Pure Curiosity With Iris Mcalpin

Jake Heilbrunn was suffering from crippling anxiety before embarking on a life-changing trip to South America. His experience during his travels connected him to his passion for helping others, and when he returned he began speaking and writing about his journey. Jake is now an extremely accomplished public speaker, best selling author and entrepreneur, helping young people all over the world find their passions and overcome their fears. About Our Guest: Jake Heilbrunn is a bestselling author, TEDx speaker, surf-loving nomad, and entrepreneur. He is the chief strategy officer of The Idea Collective, an idea incubator, talent hub and networking epicenter for thought leaders, change makers, and social influencers seeking to create the greatest human impact possible.He has spoken to over 12,000 people of all ages, sharing his story and inspiring audiences to replace anxiety with purpose and follow their intuition. Jake's work has been featured in Psychology Today, The LA Times, Thought Catalog and The San Diego

When most people hear the term "psychedelic" it tends to conjure up images of tie dye and Woodstock at best, and people winding up homeless or losing their minds at worst. The media backlash after the 60's, and the war on drugs did a great job distorting the public's conception of these substances. What if I told you that despite what you've heard, psychedelics may be the world's most powerful tool for healing trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? That over 60% of people could be completely PTSD free after just 3 sessions? The research being done at the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is showing us just that. MDMA assisted psychotherapy is now in Phase III trials with the FDA with unprecedented success rates for PTSD. Research for other conditions and substances are currently underway, and we have reason to believe that the effectiveness of these medicines will blow traditional pharmaceuticals out of the water. Natalie Ginsberg, the director of Policy & Advocacy f

Even though we've had them our entire lives, emotions confound just about all of us at times.  Joy, anger, sadness, fear...they can seemingly come out of nowhere, and often defy logic.  Thankfully, there are people like Joie Seldon who have made it their life's work to help us navigate choppy emotional waters with grace and understanding.  In this podcast, we discuss emotions on many different levels and at multiple scales.   Joie offers helpful tangible examples, and practical exercises from her practice as a coach and work as an author.  If you have emotions--and if you're reading this, that's you--you'll benefit from Joie's wisdom! About Our Guest: Joie Seldon, M.A. has coached executives, project managers, CEO’s, and entrepreneurs, to clarify their priorities, improve employee engagement and reduce their personal stress. A trainer, coach, and specialist in the field of Emotional Intelligence, Joie has helped countless business professionals benefit from one of the most valuable missing pieces of a success

What if you could play a fun, intelligent, self-adapting video game to treat your ADHD or depression?  What if a psychiatrist's office was no longer just a place to get pills, but a place to lay back and immerse yourself in a Virtual Reality treatment environment?  It sounds like science fiction, but neurologist/neuroscientist Dr. Adam Gazzaley is working to make these things a reality.  In this episode of Pure Curiosity, Adam describes his cutting-edge research and the future of digital medicine, including the development of what will likely be the world's first prescribable video game!  The future is very bright indeed. About Our Guest: Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He is now Professor in Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and the Founder / Executive Director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research. He designs and d

Over 20 million people over the age of 12 struggle with addiction in the United States alone (and that doesn't even include tobacco).  Despite its prevalence, addiction is still considered taboo, and the stigma attached remains strong.  As with most things that are kept under wraps, there are a ton of misconceptions about addiction and recovery.  In this podcast I speak with Stephen Pfleiderer, a recovered addict, recovery coach and interventionist in San Francisco, and he shares his thoughts on these complex issues. About Our Guest: Stephen didn’t always know he wanted to be an interventionist and help people change their lives. He originally pursued a career as a professional musician, receiving an undergraduate degree from the Johns Hopkins University and a graduate degree from the University of Cincinnati. By his junior year in college he outwardly seemed to have it all. However, Stephen heavily relied on alcohol, drugs and partying to cope with the rigors of music school. Stephen realized, just shortly a

When I met Jamie Thompson at a Vipassana retreat, I was really struck by how in command of herself she was. Not from a controlled place, but from a really grounded, mature place. Naturally I asked her about what she did for a living, and she talked very candidly about her life, and her path to becoming a relationship coach. When I started my podcast she was one of the first people I thought to invite on here. In this episode she talks eloquently about boundary setting, accountability, and managing romantic partnerships while building a business or working from home. Whether you are in a romantic partnership, a business partnership (or both), work for yourself, or think you might in the future, this conversation will be relevant for you. About our Guest: Jamie Thompson is an Erotic & Intimate Communication Expert, specializing in working with Conscious Entrepreneur & Visionary Couples. She solves problems like “We’re too busy for sex.” “I’m complacent and distracted.” “I don’t know what I desire.” “I d

Intelligence comes in many forms, and until somewhat recently, emotional intelligence has been vastly underrated.  In this episode of Pure Curiosity, Dan Stover and I discuss what it takes to increase emotional intelligence, tell the truth to ourselves and each other, and live a more purposeful life.  He also shares fascinating stories from his time working with Suicide Prevention and Homeboy Industries. About Our Guest: Daniel Stover manages the west coast office for Integrated Leadership Systems from Los Angeles, California. He received his education from The Ohio State University where he studied Psychology, Criminology and Security & Intelligence. The core of his development and training was in cognitive-behavior psychology and mental health crisis intervention. Through this experience, he learned that his passion and purpose is to help others understand their emotions. Dan has concentrated this passion on working with companies ranging in size from 30 to 1,000 employees in ten states in multiple indu

This week's episode of Pure Curiosity is a critical discussion about modern culture, media, parenting methods and our relationship with our bodies.  From #MeToo to #fitspo, social media can be a trigger for a wide range of issues, and coping can be challenging for many people.  Hillary offers practical tools, meaningful insight, and hope for the contemporary human and parent.  If you want a deeper understanding of how we internalize messages, unconsciously communicate with young people, and take responsibility for our impact on each other (among many other things), this podcast is for you! About Our Guest Hillary is a therapist, researcher, speaker and writer. She loves to help see people grow, heal, change, and come into more fullness in themselves and their relationships. Hillary is passionate about the well-being of all people, and wants to make psychology and academic research accessible to a wide variety of people. She holds a Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology and is a registered clinical counsel

In this episode of Pure Curiosity we discuss the future of humanity. In particular we talk about Artificial Intelligence as being a mirror that reflects back to us both the light and dark sides of who we are. AI is a powerful tool that simultaneously solves problems and creates new--and some might say bigger--challenges. We also discuss the role of spirituality and psychedelic medicine in this new future, and how they could play an unexpected and pivotal role in righting the ship. About Our Guests: Aaron Frank is a writer and speaker and one of the earliest hires at Singularity University. Aaron is focused on the intersection of emerging technologies and accelerating change and is fascinated by the impact that both will have on business, society, and culture. As a writer, his articles have appeared online in Vice's Motherboard, Wired UK and Forbes. As a speaker, Aaron has lectured for audiences and organizations including the CIA, The Department of Defense, The Coca-Cola Company, AAAS, Under Armour, Headquart

Dr. Jonathan Downar, neuroscientist and psychiatrist, and Dr. Don Vaughn, neuroscientist and behavioral consultant, share their thoughts on the future of mental health, and how Neuroscience is helping us solve complex human problems.

In this episode of Pure Curiosity I speak with Megyn Blanchard, a self-love coach in Houston, Texas.  Megyn is one of the most real, raw, transparent and genuine people I know, and I have so much respect for the work that she does.  In our hour-long conversation we cover topics including grief, loss, self-care, and spiritual inquiry in an age of spiritual narcissism.  I believe anyone on the self-development path will appreciate Megyn's perspective, and rigorous authenticity. About Our Guest: Megyn Blanchard is a truth teller, modern day spiritual mentor, and self-love coach on a mission to breakdown overly simplistic self-help and empowerment topics so they are implementable and accessible in our everyday lives. Join in the conversation through her website and social media postings, or come be a part of a non new age private Facebook tribe as she gives weekly sermons on relationships, self-love, and self-awareness. https://www.facebook.com/megyn.blanchard http://instagram.com/megynblanchard/ Megynblanchard.c

This week’s episode of Pure Curiosity is all about float therapy.  Dr. Sahib Khalsa and his colleagues at the Laureate Institute for Brain research have been studying the impact of floating on mental health disorders from PTSD to Anorexia, and the results are very promising.  While trials are still in early phases, this is an important step toward understanding how this 63 year old treatment could impact modern mental health.  Not sure what floating is?  You’re not alone!  Floating has only recently become more widely known, with athletes like Steph Curry endorsing it.  To learn more about it, and how it might help you, listen in! About Our Guest: Dr. Sahib Khalsa Director of Clinical Studies, Laureate Institute for Brain Research Assistant Professor, Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa Volunteer Faculty Member, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oklahoma ​Dr. Khalsa’s laboratory studies the heart-brain connection. Our research explores three main questions: (1) How do we feel our heart