Unjourneying: Nondual Psychedelic Integration with Mira Funk, LCSW
Mira Funk, LCSW
5.0from 7 ratings
- 12
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- 7
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- Monthly
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- 2024
- First episode
About Unjourneying: Nondual Psychedelic Integration with Mira Funk, LCSW
Unjourneying: Nondual Psychedelic Integration explores nonduality and psychedelics as vehicles for healing, awakening, and collective transformation. Hosted by Mira Funk, LCSW, who is a queer, nonbinary psychotherapist and psychedelic guide based in Oregon and specialized in serving 5-MeO-DMT, N,N-DMT (including analog ayahuasca), and salvia divinorum.
- Publisher
- Mira Funk, LCSW
- Category
- health & fitness
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 22 Oct 2024
- Latest episode
- 19 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
12 episodes in the feed.
19 Oct 2026
Liam McClintock | The True Meaning of Bliss: Meditation, Spiritual Bypassing & Shadow Work
Can meditation lead to awakening while leaving parts of us emotionally unhealed? And what happens when the pursuit of bliss becomes a way of avoiding our own shadows? In this episode, I talk with Liam McClintock, founder of FitMind, meditation teacher, and author of Fit Mind: Four Steps to Lasting Bliss, about Buddhist contemplative practice, neuroscience, and the relationship between spiritual awakening and psychological healing. Liam shares insights from his meditation training, psychedelic experiences, and years of contemplative practice. We explore TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation), the Six Rs, and his adaptation of the practice into the Four Rs: Recognize, Release, Relish, and Remain. But does cultivating lovingkindness and equanimity necessarily resolve our deeper psychological wounds? We discuss spiritual bypassing, shadow work, forgiveness, and the Sedona Method, including Liam’s own experience of intense emotional processing. Liam McClintock is the founder of FitMind, a meditation training platform integrating contemplative practice and neuroscience. Diagnosed with OCD as a child, Liam channeled his restless energy into sports, becoming the No. 1-ranked U.S. junior squash player in his age group at 15. While studying at Yale, he founded a hangover supplement company featured in TIME and Men’s Health. After graduating, Liam left a career in private equity to pursue meditation and contemplative practice. His training included 800 hours of yoga teacher training and study with prominent meditation teachers. He spent three years as a Buddhist monk in the Theravāda forest tradition, having been ordained by Bhante Vimalaramsi. He also earned an MSc in Applied Neuroscience from King’s College London, researching the neural correlates of advanced nondual meditation, and participated in consciousness research at Harvard, contributing to the early development of advanced meditation training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Liam McClintock | FitMind 🌐 Website, App, Retreats, Book: https://fitmind.org Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying 🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon Mentioned in This Episode Ruben E. Laukkonen & Heleen A. Slagter (2021). From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014976342100261X?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-9&rr=a4b27f2f9bbe0384 Zoran Josipovic et al. (2012). Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain. https://www.cns.nyu.edu/heegerlab/content/publications/Josipovic-Frontiers2012.pdf Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center: https://www.dhammasukha.org The Sedona Method https://www.sedona.com/Home.asp Chapters 0:00 Introduction 3:42 The Neuroscience of Nondual Meditation 12:18 Psychedelics, Ayahuasca, and Lessons in Generosity 20:34 What Does Lasting Bliss Really Mean? 25:29 TWIM Explained: The Six Rs vs. The Four Rs 32:51 Lovingkindness Meditation vs. Dry Insight 36:25 Is There More Than One Path to Awakening? 40:08 TWIM, Spiritual Bypassing, and the Shadow Side of Meditation 44:09 Forgiveness Practice and Shadow Work 49:04 Are the Four Rs an Improvement on TWIM? 52:58 The Sedona Method: Releasing Suppressed Emotions 54:18 Liam’s Year of Intense Emotional Processing 57:02 Why Spiritual Practice Needs Balance 58:39 FitMind, Meditation Apps, and Upcoming Retreats 1:01:24 How to Connect with Mira & the Unjourneying Community Unjourneying is also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneying For educational purposes only.
12 Oct 2026
Dr. Ben Malcolm | Letting Go of Control: Psychedelics, Chronic Pain, and the Natural World
What can psychedelics teach us about chronic pain, trauma, and the body? And what happens when a career built around the mind demands a deeper connection with the living world? In this episode of Unjourneying, I talk with Dr. Ben Malcolm, founder of Spirit Pharmacist, about his path to Costa Rica, personal transformation, and our relationship with nature. We explore Ben’s chronic back pain and experiences with ketamine and other psychedelics. He shares a striking encounter with a bodyworker that opened up questions about the psoas, fascia, muscle tension, and trauma. Does the body keep the score? We discuss Bessel van der Kolk’s influential framework, predictive processing, and how psychedelics may shift habitual patterns of perception. Along the way, we explore divorce, professional identity, ecological stewardship, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, and Ben’s vision for Casa de Espíritu, his retreat project in Costa Rica. This is a conversation about embodiment, healing, and the possibility of a personal renaissance. Dr. Ben Malcolm, PharmD, MPH, is a clinical psychiatric pharmacist, educator, and entrepreneur who helped pioneer psychedelic pharmacy. Through his website, Spirit Pharmacist, he provides psychopharmacology consulting, courses, and training focused on the interactions between medications, medical conditions, and psychedelics. He has published more than a dozen medical journal articles, delivered hundreds of professional presentations, serves on the board of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, and teaches in psychedelic therapy training programs. Originally from Tasmania, Australia, Ben is also a former All-American competitive swimmer and accomplished didgeridoo player. He now lives in Costa Rica, where he is developing Casa de Espíritu, a homestay retreat project. Dr. Ben Malcom | Spirit Pharmacist 🌐 Website: https://www.spiritpharmacist.com Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying 🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon Ishmael by Daniel Quinn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(Quinn_novel) 0:00 Intro 6:04 How Dr. Malcolm Landed in Costa Rica 6:47 Building Spirit Pharmacist on Lunch Breaks 9:22 Hawaii Was a No, Costa Rica Was Not 12:21 Divorce, and Landing in the Right Place 13:06 Why Costa Rica? Forests, Currency, Blue Zones, and No Army 16:27 Relationships as Teachers 19:15 The Stigma of Divorce 20:24 The Spirit Pharmacist Is a Hat, Not an Identity 22:49 Personal Stories and the Audience You Opted Into 24:05 Casa de Espíritu: Building an Ecological Retreat 26:43 A Mind Career Needs a Body Counterweight 29:26 Takers and Givers: Rethinking Our Relationship with Nature 32:34 Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael and the Problem of Extraction 33:40 Chronic Back Pain, and Why Ketamine? 36:15 No Pain, No Gain? Rethinking Chronic Pain 41:55 MDMA, LSD, and Ayahuasca for Pain 42:22 The Story of the Psoas and the Bodyworker 43:26 Why Ketamine Opened What Other Medicines Only Showed 45:38 Fascia, Muscle Tension, and Trauma 47:45 Psychedelics and the Body’s Innate Responses 50:03 Does the Body Keep the Score? 52:01 The Mind Keeps the Score, The Body Shows It 56:20 How Psychedelics Loosen Prediction 59:19 Letting Go of Control During a Psychedelic Experience 1:01:02 A Personal Renaissance 1:03:28 How to Connect with Mira & the Unjourneying Community Unjourneying is also available on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneyingFor educational purposes only.
28 Sept 2026
Daniel Ingram | What Counts As Awakening? Cessation, Psychedelics & Phenomeniatry
Pragmatic Dharma legend Daniel Ingram joins me for a lively conversation about cessation, the Three Characteristics, salvia divinorum, 5-MeO-DMT, the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC), and the new field of phenomeniatry that he is helping to establish. He demonstrates the utility of phenomeniatry by walking us through some complex differential diagnosis scenarios. Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC) 🌐 Website: https://theeprc.org 🌟 Donations: https://ebenefactors.org Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH ➡️ Links & Socials: https://linktr.ee/danielmingram Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying 🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon Mentioned in this Episode: Daniel & Michael Taft's 2020 SFDC Q&A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgYjLxM4VMc&t=4021s Kathryn Devaney https://www.kathryndevaney.com/ Crazy Like Us by Ethan Watters https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crazy-Like-Us/Ethan-Watters/9781416587095 Baksbat (broken courage): a trauma-based cultural syndrome in Cambodia. Sotheara Chhim. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23406066/ A cross-sectional survey on depersonalization/derealization and meditation-induced alterations of the self. Erola Pons et al. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13156312/ 0:00 Introduction 4:20 Cessation, Awakening & the Question of What Counts 9:05 The Arising & Passing Away vs. Cessation 11:25 What Actually Happens During Fruition? 13:23 Stream Entry and the 16 Stages of Insight 19:09 5-MeO-DMT, Salvia & Psychedelic Awakening 22:10 The Hard Reboot of Salvia Cessation 29:54 The Three Characteristics: Experiential or Ontological? 39:12 Noting vs. Noticing in Mahasi Practice 42:13 Why We Need the EPRC 46:38 Why Call It Emergent Phenomenology? 50:56 What Is Phenomeniatry? 54:47 Culture, Language & Diagnostic Colonialism 1:00:08 Spiritual Experiences vs. Mania & Psychosis 1:07:47 Equanimity vs. Depersonalization & Derealization 1:15:27 Spiritual Bypassing and “Everything Is Fine” 1:18:37 EPRC, Emergence Benefactors & Closing Unjourneying is also available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneying For educational purposes only.
3 Aug 2026
Wystan Bryant-Scott | Jhanas, Tantric Sex, and Psychedelics
In this first guest episode of Unjourneying, I sit down with meditation teacher Wystan Bryant-Scott for a wide-ranging conversation on jhanas, nonduality, renunciation, tantra, and psychedelics. Wystan announces his upcoming jhana retreat at Nameless Mountain, and why he still finds deep concentration valuable even after awakening. We dig into the difference between sutta and Visuddhimagga jhanas, the real meaning of renunciation in modern life, and how to work with sexual energy without fixation. We also explore nondual awareness during ordinary pleasure and the role of psychedelics, especially 5-MeO-DMT, as powerful supports on the contemplative path. Wystan Bryant-Scott 🌐 Website: https://www.wystantbs.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wystantbs108 🧘 Upcoming Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YokHVz09Y Karmamudra: The Yoga of Bliss by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang 📖 https://skypresspublications.com/product/karmamudra Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying 🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon 0:00 Introduction to Unjourneying & Guest Bio 2:55 Welcome & Why Wystan as First Guest 3:30 Recent Activities: Nameless Mountain & Backpacking with Gabe Broussard (Vivid Void) 6:36 Upcoming Jhana Retreat at Nameless Mountain 7:53 Sutta Jhana vs. Visuddhimagga Jhana 11:03 The Role of Jhana on the Path to Awakening 16:18 Cessation of Perception & Feeling 19:39 Is Jhana Still Useful After Awakening? 24:27 Identifying as a Religious Buddhist 28:58 Renunciation, Commitment & Modern Practice 37:00 Sexual Energy, Tantra & Sensual Practice 43:50 Karma Mudra & Traditional Sexual Yogas 46:48 Nonduality, Orgasm & Everyday Bliss 54:29 Psychedelics on the Contemplative Path 59:55 Recommending Psychedelics as a Teacher 1:03:32 Integrating Psychedelics with Traditional Practice 1:06:17 Closing Advice & Where to Find Wystan 1:08:43 Outro & How to Connect
29 Apr 2026
Buddha Was Never Enlightened
If Capital-E Enlightenment is defined as a supreme state of perfect and imperturbable bliss in this lifetime, was that the actual focus of the Buddha's spiritual path? Inspired by Kenneth Folk's reading of early Buddhism as targeting oblivion rather than bliss, I unpack 11 myths of Enlightenment and discuss their implications for the awakening process. I encourage seekers to embrace the full spectrum of their authentic emotional experience in the here and now. Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying ➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying Related Resources: Deconstructing Yourself: "Masters of Oblivion with Kenneth Folk" https://open.spotify.com/episode/1zrs7fq18ZBCuaCmv0RDiX?si=a8SaWpYmRKyxDDD9fdGmhQ Mu: Roger "Thisdell on Centerlessness, Cessations, Defabrication, Valence, and Insight" https://open.spotify.com/episode/0laAlYPz2T9Ia44w4YiblS?si=VhGKBb9zRZWRsUnN3UHyQw Harvard's Project Implicit (Implicit Association Tests) https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html 0:00 Intro – Why I'm Questioning Buddha's Enlightenment 1:03 My Early Romanticized View of the Buddha 3:02 The Received Western Story of the Buddha 4:57 Kenneth Folk & "Masters of Oblivion" Podcast 5:45 Nirvana = Cessation / Oblivion, Not Cosmic Bliss 9:56 Why This Changes Everything for Western Seekers 12:35 "The Buddha Is Not Your Friend" – A Darker Picture 14:28 How "Enlightenment" Got Mistranslated in the West 16:57 The "Sellvation" Dynamic in Spirituality 20:14 Nobody Has Ever Been Enlightened (Capital E) 25:00 Awakening vs. Enlightenment – My Distinction 26:23 Myth 1: You're Happy All the Time / No Negative Emotions 31:22 Myth 2: No Fear of Death 34:36 Myth 3: No Self Whatsoever 41:45 Myth 4: Seeing Reality As It Actually Is 45:11 Myth 5: No Preferences or Distinctions 49:45 Myth 6: No Thoughts 52:01 Myth 7: Complete Centerlessness 54:03 Myth 8: No Sense of Agency or Doership 57:36 Myth 9: Infinite Personal Freedom 1:03:36 Myth 10: Eternalism – "You Were Never Born and Will Never Die" 1:08:06 Myth 11: "As It Is, Not As You Want It to Be" – Goenka & Daoism 1:11:09 Car Breakdown Example – Realistic Responses to Life 1:15:31 Roger Thisdell: We Are Always Suffering (Baseline Level) 1:18:14 Reframing Awakening – Stop Making It About Ending Suffering 1:23:28 Conclusion: Enlightenment Is a Myth – Be Human Instead 1:26:55 Final Thoughts Unjourneying is also available on YouTube. For educational purposes only.
27 Apr 2026
Five Stages of Spiritual Awakening
Sharing from my experience, I outline a possible spiritual awakening trajectory through five different stages: 1. Somatic Mindfulness (Vipassana) 2. Nonduality 3. Metamindfulness 4. Unjourneying 5. ??? Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying ➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying Unjourneying is also available on YouTube. For educational purposes only.
24 Apr 2026
Keep Your Hand on the Stove
I share what I see as the essence of my work by unpacking my Hot Stove Meditation, which includes three steps: 1. Exposure therapy by intentionally welcoming in emotional distress. 2. Contacting the emotional body sensations of distress using vipassana. 3. Opening up into nonduality. Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying ➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying Unjourneying is also available on YouTube. #psychedelicintegration #psychedelictherapy #psychedelichealing #nonduality #awakening #traumahealing #unjourneying #consciousness For educational purposes only.
12 Mar 2026
5-MeO-DMT: Behind the Scenes with a Psychedelic Guide | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSW
I'm Mira Funk, LCSW, a Harvard-educated, queer/nonbinary psychotherapist and psychedelic guide specialized in the facilitation and integration of 5-MeO-DMT retreats. Here I offer a detailed, behind-the-scenes tour of how my retreats work and what to expect, including: 📋 My Safety Screening Developed in Collaboration with Dr. Ben Malcolm 🧭 My Preparation and Integration Protocol ✨ My Vipassana & Nondual Integration Framework 🪜 Stepwise Vaporized 5-MeO-DMT for Trauma Release and Spiritual Opening ⏳ Live Demonstration of The Hourglass, a Brand New Vapor Delivery System I Invented for Clients with Sensitive Lungs 🌊 Extended-Release Rectal & Subcutaneous 5-MeO-DMT for Deep Psychological & Somatic Processing Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying ➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com 🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying Unjourneying is also available on YouTube. For educational purposes only.
26 Oct 2024
Working with a Psychedelic Guide | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSW
Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, describes the process of working with her from beginning to end. The process begins with a 50-minute initial consultation. She and the client then agree on a retreat date and on an appropriate number of pre- and post-integration sessions. Mira recommends 5 at least pre-integration sessions and 1 post-integration session. Here is a breakdown of the session content: 1. Biopsychosocial Intake 2. Safety & Logistics 3. Hot Stove Vipassana Meditation 4. Floating in Space Nondual Meditation 5. Ocean of Love Nondual Meditation 6. Processing the Retreat Mira also discusses the different medicines she serves—5-MeO-DMT, N,N-DMT, and salvia divinorum—and the different retreat formats that are possible with these medicines. Each medicine has a short-acting vaporized route of administration as well as an extended release route. There's rectal 5-MeO-DMT, analog ayahuasca, and buccal salvia divinorum. Btw, apparently buccal is actually pronounced "buckle" not "boo-kle," oops! :-) After completing a retreat with Mira, you become eligible to join her Unjourneying Circle, an online psychedelic integration group that meets every two weeks over Zoom. You also can participate in her group retreats. If you want to connect with Mira, visit https://www.unjourneying.com (https://www.unjourneying.com) and https://linktr.ee/unjourneying (https://linktr.ee/unjourneying).
24 Oct 2024
Top 6 Reasons to Try Psychedelics | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSW
Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, shares the top six reasons that clients in her practice seek out psychedelic experiences. These reasons are: 1. Emotional Healing 2. Spiritual Insight 3. Neuroplasticity 4. Exploring Consciousness 5. Connection to Nature and Loved Ones 6. Physical and Neurological Healing If you want to connect with Mira, visit https://www.unjourneying.com (https://www.unjourneying.com).
24 Oct 2024
Defining Nonduality, Psychedelic Integration, & (Un)journeying | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSW
Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, defines terms commonly used in her practice. She offers an experiential definition of nonduality based on a lucid dreaming analogy from Tibetan dream yoga. Then she draws inspiration from Adyashanti for outlining psychedelic integration and nondual integration in particular. Finally, she distinguishes between what it means to journey and unjourney with psychedelics such as 5-MeO-DMT, ayahuasca, and salvia divinorum. If you want to connect with Mira, visit https://www.unjourneying.com (https://www.unjourneying.com) and https://linktr.ee/unjourneying (https://linktr.ee/unjourneying).
22 Oct 2024
How I Became a Psychedelic Guide with 5-MeO-DMT, N,N-DMT, & Salvia Divinorum | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSW
In this introductory episode, Mira Funk, LCSW, shares the story of her background and how she came to be a queer, nonbinary psychedelic therapist and guide. In her childhood, she experienced medical trauma with a febrile seizure, Lyme disease, and babesiosis. During a bout of depression while at Harvard, she took a leave of absence and lived on a farm in New Hampshire, where she first encountered Zen Buddhism in the Kwan Um tradition. She eventually traveled to Korea to live at a Kwan Um monastery called Musangsa, where she experienced relief from her existential angst. After a short-lived career in the arts, she went to social work school and became a mindfulness-based therapist. However, something was still missing. Everything changed when she did her first mushroom trip and had a direct taste of nonduality, especially as described in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions. She felt inspired to go deeper with psychedelics, exploring 5-MeO-DMT, ayahuasca, and salvia divinorum. The healing and insight she received were so transformative that she resolved to devote her life to helping others through their psychedelic experiences. Her own journey took some unexpected twists and turns when she experienced neuroinflammatory flare-ups on lion's mane mushrooms. Her difficulties led to her gender and sexual identity shift, and also prompted her to work with psychedelics in a new way she called "unjourneying," inspired by Ram Dass's guru Neem Karoli Baba, who supposedly experienced no psychoactive effects on LSD. Mira started actively meditating while taking psychedelics and discovered diminished effects and more profound mindfulness integration. Another surprise happened when all serotonergic psychedelics started causing flare-ups. After extensive medical testing, she discovered that she has Lyme, babesiosis, and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). She decided to personally work only with salvia divinorum until her condition improves with medication. She found that unjourneying with salvia induces insights that feel orthogonal to nonduality, presenting a radical happeningness that deconstructs the illusion of free will and the very possibility of spiritual practice. If you want to connect with Mira, visit https://www.unjourneying.com (https://www.unjourneying.com) and https://linktr.ee/unjourneying (https://linktr.ee/unjourneying).
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