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Brain Shaman

Author: Michael Waite

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Brain Shaman is a philosophical and scientific journey towards better brain health. Michael Waite discusses how you can change your brain state and overall nervous system via behavior, nutrition, nature, and technology. Mental illness, addiction, and low brain function are destroying so many people and societies. By becoming increasingly disconnected from our natural mind-body-world and plugged into the artificial ones, we are getting sicker, weaker, and less free. We must become more conscious of how the information that we consume (in the form of action, food, drugs, sensory input, media, etc.) affects our brain. This podcast teaches you how to reconnect with your primordial nature, reprogram your brain, regain your freedom, and redirect your life. 

91 Episodes
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In this solo episode, we explore the myriad of everyday ways we exhale beyond traditional breathing practices. While techniques like the physiological sigh or the 4-7-8 breath are great, there are plenty of other, often overlooked ways to exhale that can be just as effective yet easy and fun.From screaming and laughing to crying and humming, discover how everyday actions like singing, whistling, blowing on your food or furniture, and even blowing raspberries, bubbles, or kisses, or farting an...
Alex Korb is a neuroscientist, author, and personal development coach. In this episode, we explore how to better understand and redirect your unique brain and life. While we all share certain neural circuits, each person's system is wired differently. By applying the iterative process of science and self-inquiry, you can discover your own unique path forward — helping to free your brain and create a happier life.We discuss the importance of identifying what truly matters to you and focusing o...
In this episode, our guest is Jonathan Dornell, the co-host of the Let's Get Oral podcast. We explore the oral microbiome and how to understand and nurture this vital ecosystem to optimize your brain and body health. You'll learn about key topics like: nitric oxide, neurogastronomy, and how simple habits - like chewing mindfully, eating a balanced diet, and avoiding mouthwash and teeth whitening - can protect your oral microbiome, possibly reducing risks for conditions like caries (cavities),...
In this episode, our guest is Dr. Lara Salyer, a functional medicine practitioner, author, podcaster, and coach. We discuss burnout and how to overcome it by tapping into flow and using functional medicine.Key Topics Covered: Burnout: Causes, diagnosis, physiology, prevention strategies, and Dr. Salyer's personal story. Flow: Neurochemistry, phenomenology, the four phases of the flow cycle (struggle, release, flow, and recovery), triggers, and blockers.Functional Medicine: Core prin...
In this episode, our guest is Nicolas Luna, a language and communication coach. We dive into the secrets of learning and mastering any language, regardless of whether you're a beginner or at an upper-intermediate level.Key Topics Covered: Overcoming barriers: Uncover and overcome your fears, increase your confidence, abandon your ego, and let go of limiting identities and habits.Stealthy Techniques: Play, stories, music, games, improv, journaling, mindfulness, social media, mentors, and ...
In this episode, our guest is ADHD coach Penny Kennedy. We talk all about ADHD - what it is, what it is not, the neuroscience, dopamine, challenges, frustrations, strengths, and more. We discuss various tools to help people with ADHD (or anyone experiencing challenges with executive functioning), including: nutrition, supplements, cold exposure, discomfort, exercise, technology, social connection, coaching, retreats, nature, pausing, and slowing things down.Connect with Penny, learn more, or ...
In this episode, our guest is Janet Gourand, the founder of Tribe Sober, an alcohol sobriety community and podcast. We discuss alcohol blackouts and other alcohol-related dangers. Learn all about blackouts (and brownouts) - risks, causes, science, signs, interactions, preventative measures, horror stories, and more. And become reminded of alcohol's scary links to crime, violence, disease, and even death. One of these times, you could wake up from your blackout inside a hospital, jail cell, or...
In this episode, we talk with Julia Yanker, an adventurer, coach, and Somatic Experiencing Practictioner. We discuss her experiences with adventure sports, trauma, nature, and healing through Somatic Experiencing (SE). Learn about the neuropsychology behind the world of adventure sports, as well as the dangers, drugs, psychosocial dynamics, addictions, anxieties, traumas, disembodiment, and other issues often involved. Discover new ways to safely and gently re-connect with your body, emotions...
In this episode, our guest is Robert Cefoli, the Director of Health and Fitness at FDNY and Co-Founder of Fyr Tribe, a non-profit dedicated to helping firefighters recover from trauma. We discuss the work environment, the stress and trauma that firefighters are exposed to, the bio-psycho-social health challenges they face, the state of their mind and body, and how body-based therapies like TRE (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises), foam rolling, and breathwork can help. Enter the mind a...
In this episode, we dig into a study that compares breathwork protocols with mindfulness meditation - 'Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal' (published in Cell Reports Medicine in January 2023). Learn about 3 breathing exercises (box breathing, cyclic sighing, and cyclic hyperventilation) and a mindfulness meditation exercise. See how their pyschophysiological effects differ from one another and why the cyclic sigh was shown to be most powerful ...
In this episode, we talk with Niraj Naik, the founder of SOMA Breath. We discuss breathing practices and techniques for altering your cognition, mood, and health. Learn how to quiet down your thinking mind, find focus and calm, and enter mystical, psychedelic, and blissful flow states via the breath. Breath patterns, speed, duration, and intensity are all part of this. We can change our breath to change how we think, feel, perceive, and connect. Music, visuals, symbols, light and dark,...
In this episode, our guest is Daniele Scuteri, a fitness enthusiast, language learner, black belt, and former amateur soccer player. We talk about how to level up your mental and physical performance, happiness, and growth by embracing hard things. Challenges and difficulties can be opportunities for transformation along your journey through sports, work, love, learning, and life. We discuss various tools for improving your ability to embrace and push through challenges, including:...
In this episode, our guest is Al Wadleigh, a Feldenkrais practitioner and the co-host of the Feldenkrais for Life podcast. We talk about how to rewire our nervous system through Feldenkrais, increasing our learning, memory, health, and potential. Returning us to that childlike state of exploration, curiosity, aliveness, and possibility, Feldenkrais is like a playful portal into adult neuroplasticity and change. Waking us up from our habits and removing our rigid societal masks and algorithms,...
Dr. Ilene Naomi Rusk is a neuropsychologist and functional medicine brain health consultant who helps heal people with trauma and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's. Her education, training, and experience are vast, dancing like a constellation of stars through the nervous system night. We captured glimpses of it today, focusing primarily on the important role that connection and engagement (with others, nature, yourself, your sensory experience, and the beyond) play on your nerv...
This is a solo episode reflecting on the behavioral and sensory locks and keys to our inner world, that beautiful melty sacred space where imagination, possibilities, dreams, creativity, freedom, and the unconscious come alive, where we are no longer controlled by the external puppeteers and can instead awaken to the authenticity, simplicity, and greatness of our true natural being. Today, we discuss how to leverage those sweet gentle tools that bring us inward and avoid those that blast...
Roland Verment is a neuropsychologist, biohacker, and the owner of Neurobics, an at-home neurofeedback service. In this interview, we discuss how to understand and change the brain via neurofeedback and nootropics.We talk about brain waves (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) and how they correspond to various brain states, regions, neurochemicals, and disorders, including: OCD, ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, and v...
Ken Middleton is the author of Bamboozled: How Alcohol Makes Fools of Us All and the editor of the publication AINYF (Alcohol is NOT Your Friend). In this episode, Ken shares helpful tools and strategies for quitting alcohol. These include: exercise, nutrition, education, sleep, hobbies, social connection, finding a supportive partner, and having a big goal.We also discuss:the neuroscience of alcoholaddiction and strategies for habit changeshort-term and long-term alternatives to alcoholalcoh...
In this episode, we discuss strategies for managing and reducing alcohol cravings, uncovering alternative pathways to satisfy the deeper needs that fuel them. Today, we delve into 11 needs, exploring alternative actions to address each:waternutritionsocial connectionsextouchmovementsleepfeeling of possibility, novelty, chaos, & adventurestimulation (light, sound, etc.)stress reduction and calmgoals/projectsListen in to discover your hidden needs and other healthier ways to satisfy th...
In this episode, we're joined by Osinakachi Akuma Kalu, the founder of TAFFD's, dedicated to enhancing health and biological longevity for Africans through educational initiatives. He's also an author, futurist, musician, and speaker. Our discussion centers on traditional African health practices, mindsets, and tools, covering: social connection, community, movement, nutrition, farming, medicine, music, dance, language, metaphysics, morality & ethics, biodiversity, environmental factors, ...
Josh Sackman, cofounder and president of AppliedVR, joins us today to talk about pain management using virtual reality (VR). We discuss the bio-psycho-social dimensions of pain, and how to manage and reduce it accordingly. Some of the evidence-based tools and features discussed include: breath (e.g. box, 4-7-8, Wim Hof, diaphragmatic breathing, etc.), visualization, social connection, mindfulness & meditation, distraction & attention control, movement & interactivity, presence &am...
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