Ten Laws with East Forest

In this episode East Forest tells the story of how his eponymous song, "10 Laws" came to be. "10 Laws" features the voice of VCJ, a mystic and friend who spoke his hunter gatherers code of ten which became the sample for "10 Laws" - the first East Forest song and most popular East Forest track to date. From VCJ,"I have not paid much attention to the praise or criticism by the public, about my work over the years, but I am very grateful to the nation which has granted me such freedom of expression and I feel indebted to those who have seen to the matter of securing the right for its citizens, have encouraged it and exampled it in so many beautiful ways. Art is a game worth playing and its effects should be shared. An artists works are not always published, but when they are, they give inspiration to so many who might not otherwise see the originals. I am one such person. I am glad to have enjoyed the works of the masters in their published forms and I feel that I must share some of my work in pen, brush, woodcut and scratchboard at this time. I am not expecting to publish a book of my work any time soon, so I apologize and offer it in this form.” See VCJ's art (aka Mr. 10 Laws) - VCJ GraphicsEastFroest.org Do not sample these recordings without express permission. And don't go looking for VCJ in the woods for your personal development as he doesn't want to be found!© East Forest 2008 - 2019

Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals. He has an unusual ability to distill and synthesize these disciplines, tapping into ancestral sources of wisdom and connecting them to the stories we are living today. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn't End, The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul; editor, with James Hillman and Robert Bly, of Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart; and editor of Crossroads: A Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artist, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples. mosaicvoices.org eastforest.org

Christopher Shinn was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and lives in New York. His plays have been premiered by the Royal Court Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, the Vineyard Theatre, South Coast Rep, and Soho Theatre, and later seen regionally in the United States and around the world. He is the winner of an OBIE in Playwriting (2004-2005) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting (2005), was a Pulitzer Prize finalist (2008), was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play (2008), and has also been nominated for an Olivier Award for Most Promising Playwright (2003), a TMA Award for Best New Play (2006), a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play (2007), and a South Bank Show Award for Theatre (2009). In 2009, his adaptation of Hedda Gabler premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout (American Airlines Theatre) and he has also written short plays for Naked Angels, the 24 Hour Plays, and the New York International Fringe Festival (2002 winner, Best Overall Production). He has received grants from the NEA/TCG Residency Program and the Peter S. Reed Foundation, and he is a recipient of the Robert S. Chesley Award. He teaches playwriting at the New School for Drama. https://www.christophershinn.co eastforest.org

Here is a 20 min guided meditation to take you through those moments when your mind is racing and you just can't sleep - for when you're feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of it all and need to step back and see the bigger picture. East Forest music in the background, East Forest guiding in the foreground. eastforest.org

Reared among the three cultures of Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., Poranguí was steeped in various traditional forms of music, healing and ceremony since birth. Drawing from his cross-cultural background and ethnomusicology training at Duke University, Poranguí has over twenty years of international work experience as an artist, musician, educator, filmmaker, consultant and therapist, utilizing the healing properties of sound and movement to foster our individual and collective well being. As a live looping artist and one-man orchestra Poranguí weaves ancestral songs and indigenous rhythms from around the globe. Creating his performances from scratch using looping technology, Poranguí’s live grooves range from meditative to dance party, moving the body, lifting the spirit, and transcending the divide between performer and audience. His World Soul concerts have taken him around the globe and led him to collaborate with many artists, including current works with Shamans Dream and Liquid Bloom. porangui.com eastforest.org

An interview with East Forest from the Love Service Wisdom podcast. For the past 25 years, Marisa Radha Weppner has been exploring what it means to be human, what is the nature of reality and how we can know our true selves. The Love, Service, Wisdom podcast is a collection of collaborative content with thought leaders and spiritual teachers from diverse backgrounds plus Marisa Radha's personal musing, all designed to dig into the deeper aspects of truly feeling what it means to be alive and on a journey to accepting all parts of ourselves. Expect to hear stories to inspire strengths, honor your shadow, and invite a new found sense of playful exploration into living your most loving self. Listen regularly for Guided Meditations to give you an embodied sense of connection to your soul's wisdom. Hosted by Marisa Radha Weppner. Check it out - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-service-wisdom/id1475969262 or at, http://www.marisaweppner.com/podcast

The human body is an ongoing expression of its well-being or it’s lack of. This can be seen in everything, from how you move to how you speak, people around you normally pick up on it, while you may be unaware yourself. Sensie, with the use of your phone and the sensors will pick up on the overall harmony or disharmony of your movements and provide a signal. Sensie detects a neuromuscular signal that represents the stress response from the body. By applying research from the fields of neuroscience and psychophysiology with machine learning techniques and the sensors on your smartphone, Sensie is able to measure the fluidity of your movement - sensing whether stress is present or not and guiding your through a specific mindfulness technique to help you achieve peace and calm. Mike is a co-founder at Sensie app, a mobile platform that uses sensors on a smartphone to detect stress and emotions. We help a user learn their emotions, identify the cause of stress and reduce it on demand. An entrepreneur from an early age, Mike’s accomplishments include starting one of the first social media promotional platforms, helping to lead the international expansion of Groupon, running business development for yCombinator startup Grouper Social Club and co-founding 1Apeiron, a venture incubator. At the age of 21 Mike suffered a concussion with amnesia, his future looked bleak but with the help of a friend he learned to meditate to help with the recovery process. Miracles happened and he has been passionate about consciousness, mindfulness and the mind-body connection ever since. Mike sits on the board of Miami Beach Botanical Garden and is an internationally acclaimed yoga teacher – leading retreats around the world with his wife twice a year. http://sensieapp.com/ http://eastforest.org/podcast

Erik Davis is an author, scholar and connoisseur of the weird. He’s spent over 20 years exploring fringe movements, occult covens and liminal cyberspaces, finding some time in between to become one of the world’s leading authorities on West Coast American counter-culture, writing about everything from California’s alternative spiritual groups to Burning Man. Davis was born during the Summer of Love within a stone’s throw of San Francisco. He grew up in North County, Southern California, and spent a decade on the East Coast, where he studied literature and philosophy at Yale and spent six years in the freelance trenches of Brooklyn and Manhattan before moving to San Francisco, where he currently resides. He is the author of four books: Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica (Yeti, 2010), The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape (Chronicle, 2006), with photographs by Michael Rauner, and the 33 1/3 volume Led Zeppelin IV (Continuum, 2005). His first and best-known book remains TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information (Crown, 1998), a cult classic of visionary media studies that has been translated into five languages and recently republished by North Atlantic Press. He has contributed chapters on art, music, technoculture, and contemporary spirituality to over a dozen books, including Suzanne Treister’s HFT: The Gardener(Black Dog), Future Matters: the Persistence of Philip K. Dick (Palgrave), Sound Unbound: Writings on Contemporary Multimedia and Music Culture (MIT, 2008), AfterBurn: Reflections on Burning Man (University of New Mexico, 2005), Rave Ascension (Routledge, 2003), and Zig Zag Zen (Chronicle, 2002). In addition to his many forewords and introductions, Davis has contributed articles and essays to a variety of periodicals, including Bookforum, Arthur, Artforum, Slate, Salon, Gnosis, Rolling Stone, the LA Weekly, Spin, Wired and the Village Voice. A vital speaker, Davis has given talks at universities, media art conferences, and festivals around the world. He has taught seminars at the UC Berkeley, UC Davis, the California Institute of Integral Studies, and Rice University, as well as workshops at the New York Open Center and Esalen. He has been interviewed by CNN, NPR, the New York Times, and the BBC, and appeared in numerous documentaries, as well as in Craig Baldwin’s underground film Specters of the Spectrum. He wrote the libretto for and performed in “How to Survive the Apocalypse,” a Burning Man-inspired rock opera. He has hosted the podcast Expanding Mind on the Progressive Radio Network since 2010, and earned his PhD in Religious Studies from Rice University in 2015. techgnosis.com eastforest.org/podcast

Hear the story of what it was like sitting in the room with Ram Dass and the process of recording Ram Dass in his study in Maui. Radha and East Forest join in conversation to go through the highlights and details of their time in Maui with Ram Dass. This was recorded right after to returning the mainland so it was all fresh in their heads. They explore the story of how it all came to be, how they were named, what it was like to meet and start working with Ram Dass, swimming with a shark, and more stories from the trip! The full Ram Dass album releases August 9, 2019 on all music platforms. ramdass.org eastforest.org

American singer-songwriter Laura Bird is a shape-shifter who can't sit still. Since 2010 she's worked under the moniker The Mynabirds, releasing four critically acclaimed and stylistically different albums on Saddle Creek: What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood (2010) and GENERALS (2012), both produced by Richard Swift, Lovers Know (2015), and BE HERE NOW (2017). She has also toured as a member of the Postal Service (2013) and Bright Eyes (2011), helped found Omaha Girls Rock (a non-profit helping young girls find their voices), and in 2013 gave a TED talk based on her "New Revolutionists" portrait project, exploring what it means to be a revolutionary woman in this day and age. Before The Mynabirds, Laura was a member of DC indie band Georgie James with Q And Not U's John Davis, and also put out two self-produced solo albums on the label she founded herself, Laboratory Records. The Mynabirds' newest album, BE HERE NOW, is a collection of 9 songs written and recorded in just 2 weeks in January 2017 following the Inauguration and the Women's March. Singer Laura Burhenn worked with producer Patrick Damphier in his Nashville studio (which he was being evicted as the neighborhood began to gentrify, old warehouses turning to tech offices and luxury condos) to document the news and peoples’ intense emotional responses to it all in real time. No stranger to politics in her songwriting, Laura aimed to speak from the voice of the collective consciousness in a work of "Emotional Journalism," singing the heartbreak, anger, exhaustion and resolute hope she witnessed during the Muslim travel ban, the final stand at Standing Rock, and every other news story that rattled America in that period. The album vacillates in style and feel to reflect a frayed nation, featuring the legendary McCrary Sisters on title track “Be Here Now,” a Burundian refugee choir on a song for immigrants, and a cacophony of dissonant saxophones in a new national anthem on another. It is the last recording made in that space. http://www.themynabirds.com eastforest.org/podcast

A guided 15-20 min meditation as we hear a gentle flowing stream and imagine sitting next to it, dropping our thoughts into it, merging with it, and understanding how we are at all places at one. Use this meditation anytime to quickly drop into your center, nature, and the space of Now. The field recording you hear is the Oak Creek Wilderness north of Sedona AZ. http://eastforest.org/podcast

Dr. Dan Engle lectures and consults globally and is the Medical Director of The Revive Treatment Centers of America, as well as medical advisor to Onnit Labs, The True Rest Float Centers and several international treatment centers using indigenous plant medicines for healing and recovery. He published his fist book, The Concussion Repair Manual, in October 2017, which has received praise from countless figures in the medical arena. His other programs include B.O.L.D., Freedom From Meds and Full Spectrum Medicine. He is the Medical Director of Revive Treatment Centers in Colorado, a leading neurological rehabilitation center that treats traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, PTSD, and other neurodegenerative disorders by combining functional neurology, metabolics, and psychology. In addition to a whole-body approach, Revive has the most innovative and progressive suite of treatment modalities currently available in the neurological rehabilitation space. These state-of-the art testing and therapeutic modalities include: gene testing, cellular therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), low level laser therapy (LLLT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), rotational therapy, and much more. He also medically consults with Onnit Labs in Austin, Texas, a company leading the industry in peak performance methods and Total Human Optimization, as well the most visited and regarded ayahuasca healing center in the world – The Temple of the Way of Light Ayahuasca Healing Center in Peru. https://drdanengle.com http://eastforest.org

Katherine MacLean is a research scientist with expertise in studying the effects of mindfulness meditation and psychedelics. At Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she conducted legal clinical trials of psilocybin, the primary chemical found in "magic mushrooms”. In 2015, she co-founded and was the first director of the Psychedelic Education and Continuing Care Program in New York (www.psychedelicprogram.com), where she led training workshops and monthly integration groups focused on increasing awareness and reducing risks of psychedelic use. She helped to bring medical and humanitarian aid to remote Himalayan villages, as well as create sanctuary spaces for psychedelic support at large outdoor festivals. Katherine's teaching and integration approach combines over a decade of training in rigorous academic and clinical research with practical intuition guided by personal experiences, including five silent meditation retreats, a 2-month pilgrimage in the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal, her 29-year old sister’s death journey through metastatic breast cancer, and natural homebirth. https://www.katherinemaclean.org eastforest.org

Live performance by East Forest featuring the new Ram Dass material while at the Ram Dass retreat in Maui Hawaii in the Spring of 2019. Krishna Das performs his part in I Am Loving Awareness live. The live set includes several tracks from the forthcoming album including live reinventions and background commentary on the recording process. Chapter III of East Forest x Ram Dass arrives on the summer solstice June 21 2019! Host a listening gathering - email Isabelle (at) n3wlevel.com to receive materials and info to help make your event successful. Join the family and celebration of this new work by Ram Dass! http://eastforest.org/eastforest-x-ramdass http://krishnadas.com RamDass.org

Lee McCormick has always lived out loud. Born into a tribe of movers and shakers, he was raised between his pioneer family’s farm in Florida where his great grandparents homesteaded during the Civil War, and his Dad’s Wyoming cattle ranch. The boldness of his family and the richness of his heritage made him a passionate man. In the late ‘70s and ‘80s Lee hit the road as a singer songwriter. Talk about an education, he plunged into the lifestyle head first and headstrong. His tipping point came in 1997 when he (barely) woke up one day, realized he had an out-of-control drug problem and checked himself into rehab. In rehab, he had a profound awakening and set out on a personal quest to find REAL truth and healing in his life. His inward journey took him to Native American and Mesoamerican shamans and healers who opened him up to a universal view of life and a new paradigm for addiction treatment. In 1998, Lee founded The Ranch Recovery Center in Tennessee and later The Canyon Treatment Center in Malibu California and has been a creative force in the Mental Health and Recovery scene for over 15 years. He founded Spirit Recovery Inc. to produce Healing and Recovery conferences and Spiritual Journeys around the world, and he is a founder in Nashville’s Integrative Life Center and IOP/PHP Community Recovery program in Nashville, Tennessee. Lee and Mexico retreat: https://spiritrecovery.com/spirit-recovery-journeys/

Liana Sananda Gillooly is a lifetime activist for social justice, drug policy reform, ending war, and the environment. She is the Development Officer at Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). MAPS is the largest non-profit investigating the therapeutic uses of psychedelics. Currently, we are in Phase III FDA trials utilizing MDMA Therapy to treat PTSD. Results have been so promising, it earned the designation of Breakthrough Therapy from the FDA. In addition to her role at MAPS, Liana is engaged in transformational technology movement, with an interest in VR/AR therapy and emergent blockchain technologies. To highlight the connection between the psychedelic and cryptocurrency community, she instigated the formation of CryptoPsychedelic, an event series that kicked off last February in Tulum and gathers together these communities all over the globe. Before joining MAPS, Liana worked as Outreach Manager for a prominent cannabis investment and market research firm, The Arcview Group, where she helped grow the accredited investor network, advocated for legalization, and supported the work of Marijuana Policy Project. She has worked in event, festival, and film production, as well as artist representation, art curation, and art creation. She owned a visionary art gallery in Venice Beach, California, called Sananda Gallery. She has produced fundraisers, parties, and art happenings for special events and festivals, including High Times Cannabis Cups, MAPS conferences, Envision Festival, Serenity Festival, and Fractal Planet at Burning Man. She has been a featured speaker at numerous events, lobbied Congress, lectured MBA students, and given a TedX talk. She is an experienced meditator and trained death midwife. LianaSananda on Instagram MAPS.org

Derek VanScoten is the producer, guitarist, and Emmy-winning musician behind Cloudchord. In early 2010 he hit the scene as a solo artist, merging live guitar with modern electronic production. Ears caught quickly, and within a year he was playing coast to coast for growing audiences. East Forest unpacks a recent interaction between the two artists where an email thread got wildly embarrassing - they're here to digest the episode. Based in Austin, Texas, he has been actively releasing solo material since 2009. In 2011 he released an official remix of Break Science featuring Talib Kweli, and in 2012 he was a featured guitarist and co-producer on Michal Menert's album Even If It Isn't Right. His album, Hit the Clouds Running, was released on Gravitas Recordings in 2013. He has played guitar and other instruments with groups including the Boulder Philharmonic, DJ Logic, and Devotchka, and toured with Big Gigantic, Beats Antique, Emancipator, and Lotus. Cloudchord Spotify Cloudchord Instagram eastforest.org

Diego Perez is a meditator, writer, and speaker who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. Online he reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month through his written works that focus on the reality of self-healing, the movement from self-love to unconditional love, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. His first book, Inward, was self-published and quickly became a bestseller on Amazon. A revised and expanded edition of Inward has recently been published and is now available in bookstores around the world. The name Yung Pueblo means young people; it serves to remind him of his Ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth. Diego's practice of Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N. Goenka, has given him a deeper understanding of liberation that inspires his writing. Through writing and speaking he aims to support the healing of the individual, knowing that when people release their personal burdens it helps humanity build a global peace. "The inward movement can be summarized as follows: we observe ourselves, we accept what we find without judgment, we let it go, and the actual release causes our transformation. We are already always changing, but when we focus on healing we can change in the direction of our choosing; these are moments when we intentionally reclaim our power. Every moment we take to know ourselves, we return as someone new." - Yung Pueblo Yung Pueblo on IG - instagram.com/yung_pueblo "Inward" on Amazon eastforest.org

Justin Boreta is a music producer and a founding member of The Glitch Mob, a deejay collective born of the Los Angeles electronic music scene. The trio has combined their different skills and aesthetics into the compellingly collaged whole that has become one of the most beloved live electronic acts, and distinctive recording artists, working today. On the podcast we dive into the role of psilocybin and sound, the creative process, and more! instagram.com/boreta Boreta + Ram Dass "Imagine" - YouTube Watch eastforest.org/podcast

In this ten minute guided meditation we explore the feeling of "letting go" with the notion of just loosening the grip and giving oneself over to a larger river of flow. eastforest.org

Brian Koch is a musician, artist and founding member of Blitzen Trapper and Dead Lee. Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country/folk/rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with Eric Earley, Erik Menteer , Brian Adrian Koch, Michael Van Pelt, and Marty Marquis. Blitzen Trapper self-released its first three albums. "Wild Mountain Nation" was No. 98 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. Blitzen Trapper released its third album, Wild Mountain Nation, in 2007 to much critical acclaim from critics such as Pitchfork Media, The Nerve, and Spin Magazine. The group signed to Sub Pop Records in the summer of 2007. The release of Furr in 2008 was a high-water mark for the group as their eclectic new songs received a two-page feature in Rolling Stone. The album was ranked No. 13 on Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2008 while the title track was ranked No. 4 on the magazine's Best Singles of 2008. The albums Destroyer of the Void and American Goldwing followed, to similarly high acclaim. On October 1, 2013, the band released VII, their first on Vagrant Records in the US; the album also appeared on British indie label Lojinx in Europe on September 30. In mid-December 2014, the band self-published their first live album, Live In Portland, followed by the Record Store Day exclusive, a live cover album of Neil Young's Harvest record titled Live Harvest. Their eighth studio album, All Across This Land, was released on October 2, 2015. Their ninth studio release - marking a return to the band's own label LidKerCow - is titled Wild and Reckless and was released on November 3, 2017. deadlee.bandcamp.com blitzentrapper.com

This week we take a look behind the song "I Am Loving Awareness (feat. Krishna Das)" from the new East Forest x Ram Dass record. Discover the process into how the song went from simple beginnings in 2017 to become a deep mantra dive with two heavyweights of spirituality: Ram Dass and Krishna Das in their first joint recording process. Hear the song in hi def and in full at http://music.eastforest.org Hear more about Krishna Das' process with the song in episode #41!

The first in a series of looks 'behind the song' - so you get a glimpse at the inspiration and how a track comes together from start to finish. In this episode we explore the song "Home", from Chapter II of East Forest x Ram Dass where Ram Dass discusses is first experience with psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) and how it served to propel him on his spiritual path. You can hear the full song and album at, Chapter II - https://open.spotify.com/album/7keeucmBz1BKOKt1c8Zma4?si=vtS7CRYcR0KQH_jBMt75yw Chapter I - https://open.spotify.com/album/0VS6IDF8414tXSVqkpJVk1?si=DrDrDzmASViW7ADvwe1vWA Chapter III hits the streets June 21 2019 and the full album on August 9 2019. eastforest.org

Emerging from his own distinct corner of the West Coast electronic music scene, Random Rab offers a powerful and unique contribution to sonic exploration. Often referred to as “The Master of Emotion” his music is patently beautiful and melodic. With diverse influences ranging from trip-hop, classical and Arabic to bass driven compositions, his songs are considered anthemic and timeless. As a multi-instrumentalist and singer, his tracks are organic, uplifting and stand on their own as a distinct genre. Listeners of all types of music can find something they can relate to in his sound. He has toured extensively across North America, including tours with Bassnectar, Shpongle, Emancipator, Beats Antique, and has headlined dozens of festivals across the U.S. and internationally. There is no doubt that Rab understands a multitude of musical styles. He has been the front man of a heavy metal band, toured as a classical trumpet player, played bass in a country music band, was a scratch DJ for a jazz fusion project, was the singer for a rock band in Mexico and has collaborated with countless musicians of all styles. From acoustic performances in the Himalayas to rocking packed clubs in New York, Random Rab has found a way to connect with people of all kinds. With a dedicated fanbase born from the San Francisco underground, Random Rab has become known world wide for his sunrise sets that have now become one of his most sought after performances. Having played before 3 solar eclipses and at the Pyramids of Giza, Random Rab has created a unique niche for his equally danceable, yet thought-provoking compositions. His current popularity can often be traced to his breakout album, The Elucidation of Sorrow and in particular his first hit, The Riddle and followed up by hits such as Release, Falling Tao, For My Corpse and Apparently. His critically acclaimed current and 10th album Formless Edge, catapulted him into the state of momentum that is now taking hold internationally. randomrab.com eastforest.org/podcast

You can use this short guided meditation to end your day with gratitude and drift softly into sleep as a gentle East Forest musical bed continues while you transition to dreaming. http://eastforest.org/podcast

Sol Rising’s original soundscapes evoke feelings of inspiration and bliss through an eclectic mix of electronic music, mid-tempo house, chill-trap, ambient and hip-hop. Born in Vancouver BC, raised in Fairfield Iowa, Sol Rising began meditating at age four with a walking mantra technique. His mother took him to visit numerous spiritual teachers, who inspired him on the spiritual path he walks today. As a teenager, he became a hip hop fanatic. His rooted interest in hip hop led him to learning the art of scratching — using turntables as musical instruments. Sol Rising soon became one of America’s top scratch DJs, winning second place at the DMC, the world’s most prestigious DJ competition. After graduating in the top 5% of his accounting class at University of Iowa, he realized accounting was not his path. A journey to India with Sai Maa illuminated his true calling — to light up people’s awareness of their true nature through music. This lead him to study audio engineering and production at Pyramind Studios in San Francisco, CA. Now a successful Producer with over 10 albums released, Sol Rising has licensed music for brands such as Apple, Clarks Shoes and US Polo as well as a placement in Academy Award winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film “Loro.” Sol Rising has been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post and Yoga Journal, and has also been streamed over 10 million times on Spotify. Sol Rising has toured in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia at festivals such as Wanderlust, Burning Man and Lightning in a Bottle. http://www.solrising.com http://eastforest.org

Julie Holland, M.D., is a psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology, with a private practice in New York City. She majored in the Biological Basis of Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania and received her M.D. in 1992 from Temple University School of Medicine. At Mount Sinai Medical Center, she completed a residency program in psychiatry, where she created a research project that treated schizophrenics with a new medication. In 1994, she received the Outstanding Resident Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1996 until 2005 she worked weekends running Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric emergency room, and she's penned an autobiography of this time, Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER. Holland is the editor of Ecstasy: The Complete Guide - A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA, and The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis. Holland also provides expert testimony and forensic consultation on a range of drug-related behavior and phenomena, with a focus on PCP and MDMA. naturalmood.com eastforest.org

DJ Drez is in demand as a producer, musical director and sound ambassador. A master of his craft in the studio and on stage, Drez cuts and composes profoundly original tracks that facilitate body movement practice of all forms— be it dance, yoga asana or after-hours intimate/ecstatic. Drez transforms the vibe of any scene his sound is set upon. Rooted in underground L.A. hiphop, Dr. EZ applies precise turn-table skills to a cutting edge vision for truly universal music, intelligently integrating elements of hiphop, world music, soul, funk, jazz, and reggae into his trademark sound and production. Drez’s peacefully determined demeanor makes him a highly sought-after contributor to a variety of dynamic projects. In the midst of a non-stop, world-wide tour schedule, Drez has prepared another solo effort (Alpine Swift, available June 7 via Nectar Drop Music) while simultaneously producing a Sānskrit mantra record with his wife, vocalist Marti Nikko, and a straight-up hiphop album with longtime collaborator, Zaire Black, both expected to be ready for release in 2016. Drez has too deep a resume to mention in its entirety here, suffice it to say he has worked with a who’s who of top artists (Blackstar, KRS 1, Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray, Eminem, Project Blowed) and organizations (Adidas, X Games, ABC, Okay Player) while maintaining an extensive worldwide touring schedule, variously involving artists like Moby, Ziggy Marley, Common, Femi Kuti, De La Soul, Capleton, Nas, Lee Scratch Perry. djdrez.com eastforest.org/podcast

Marc Lesser is a mindfulness teacher, CEO, author, and speaker. He is internationally recognized for pioneering work in mindful leadership supporting profound wellbeing. He has led mindfulness and emotional intelligence programs at many of the world's leading businesses and organizations including Google, SAP, Genentech, and Kaiser Permanente, and has coached executives and led trainings in Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, health care, and government. Marc helped develop the world-renowned Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program within Google - a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training for leaders which teaches the art of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and business savvy for creating great corporate cultures and a better world. Deeply rooted in science, the program has been taught to thousands of executives worldwide. He is the author of Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen, Know Yourself, Forget Yourself, Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less, and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration. Marc founded and was CEO of 3 companies and has an MBA degree from New York University. Prior to his business and coaching career, he was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen monastery in the western world. He has keynoted at Mindful Leadership Summits in Washington DC, Toronto, and Sydney and has led "Search Inside Yourself" 2-day trainings in San Francisco, Japan, Hong Kong, and Toronto. marclesser.net eastforest.org/podcast

A 20 min guided meditation to go deep into feeling your connected nature. East Forest guides you through the process of imagining yourself as nature, in nature, and the true nature of yourself. With original East Forest music in background from forthcoming album, "Music For Mushrooms: A Soundtracks For The Psychedelic Practitioner). http://eastforest.org

Layering traditional kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.” With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das ” known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD ” has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling western chant artist of all time. His album ‘Live Ananda’ (released January 2012) was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category. KD spent the late ’60’s traveling across the country as a student of Ram Dass, and in August 1970, he finally made the journey to India, which led him to Ram Dass’ own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. After two and a half years with Maharaj-ji, returned to USA – alas, six months after his return, word came that Maharaj-ji had died. He took solace in music, finding peace and strength in both his Bhakti yoga practice as well as in such heroes as Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Steely Dan, and Bruce Springsteen (whom he laughingly calls “the Bodhisattva of New Jersey”). KD also co-founded Triloka Records, a California-based label specializing in world music, releasing such artists as Jai Uttal, sarod virtuoso Ali Akbar Khan, and legendary jazz musician/composer Jackie McLean. In 1994, KD started leading chant at Jivamukti Yoga Center, NYC, with an ever-growing audience of yoga students that has led him to chant with people all around the world. In February 2013, Krishna Das performed at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles, CA streamed online to millions of viewers. The award-winning film ‘One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das’ has been in over 100 US cities, over 10 countries worldwide and is available on DVD everywhere. With the release of his 16th album Peace Of My Heart , October 2018 – KD on behalf of the Kirtan Wallah Foundation offers nearly two hours of deeply moving, meditative and artfully restrained new recordings born out of a request from a yoga teacher who works with children on the Autism Spectrum. Forgoing the ecstatic tempo changes so common to temple-style kirtan, these 5 new tracks move slowly and deliberately. The song to song steadiness is both striking and soothing, and as emotionally impactful as ever. “The chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it,” KD promises. “That’s the point of this whole thing. That’s what cuts through all the ‘stuff’. You get lit up. You don’t have to know what it means.” krishnadas.com eastforest.org

The Bee Queen has been dancing - fully covered and immersed with over 10k honey bees - since 2001. She says, "I think of bee dance as a duet among many. The 12,000 plus bees push with their powerful wings from each side of my body, I resist and then I let go and flow and move with them. In a deep meditation and I experience the hive mind surrounding me, holding me. I become aware of the connection and the understanding of my body on a cellular level. I am a healer, dancer, artist, builder of structures and a bee keeper. As bee keepers, my partner, Theodore and I hope to help the bees of the northwest by encouraging them to swarm and become hardy in this ever changing environment." saramapellibeequeen.com eastforest.org/podcast Video - https://youtu.be/uSZFLPBYZ9M Sara's Mexico House for Rent - goldenbeemx.com

Indian American musician Sheela Bringi has been exploring the connections between her ancestral and actual homelands her entire life. The singer and instrumentalist plays the harp, harmonium and bansuri (Indian classical bamboo flute). As a young woman Bringi was influenced by M.I.A. and Dead Can Dance, studied with Cecil Taylor and Meredith Monk, while at the same time deepened her studies with Indian classical masters like Pandit G.S. Sachdev and Ustaad Aashish Khan. This unique background has resulted in her debut album, Incantations (Black Swan Sounds), rooted in India’s classical music tradition and the beauty of its mantras, as well as a groundbreaking exploration of American jazz and blues. The album was released in 2014 and garnered praise from National Public Radio, the Guardian, Public Radio International and more, and debuted at #9 on the iTunes World Music chart. She has performed in a wide range of venues, including concert halls and universities presenting traditional material, yoga studios leading kirtans and in dance clubs overtop throbbing, bass-heavy beats (she’s toured with Karsh Kale, DJ Drez, and many others). In 2016 she was an instrumental soloist on Madi Das’ GRAMMY-nominated album, Bhakti Without Borders. shebrings.com eastforest.org

Raised on an island in South Carolina, singer/songwriter Trevor Hall realized at a young age that music was more than just a passion - it was, rather, his life’s art. At sixteen, he recorded his first album, soon after which he left South Carolina for Idyllwild Arts Academy in California where he studied classical guitar and was introduced to the practices of yoga and meditation, which would greatly influence his life and his music. Hall’s music, a blend of roots and folk music, is imbued with a deep love of Eastern Mysticism. This powerful symbiosis fostered a deep connectivity with his growing fan base and Trevor quickly matured into a leader of the burgeoning conscious musical community. Along with numerous pilgrimages to India, he has also completed a series of sold-out tours and collaborations with artists such as Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Matisyahu, Michael Franti, Xavier Rudd and Nahko & Medicine for the People. His full-length album releases, The Fruitful Darkness (2018), Chapter of the Forest (2014) and KALA (2015), debuted at #3 and #2 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart respectively and were supported by extensive tours around the US and Australia. Beyond his intention to spread love and healing through music, Hall also collects donations to support children’s education in India and has continuously donated to charities and relief funds. The Fruitful Darkness is Trevor’s first independent release — supported by his fans known as THE VILLAGERS — has become the #1 Music campaign of its kind in 2017 — after a decade plus recording for established labels such as Geffen and Vanguard. “There have been many hurdles and triumphs along the way” Hall reflects. “This album conveys the deep vulnerability of journeying through the unknown, as opposed to playing it safe.” Besides the change in infrastructure, the album itself explores completely new sonic terrain and is being released unconventionally, in 3-5 song installments on specific lunar dates. The full length album premiered at #4 on the Alt Charts, the most successful of Hall's career yet. trevorhallmusic.com eastforest.org

Ted Klein is an old friend and old soul. He's irreverent and full of laughs. I've known him for a long time and learned just as much. Director, composer, artist, MC, teacher, investor, writer, actor, father, golfer, game inventor and founder of Martial Art Bob Fu, Ted was born in Montana, grew up in California, was educated in New York York and now lives in Quebec. He has worked more than 50 jobs, owned more than 50 companies and made more than 100 mistakes. That's enough! http://www.tedklein.com http://www.eastforest.org/podcast

In 2014 Cody watched as his father and close friend were swept over a 100 ft cliff by an avalanche - his own life still in balance on the precipice of that cliff. While they all survived, the impact of the event left a wound on Cody's psyche that the tools of traditional psychotherapy he had been trained in were inadequate to heal. Determined to find a way back to himself, he set out on a journey. From ancient ceremonies in the jungles of Peru, rites of passage in the remote islands of British Columbia, indigenous healing rituals here in Colorado to immersions in yogic and meditative lineages and a re-education in graduate level courses; Cody faced his own darkness head on and explored every healing modality he could find. Now he is walking those lessons back into the world - for the good of all. Cody is also the author of a K-8 Mindfulness-Based Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum, Empowering Minds, and the Executive Director of the non-profit, Empowering Education. He frequently presents on the topics of mindfulness, social & emotional learning, and trauma and coaches educators, parents, and children in mindfulness. He continues to engage life full force as an avid mountain biker, rock climber, backcountry skier, yogi, fly fisher, and amateur poet. Cody's deep purpose is creating a more compassionate world by helping other's to heal the cores wounds of their heart and connect with their own purpose. https://www.codywiggs.com/ http://eastforest.org

A guided meditation with East Forest music - designed to sing one another awake and engender a felt experience of our full beingness. http://eastforest.org

It's time for an end of the year "Ask Me Anything" episode. You guys posted your questions on social media I've done my best to answer them. We get into a diverse range of subjects so listen in to hear the other half of our conversation together. You spoke - I'm speakin'. The episode ends with a full rendition of "Live in Amsterdam". http://eastforest.org

Tony’s devotion to the path of yoga fills his classes with both knowledge and intensity, while his big heart lends sweetness and compassion. His classes are infused with biomechanics, philosophy, breath work and a healthy dose of humor. Tony views teaching as a live collaboration and he loves to encourage students to experience and explore the movement arts. He pulls inspiration from his diverse artistic background and this, in turn, creates the vision and voice for his teachings. Tony’s greatest joy is in helping to awaken new students’ passion for yoga and to see new and seasoned practitioners find deep freedom and self-expression in the context of a safe and loving environment. In 2011 Tony was offered an amazing opportunity to become a co-owner of Yoga at the Raven, a beautiful sanctuary located in Silver Lake. The Raven is Tony’s platform to create, share and expand his hearts’ vision and to inspire others to do the same. Prior to that, Tony taught public classes at several studios in Los Angeles, including Exhale and Yoga Collective in Venice Beach, Mission Street Yoga in Pasadena and Still Yoga in Silver Lake. Tony is the creator of Yoga Elementals™ and founder of Meditate Study Practice (MSP)™ - a program designed to be accessible to students and teachers of all levels and life paths. Tony leads monthly workshops and 200 and 300-hour teacher trainings, in Los Angeles and abroad. http://www.tonygyoga.com http://eastforest.org

CAMILLE MAURINE is the author of the groundbreaking book, Meditation Secrets for Women: Discovering Your Passion, Pleasure, and Inner Peace, as well as Meditation 24/7: Practices to Enlighten Every Moment of the Day, both written with her husband, Dr. Lorin Roche. She gives global teleseminars and teacher trainings, with a specialty in women's spiritual empowerment and embodiment, and travels worldwide to give performances, workshops, and retreats. Camille Maurine is on the faculty of Esalen Institute, 1440 Multiversity, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and SAND Science and Nonduality. She gives online courses on meditation and intimacy such as "Love Wisdom Power" and “Living in Love’s Body.” Camille is also the creator of Moving Theater of the Soul, a transformational creative process. Camille is an intrepid traveler on the path of embodiment, venturing high and low into the world of energy and love. Her work is an intimate fusion of meditation, movement, and expression, with a keen passion for women's spiritual empowerment. Renowned for her scintillating embodiments of feminine energy, Camille often performs excerpts from The Radiance Sutras: The Yoga of Wonder and Delight, Lorin Roche’s translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, an ancient meditation text. Camille Maurine is the President of Syzygy Creations, Inc. Camille and Lorin lead a dynamic meditation teacher training and travel widely to give presentations, workshops, and retreats. Sharing her journey of over four decades of teaching and thirty-five years of intimate relationship, Camille invites us into the mystery of being alive. camillemaurine.com

Day has been captivated by nature and art ever since first viewed the work of artist, Andy Goldsworthy as a child. Day’s very first altars were on the side of his driveway after every rainstorm, where his five year old self was devoted to saving the displaced worms by digging little holes and then decorating them in a mandala-like fashion. But it wasn’t until a major relationship breakup that he began to cultivate Morning Altars as a daily spiritual and beauty-making practice as a way to process his grief and heartache. For much of his adult life, Schildkret has been traveling three distinct but converging paths of art, nature and education. On the artistic road, he worked on and off Broadway from 2001-2007 with luminaries such a Steve Martin (The Underpants), Jessie Tyler Ferguson (The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged), Duncan Sheik (The Nightingale), and Kristen Bell and Nikki M. James (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). As an educator and public speaker, Schildkret began his career teaching teenagers and mentoring them to connect their spiritually with a deeper nature connection. He was the winner of the prestigious Helen Diller Award for Excellence in Education with his widely popular ‘Fire Circle’ class. For over 10 years, Schildkret gathered hundreds of students around a fire to learn about ancestry, spirituality, responsibility and impermanence. Schildkret is also the Founder of Legacy As Livelihood, a creative purpose coaching practice, and The Break Free Lab, a nationally touring workshop designed for creative and spiritually minded people who long to find their creative purpose and live a life devoted to serving their creative calling. Schildkret understands that to be a teacher, he also needs to be a student. Over the course of his career, he has learned from nature connection expert, Jon Young (8 Shields Institute), studied and danced with Shoshonee elder Clyde Hall (the Naraya) and is currently a devoted scholar with the author, spiritual activist and public speaker Stephen Jenkinson (Die Wise - Nautilus Book Award Winner) and a recent graduate of his school (the Orphan Wisdom School) in Canada. While Schildkret has been building earth altars his entire life, he has been building an altar every morning as a practice for the past six years inside Wildcat Canyon in Richmond, CA. Inspired to share the benefits of this daily practice, he has gathered communities all over the United States and Canada to attend his altar and mandala making workshops. His work proves there is real healing and connection happening when people create intentional earth art. morningaltars.com

A guided meditation designed to help you fall asleep. I was sitting on the beach at night looking at the stars and listening to the ocean wash up on the shore and I pulled out my little recorder to create a simple approach for ending the day, letting things go, and guiding us into the dream land. http://eastforest.org

Known in the music world as Rara Avis (n. latin for Rare Bird), Alex King-Harris is a dedicated master of his craft with over 20 years experience in live performance and music production with a core focus on where the electronic underground, yoga and ecstatic dance movements collide. He is also CEO and Founder of Yogi Tunes, an world wide online music service that provides top quality DJ driven soundtracks for yoga and other wellness activities. As a long time member of two ground breaking music ensembles “Desert Dwellers”& “Shaman’s Dream”, Rara co-pioneered the sound of contemporary wellness music by combining elements of music therapy, vibrational science, digital music production with a strong background in jazz, blues, ethnic and classical studies. When not producing music or carrying out Yogi Tunes operations, Rara’s prime joy is in mentoring kids, providing rites of passage for youth, and fostering community through the production of monthly Ecstatic Dance events in his home of Victoria, BC. www.yogi-tunes.com eastforest.org

This is a story/essay/poetic monologue from Matt Cochran (Episode #3) from the Boulder Harvest Festival 2018. Matt wrote a beautiful piece about place and nature and dreaming us all awake. He came over so we could record the essay and I put some East Forest music to the background for a little radio play of sorts. Enjoy. ravendreamtracking.com eastforest.org

Alan Macy is currently the Research and Development Director, past President and a founder of BIOPAC Systems, Inc. He designs data collection and analysis systems, used by researchers in the life sciences, that help identify meaningful interpretations from signals produced by life processes. Trained in electrical engineering and physiology, with over 30 years of product development experience, he is currently focusing on psychophysiology, emotional and motivational state measurements, magnetic resonance imaging and augmented/virtual reality implementations. He presents in the areas of human-computer interfaces, electrophysiology, and telecommunications. His recent research and artistic efforts explore ideas of human nervous system extension and the associated impacts upon perception. As an applied science artist, he specializes in the creation of cybernated art, interactive sculpture and environments. Currently, Macy’s primary project development efforts are focused on the areas of multi-channel physiological measurement, digital wireless transmission systems and new sensor development. He has been active in clothing design to support ergonomic methods for ambulatory physiological measurement along with the associated investigated use of “smart” materials, such as conductive fabrics and other textiles that can be employed as flexible and compatible transducers. Macy is involved in the development of new products for the purposes of recording physiological variables in the Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI) and functional MRI and during virtual reality (VR) sessions. He has developed amplifiers and signal processing methods to remove artifact from biopotential signals recorded in the MRI. In the area of VR, he has been focusing effort on implementation methods to monitor physiological variables during VR protocols and then employ algorithmic results, from these variables, to modify the VR subject experience. alanmacy.com eastforest.org/podcast

Take a dive into this guided meditation to find the internal flame that is our consciousness center and our soul emanance. Backed by East Forest music you are guided on a journey of release and reconnection to that which is you: a center of love and eternal peace visualized by a single small flame. eastforest.org

A live podcast recorded at the East Forest "Spirit Dive" Fall Retreat in Boulder, Utah. Join us at Esalen Institute in Big Sur California Nov 16-18 for the next upcoming retreat. http://eastforest.org/retreat Thank you to everyone who attended and Radha for moderating the conversation. Recorded live in the great room at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch.

Jai Sugrim is a Yoga Teacher, Athletic Trainer, and recognized Men’s Health Expert. He is the creator of the Jai Sugrim Method, a scientific approach for bringing the human body and mind into harmony. Jai has worked with many professional athletes, including the New York Yankees, during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He earned a 2000 World Series Championship ring as the Yankees defeated the Mets in the World Series. Jai is the creator and host of Yoga Sutra Now, a 65 episode Television Show on Z Living, which airs in over 20 different countries. During 2014 & 2015, Jai taught yoga and mindfulness to high school students at Frederick Douglas Academy in Harlem, through a grant from the Sonima Foundation. Jai has worked in the health and wellness industry for 22 years. He is a C.S.C.S (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist,) L.M.T. (Licensed Massage Therapist,) Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, Plant Based Nutrition Counselor, Master Practitioner of N.L.P. (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has Completed Vipassana Meditation Training. He is licensed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the American Council on Exercise, the International Sports and Sciences Foundation and Jivamukti Yoga School. jaisugrim.com

What if we could create technology that would help us in our own efforts to be more mindful, present, and accepting towards what is? This same technology would naturally also help us to feel better, reduce stress, be more peaceful, more accepting, and happier. Technology alone can’t do any of these things for you, but it can help facilitate that process. And the process Mikey is talking about has been practiced in one form or another by countless individuals across cultures and religions for thousands of years. It is a process of going within, quieting the mind and knowing thyself. What if the technology that surrounds us every day, in our pockets, on our walls, at our fingertips, could be used to help us learn about ourselves rather than perpetually distract us? He teaches at Stanford University and is also the founder of Consciousness Hacking. MikeySiegel.com EastFoerst

Dustin DiPerna is a meditation teacher, visionary leader, entrepreneur, and recognized expert in world religions. He has committed his life to making timeless spiritual wisdom relevant and accessible for a rapidly changing global society. Through writing, teaching, coaching, and entrepreneurship, Dustin helps individuals and groups to find happier and more fulfilling ways of being in the world. He is author of three books - Streams of Wisdom, Evolution's Ally, and Earth is Eden - and co-editor of The Coming Waves. Dustin has spent more than a decade of close study with American Philosopher, Ken Wilber, who has publically declared that Dustin’s work “fundamentally alters the way in which religion or spirituality can (and should) be taught and practiced.” For the past 8 years, Dustin has been practicing and studying in the spiritual lineages of Mahamudra and Dzogchen under the direction of Daniel P. Brown. Dustin has a lifelong commitment to being both student and practitioner. He teaches at Stanford University an dhe holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MA in Religion from Harvard University. dustindiperna.com EastForest.org