the restoration of wisdom to people in the West (the people of the Eagle).

37:30 How the release of condors in California is emblematic of the fulfillment of a prophecy!

38:30 “Thoughts, words, and actions are energy.  We need to control of the ways we are using our energy so that it benefits us, the people around us, and the world as a whole.”

39:45 The energetic concept of sympathetic resonance (like energy attracts like energy).

41:00 Changing the energy we address the world with to determine the outcomes of the situations in our lives.

42:00 How shamans engage with plant medicines on an energetic level to curate vibrational energies in ceremony that facilitate healing.

45:00 Are their similarities between Q’ero energy practices and other cultural practices of shamanism, mindfulness, yoga, meditation, etc.?

47:00 The optimism of ancient wisdom spreading in the West to provide more holistic healing.

48:30 Plant medicines are not a panacea.  Ayahuasca is for everyone, but not everyone should drink ayahuasca or take other psychedelics.

49:30 Other ways to alter consciousness for profound transformation (e.g. floatation therapy, yoga, meditation)

50:30 A warning about bad acting shamans that can weaponize ayahuasca.

51:30 How ayahuasca tourism in South America has created a dangerous environment for healing with plant medicine.

52:30 The importance of music in ayahuasca ceremonies. Medicine songs known as Icaros can create waves of frequency to move blocked energies and repel negative energies.

53:30 “There is a lot of potential with plant medicines and psychedelics, but we must approach with wisdom and discernment. We must always keep safety in mind.”

54:00 Find out more about Kevin (Puma Blanco) and his work in the ancient practices of shamanism through Vida Brilliante.

55:00 Kevin (Puma Blanco) closes the podcast by singing an Ayahuasca Icarosthat calls the spirit of a tree.