As we kick off 2026, we’re exploring the power of setting intentions, and why they’re essential for any transformative journey. By providing a focal point, a clear intention helps you sort through the noise to find the insights most relevant to your growth. It also serves as an emotional "home" to return to, ensuring that you’re actively navigating your subconscious, and not just drifting.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on the "Why" over the "What": An intention isn’t a rigid destination or a list of goals; it’s the emotional fuel behind your journey. By honing in on your "why,” you create a sturdy foundation for challenging experiences.
• Practice Distillation for Clarity: Boil your intentions down to one or two core themes or a single word, making it easier to recall and use as a grounding tool during an altered state of consciousness.
• Bridge the Gap with Emotional Targets: True healing is felt in the body, not just in the mind. To ensure your intentions are actionable, identify your specific "emotional markers" of success so you can recognize when you’re moving toward your purpose.

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We’re proud to partner with North Spore as a sponsor and an educational ally. If you’re interested in functional mushrooms, legal home cultivation, or the fundamentals of mycology, North Spore offers videos, articles, and communities to help you learn how fungi work from the ground up.

Subscribe to their Substack and YouTube

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Psychedelic Passage is your partner in safe, supported, and effective psychedelic journeys. As the first concierge service in the U.S., we connect you with vetted facilitators who value integrity and expertise. We're glad you're here, and we look forward to supporting you on your journey.

No mushroom source? No problem.

Download our Free Psilocybin Sourcing Guide.

Want guidance tailored to your need?

Book a free Pathfinding Call for personal support.

Curious or seeking connection?

Join our online care community to learn, share, and grow with others.

Join our next Q&A or Facilitator Chat for free.

Jimmy shares an in-depth conversation with Dr. Michael Sapiro, whose unique approach to psychedelic psychotherapy emphasizes the courage needed to align with one's authentic self. His clinical work extends specialized support to veterans and first responders, healing those who run toward, rather than away from, trauma.

Key Takeaways

• Trauma and Truth: Dr. Sapiro's holistic approach to is founded on a convergence of generational trauma, early psychedelic experiences, and the structural discipline of Buddhism.
• Active vs. Passive Facilitation: He advocates for active psychotherapy during altered states, viewing it as "practice rounds" of positive change when the ego is subdued—but it must be done with extreme care.
• Healing the Caregivers: Veterans and first responders experience unique trauma exposure, and those who protect others also need to care for themselves.

About Our Guest

Michael Ryoshin Sapiro, PsyD, is an ordained Zen Buddhist monk, poet, clinical psychologist, psychedelic psychotherapist, researcher and meditation teacher, he’s also the author of Truth Medicine: Healing and Living Authentically through Psychedelic Psychotherapy.

• Dr. Michael Sapiro’s website
• His book & audiobook: Truth Medicine: Healing and Living Authentically through Psychedelic Psychotherapy
• Shift Network Course: A 7-week course on how to enact lasting change and live your truth
• “Malcom and the Monk” podcast coming out Jan 2026 by VETS

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We’re proud to partner with North Spore as a sponsor and an educational ally. If you’re interested in functional mushrooms, legal home cultivation, or the fundamentals of mycology, North Spore offers videos, articles, and communities to help you learn how fungi work from the ground up.

Subscribe to their Substack and YouTube

-

Psychedelic Passage is your partner in safe, supported, and effective psychedelic journeys. As the first concierge service in the U.S., we connect you with vetted facilitators who value integrity and expertise. We're glad you're here, and we look forward to supporting you on your journey.

No mushroom source? No problem.

Download our Free Psilocybin Sourcing Guide.

Want guidance tailored to your need?

Book a free Pathfinding Call for personal support.

Curious or seeking connection?

Join our online care community to learn, share, and grow with others.

Join our next Q&A or Facilitator Chat for free.

People often ask: can psychedelics help me to be happier? This might seem like a straightforward question, but first, we should define what we mean by “happiness.”

To better investigate the question, we’ll explore two specific types of happy feelings: joy and contentment. We’ll define the differences between them, look into the ways they’re interconnected, and explore the nuances of how we identify, define, and value our positive emotions.

In today’s communities and societies, it can feel like we’re losing touch with our joy and contentment, and we may even question our ability to foster these feelings. So let’s dig into some of the ways that intentional psychedelic use can help us to rediscover the capacities we each hold within ourselves to find, create, and hold on to more joy and contentment in our lives.

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We’re proud to partner with North Spore as a sponsor and an educational ally. If you’re interested in functional mushrooms, legal home cultivation, or the fundamentals of mycology, North Spore offers videos, articles, and communities to help you learn how fungi work from the ground up.

Subscribe to their Substack and YouTube

-

Psychedelic Passage is your partner in safe, supported, and effective psychedelic journeys. As the first concierge service in the U.S., we connect you with vetted facilitators who value integrity and expertise. We're glad you're here, and we look forward to supporting you on your journey.

No mushroom source? No problem.

Download our Free Psilocybin Sourcing Guide.

Want guidance tailored to your need?

Book a free Pathfinding Call for personal support.

Curious or seeking connection?

Join our online care community to learn, share, and grow with others.

Join our next Q&A or Facilitator Chat for free.