What can psychedelics teach us about chronic pain, trauma, and the body? And what happens when a career built around the mind demands a deeper connection with the living world? In this episode of Unjourneying, I talk with Dr. Ben Malcolm, founder of Spirit Pharmacist, about his path to Costa Rica, personal transformation, and our relationship with nature.

We explore Ben’s chronic back pain and experiences with ketamine and other psychedelics. He shares a striking encounter with a bodyworker that opened up questions about the psoas, fascia, muscle tension, and trauma. Does the body keep the score? We discuss Bessel van der Kolk’s influential framework, predictive processing, and how psychedelics may shift habitual patterns of perception.

Along the way, we explore divorce, professional identity, ecological stewardship, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, and Ben’s vision for Casa de Espíritu, his retreat project in Costa Rica. This is a conversation about embodiment, healing, and the possibility of a personal renaissance.

Dr. Ben Malcolm, PharmD, MPH, is a clinical psychiatric pharmacist, educator, and entrepreneur who helped pioneer psychedelic pharmacy. Through his website, Spirit Pharmacist, he provides psychopharmacology consulting, courses, and training focused on the interactions between medications, medical conditions, and psychedelics. He has published more than a dozen medical journal articles, delivered hundreds of professional presentations, serves on the board of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, and teaches in psychedelic therapy training programs. Originally from Tasmania, Australia, Ben is also a former All-American competitive swimmer and accomplished didgeridoo player. He now lives in Costa Rica, where he is developing Casa de Espíritu, a homestay retreat project.

Dr. Ben Malcom | Spirit Pharmacist

🌐 Website: https://www.spiritpharmacist.com

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(Quinn_novel)

0:00 Intro

6:04 How Dr. Malcolm Landed in Costa Rica

6:47 Building Spirit Pharmacist on Lunch Breaks

9:22 Hawaii Was a No, Costa Rica Was Not

12:21 Divorce, and Landing in the Right Place

13:06 Why Costa Rica? Forests, Currency, Blue Zones, and No Army

16:27 Relationships as Teachers

19:15 The Stigma of Divorce

20:24 The Spirit Pharmacist Is a Hat, Not an Identity

22:49 Personal Stories and the Audience You Opted Into

24:05 Casa de Espíritu: Building an Ecological Retreat

26:43 A Mind Career Needs a Body Counterweight

29:26 Takers and Givers: Rethinking Our Relationship with Nature

32:34 Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael and the Problem of Extraction

33:40 Chronic Back Pain, and Why Ketamine?

36:15 No Pain, No Gain? Rethinking Chronic Pain

41:55 MDMA, LSD, and Ayahuasca for Pain

42:22 The Story of the Psoas and the Bodyworker

43:26 Why Ketamine Opened What Other Medicines Only Showed

45:38 Fascia, Muscle Tension, and Trauma

47:45 Psychedelics and the Body’s Innate Responses

50:03 Does the Body Keep the Score?

52:01 The Mind Keeps the Score, The Body Shows It

56:20 How Psychedelics Loosen Prediction

59:19 Letting Go of Control During a Psychedelic Experience

1:01:02 A Personal Renaissance

1:03:28 How to Connect with Mira & the Unjourneying Community

Unjourneying is also available on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneyingFor educational purposes only.

Pragmatic Dharma legend Daniel Ingram joins me for a lively conversation about cessation, the Three Characteristics, salvia divinorum, 5-MeO-DMT, the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC), and the new field of phenomeniatry that he is helping to establish. He demonstrates the utility of phenomeniatry by walking us through some complex differential diagnosis scenarios.

Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC)

🌐 Website: https://theeprc.org

🌟 Donations: https://ebenefactors.org

Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH

➡️ Links & Socials: https://linktr.ee/danielmingram

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

Mentioned in this Episode:

Daniel & Michael Taft's 2020 SFDC Q&A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgYjLxM4VMc&t=4021s

Kathryn Devaney

https://www.kathryndevaney.com/

Crazy Like Us by Ethan Watters

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crazy-Like-Us/Ethan-Watters/9781416587095

Baksbat (broken courage): a trauma-based cultural syndrome in Cambodia. Sotheara Chhim.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23406066/

A cross-sectional survey on depersonalization/derealization and meditation-induced alterations of the self. Erola Pons et al.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13156312/

0:00 Introduction

4:20 Cessation, Awakening & the Question of What Counts

9:05 The Arising & Passing Away vs. Cessation

11:25 What Actually Happens During Fruition?

13:23 Stream Entry and the 16 Stages of Insight

19:09 5-MeO-DMT, Salvia & Psychedelic Awakening

22:10 The Hard Reboot of Salvia Cessation

29:54 The Three Characteristics: Experiential or Ontological?

39:12 Noting vs. Noticing in Mahasi Practice

42:13 Why We Need the EPRC

46:38 Why Call It Emergent Phenomenology?

50:56 What Is Phenomeniatry?

54:47 Culture, Language & Diagnostic Colonialism

1:00:08 Spiritual Experiences vs. Mania & Psychosis

1:07:47 Equanimity vs. Depersonalization & Derealization

1:15:27 Spiritual Bypassing and “Everything Is Fine”

1:18:37 EPRC, Emergence Benefactors & Closing

In this first guest episode of Unjourneying, I sit down with meditation teacher Wystan Bryant-Scott for a wide-ranging conversation on jhanas, nonduality, renunciation, tantra, and psychedelics. Wystan announces his upcoming jhana retreat at Nameless Mountain, and why he still finds deep concentration valuable even after awakening. We dig into the difference between sutta and Visuddhimagga jhanas, the real meaning of renunciation in modern life, and how to work with sexual energy without fixation. We also explore nondual awareness during ordinary pleasure and the role of psychedelics, especially 5-MeO-DMT, as powerful supports on the contemplative path.

Wystan Bryant-Scott

🌐 Website: https://www.wystantbs.com

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wystantbs108

🧘 Upcoming Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YokHVz09Y

Karmamudra: The Yoga of Bliss by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang

📖 https://skypresspublications.com/product/karmamudra

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

0:00 Introduction to Unjourneying & Guest Bio

2:55 Welcome & Why Wystan as First Guest

3:30 Recent Activities: Nameless Mountain & Backpacking with Gabe Broussard (Vivid Void)

6:36 Upcoming Jhana Retreat at Nameless Mountain

7:53 Sutta Jhana vs. Visuddhimagga Jhana

11:03 The Role of Jhana on the Path to Awakening

16:18 Cessation of Perception & Feeling

19:39 Is Jhana Still Useful After Awakening?

24:27 Identifying as a Religious Buddhist

28:58 Renunciation, Commitment & Modern Practice

37:00 Sexual Energy, Tantra & Sensual Practice

43:50 Karma Mudra & Traditional Sexual Yogas

46:48 Nonduality, Orgasm & Everyday Bliss

54:29 Psychedelics on the Contemplative Path

59:55 Recommending Psychedelics as a Teacher

1:03:32 Integrating Psychedelics with Traditional Practice

1:06:17 Closing Advice & Where to Find Wystan

1:08:43 Outro & How to Connect