Un-Gatekeeping How Mushrooms Can Change Your Life

Summary

Slay The Gatekeeper: Episode Summary

Title: Un-Gatekeeping How Mushrooms Can Change Your Life
Host: Courtney Johnson
Guest: Austin West
Release Date: April 29, 2025

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1. Introduction to Psychedelics and Gatekeeping

The episode opens with Courtney Johnson welcoming Austin West to Slay The Gatekeeper. The primary focus is on demystifying and democratizing knowledge about psychedelics, particularly mushrooms, and their transformative potential in various aspects of life.

Notable Quote:

"Psychedelics are like one of the ultimate, if not the ultimate gate kept cheat code to life." — Courtney Johnson [02:23]

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2. Historical Context of Psychedelics

Austin delves into the rich history of psychedelic use across ancient civilizations. He highlights practices like the Eleusinian Mysteries in Greece, where psychedelics were integral to spiritual and intellectual advancements. The discussion underscores how prominent figures, such as Steve Jobs, attributed their innovative ideas to LSD use, emphasizing the long-standing relationship between psychedelics and creativity.

Notable Quotes:

"We have hard evidence that psychedelics have been used in every single one of these cultures as well." — Austin West [05:06]
"Marcus Aurelius was a big fan of ergot wine. You know what ergot wine is? That's LSD, baby." — Courtney Johnson [04:34]

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3. Contemporary Use and Microdosing

The conversation transitions to the modern resurgence of psychedelics, particularly microdosing, as a tool for enhancing cognitive functions and emotional well-being. Austin explains how microdosing facilitates neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, enabling individuals to develop new neural pathways that support personal growth and productivity.

Notable Quote:

"Microdosing is bringing our brain into a neuroplastic and a neurogenic state." — Austin West [17:07]

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4. Personal Stories and Impact on Mental Health

Austin shares his personal journey from a high-stress career in finance to embracing microdosing as a means to overcome anxiety and depression. He recounts a pivotal moment—a panic attack—that led him to quit his job and seek a more fulfilling path. This experience illustrates the profound impact psychedelics can have on mental health and life direction.

Notable Quotes:

"I ended up having a panic attack in September 22nd. It was 12 years into the finance biz." — Austin West [06:21]
"When you start to acknowledge what you desire and want to come in in life, you're going to be delivered opportunities to prove you're willing to be who is required." — Austin West [32:40]

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5. Mindset Shifts: World as a Mirror

A significant portion of the episode explores the concept that the world is a mirror, meaning that interactions with others reflect internal aspects of oneself. Austin emphasizes that triggers in relationships or daily life highlight areas within us that need healing or growth, turning every encounter into an opportunity for self-improvement.

Notable Quotes:

"Anything, the person who cuts you off in traffic that triggers the road rage in you, it has nothing to do with that person." — Austin West [25:53]
"Our world is made up of stories. Who we believe ourselves to be, what we believe we're capable of and worthy of." — Austin West [28:33]

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6. Confronting Fear for Growth

The discussion advances to addressing fear directly. Austin posits that fear is a manifestation of ingrained stories about our limitations. By confronting fear head-on, individuals unlock their power of choice, allowing them to evolve and overcome stagnant states that lead to anxiety and depression.

Notable Quotes:

"When we confront fear head on, we unlock the power of choice." — Courtney Johnson [30:05]
"Fear is the same way. It's like, okay, I'm having fear about doing this thing." — Austin West [31:19]

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7. Trauma as a Gift and Purpose

Austin introduces the transformative idea that trauma can be a catalyst for personal growth and purpose. He references Carl Jung’s concept of self-individuation, explaining that overcoming trauma leads to deeper self-understanding and the ability to assist others on similar paths. This perspective redefines trauma from a source of suffering to a foundation for meaningful contributions to the world.

Notable Quotes:

"Trauma is your greatest gift because what is required of you to overcome that trauma ends up having an equal and matched evolution that came with it." — Austin West [38:43]
"Weaving our own little mycelium network throughout people and things and passions." — Courtney Johnson [40:29]

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8. Integrating Insights into Daily Life

In the concluding segments, Austin and Courtney discuss practical applications of the insights shared. They advocate for intentional practices like microdosing, journaling, and meditation to maintain mental clarity and foster continuous personal development. Austin highlights the importance of radical responsibility and self-awareness in sustaining growth and achieving authentic fulfillment.

Notable Quote:

"Bringing everything back to self. Start telling yourself the truth and learn what it means to be with the discomforts of life." — Austin West [44:18]

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Conclusion

The episode effectively un-gatekeeps the transformative potential of psychedelics, particularly mushrooms, by providing historical context, personal anecdotes, and actionable insights. Austin West and Courtney Johnson emphasize the importance of self-awareness, confronting internal challenges, and leveraging intentional practices to unlock personal and professional growth.

For those interested in exploring these concepts further, Austin West provides resources via his website iamaustinwest.com and his microdosing platform, Entheosolistics.

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This detailed summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions, insights, and transformative concepts shared by Austin West and Courtney Johnson. Through engaging dialogue and profound quotes, listeners are guided on a journey to harness the power of psychedelics and personal development for a more fulfilling life.

Transcript

[Austin West]

Foreign.

[Courtney Johnson]

Welcome to Slay the Gatekeeper. I'm your host Courtney Johnson and I.

[Unknown]

Am here to un gatekeep the gatekeep. Thank you so much for being here. Enjoy. Welcome Austin.

So good to be here.

Welcome to Slay the Gatekeeper here. We're going to un un gatekeep some stuff. All right. We're going to un gatekeep a little bit, a little bit about a lot of things. But I want to first get into just who are you and what do you do? What are you creating in this world? Austin?

Yeah, who am I?

[Austin West]

What a.

[Unknown]

What an open ended question.

[Austin West]

I've actually been in this place the last few months where I'm trying to untell all the stories I've been telling.

[Unknown]

Myself the whole life.

[Austin West]

Right, well what are you creating? Yeah. Where I am now is I'm very passionate about the potential and intentional use of psychedelics to expand every single aspect of our lives. Work, relationships, creativity, presence, things we suffer from, depression, anxiety. Yeah. I believe that these tools, these medicines, when used properly, with guidance and intention can open up our life in every single aspect.

[Unknown]

Psychedelics are like one of the ultimate, if not the ultimate gate kept cheat code to life. There are intentional gatekeepers around these substances just legally but also energetically, like also prohibition wise. Like it is crazy. And I know that you there's this whole history of like the war on drugs and how psychedelics came to be illegal in what, the 60s, 70s? But it is something that is so gay kept like how did Steve Jobs make Apple lsd? How did any great idea come? Creative downloads, right? A lot of it through psychedelics. And it's something that a lot of super ultra successful people use but gatekeep but don't talk about because maybe they don't want to attribute their success to something maybe that they, they feel in danger to talk about it. But why? I mean, obviously living in Austin we see that all these successful people are at least microdosing. Why do you think it's gate kept?

[Austin West]

I mean this is kind of rabbit holy. So I'll just kind of like go down the rabbit hole, dip in and dip out. But most things in this reality that.

[Unknown]

Bring people any semblance of personal power are typically stripped away from us.

[Austin West]

Right. That's what the quote matrix, the powers that be would like. I believe that is what has happened to psychedelics.

[Unknown]

And there's a few things it's like you mentioned.

[Austin West]

Steve Jobs attributed his entire thought of.

[Unknown]

A lot of the ideas that came.

[Austin West]

Through with Apple to his use of lsd. Both macro microdosing, I can't remember the guy's name.

[Unknown]

The guy who developed the PCR test.

[Austin West]

And everybody that lived through Covid typically all had the PCR test done. Lsd, the guys who develop or not develop but found the DNA sequencing, they.

[Unknown]

Attribute it to psychedelics. They had a vision of it, which prompted them to go down this path of study, right?

[Austin West]

We can go on and on about how these things have been used to realize the genius that is in every single one of us.

[Unknown]

Every single one of us have our.

[Austin West]

Own innate level of genius that ends.

[Unknown]

Up being our purpose and how we.

[Austin West]

Can serve the world and the gatekeeping of it. This is, this goes way further back than the 1970.

[Unknown]

The sweeping psychedelics act, right?

[Austin West]

Nixon coming in and the whole propaganda thing that started in the early 1900s.

[Unknown]

To really take these things away from.

[Austin West]

Us, to make it easier to control, right? With what pharmaceuticals do, with numbing ourselves, our ability to think differently, numbing our emotional centers.

[Unknown]

That's all great, but we can take.

[Austin West]

This back thousands of years, right? It's like this tattoo right here is attributed to the Greek goddess Demeter. And there was this two. It was about 1900 year old psychedelic.

[Unknown]

Initiation ritual called the Eleusinian Mysteries.

[Austin West]

And it was about 13 miles north of Athens where every single year they would participate in these, these rituals that we now know, they use psychedelics to do so. And people from Plato to Aristotle to Socrates to Alexander the Great, a lot of the greatest minds that we attribute a lot of our genius to participated in these psychedelic ceremonies, right?

[Unknown]

I learned recently that Marcus Aurelius was a big fan of ergot wine. You know what ergot wine is? That's lsd, baby.

[Austin West]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

Which is a fungus, right?

[Austin West]

And so a lot of it ends.

[Unknown]

Up coming back to the fungus, the.

[Austin West]

Mushroom, in a way. So it's like these, these medicines, these tools, these substances that I believe are evolving our state of consciousness have been swept under the rug, whether it's governmental.

[Unknown]

Structures or religious structures, for thousands and thousands of years.

[Austin West]

And you see almost every society and culture that we have pedestalized in many.

[Unknown]

Ways have also used in the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the.

[Austin West]

Romans, we have hard evidence that psychedelics.

[Unknown]

Have been used in every single one.

[Austin West]

Of these cultures as well. And so as it's making its way.

[Unknown]

Back here, even going through the legalization channel, right.

[Austin West]

Obviously there's really big gray and black markets for these things as it's being.

[Unknown]

Brought back into the limelight. We even see now at the Apex of our culture here.

[Austin West]

All of a sudden, psychedelics are making a comeback.

[Unknown]

It is crazy to think that every single indigenous culture had a psychedelic practice except the Inuits, and they have throat singing, which is essentially breath work. And your pineal gland is secreting dmt. So they do be tripping too. I have some cheat codes that I've pulled of things that you've talked about, and I want to dive into some of those. And the first cheat code is listen to the whisperer to know it's time to leave your job, to leave a career, to make a big transition. So I'm curious, how did you tap into that or start to listen to that pull to leave your career?

[Austin West]

My leaving came with the body giving.

[Unknown]

Me a signal that was impossible to ignore.

[Austin West]

I ended up having a panic attack in September 22nd. It was 12 years into the finance biz. I was seven years into mortgages at that time. Different sectors of mortgages. I mean, that was the loudest signal, right?

[Unknown]

And I got up, quit my job.

[Austin West]

On the spot, sold house six weeks later to give myself Runway to do.

[Unknown]

What the I wanted to do in my life.

[Austin West]

But it's.

[Unknown]

When I look back before that moment, there was clear and obvious signs.

[Austin West]

I. I heard the whisper telling me this isn't what I wanted to do, that I wasn't being paid what I.

[Unknown]

Was worth, that I was sick of giving my time away to somebody else.

[Austin West]

That there wasn't an alignment with how I wanted to serve both myself, people.

[Unknown]

Around me, the collective.

[Austin West]

And it's in today's society and culture, we're so good at being busy, at distracting ourselves, at numbing ourselves, at distracting.

[Unknown]

What'S really going on in the internal world that we hear the whisper and.

[Austin West]

We'Ve gotten really good at gaslighting it.

[Unknown]

Everybody here listening has something in their.

[Austin West]

Life that they are getting pinged on. As I'm talking about this, that.

[Unknown]

As I'm talking about it and it's.

[Austin West]

Coming up, you are actively still trying to suppress and tell yourself that's not the thing, that's the whisper, right?

[Unknown]

This could be in relationships and careers.

[Austin West]

And asking for something we want in.

[Unknown]

Sex, any desire, right? There is something inside of us that is pulling us forward or out of.

[Austin West]

In this instance, a career that we.

[Unknown]

Have gotten really good at just suppressing that because the shoulds and the expectations of how we believe we're supposed to show up, what we believe we're supposed.

[Austin West]

To do in today, in society, and to like, weave this back to psychedelics. What I believe psychedelics Do. At the root of it, especially with, like, a micro.

[Unknown]

A really intentional microdosing protocol, is they're.

[Austin West]

Just arbiters of truth. They're just helping that whisper become a.

[Unknown]

Little bit more loud, that emotion become.

[Austin West]

A little bit more loud. That incongruency or that misalignment, it just.

[Unknown]

Becomes a little bit more loud.

[Austin West]

And through that clarity that you gain.

[Unknown]

From it, sometimes it makes it a little bit easier to make those decisions.

[Austin West]

You know, you should be making in the first place.

[Unknown]

Yeah. The universe whispers until it screams. Screams and cries and throws you against the wall and gives you panic attacks until you have to make a big change. So maybe make the change while you're in the whisper stage so you don't go. So you don't have to go to that. Yeah, that's powerful.

[Austin West]

Yeah. Just one more thing on there, too.

[Unknown]

Is it's like there's no urgency with a lot of these changes.

[Austin West]

Right. It's like, I think this is where.

[Unknown]

I saw myself getting stuck. It was either this or that.

[Austin West]

In that the complex of thinking I.

[Unknown]

Needed to make a mass decision on the spot always is what kept me.

[Austin West]

In fear from making any decision at all. And so when you start to hear these whispers that you're being called into a different life in any way, again.

[Unknown]

It could be about anything.

[Austin West]

For most people, it's about what you're doing with your time, your career, your purpose and relationship.

[Unknown]

Right.

And that could be friends. That could be intimate relationship, family, relationships.

[Austin West]

Any those two things. Most people have something happening they can look at. It's not about that urgent decision or jumping out of it.

[Unknown]

Like, take your time.

[Austin West]

Just tell yourself the fucking truth. Like, no, I'm not happy at my job. No, I'm not getting paid what I worth. It's like, okay, that's out in the open now.

[Unknown]

I've acknowledged that truth to myself.

[Austin West]

So that whisper, it doesn't need to hide anywhere.

[Unknown]

It's out in the open, and then.

[Austin West]

You can slowly start to navigate there.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's so beautiful and helpful. All right, next, cheat code. This is an idea that you've talked about around adhd. I have adhd. I actually got off of ADHD due to microdosing, or I got off of ADHD medications because of microdosing. So thank you for that, Austin. Yeah. You have. There's a book by Gabor Mates, Gabmines. And you kind of talk about how AHC could be a physical manifestation of our stories or our belief systems. And before you get into explaining this, I want to share A really crazy experience. So I used to take Vyvanse, like every day for years and years. It's a stimulant medication similar to Adderall. And I started and it would make me feel calm immediately. Like I would take it, it would feel calm, almost like I took like a Xanax. Then I started microdosing and replacing it. And anytime I would go back and take Vyvanse, it wouldn't make me feel calm anymore. It would make me feel really anxious. So I'm like, did I just change my brain chemistry through microdosing? Like, after microdosing for months and months and months, taking a Vyvanse again, my entire body reacted to it differently than it has for my entire life. So I believe that my brain chemistry changed somehow.

[Austin West]

What was the reaction? What did you feel?

[Unknown]

Anxiety, like, you know, it's a stimulant. I felt the stimulating effects. I've never felt stimulating effects of stimulants before. Now I feel the stimulating effects. Yeah.

[Austin West]

Wow.

[Unknown]

Now I like, stop drinking caffeine and everything. So I'm like, ooh, that's. I feel that for the first time.

[Austin West]

Yeah. I didn't do Vyvanse. I was on Adderall for seven years. When I first got on, it was the two and a half milligram instant release. By year three, I'm on 30 milligram extended. Because every three months I'd go in.

[Unknown]

I'm like, this isn't helping. And what'd they do?

[Austin West]

They're like, oh, you just need to take more, you know? And it got to the point where.

[Unknown]

Sometimes twice a day I was taking those extended release.

[Austin West]

And it got to the point where I knew it was ruining my life. I was really anxious. I would go through these like roller.

[Unknown]

Coastery depressive states where I'd like drop into a depressive state for sometimes hours.

[Austin West]

And then I'd come right back out. But it was really volatile. My sleep started to go to shit.

[Unknown]

Which made me try Ambien, which is.

[Austin West]

A whole nother wild experience. It's like a sleepwalking nightmare. And the anxiety stemmed the use of Valium and Xanax and things like that. And I got to the point where I knew I hated taking it, but.

[Unknown]

I didn't believe I could function without it.

Right.

[Austin West]

And so there'd be days I'd be driving to work, forgot to take a.

[Unknown]

Pill, and I would risk being late to work and getting written up just.

[Austin West]

To turn around, go grab it, even though taking it wasn't work. And they got to the point where, yeah, when you talk about changing your.

[Unknown]

Brain chemistry, I literally thought it was changing my personality. I got really angry, became really short.

[Austin West]

Tempered to the point the CEO at one of the companies I worked at would no longer let me talk to anyone in operations because they said all.

[Unknown]

I did was find a reason to snap at them.

[Austin West]

And I was like, that doesn't feel like me. And then that's when it kind of woke me up. And the microdosing ended up coming to.

[Unknown]

My life, gave me these realizations.

[Austin West]

So going back to Gabor Mate's book real quick, I'm totally going to botch this. People should just read if you're interested, because this guy's a genius. But one of his baseline beliefs is that a lot of what we suffer.

[Unknown]

From or our dis ease in life.

[Austin West]

Our symptomology, are all expressions and physical.

[Unknown]

Manifestations of some sort of deep rooted.

[Austin West]

Trauma that typically happens in the first seven years of your life. Some people will talk about the first 14 years.

[Unknown]

0 to 7. 7 to 14.

[Austin West]

There's a great quote.

[Unknown]

I can't remember who it is, but.

[Austin West]

It'S one of my, one of my favorites.

[Unknown]

Show me the first seven years and.

[Austin West]

I'll show you the man. It's like that.

[Unknown]

That's from the Catholic sect.

[Austin West]

Oh yes.

[Unknown]

I forget what it's called, but yeah, yeah.

Phenomenal, right?

[Austin West]

It's like those first seven developmental years are everything that determined. This is why a lot of people, you know, when you're looking at your relationship, something's going in a relationship. Look at the relationship with your parents.

[Unknown]

So much of where we are now is reflected in those early years. Is Bruce Lipton's work as well.

[Austin West]

Right. You're basically just in hip hypno hypnosis your first seven years and so you're just absorbing everything. So Gabor Mate talks about in scattered Minds. I think it's between the ages 3.

[Unknown]

And 5 or 3 and 6.

[Austin West]

The prefrontal cortex is in its stage.

[Unknown]

Of hyper development, which is where your attention center is.

[Austin West]

Right. If you are in an environment in those ages that you're not receiving what you need for your most prime in apt development.

[Unknown]

Right. Maybe it's a toxic household.

[Austin West]

Maybe you're not being nurtured and touched.

[Unknown]

As much as you need, especially during those years.

[Austin West]

Maybe there's a lot of yelling, maybe you're fighting with your siblings a lot. Maybe there's physical or verbal abuse, whatever it might be. Anything that can cause disruption or discomfort for a child of those ages. We can't pick up cocaine or watch Netflix.

[Unknown]

Right.

Like, we don't.

[Austin West]

The things that a lot of people.

[Unknown]

End up choosing to numb themselves and.

[Austin West]

Distract themselves with, you don't have the ability for that. So distraction ends up distraction itself. Like zoning out, losing the ability to focus becomes the addiction for.

[Unknown]

For a child of that age.

[Austin West]

Now, fast forward 20 years, you're living a life, working a job you hate, in a relationship that you're not happy in, with friends that don't really fill you up, and all of a sudden.

[Unknown]

You have all these manifestations of adhd. Maybe you're just living a life that's.

[Austin West]

Pretty discomforting compared to how you really want to live and what would be best for you.

[Unknown]

And so you are in this hyper state of distraction, numbing out from the fact that you're living a very uncomfortable.

[Austin West]

Existence and, like, changing that. That self narrative. I had, first of all, stop diagnosing yourself. You don't have adhd. You are not a person with adhd. You're experiencing symptoms of something. Right?

[Unknown]

Identity.

Exactly.

Identity is powerful. And if you identify yourself with it.

[Austin West]

That is, you've now ingrained a belief.

[Unknown]

System that you are that thing which.

[Austin West]

Makes it almost impossible to ever get out of that thing because you believe.

[Unknown]

That'S what you are at the core of your being.

Right.

[Austin West]

And so reading that book really changed.

[Unknown]

My relationship with identifying it.

[Austin West]

Like, okay, I don't have adhd.

[Unknown]

I'm experiencing symptoms of this.

[Austin West]

And then going back to kind of.

[Unknown]

What it says in the book, I'm.

[Austin West]

Like, okay, if symptomology is arising from.

[Unknown]

Maybe I'm in an environment that isn't beneficial for who I want to be.

[Austin West]

And the depth of comfort and purpose.

[Unknown]

And alignment I want to feel.

[Austin West]

Start looking at your environment. Oh, shit. I hate my job. Oh, these friends don't make me feel good when I'm around them. I don't like participating in these behaviors. I didn't like going out and getting drunk on the weekends. I actually feel pretty lazy and like, I'm not bringing value to myself when I'm watching 15 hours of Netflix a week.

[Unknown]

Right.

Whatever.

[Austin West]

The thing is, whenever you notice your.

[Unknown]

ADHD arise, pay really close attention to that thing. Is that in alignment to who you.

[Austin West]

Want to be and how you want to live life. And then there's a way when we.

[Unknown]

Start to put ourselves in environments, or.

[Austin West]

Let'S use microdosing for an example. Microdosing is.

[Unknown]

Is.

Is bringing our brain into a neuroplastic and a neurogenic state, and there's other.

[Austin West]

Things like quieting the default mode network.

[Unknown]

Which is getting us out of our normal waking mind which makes it easier to learn, have new patterns, new perspectives.

[Austin West]

There's GABA and glutamate release which is like creating a, A, a balance within the brain.

[Unknown]

And said a lot of us are excitatory, a lot of us are kind of depressive.

[Austin West]

It's kind of creating that equilibrium. The most important things about what psilocybin.

[Unknown]

And microdosing is doing is neuroplasticity, neurogenesis.

Right.

[Austin West]

Which is like the building blocks and.

[Unknown]

Then neural pathways that are developed when we embark on new behaviors.

[Austin West]

So if you have ADHD or you're experiencing the symptoms of ADHD and you're wanting to get out of that experience and find something new, you can train your brain to do so.

[Unknown]

Especially with something powerful and potent like.

[Austin West]

Microdosing because you're, you're triggering those neuroplastic and neurogenic states.

[Unknown]

And as long as you're really intentional.

[Austin West]

And in tuned while you're microdosing, going.

[Unknown]

Into an activity with that intention to.

[Austin West]

Be more focused, following only things that.

[Unknown]

Feel good, cutting out the fat and trimming the things out of your life.

[Austin West]

That don't feel like it's bringing you purpose or alignment, you can start to retrain that attention center towards being excited and present with the things that bring you more fulfillment in life.

[Unknown]

That's so beautiful. Yeah. I love how empowering the language change is. I always look at it like there's three aspects of language. You either say, oh, I'm adhd. That's like a full identity. I am. Then there's, I have, I have ADHD again. That's like a little one step remove from it being your full identity. And then I'm experiencing symptoms of one that I love is I'm overcoming that presents a story that there's a cure like you can. And I do believe, I know that lots of people say that there's no cure for adhd but I actually believe that I've been training my brain out of it. It's wild. Yeah. And I, it's, it is crazy because the creative problem solving you get from microdosing is wild. The very first time I microdosed and I'm like I'm getting off of Vyvanse. I'm going to start microdosing. I made the intention. I'm like, I'm so scared. This won't make me productive. I want to be productive. I want my business to succeed. Like please show me that, like, I'm not gonna fail and fall on my face. And I had this, like, crazy urge to make a list of, you know, I didn't want to do a lot of this work. I wanted to outsource it. I wanted to hire someone, and I didn't think it was possible. I made this whole list, like, while I'm microdosing. That's all I did the whole day. Make this list of, like, the perfect person that I would hire if I had the money and the resources and whatever. The next day, I opened my LinkedIn inbox and it's somebody that matches all of the. This was like multiple pages that matched everything. Like, I want to work for you in my budget. And I'm like, okay, now I have an operator of my business that came out of nowhere.

[Courtney Johnson]

And I.

[Unknown]

It's not me being productive, but she is. And she just took over my whole business. Like, heck, yeah. Like, thank you. I would have never even thought about that. I didn't even have this story that I could delegate or I could get support or help. The story that when I set that intention was, I want to be as productive as I possibly can. And I would have never even been able to think bigger. And that was day one of microdosing. So you can imagine how much has come after that, after months and months.

[Austin West]

What do you think that was? Because the way you described that, that.

[Unknown]

Is a manifestation, practice.

[Austin West]

So what do you think? Connect the dots when you microdose to really step into that?

[Unknown]

I think it was just the stories being dissolved. My story was I have to do everything. It has to come from me, even the things that I hate. So I love my business, but I was hating operations. And I didn't even see it as an alternative solution. And it just brought a new solution to my brain that I would have never considered.

[Austin West]

Change of perspective.

[Unknown]

Change of perspective, yes.

[Courtney Johnson]

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[Unknown]

Okay, next cheat code that you have and that is the world is a mirror. Tell me more.

[Austin West]

Yeah, I I've been playing with this one a lot, especially in.

[Unknown]

In relationship.

Right.

[Austin West]

Any relationship is really going to be the.

[Unknown]

The reflection.

[Austin West]

But the world at large is your mirror. And this is even in random strangers they have interactions with, they're showing you something about yourself. I started to feel like I had.

[Unknown]

Power over my life and authority over the direction I was headed when I started to realize this entire experience was about me, no one else. Right. And if we use relationship as an.

[Austin West]

Example, if my partner triggers me, which.

[Unknown]

Most people are doing, you made me get.

[Austin West]

You made me feel that you're the one who triggered.

[Unknown]

No, it has nothing to do with them. What they are doing is mirroring an.

[Austin West]

Aspect of yourself that you are not free in. They're playing their part perfectly.

[Unknown]

And again, we can use the mirror as this entire. The world as the mirror itself.

[Austin West]

And so anything, the person who cuts you off in traffic that triggers the.

[Unknown]

Road rage in you, it has nothing.

[Austin West]

To do with that person.

[Unknown]

What the world is doing is mirroring and reflecting back to ourselves the uninitiated.

[Austin West]

Parts that are preventing us from taking.

[Unknown]

Our power back in every aspect of our own individual beings.

[Austin West]

And when you can take that responsibility, that radical responsibility on as yours and realize the world has nothing to do with what your life experience is, you.

[Unknown]

Start to realize that you can create.

[Austin West]

This to be whatever the hell you.

[Unknown]

Want it to be.

Right?

[Austin West]

And so it's like using that mirror.

[Unknown]

Of the world to start to reflect back the parts of yourself that want love and to be looked at the most.

[Austin West]

And so it kind of works both ways. And so one of the ways is the more passive. And this comes up in relationships and friendships, I would say most often anything that's going to be a little bit more intimate, noticing the things that people.

[Unknown]

Do or say that trigger some sort.

[Austin West]

Of emotional or physiological experience within you, they're showing you the aspect. And I like to look at this as. It's my little boy that is uninitiated in a way that needs to be.

[Unknown]

Held in some way that my parents.

[Austin West]

Weren'T able to or I'm being presented a trauma. Big T, little T. I know that.

[Unknown]

Word can be overused, but that's essentially what it is.

[Austin West]

It's any event in life that creates a reaction that you can relive indefinitely. Another Gabor mate definition. And so in my friendships and relationships.

[Unknown]

If anything is said or done that.

[Austin West]

Triggers something in me, that's my job to go in on that. It has nothing to do with them.

[Unknown]

And so if they say something that.

[Austin West]

Yeah, I'm trying to use like an.

[Unknown]

Example of something lately.

[Austin West]

If this is what happens in most people, if something is said and it triggers some aspect of self worth, all.

[Unknown]

They'Re doing is showing you the part.

[Austin West]

Of yourself you don't love, the part you are judging about yourself most.

[Unknown]

Right.

And so instead of being victimized by.

[Austin West]

Life, we can use this mirror that we're using to be victimized by to highlight with such precise direction like, hey, fucking look at this thing.

[Unknown]

And then if you're willing to be.

[Austin West]

With the discomfort of what that thing is calling you into, you can transmute that shit quick. And then it almost becomes a game. And so it's like all of a sudden I'm like looking at the world.

[Unknown]

Around me for that mirror reflection of all the parts that are triggering something.

[Austin West]

In me so I can transmute that and be free of everything is holding me back. You said something a second ago. It's like it's our stories.

[Unknown]

Our, our world is made up of stories. Who we believe ourselves to be, what we believe we're capable of and worthy of.

[Austin West]

It's all story. And that's why I started the thing. Like I'm trying to actually eliminate all the stories in my life instead of retelling them. And when we can look at the world as that mirror for the stories that we are telling, it's the fast.

[Unknown]

Track to becoming free of literally anything.

[Austin West]

That you want to be free of in this life.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I'll give an example. Over like last year, I was really triggered by my friends that were very embodied and they're feminine and I'm like, easy for them to say, they're frolicking, they're just like, they're not working as hard as me, blah, blah, blah. I was so triggered. And then what do you know, I ended up learning from them, embodying and being more successful than ever and things like flowing so beautifully. So I have a rule for myself that if somebody is triggering me, I gotta learn from them. Like I, I will take your course, I will be your friend. I will like whatever, however to be around you. Because you're triggering me for a reason. Like there is, there is growth in that.

[Austin West]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

If you ever scroll on Instagram and you have this urge to comment on someone's post, to talk shit, they are your medicine.

Yep. Yeah. I also had a phase where I was really triggered by like Disney adults and I was hate watching them and I realized that I was jealous of their like free spirited and childlike wonder that they still have inside themselves and all yeah, anyways. But okay, next cheat code. When we confront fear head on, we unlock the power of choice.

[Austin West]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

How does this work?

[Austin West]

My perspective of fear is it is the reliving of a story that we believe the outcome is already set, right? So every time the experience of fear comes up, we have started telling the story that we know how this is going to go. And so similar to the whole mirror thing, it's like you're being presented an.

[Unknown]

Opportunity that if you just step through this, if you're willing to be with.

[Austin West]

It, go straight into it, stare at.

[Unknown]

It, speak to it, talk to it.

[Austin West]

Bring it into your journaling practice, whatever.

[Unknown]

You need to do, whatever your practice.

[Austin West]

Of trying to transmute and evolve through this life is, every time fear comes up, it is literally showing you the.

[Unknown]

The aspect of yourself that is desiring.

[Austin West]

To be free most of all, or else it wouldn't be scary.

[Unknown]

We don't evolve unless something is bringing.

[Austin West]

Challenge to our life, right?

[Unknown]

Survival of the fittest.

[Austin West]

It's like the entire definition of evolution is you're doing hard to become better at what that hard is trying to make you better at. And fear is a really obvious signal about that. And so it's the same thing of.

[Unknown]

Like, when I look for a trigger.

[Austin West]

Or a part of me that gets.

[Unknown]

Defensive to be like, what is this showing me? Sometimes it's exhausting with that perspective because you're just like, here it is again.

[Austin West]

It's like. Like fear's the same way. It's like, okay, I'm having fear about.

[Unknown]

Doing this thing coming up.

[Austin West]

If I'm willing to step through that and become who I need to be so that I don't feel fear about that thing, I'm evolving. And that, in my perspective, is the entire purpose of this existence. It's like we're meant to continue to evolve and grow. And when you don't, anxiety, depression, loneliness, living in fear, right?

[Unknown]

The. The.

[Austin West]

These symptoms that so many of us.

[Unknown]

Are feels because we're stagnant. We're not moving through life, we're not growing.

[Austin West]

We're not taking these challenges head on that are purposefully being delivered to us. And this ties into, like, manifestation a little bit. It's when we start to announce to ourselves, like, you did, like, a microdose and I went through this journaling practice.

[Unknown]

And all of a sudden this shit.

[Austin West]

Showed up the next day. It's like, holy, okay, there it is. The universe works in a really mysterious.

[Unknown]

But beautiful way, in that when we start to acknowledge what we desire and want to Come in in life, you're going to be delivered opportunities to prove you're willing to be who is required.

[Austin West]

Of you to get that thing. Fear is one of those. And so when I do a manifestation.

[Unknown]

Practice where I'm calling in anything in life, something in career, a client, a relationship, whatever it is, just being able to describe it as half the battle, once you describe it, the universe is.

[Austin West]

Like, okay, are you willing to do what's necessary to evolve into the version of you that is required to have that thing? Fear is what that signal is.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's so beautiful. Manifestation is so extremely powerful. And it's also stories. It's like when you can actually believe the story that you have this, that you can have this. That's when manifestation comes. There's this whole aspect to a manifestation around worthiness where not only do you have to transmute the fear, but you have to feel worthy of receiving.

[Austin West]

Yeah, yeah. And there's. Yeah, I think manifestation's been made out.

[Unknown]

To be way more woo woo than I think it is.

[Austin West]

There's. I love the metaphysical. I dance in the esoteric.

[Unknown]

It's my realm for sure.

[Austin West]

I fuck with that.

[Unknown]

And there's some really rooted principles of what manifestation is. It's getting so hyper clear on what it is that you want.

[Austin West]

You know, in the men's work I do, I have this journaling practice. It's like everyone's seeking a sacred relationship, right? Something that like fills you up and a partner that helps expand you in all areas of your life. And what men don't like to say.

[Unknown]

Out loud is they're looking for this too, right?

[Austin West]

And when they come in, I have them do like, okay, write out what you think this partner looks like. And it's typically like half a page on a little small journal, right? Your typical Moleskine journal or something. And it's like that. That is what you're wanting to call in, what you want to manifest. I'm like, that is so verbose, that is so open to interpretation that of.

[Unknown]

Course you're not calling in what you actually want. And so what I believe manifestation is to like really root it in for.

[Austin West]

People is get more specific than you even thought possible.

[Unknown]

Turn that daily, that, that one time practice into a week long practice where.

[Austin West]

You go back to that same entry.

[Unknown]

Night after night after night.

[Austin West]

And what I have these guys do.

[Unknown]

Is take that half a page now stretch it out. I want to write six pages of.

[Austin West]

What she looks like feels like, what.

[Unknown]

Your days are like, what your conversation's.

[Austin West]

Like, what does it feel like when you're eating dinner together, what are your date nights like? Like make it so undeniable in how it's described that anything that isn't, that when it shows up, you know for sure it's a no.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

And the more you say no, the.

[Austin West]

Closer you are to getting the yes.

[Unknown]

Right?

So you can play this out with career, with anything.

[Austin West]

I mean, and across the board, it's like manifestation is really about getting so hyper specific about what it is that you want, which is part of the self worth for a lot of people. They can't write those six pages because they don't believe they're worth four pages of it.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

And so what this practice is really.

[Unknown]

Good at is starting to acknowledge the parts of yourself. Like when you get ready to start.

[Austin West]

Writing something, you know you want it.

[Unknown]

The fear comes up about even acknowledging that to yourself.

[Austin West]

It's like everything weaves in, all within the same realm, right? And it's showing you where your self worth is. It's showing you where your desire is. It's showing you where your truth is and showing you what you really want in life.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Manifestation is so powerful. I was watching this TikTok video recently from a neuroscientist, and she was like disproving manifestation in three minutes. And she was like, manifestation doesn't work. Because all it is is your subconscious mind picking up on signals of what you're focusing on. So you bring more of that to you. And I'm like, okay, so it does work. Like you're just looking at it from the opposite, looking at it from a different perspective. She's like, it doesn't work. I mean, it technically does work, but like, not. Not in a magic way. I'm like, yeah, this. This is. This is all your brain. Like, it is so powerful. Anyways, I thought that was funny. Okay, next. Cheat code. Last cheat code. Trauma could be a gift. Tell me more.

[Austin West]

I believe that everybody here came to this incarnation, regardless what your belief is, were born into this thing, right. With a very, very particular and special and individuated purpose. This is what Carl Jung would have called life. Right?

[Unknown]

It's the path of self individuation or.

[Austin West]

Self actualization or self realization. There's all these different terms for the same thing. And it's realizing like, there is only.

[Unknown]

One of me on this planet. There's only one Austin west who's had.

[Austin West]

My experiences, who have gone through the exact path and taken every step that I have, which means I have something to offer.

[Unknown]

This world, nobody else does.

[Austin West]

And I don't look at purpose as. A lot of times I feel like people conflate purpose with, like, your career, right?

[Unknown]

What you're doing for work, how I earn my money.

[Austin West]

I don't think that's what it is at all. Purpose to me is more of. It's like this enigmatic fire that is.

[Unknown]

Lit inside of you that is almost as if your soul is receiving.

[Austin West]

Your.

[Unknown]

Direction and alignment in life directly from the universe.

[Austin West]

Right. It's almost undefinable, but it's something that when you touch it, you know you're there. Right. And for a lot of people, that ends up being what you do in.

[Unknown]

Some sort of manifestation of work.

[Austin West]

But there's a lot of people I know run successful businesses, and the purpose has nothing to do with that.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

It's just an act of service in a bigger way. This is how I think trauma fits in.

[Unknown]

None of us get out of this.

[Austin West]

Journey without some sort of scathe, right? And a lot of times that ends up being the hardest thing for us to go.

[Unknown]

So going back to the mirror, going.

[Austin West]

Back to relationships, going back to fear, going back to growth, to evolution, if we, like, rank them.

[Unknown]

Your big T trauma, the biggest event.

[Austin West]

That happened in your life, ends up.

[Unknown]

Being your greatest gift.

[Austin West]

Because what is required of you to overcome that trauma ends up having an.

[Unknown]

Equal and matched evolution that came with it.

[Austin West]

And through that process of evolution, you learn yourself.

[Unknown]

You understand yourself. You understand the world at large in a deeper way.

[Austin West]

You understand how to communicate to this wound at a level that ends up.

[Unknown]

Being a blessing to others who have experienced it.

[Austin West]

And so you're able to help lift them up through what their trauma is. Even though their big T might look different, it's like for them to reach that, they need your codes to get.

[Unknown]

Through that aspect of self that you're.

[Austin West]

Able to get through.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

It's like the whole feminine thing you talked about for some women that's been their entire life is to regain that code back. That was part of your path, but that wasn't your big expression.

[Unknown]

But you got to learn from somebody.

[Austin West]

Maybe they were sexually molested at a young age and they were so shut.

[Unknown]

Down, so unsafe with men and in.

[Austin West]

That female embodiment expression. And so their. Their path took them.

[Unknown]

Their ownership was like, wait, my biggest.

[Austin West]

Wound would keep me small and hidden my entire life. Or I can work through the pain.

[Unknown]

And the memories and the traumas and the circumstances and the forgiveness that's required.

[Austin West]

To take that biggest wound and make it My greatest gift by standing even big and this expression of my femininity. And so that might be their purpose in a lot of ways.

[Unknown]

You're just picking up on the code.

[Austin West]

But it's not yours. Right. This is what we're all doing.

[Unknown]

We're all just weaving and sharing our codes of what I am learning from.

[Austin West]

This life experience based on what happened to me.

[Unknown]

And the deeper I go within myself, the deeper I can touch those bigger.

[Austin West]

Wounds within and then help share that with everybody in my network. And this is why I think coaching.

[Unknown]

Is in such a boom right now.

Right.

[Austin West]

And how, like, coaching has become its own ecosystem of supporting each other when we're just sharing codes and knowledge. It's like, oh, you can bring me on to share something I don't have with you, but I can do the same.

[Unknown]

We're supporting each other, and then you.

[Austin West]

Can build big ecosystems. It's all people that are just discovering.

[Unknown]

How can I turn what happened to.

[Austin West]

Me into my greatest gift?

[Unknown]

That's so beautiful. Yeah. We're weaving our own little mycelium network throughout people and things and passions. That's so beautiful. Yeah. I want to end on I actually, right before this, I interviewed my friend about feminine embodiment. For the 40% of male listeners. I want to learn a little bit more about male embodiment. Like, what's your journey been like of, like healing the masculine parts of yourself and really stepping into that.

[Austin West]

Yeah. This might be triggering to a majority of the 40% of them.

[Unknown]

Let's trigger them. We're triggering you for a reason.

[Austin West]

I think most men are walking away. Walking away, walking around in their wounded boy.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

We're reactive. We're not present.

[Unknown]

We can't hold a space.

[Austin West]

We like to blame other people for our circumstances. There's a really rampant victim energy that is spread across the masculine presence, especially in. In the US that is really robbing.

[Unknown]

Us of our power.

[Austin West]

And the thing that helped come back.

[Unknown]

To my center, to where I feel.

[Austin West]

Like I have full autonomy and sovereignty and freedom over every aspect of my.

[Unknown]

Life, started with radical responsibility.

[Austin West]

And this goes back to some of the things I talked about, but just to really highlight it, like, no one.

[Unknown]

Outside of yourself has shit to do.

[Austin West]

With anything you are feeling or experiencing in life. And if there is any part of.

[Unknown]

You that wants to be a victim and blame anything outside of you for.

[Austin West]

Your life circumstances, you're going to be in that forever. Forever. And so the way out, the opening the door, what most men, when we talk about these in archetypes, you have the masculine, feminine. The masculine seeks freedom and purpose. The feminine typically seeks like connection and safety.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

And intimacy. There's a lot of different words that you see plugged into those different things for a man to really touch the.

[Unknown]

Power and grace of what freedom and purpose bring you.

[Austin West]

It starts with bringing everything back to.

[Unknown]

Self, everything back to center. If you're a man and you cannot.

[Austin West]

Sit in a meditation practice for 30 minutes a day without this like urgent.

[Unknown]

Need to get up and do something.

[Austin West]

Else and be distracted. Like, if you can't just be in.

[Unknown]

This space, like be this pillar, be.

[Austin West]

This rock with yourself, how can you show up for anybody else in the world like that? How can you show up in your career? How can you build a business if you can't hold yourself in space and.

[Unknown]

Just notice without attaching to everything happening.

[Austin West]

In you, around you in that kind of non attachment, more of a Buddhist.

[Unknown]

Principle of non attachment, just being the.

[Austin West]

Observer to everything happening in your life.

[Unknown]

If you can't do that with yourself.

[Austin West]

Every day, you can't do that with.

[Unknown]

The business, you can't do that with your woman, you can't do that with.

[Austin West]

Your kids, you can't do that with all the aggression that we see in the world, we end up feeding into it. And so it's bringing everything back to self. And that's where all the work starts.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Austin West]

Bringing it back to self. Start telling yourself the truth and learn.

[Unknown]

What it means to be with the.

[Austin West]

Discomforts of life, taking responsibility from those and then just watch it unfold from there. Yeah.

[Unknown]

That's so beautiful. Well, Austin, where can people find you? How can they work with you? How can they tap into some microdosing?

[Austin West]

Yeah, easiest way is Instagram. My website, iamaustinwest.com or I am austinwest. Entheosolistics is the microdose as well. So a lot of exciting things going on there for anybody interested, interested in starting that journey.

[Unknown]

Beautiful. And you have some guidance around it, right?

[Austin West]

I do, yeah.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Austin West]

So we have 30 day introduction programs, launching a community. There's always one on one sessions that can be had. Yeah, I, I believe that microdosing is one of the most potent and powerful.

[Unknown]

Tools for our evolution in any aspect. You want to have better sex, better relationships, make more money, be more creative, be a better business partners.

[Austin West]

I don't give a what it is. Microdosing can help all those, but you.

[Unknown]

Got to learn how to use it intentionally.

Right.

[Austin West]

And so we have guides in the website, different coaches that work for entheos as well. Where you can just do one on one drop ins. We have a 30 day guide coming out, so a lot of different ways you can get involved there.

[Unknown]

Super cool. Well, thank you, Austin. This was so great.

[Austin West]

Thanks for having me on.

[Unknown]

Okay, y'all, if you like this episode, you would love, love my Patreon.

[Courtney Johnson]

Okay?

[Unknown]

You get exclusive access to me, exclusive content, tons of other resources, and a lot of juicy. Okay? So I hope to see you on my Patreon.