Want to hang out for a weekend with me and Josh LaJaunie and a dozen other health seekers? Click here to read more and to apply...
Today you get a trippy podcast, an episode from the archives, a video explaining all about self-esteem and how to grow it in a useful way, and an invitation.
Plus, as an added bonus, Josh LaJaunie's Honeycrisp Apple recipe.
Let's begin...
This Week's Podcast: Psychedelic Healing with a Badass West African Root
When I started Plant Yourself, my message was pretty simple: Eat Plants to Be Healthy.
I thought of plants in biochemical terms: vitamins, phytonutrients, calories, fiber, water, antioxidants, and so on.
This week's guests, Amber and Anthony, challenge the hell out of that paradigm, or at least invite me to expand it to consider another vegetal quality: Intelligence.
Yup, as in plants having intelligence, being able to communicate with each others and with us, and in fact having deep wisdom to impart, wisdom that humankind desperately needs to hear before we tear down the house and bequeath our children a planet that resembles the set of Mad Max.
They introduce me to iboga, a West Africa psychedelic plant that they claim effectively sedates our egos enough to give us insights into our deepest truths.
See for yourself what you make of this paradigm shift: http://plantyourself.com/learning-from-sacred-plants-with-amber-antonelli-and-anthony-esposito-pyp-338/
Plant Yourself Archive All-Star: How to Negotiate with Others - and Yourself
Chris Voss appeared on the show about 3 years ago, and quickly set the standard for usefulness, according to listeners.
His is one of the most appreciated of all conversations, as Chris teaches tools and skills and mindsets to turn anyone into a powerful - and ethical - negotiator.
I wanted to pick Chris's brain on two main topics: negotiating healthy changes with family, friends, and co-workers; and talking to ourselves in a powerful and convincing way when our will weakens.
He did not disappoint: http://plantyourself.com/pyp-208-chris-voss-negotiating/
The Szasz Self-Esteem Paradox
The renowned and controversial psychiatrist Thomas Szasz (if only he were a legal Scrabble word!) said, "Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem."
But wait a minute - most of us are already running on our last fumes of self-esteem by the time we're ready to change our diet or lifestyle. We've failed so many times before. We've gotten great results and then given up. We've committed and then fallen off the wagon.
Another hit to our self-esteem, and there's no reason to get out of bed anymore. What to do?
In this video, I offer a way out of the Self-Esteem Paradox: https://vimeo.com/342063835
The Invitation
Josh LaJaunie and I are delighted to announce our very first in-person retreat. The dates are November 14-17, 2019. No more than 16 participants, 2.5 days, in a beautiful rural setting about 30 minutes from Raleigh, NC's RDU airport (a Southwest hub, if that helps...).
Cost is $850 for one person, $1250 for a couple, including food and lodging (first 6 individuals or couples only - after that, you're responsible for finding your own nearby lodging on AirBnB and you get a discount from us since we don't have to pay for your lodging).
Prepare and eat great food (no gluten, but not medically gluten-free); amp up your movement; discover and practice how to build good habits and drop bad ones; engage with a like-minded group of people; learn wicked-effective stress-proofing exercises; have the space and time to do some deep dives and turbo-charge your own transformation.
We don't have an agenda yet - we'll be crafting it based on the folks who sign up, and what they specifically need.
We'll also be improvising during the retreat.
So don't even think about signing up unless you already know, like, and (most importantly) trust us.
To make sure it's a good fit, we'll be conducting enrollment interviews with all applicants.
You can register for the interview with a $25 deposit, which is subtracted from the fee if you attend, and which is refunded if you don't end up attending. So think of it as earnest money; you risk nothing by applying.
Here's the link to apply for the retreat: I'm interested in the Josh/Howard Retreat.
Hope to see you there!
Warmly
Howard
PS I didn't forget that I promised you Josh LaJaunie's Honeycrisp Apple Recipe. Here it is:
Josh LaJaunie's Honeycrisp Apple Recipe
Ingredients:
Honeycrisp apple
Instructions:
Eat a Honeycrisp apple.