HTW with Zoe and Erica Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss

You know we’re all about the shrooms here on HTW, and not just the ones that take you on a trip. But when it comes to other psychedelics and their potential health benefits, it can be hard to get over some misconceptions we have. Most of us grew up hearing “drugs are bad, mkay,” and while many can be—and nearly all without taking the proper precautions—it’s taken a toll on public perception around certain compounds and held us back from some very useful and SAFE benefits.
Lauren Taus is a licensed psychotherapist, practicing Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), and trained to work with both psychoactive compounds and plant medicines. Lauren leads Inbodied Life, a group therapy practice and she also offers immersive educational programs for clinicians to learn psychedelic assisted therapy and integration in contexts that hold personal healing as essential to effective facilitation. Lauren is a lifelong student, educator and activist. For decades, Lauren’s work has focused on creating aligned, and kind mind-body connections to support complete health for individuals and the collective.
She helps walk us through using these potent plants as tools for healing, looking at ketamine beyond the stigma (and where those stigmas may be right), and the potential uses for future psychedelic-assisted therapies.
 
Lauren talks about…
Her pain-to-purpose path into the world of mental health
The value people get from their addicitons
How ketamine-assisted psychotherapy works and the history of drug-assisted healing
The experience of using ketamine beyond the stigma
How we compromise ourselves to maintain relationships
The impact of drug legalization
 
Resources:
Learn more at inbodiedlife.com
Instagram: @lauren.taus
Listen: Inbodied Life Podcast
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
 

Oh hey, wellness fanatics! Buckle up for a wildly entertaining chat with the fabulous Candice Kumai, who's basically the Swiss Army knife of the wellness world. She's a chef, journalist, author, model, and host of the Wabi Sabi podcast, and now she's got a new book out on Audible called "Spirited." Brace yourselves for some juicy girl talk and plenty of laughs!
Candice and Erica have been running side-by-side on this wacky wellness rollercoaster for years, watching the landscape morph into something we barely recognize, and still riding those entrepreneurial highs and lows. In this episode, we dish out some real talk about our battles with imposter syndrome, anxiety, insomnia, and all those not-so-glamorous moments that come with the territory.
Expect a healthy dose of chuckles and maybe even a little cat chatter, as among other roles, Candice also devotes many hours to rescuing and fostering kittens.  So, if you're ready for a wild ride through the ever-shifting world of wellness, and a deep dive into Candice's new book "Spirited," don't miss this outrageous and downright honest conversation with the one and only Candice Kumai. 
 
Candice talks about…
The beautiful heartbreak of cat rescue and fostering
Boundaries, the silver linings of the pandemic, 
Feeling empowered to be your full self, the light and the dark
The ugly side of social media and fake influence in the wellness world
Leaving the legacy of being a good person
 
Resources:
Learn more at Candice’s website: https://candicekumai.com/
Listen to "Spirited" exclusively on Audible: http://audible.com/spirited
Kintsugi Wellness: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062669850/
Clean Green Eats: https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Green-Eats-Clean-Eating-Recipes-ebook/dp/B00O11JTME
Listen to Wabi Sabi Podcast: https://candicekumai.com/wabi-sabi-podcast/
Follow Candice to support her work: https://www.instagram.com/candicekumai/
Candice's shop site: https://thematchashoppe.com
Candice on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CandiceKumai/videos
Candice on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@candicekumai
Visit earthandstar.com and use the promo code “PODCAST” to get 15% off your first order
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
 

Are we still talking about stress and anxiety? Yes... yes we are. Because it never f***ing goes away. And panic attacks, in particular, have become a very broad, catch-all topic for a variety of still-potentially-severe-but-not-actually-panic-attack problems. That’s why we’re bringing on our good friend, Dr. Ellen Vora, to lay out the real deal about panic attacks: what they actually are, and how you can cope with them. She practically wrote the book on it — Ok, she ACTUALLY wrote the book on it. The Anatomy of Anxiety is available now.
 
Dr. Ellen Vora talks about…
Unpacking what panic attacks are
False anxiety vs true anxiety
How the fear economy preys on our anxiety
What to do when you’re experiencing a panic attack
How to set ourselves up to avoid them in the first place
 
Resources:
Learn more: ellenvora.com
Instagram: @ellenvoramd
Visit earthandstar.com and use the promo code “PODCAST” to get 15% off your first order
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
 

Time for another sesh between us girls, including a (potentially) informative ride as we discuss everything from The Last of Us (spoiler alert: not a ringing endorsement for fungi) to the miracle of hormone therapy (progesterone for all — if you can get it from your dealer), and how to break up with your therapist once you've worked through your issues. We may or may not also have some opinions on SoulCycle, Glennon Doyle's podcast, and the public feud between Dave Asprey and Joe Rogan over the war on vegetables. 
 
Resources:
Visit earthandstar.com and get 15% off your first order with code HTW
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
 

If you've been suffering through the joys of perimenopause and menopause, this episode is for you. And even if you’re not there yet–it’s coming.  We're going to give you all the juicy details about how we've been misled about menopause — and boy, have we been misled.
We had a hilarious and informative conversation with Monica Molenaar, co-founder of Alloy — assuming you find tales of incontinence as amusing as we do. What we learned is that hormone replacement therapy can actually alleviate the long list of symptoms plaguing women during menopause and perimenopause, but for reasons that will be revealed, we've been told otherwise for the past few decades. Luckily, Monica is a wealth of information and she's here to set the record straight. And you don't have to wait until menopause–actually you SHOULDN’T wait.  You can start treating your symptoms right now. Whether you're in the midst of menopause, perimenopause, or just curious about WTF is going on with your hormones, this episode is definitely worth a listen. Head on over to Alloy's website for more information, and get ready to laugh and learn.
 
Bio:
Monica Molenaar is a serial entrepreneur who has become a passionate advocate for democratizing access to safe, effective, and evidence-based solutions for women as they age, stemming from her own experience going into surgical menopause at age 40 and finding little support.  She is now the co-founder and co-CEO of Alloy Women's Health, an online telehealth and pharmacy platform that makes it easy for women in all 50 states to access expert physicians and gold-standard treatments for menopause.
 
Monica talks about…
The lies women are told about menopause and what we can do about it
Misconceptions about hormone replacement therapy
Taking a multi-strategy approach to menopause management
Empowering women to make the decisions that work best for them
 
Resources:
myalloy.com
Use the code HTW15 for 15% off the first order at MyAlloy.com
Follow Monica on Instagram: @monica.molenaar
Women Have Been Misled About Menopause
Visit earthandstar.com and get 15% off your first order with code HTW
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

Today we're talking about stress, something that we've all experienced. And if you say you don't get stressed, congratulations and also we call bullsh*t.   But fear not, Dr. Elissa Epel is here to give us some tactical tips to address it. She's the author of The Stress Prescription, a book that promises more joy and ease in just seven days. As an expert in stress and biological aging, she knows a thing or two about the subject. And the best part? She actually provides practical strategies that you can apply to your life, rather than broad, useless recommendations. Here at Highway to Well, we love useful tools and guidance, not just meaningless gestures. So without further ado, let's hear from Dr. Elissa Epel.
 
Dr. Epel talks about…
Why stress isn’t always bad for you and how to distinguish between them
Methods for reducing stress in the moment
Taking inventory over what you can control
The relationship between stress and anxiety
Managing the stress responses in kids
How stress passes down generationally
 
Resources:
Learn more at elissaepel.com
Read: The Stress Prescription
Visit earthandstar.com and get 15% off your first order with code HTW
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!