MINDBEND with Matthew Dunehoo

I am not a psychonaut, but I know one, and chances are you do too. Just what exactly are we talking about when talking about psychedelics and "plant medicine?" What's meant by "non-ordinary states of consciousness." What is "flow state?" What about breathwork, meditation, and energy medicine? Join me in seeking answers to some of the questions you yourself might have for individuals who experience altered states of consciousness through vast and varied substances and practices. I'm passionate about destigmatizing the conversation around matters of mental wellness, mood disorder, and addiction. Whether seeking to improve the quality of your own life, or merely curious about the rapidly emerging psychedelic landscape, MINDBEND presents candid conversations with colorful characters for your cranial consumption!

  1. 20 HR AGO

    Bio Emotional Healing & Brain Reprogramming with Ashleigh Di Lello

    Ashleigh Di Lello joins the MINDBEND podcast to discuss the system she developed called Bio-Emotional Healing, a framework designed to help people recognize and change deeply conditioned emotional and neurological patterns. She teaches how to gain awareness of the hardwired thoughts and emotions stored in the body, connecting to the body through breath and inquiry to interrupt conditioned responses, and taking control of thoughts and emotions to generate new neurochemical responses. Through this lens, the conversation explores the idea that people can actively participate in shifting their internal patterns rather than remaining stuck in habitual emotional cycles. Throughout the discussion, De Lillo describes how her work focuses on rewiring the nervous system and the brain-body relationship, emphasizing that emotional responses and beliefs can become physically embedded in the body over time. The interview explores how awareness, breath, and intentional questioning can help interrupt automatic reactions and create space for different responses. The conversation also touches on how these tools relate to broader conversations around non-ordinary states of consciousness and personal transformation. We consider how profound experiences—whether psychedelic experiences, traumatic events, or other life-altering moments—can shift a person's perspective, and how integration practices that work with the brain-body connection may help people translate those moments into lasting change. Connect with Ashleigh: Ashleigh's Website: www.ashleighdilello.com Follow MINDBEND IG: @mymindbend Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mymindbend Website: www.mymindbend.org This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast #mindbendpodcast #bioemotionalhealing #ashleighdelillo #nervoussystemhealing #mindbodyconnection #traumahealing #neuroplasticity #selfregulation #emotionalhealing #somaticawareness #consciousness #personalgrowth #healingjourney #mentalwellness #psychedelicintegration #brainbodyconnection #selfawareness #nervoussystemregulation

    1hr 25min
  2. 25 MAR

    A Psychologist's Psychedelic Transformation with Dr. Jeff McNairy

    I'm grateful to welcome in Dr. Jeff McNairy to this episode of the Mindbend Podcast! Our discussion explores his path into clinical mental health and the experiences that shaped his approach to treating trauma and complex psychological struggles. Early in his career he worked in clinical and treatment settings where he witnessed patients arriving with deep unresolved trauma that often went inadequately addressed within conventional medical environments. Those experiences pushed him toward further transformational training and a commitment to improving how mental health care is practiced within clinical systems. The episode looks closely at the therapeutic relationship itself. Dr. McNairy describes how trust between clinician and patient becomes the foundation for meaningful therapy, as evidenced by his life-changing work with Rhythmia founder, Gerard Powell.  Dr. Jeff explains the psychodynamic frameworks that influenced his training, including object relations theory, and reflects on the emotional responsibility clinicians carry when they engage deeply with patients' psychological lives. The conversation also touches on the complexities of building treatment programs and clinics that attempt to address trauma in more comprehensive, including psychedelic ways. Dr. McNairy talks about lessons learned from working inside large treatment programs like Rhythmia, managing teams of therapists, and developing systems of care that include integration and longer-term support after intensive therapeutic work. Throughout the episode he reflects on the challenges clinicians face when helping patients process trauma, rebuild trust in themselves, and reconnect with a more authentic sense of identity. Connect with Dr. Jeff: Jeff's Website Rhythmia's Website Follow MINDBEND IG: @mymindbend Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mymindbend Website: www.mymindbend.org This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast #MindbendPodcast #JeffMcNairy #Psychiatry #MentalHealth #TraumaHealing #PsychodynamicTherapy #TherapyProcess #ClinicalPsychology #TraumaRecovery #MentalHealthCare #TherapistLife #HealingJourney #PsychologyConversation #MentalHealthAwareness #EmotionalHealing #TraumaWork #IntegrationWork #PodcastInterview #plantmedicine

    1 hr
  3. 11 MAR

    Empowering People on the Medicine Journey with Atara Oven

    I met the microdosing coach Atara Oven at the Awakening of Consciousness conference in Los Angeles, and I'm proud to be hosting her podcast premiere! Our conversation begins with a discussion about the growing reality of people microdosing while also navigating prescription medications such as SSRIs and benzodiazepines.  Atara is an experiential architect of sorts. She explains how intentional structure can dramatically shape someone's experience with microdosing. Atara stresses the importance of approaching the process with clear protocols, expectations, and personal reflection rather than treating it as a casual or trend-driven practice. She describes the role of a microdose coach and how thoughtful guidance, observation, and ongoing dialogue can help people better understand their responses and outcomes. We cover the value of support systems, curiosity, and deliberate participation in the process. Rather than presenting microdosing as a shortcut, Atara frames it as something that benefits from planning, intention, and careful attention to the individual's circumstances. The result is a grounded, unsensational conversation about how people can approach microdosing more thoughtfully, responsibly, and ultimately effectively. Connect with Atara Oven: Journey State Website Follow MINDBEND IG: @mymindbend Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mymindbend Website: www.mymindbend.org This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast #MindbendPodcast #Microdosing #MicrodosingProtocol #MicrodoseCoaching #PsychedelicConversation #ConsciousnessExploration #MentalHealthConversation #SSRIs #MentalHealthSupport #IntentionalLiving #PsychedelicCommunity #AwakeningOfConsciousness #PodcastConversation #PersonalGrowth #SelfExploration

    1hr 1min
  4. 25 FEB

    Rematriating Our Psychedelic World with Mikaela de la Myco

    On EP.51 of the MindBend podcast, Mikaela de la Myco discusses how her early personal encounters with death and loss became the foundation for her spiritual worldview . She shares the significance of honoring ancestors through traditions like the ofrenda and storytelling, emphasizing that we keep those who have passed alive by remembering them and involving future generations in these sacred practices . Her perspective shifts the focus of memorialization from achieving immortality to maintaining an active, nourishing relationship with the "other side" . Mikaela opens up about the dehumanizing nature of the modern hospice experience and the linguistic gaps we face when trying to discuss grief and the end of life . Drawing from her own family's struggles with terminal illness, she highlights the vital importance of how we care for and "send out" those who are passing . This personal history informs her deep appreciation for healers and elders who specialize in end-of-life care, particularly those integrating holistic and supportive practices into the dying process . As a psychedelic practitioner, Mikaela views her work with psilocybin as a multi-generational healing journey that bridges the gap between ancestors and descendants . She describes her ceremonial practice as an intentional space where the stories of those who came before her are brought into the experience to ensure they feel the impact of the healing being done . Her approach is rooted in the belief that healing does not exist in a vacuum, but is a collective effort that honors both the past and the future Follow Mikaela de la Myco: Instagram: censored (visit her homepage) Website: mushwomb.love Follow MINDBEND IG: @mymindbend Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mymindbend Website: www.mymindbend.org This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast #MindBendPodcast #MikaelaDeLaMyco #AncestralHealing #PsychedelicMotherhood #EndofLifeCare #GriefWork #DiaDeLosMuertos #Ofrenda #SpiritualWorldview #MushroomMedicine #PsilocybinCeremony #HolisticHealing #DeathDoula #ConsciousLiving #HealingJourney #MushWomb #IndigenousWisdom

    1hr 5min
  5. 7 JAN

    Honoring Place-Based Wisdom with Stephanie Michael Stewart, MD

    Dr. Stephanie Michael Stewart is a psychiatrist working at the intersection of mental health and ecological consciousness. I am grateful that she sat down with us to share her evolving understanding of trauma, embodiment, and healing on the Mindbend Podcast. Drawing from her clinical background, she reflects on how psychiatric work inside traditional institutions has illuminated the limitations of Western medical frameworks—and how stepping outside those systems has allowed her to reconnect with land-based, somatic, and ancestral forms of wisdom. Her approach blends science and spirit, grounded in years of experience treating patients while also listening deeply to what the natural world teaches. Dr. Stewart describes how personal practices like walking, observing nature, and being in relationship with land became essential to her own healing journey. She speaks about "Returning to the Mothership," a project rooted in her desire to help others remember what it feels like to be in right relationship with the Earth. The conversation touches on themes of slowing down, listening to grief, and reclaiming the body as a site of both memory and regeneration. Her voice is gentle but firm as she stresses the need to listen to place-based wisdom, from those people and communities who are often not included in the commercial conversations around healing and medical science. She encourages listeners to ask better questions, to pay attention to the rhythms of the land, and to honor intergenerational experience. In the end, this episode offers a layered and contemplative look at what it means to be a healer in times of collapse—and how the practice of psychiatry can be expanded when it is in conversation with ecology, story, and spirit. Follow Dr. Stewart: Instagram: @dr.stephaniemichaelstewart Website: www.worldwidewellness.io Follow MINDBEND IG: @mymindbend Watch Full Episode on YouTube: @mymindbend Website: www.mymindbend.org This is an Operation Podcast production, connect with us @operationpodcast #Mindbendpodcast #DrStephanieMichaelStewart #IntegrativePsychiatry #TraumaHealing #EcologicalPsychiatry #SomaticWisdom #MentalHealthAndNature #LandBasedHealing #AncestralMedicine #SlowMedicine #PsychiatryBeyondInstitutions #MindBodySpirit #HealingWithTheEarth #IntergenerationalHealing #CeremonyAndScience

    55 min

About

I am not a psychonaut, but I know one, and chances are you do too. Just what exactly are we talking about when talking about psychedelics and "plant medicine?" What's meant by "non-ordinary states of consciousness." What is "flow state?" What about breathwork, meditation, and energy medicine? Join me in seeking answers to some of the questions you yourself might have for individuals who experience altered states of consciousness through vast and varied substances and practices. I'm passionate about destigmatizing the conversation around matters of mental wellness, mood disorder, and addiction. Whether seeking to improve the quality of your own life, or merely curious about the rapidly emerging psychedelic landscape, MINDBEND presents candid conversations with colorful characters for your cranial consumption!

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