The Nutrition Translator Podcast

Join us for the Sacred Food Journey, a 4-month live online course, including an in-person Sacred Plant Medicine retreat with both Ayahuasca & Huachuma, designed to break free from the confines of diet culture and cultivate a healthier relationship with food and body image. This unique program incorporates trauma-informed practices, shamanic journeying, Sacred Plant Wisdom, and empowering somatic techniques. Learn more:  https://www.nutritiontranslator.com/sacredfoodjourney What is included? 4 months/16 weeks, 1 hour of live video lessons each week, 1 hour live Q&A, Group Coaching call every week, Weekly Somatic practices including an Ayahuasca Microdosing Practice, In Person Sacred Plant Medicine Retreat with 2 Ayahuasca Ceremonies & 1 Huachuma Ceremony (travel not included), Course Start April 29, 2024, Retreat Dates: June 19th-23rd, 2024. As a Registered Dietitian, Colleen brings a wealth of knowledge in nutrition, and the intricate relationship between food and the body. Complementing this expertise, Colleen, is also a skilled plant medicine facilitator, integrating shamanic journeying and Sacred Plant Wisdom into the healing process. Modules: 1: Creating an environment of safety. 2: Map your nervous system: Introduction to Polyvagal theory. 3: Understanding Your Window of Tolerance for Eating. 4: What parts are stopping your healing with food and body image: Introduction to internal family systems. 5 Creating your attachment blueprint and understanding your food relationship style. 6: What if I Can’t "Trust" My Body: Exploring the Relationship Between Neurodivergent Individuals, Interoception and Body Image. 7: As above, So below: Preparation for sacred plant medicine. 8: What to expect: Continue preparation for the plant medicine retreat. 9: The shadow and the light: Sacred plant medicine retreat & experiential, 10-11: Integration: Guided processes for integrating insights from the retreat into daily life. 12: Toxicity in Wellness & Diet Culture. 13: Deconstructing Oppressive Systems as it relates to our food relationship. 14: Gut Health and Anti- Inflammatory Foods. 15: Real healing is multifaceted: Trauma work is not he cure-all. 16. Food Freedom: Reflection on personal growth throughout the course. The Results Await You: Break free from extremes in body image, food, and dieting. Cultivate a harmonious relationship with food and your body. Discover profound self-acceptance and food freedom. Who is this for? Open to those who identify as women only. Women seeking a deeply transformative journey with food and body image. If you are being called to work with Sacred Plant Medicine. Those ready to get off the hamster wheel of yoyo dieting. Those wanting to break free from the extremes of diet culture and foster a healthier relationship with food and body image. If you are wanting to get to the root cause & open to exploring a unique Shamanic process & path to healing. ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT! Apply now https://colleenkuhn.typeform.com/to/hjQVrkcZ

I tried out the precision health company, Wild Health, for 3 months and it was incredibly impressive. I even made shocking nutrition changes you won't believe, based on my personal genetic testing results. I don't promote services on this podcast unless I stand by what they offer, and have tried it myself. I had Dr. Matt Dawson on the show to talk about Wild health. Wild Health is a genomics-based precision medicine program that provides personalized care based on genetics. The program analyzes your DNA, lifestyle, and biometrics to create a blueprint for optimal health. If you are looking for an longterm sustainable solution to health &  alternative to Ozempic, this would be it. https://www.wildhealth.com

My Ayahuasca teacher, Jess Gold, interviewed me for her podcast, the Cielo Community Podcast! I decided to share the interview here as well. I have been working with Jess the past 4 years and now helping to facilitate ceremony. Jess has been serving the Medicine and leading ceremonies for the last eight years and she is currently continuing her medicine path to become a Tabaquera under the tutelage Maestro Tabaquero Ernesto García de la Torres in Iquitos, Peru. 

Which is better, the in, or the out? It's actually both together. Proximity and separation. The heat and the cooling. The forgetting and the remembering. We are participants and creations of the cosmic f**k. Where we get stuck is preferring one place over the other.

The yearning, the longing, the ever becoming. It is not a singular fixed location of attaining, it's the spaces in between. Where the meadow meets the forest. The tidal pools, the transition between land and sea is where most life is born. The backing the for-thing. Which is better, the in or the out? It's actually both together. Proximity and separation. The heat and the cooling. The forgetting and the remembering. We are participants and creations of the cosmic f**k. Where we get stuck is preferring one place or the other. This is the ever unfolding mystery of the universe. Today we discuss this concept as well as relationship dynamics, monogamy vs. polyamory, intimacy, being seen, vulnerability, energy healing, psychedelic integration and sacred plant medicine, the importance of patience on the healing journey for both you and your teacher/facilitator. Kristen Hansen is a Reiki Practitioner, psylocibin facilitator, relationship coach, and host of the Ascending Masters Podcast.  Kristen’s spiritual exploration began with a near death experience in 1998, opening her up to a world of trauma but also possibility. Kristen enjoys helping other find a deeper love for themselves and the world around them. She lives in the mid west with her partner of 20 years, 2 children, her dog, and cat. Follow on IG and tik tok @kristenhansen444, or schedule a service at kristenhansenhealing.com

My love affair with Ayahuasca continues... This song was adapted from the original by Johanna Warren, White Owl

Podcast Today’s guest is Mohini Gima. She does work with women of color to reclaim their roots, intimacy, voice and womb so they can thrive in all relationships. In today’s conversation we dive deep right away talking about toxic wellness culture and structural systems of oppression, and how that affects BIPOP communities. We discuss how systemic, ancestral, intergenerational trauma affects how we show up today in our bodies and what we can do to make a change within ourselves and also culturally, body to body. We discuss Mohini’s beautiful  journey in connecting with her voice and her womb. We talk about how the yoni is connected to our kundalini energy, vagus nerve and life force. We discuss how we can channel our erotic, juicy energy and tap into BPE, big p*ssy energy! We talk about ways to create intimacy with yoni and womb, ways to connect to voice, and how to be authentic within our current system. And how to alchemize womb wounds to womb wisdom. Connect with Mohini Click Here

What if our wellness culture isn't making us well. We live in a society haunted by the idea of wholeness, perfection, getting finally getting into an untraumatized body. But what if this ideal of self actualization & getting to the highest version of ourselves is actually making us sicker, more separate & less compassionate? What about those with sicknesses with no remedies? What about those with limited resources and socioeconomically disadvantages?  What if instead of looking up for the answers, instead of striving to fix ourselves, we looked  right beneath our feet, within the soil. And looked at how inclusion, the mixing bowl, actually helps us thrive.

Since coming back from the jungles of the Amazon, I have had A LOT to reflect on and integrate. What is not talked about enough is the, "rough landing," coming home from a psychedelic or transformational experience. Along with the rough landing, the concept of spiritual materialism and spiritual bypassing can be easily missed in the spiritual community. Walking the spiritual path can be very slippery & a subtle process. We can deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing, when instead we are strengthening our self protective parts. Falling into the trap of spiritual materialism, using our practice to boost our ego, rather than to integrate it. Along with this, I have noticed that  wellness culture in general has many pitfalls including the idea of finally getting to wholeness, of perfection of finally getting to a body that walks around untraumatized and "normal." What if becoming "fixed" or "clean," wasn't the goal, but rather more inclusive and diverse. Wellness culture doesn't account for or extend compassion for those who may have illnesses that have no cure, and those who have socioeconomic disadvantages. In this episode I talk about my most recent Ayahuasca retreat, which I had the honor to co-facilitate with my teacher. This was my first time co-leading ceremony and it was beautiful, challenging and everything in between. Other topics discussed are synchronicity, purpose & shamanism.

Sweet Marosa, you had me look at all the times I've been hurt, & sit with deep sadness, grief, loss, abandonment, boundary violations, disrespect & dishonorable treatment from others & broken heartedness. I've forgiven them & myself. I saw how & where my walls of protection were built & how to let them down, one by one. I now feel a full-bodied certainty of value in this world & feel available to experience & share my love in healthy ways. I feel a sense of deep belonging in this world & confidence in myself. My heart is mended, softened & has turned into a luminescent red rose. I see the beauty & power that resides within me & how it's always been there. Gracias Marosa for your medicine, the spirit of love. In this audio I am right next to Marosa in the jungle singing to her. You might hear the sounds of the Peruvian jungle in the background. (The Shamanic Dieta: Where does a shaman get their knowledge and ability to heal others? From the spirits of the plants. How do they get this? From a tradition called a Dieta. This is a practice that is necessary for one to become a plant doctor. It is a process that invites the spirit of a plant to merge with your body and spirit, work as an ally to teach, give power & knowledge to heal others. How is this done? Dieting a plant requires undergoing a level of suffering. It involves looking at the shadow & it involves fasting food for a certain amount of time, eating a simple bland diet & being removed from all stimulation so one can mediate & concentrate on the plant spirit, building a relationship with it. This Icaro was gifted to me by Marosa after dieting w her in Peru this October.)

My Peru adventure was not what I excepted. Some things went terribly wrong, and I was put in some very dangerous situations. The jungle did eat me alive, and it made me stronger. Though the journey was unbelievably challenging on every level possible, I came out on the other side changed and completely transformed. I am glad the expedition wasn't what I expected, because in the end, it was better than I could have ever imagined. 5 weeks in the Jungle, 1 week in the mountains of Peru, 3 shamanic plant dietas, countless Ayahuasca Ceremonies, a deep dive into the great unknown & into the depths of my own body, mind and spirit taught me how I can be an even better Ayahuasca facilitator whenever that time comes, and the cleanest, clearest vessel for the medicine to shine through.

I got to meet the spirit of Redwood this past July, AKA a shamanic dieta with Rojo Caspi (Redwood). Redwood's teachings and wisdom came through my dreams, through the whispers of nature, meditation and synchronicities during our communion together. I had dreams of my dog & sister dying which felt so real I cried for hours. I had visions during my meditations of red blood washing down a wall, symbolizing the red in redwood, blood, death & beauty in what can come from death. I pulled the death card 3x. Redwood said to me: "I am teaching you about life, death the cycle of life, & rebirth. I hold the maternal energy of the earth. I watch as things die, are reborn and how everything connects and comes together again over years and years of stillness. Everything comes together, and it will be ok. Open your heart and let the walls down. As you remember this you can stand firmly and sturdy though the years. Breathe and trust. Redwood said the path I am on will only get harder & that I have much to learn. It will be a lot to hold, but you can do it. You are not alone. Let the medicine in. The Magician is on intimate terms with death. Death always precedes rebirth and rebirth is your goal." Redwood gifted me this melody many weeks before this dieta, little did I know it was from Redwood. The melody came back and Icaro structure came together all at once during a meditation during the dieta. It made sense why it had to wait until now. I sang it in Ayahuasca ceremony the first time a couple days after. As soon as I started I could feel the room shift. Afterwards one of the passengers told me as he was purging during the Icaro, a space opened up in his heart which has been blocked for many years. Gracias Rojo Caspi for your medicine and thank you for letting me be a vessel for your medicine to come through. 

Liminality is the place of no longer and the not yet. Liminal spaces are where the magic happens. This can also be a place of great discomfort. A place sometimes called, ‘crazy space.” Being in a liminal space can be incredibly uncomfortable for most. Brains crave homeostasis and predictability, and liminal space is everything but this. Death, divorce, loss, illness, the space in between making a decision are considered liminal spaces. This Ayahuasca path that I am on is forcing me to find ways to be in a permanent liminal space. A place between two realms, with one foot in this world and another in the spirit realm. I am having to hold so many paradoxes, that to my human mind if feels very confusing and scares the heck out of me. The shaman must know how to voyage inside herself & the great unknown without getting lost. To then steward others through these spaces. In the liminal space it is easy to feel lost. This is where I find myself at currently, learning to navigate and accept this liminal space. To find center in the groundless ground. One could say that I am losing my mind, but that is exactly what this space calls forth, crazy making. And in this place I am finding is so much power, so much wisdom, so much transformation, so much magic. It is a place where anything is possible.

Ayahuasca icaros, or ikaros, are traditional indigenous Amazonian songs that are performed as accompaniment to sacred plant healing ceremonies. They are musical prayers that embody the powers of spirits of plants and animals, deities, ancestors, and elemental forces. Channeled into this reality by Ayahuasca facilitators and Shamans, they are employed as efficient healing agents, powerful spirit weapons, or ineffable realm creators. Shamans learn icaros through years of training and communing with the plants, whose powers they are to use in healing or divinatory purposes. This training is commonly known as the ‘dieta,’ During the ‘dieta,’ shamans spend days & weeks in isolation from the community (but, not uncommonly, alongside other shamans in training), fasting on a basic diet which includes rice & plantains with no salt. They commune with the Master Plant once or a few times per day slowly gathering power, insight, and knowledge from the spirit world. Aside from food, they abstain from all other activities as well, leaving ample space for the Master Plant Teacher lessons to come through. Over the course of their training, future shamans slowly establish a strong connection with their plant teachers. As this resonance grows, the dreams, artistic inspiration and aptitude of the shaman diversify and develop as well. At some point, the apprentices are gifted with songs and chants, which they are to use for calling forth the lost souls and their spirit allies, and strengthening or modulating the actions of the plant spirits. I was gifted this haunting Icaro while I dieted an organic version of Agua De Florida. Florida Water is a mixture of several plants and has been used for centuries by healers for protection, cleansing and personal rituals. It is known as the Shaman's cleanse.

Today I have on the show Andrea Lee. Andrea Lee, B.S.N., R.N. is the founder and CEO of Mindful Cube, a consulting company dedicated to helping individuals learn skills to live more fully in the present moment by skillfully working with difficult thoughts, sensations and emotions that arise. She is also an RN who has spent the majority of her career building oncology nurse navigation programs that bridge gaps in our fragmented healthcare system and improve quality of care for patients and providers. Andrea has been working with ayahuasca and plant medicine for almost 3 years now and is in the process of learning to become an ayahuasca  facilitator & shaman. I have been lucky enough to be on the shamanic path with Andrea the past 3 years. Topics we cover are: what it requires to become an Ayahuasca facilitator and shaman, working with plants spirits, what a shamanic dieta is & the importance of it in becoming a facilitator, working with unpredictability & the liminal state of groundlessness, teachings from the Redwood tree, more teachings from Ayahuasca just from last weekend, perfectionism, self doubt, shame, following your purpose. Enjoy!Connect with Andrea for Kambo, mindfulness coaching or sound healing: andrea@mindfulcube.com

This podcast is an update on my life and musing on Ayahuasca's teachings, following your calling/purpose, different types of relating - monogamous and non-monogamous, conscious relationships, manifestation, courage, trauma healing, interoception and faulty signals our bodies can give us due to past trauma, and how to listen your intuition & following your heart. Note: I know that Top Gun is the Navy, not the Air Force! This podcast is a vulnerable one & it's not perfect & much more going into these ponderings that weren't presented today! 

Ayahuasca forms the foundation of the indigenous plant medicine traditions of the Western Amazonian Shamanism, but the dieta plays a crucial role in building upon that foundation. It could be considered the support beams of the tradition, upon which the rest of the structure is built. So what is a dieta? In simple terms, a dieta is a contract made between a curandero, or student of curanderismo, and a particular plant spirit. For several days the dieter communes with the plant with no other distractions. No salt, sugar, spices, sex, touching others, electronics, or distractions. Food choices are limited to plantains, veggies and also fish if not vegetarian. The purpose of the dieta is to build a relationship with the plant spirit, and just like with building relationships with other people, the more sincere, honest, and well-intentioned attention a dieter gives to the plant spirit, the better the relationship will be. The spirit of the plant can be felt on subtle levels and dieters can become more aware of those sensations by directing their attention to them. A special bond is formed, a friendship between the dieter and the plant spirit. It is through this friendship that the curandero or student receives benefit from the relationship, the fruits of the dieta. This new friend provides information, guidance, and energy to assist in their personal healing process & can then call in these spirits into Ayahuasca ceremony to assist the passengers in their healing process. When dieting Sequoia last September, I experienced this massive tree as a gentle giant. His spirit was a beautiful purple color and this sweet melody came to me softly as I was looking out the window into the bright sky. As I hummed the melody the words & teachings came shortly after. Sequoia brings a sense of grounding and stability. If you are feeling swept up by life right now, listen to this Icaro to help calm your sweet soul back to your heart. Much love, Colleen

Today I have on the show Randy Havens! You may know him best from Stranger Things (2016) playing middle school teacher, Mr. Clarke, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) playing Dr. Tim Mancini, and Instant Family (2018) playing Michael. I know Randy because we have been drinking Ayahuasca together for about a year. I wanted to invite Randy on to talk all things, stranger things…including the very strange world of Ayahuasca! https://www.instagram.com/mrrandyhavens/

Manifesting is a big buzz word in the spiritual & self-help community. Today's podcast I discuss what manifesting is, how manifesting advice can be problematic, what keeps us from getting the food freedom we desire and how to actually manifest food freedom. How to get the food freedom you desire might surprise you!

I would like to share an Icaro, (medicine song) that is sung in Ayahuasca ceremony in the Mestizo tradition. I call in 2 trees in for protection, Ayahuma (the cannonball tree), and Lupuna Blanca. Ayahuma is regarded as an immensely grounding master plant that can help you to gain resilience and wisdom through releasing past trauma and stored emotion. The warming protective qualities of the Ayahuma spirit can help us access previously unchartered levels of vulnerability. For me, Ayahuma created a wall of protection around me and is like my tree boyfriend :) representing the Sacred Masculine. Lupuna is one of the biggest trees in the Amazon. It stands tall and proud and reminds us to do the same. Connect to this tree to bring you strength, courage, expansion and self-value. For me, when dieting Lupuna, she brought in sparkling, white magic and helped me connect back to my power.In the song you will hear Spanish lyrics like Poderosa Medicina, which means powerful medicine, Poderoso icaroini, which means powerful icaro, Limpia limpia cuerpocito, which means clean our bodies, Limpia limpia shungoini, clean our hearts, Limpia limpia sentidito, which means clean our thoughts/emotions, and Pura Medicina, which means we are calling in medicine that is pure with love. I recommend to not listen to this icaro while driving. Sending you so much love in your healing journey my friend! Love, Colleen