In this episode, Jeff Widenhofer and I explore belief’s profound influence on our lives. After recently reading The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton (a book I recommended back in December 2022 [https://www.raresense.com/p/thing-to-read-december-2022/comments]), Jeff was introduced to the idea that our internal beliefs and what we “tell” our cells can directly influence our biology. This concept is new to him, as it is for many, and can be challenging to embrace fully. We delve into my personal experiences with it and examine other ways beliefs shape our daily lives. We also question how much of our behavior is grounded in factual reality vs. what we believe and how gaining a deeper understanding of this can lead to meaningful life improvements. I previously published an article titled The Power of Belief [https://www.raresense.com/p/the-power-of-belief] that explores these topics further if you’re interested.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE® content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.raresense.com [https://www.raresense.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

25. The Power of Belief

Even though I’m currently using my podcast to mainly share audio versions of my articles, the depth of any topic can obviously be enhanced through discussion. While I’m no longer seeking formal guests, I wanted to bring back my close friend Jeff “Weed” Widenhofer from Episode 1 [https://www.raresense.com/p/rare-sense-podcast] to help me work through some of these subjects.

Weed’s experience as a licensed mental health professional at the VA provides welcome expertise to the ideas presented here. He and I often have phone conversations about this stuff, and I thought, why not record some for public consumption? So I hope this is the beginning of more to come.

He also recently did a guest series on The Detroit Lions Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-detroit-lions-podcast/id1003655963] about mental health, and his first episode [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-detroit-lions-podcast/id1003655963?i=1000660785164] sparked my idea of where to start. Today, we are talking about the mentality around sports teams in general. When we root for a club, how does that impact us for better or worse? Have you ever considered what it means to be a fan from a mind fitness perspective?

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE® content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.raresense.com [https://www.raresense.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

24. The Fan Mentality

Audio version of 01/01/24 article.

As I mentioned in The Future of RARE SENSE® a few months ago, I won’t be interviewing guests on my podcast for the foreseeable future for several reasons. One of which will become apparent in the next month or so. The good news is that I can now record audio versions of my articles instead. This is something I’ve always wanted to add to the content here. I realize that many people (myself included) often prefer to consume the written word aurally. It’s a way to make the most of an otherwise mindless task like driving. Therefore, I like the idea of giving you the choice between reading or listening to any of my posts. An audio file can also make refreshing your memory on a topic easier.

Today’s episode is a narration of my article from 01/01/24, The Mind-Killers. This is my current focus and the crux of the RARE SENSE theory and practice, so it seemed like the best place to start. Thanks for listening, and I hope you find these valuable.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE® content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.raresense.com [https://www.raresense.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

23. The Mind-Killers

Army Ranger turned psychedelic retreat CEO.

Neil Markey is the CEO of Beckley Retreats [https://www.beckleyretreats.com/], a company that uses psilocybin to help heal people. Their program includes a 4-week virtual preparation phase, a 5-night on-location retreat in Jamaica or the Netherlands, and a 6-week integration phase. I actually participated in their inaugural offering in late 2021. If you want to hear about my personal experience there, you can listen to Episode 9 of the RARE SENSE Podcast with Jon Macaskill and Will Schneider [https://raresense.substack.com/p/9-jon-macaskill-and-will-schneider]. I thought the program was exceptionally well-designed and executed, and I spoke more about my reflections in this interview.

Neil was a Captain in the US Army Special Operations 2nd Ranger Battalion who deployed once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. After his time in the military, he suffered from depression and PTSD while studying at Columbia University. This led him to explore mindfulness and meditation practices that marked the start of a profound healing journey involving the use of psychedelics. After graduate school, Neil worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co., co-leading the internal mindfulness program and was the Chief Growth Officer for a $450M private equity portfolio company.

He credits meditation and psilocybin with saving his life and ultimately found his true calling when he joined forces with Amanda Feilding of the Beckley Foundation, which is dedicated to furthering psychedelic research and advocating for policy reform. Together, they founded Beckley Retreats, combining the latest science in plant medicine with ancient wisdom and traditions to create a unique healing experience for attendees.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

22. Psilocybin and Healing w/ Neil Markey

Navy SEAL turned PA on a mission.

Tim Cruickshank is a retired Navy SEAL with an extensive and diverse military and civilian medicine background spanning over thirty years. He now works as a full-time Physician’s Assistant. He’s also spent over a decade as a caregiver navigating his wife’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. This personal experience, combined with his professional expertise, has given him a unique perspective on our healthcare system that, in my estimation, is vital for people to hear. It aligns with the conclusions I’ve come to through my journey. Even though the opinions he expresses here don’t represent official guidance, I feel his credentialing still gives them authority beyond my own as a mere chronic illness sufferer. Tim is a dear friend I’ve known for a long time, and I’m so grateful he was willing to come on the podcast and share his story.

Lastly, he’s also an entrepreneur who founded and runs two start-ups, Bonefrog Coffee [https://bonefrogcoffee.com] and Bonefrog Cellars [https://bonefrogcellars.com]. Beyond just selling great coffee and wine, Tim is using these companies to give back. You can learn more about them and their mission at the websites above.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

21. Rethinking Medicine w/ Tim Cruickshank

Intuitive energy worker.

Dr. Kevin Weiss is a board-certified physician with extensive training and experience in primary care, holistic, and energy medicine. Early in his career, he served patients with complex chronic diseases who often had causal issues beyond the technology or scope of standard medical diagnostics to detect. As a result, he developed his current practice of Systematic Healing [https://systematichealing.com/] to serve this need. Kevin uses Advanced Intuitive Energy Testing (AIET) to diagnose people and then utilizes modalities such as vibrant physiology, biomagnetism, and energy healing to treat them. And he usually does this without being physically in the same location as the recipient.

I realize that remote energy work is something that many people may not believe is possible. I used to feel the same way. But after nearly a year of working with Kevin, my skepticism has waned considerably. I’ve found his treatments to be effective. I’ve also learned that I don’t necessarily need to understand something for it to yield results. If nothing else, his techniques are super interesting, and I encourage you to listen to this episode with an open mind.

Note that anything we discuss is for educational and informational purposes only, not medical or mental health advice. It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure, or prevent any illness or condition. Although Kevin is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, he is not acting in that capacity here. He serves as a healing minister, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Systematic Healing owns all copyrights to the materials presented here unless otherwise noted.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

20. Remote Healing w/ Kevin Weiss

Rebroadcast from "The Code" podcast.

This episode is a rebroadcast of my appearance on “The Code” podcast with Dr. Andrew Fix [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-code-a-guide-to-health-and-human-performance/id1610389342?i=1000633213637]. I met Andrew in September in Denver, where I was giving a keynote address on mind fitness to a group of about 200 physical therapists at the PT Biz Conference. He was one of the attendees and afterward graciously asked me to come on his podcast to cover some of the content I spoke about for his audience.

I wanted to publish that conversation here because it’s primarily centered on the seven mind-killers, which are the tendencies all people have to sabotage their mental health. The mind-killers concept is the crux of making RARE SENSE actionable through countermeasures to those proclivities. It’s something that I’ve been working on for a while, and it’s now ready for primetime.

To that point, much of RARE SENSE content in 2024 will focus on the mind-killers, and this discussion is a good introduction to them. The first twenty minutes cover my background. So, if you’ve heard that before, feel free to skip it. Also, note that if you want me to speak to your organization as I did for PT Biz, you can fill out the contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact] at raresense.com [https://www.raresense.com/].

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

19. The Seven Mind-Killers

Self-made respiratory mechanics expert.

Dr. Andy Sabatier is the physiotherapist behind Academy West Breathing Performance [https://www.academywestperformance.com], an innovative clinic that optimizes the human breathing system. His athletic background, first as a college lacrosse player and later as a professional skier, uniquely prepared him to observe and improve human movement. After completing his doctorate at NYU and clinical training at Stanford, he became the primary ICU physical therapist in a hospital system in Central Oregon. During this time, he became obsessed with the mechanics of how we breathe and cultivated a “Breathing First” approach buttressed by the teachings of Dr. Mary Massery.  Dedicated to eliminating confusion, misunderstanding, and harmful practices around breathing, his strategy relies on precise language, relatable examples, and research concepts that connect the dots on how and why it matters. Andy aims to change how humanity feels, sees, uses, and discusses this most central aspect of all life.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

18. Functional Breathing w/ Andy Sabatier

Innovative and experience-based healing.

Caspar Szulc [http://casparszulc.com] is the President and Co-Founder of Innovative Medicine [https://innovativemedicine.com], a company dedicated to transforming healthcare through an advanced and genuinely comprehensive form of personalized integrative medicine. His work has garnered the attention of top minds across six continents, including Nobel Laureates, leading CEOs, Hollywood royalty, and best-selling authors. In addition, he oversees the New York Center for Innovative Medicine (NYCIM) [https://nycim.com], a renowned center that attracts patients from all over the world.

Caspar's parents are doctors who have spent a lifetime seeking better solutions to whatever ails people. As a result, he grew up traveling the world exploring various forms of treatment. His family's search for new therapies, modalities, and how other cultures heal continues to take him to new places around the globe. To date, he's visited six continents, sixty-eight countries, and all fifty states in the U.S. He has applied the knowledge gained from these experiences to help others achieve a healthier, happier existence.

I was introduced to Caspar through Ben Ahrens, my guest on Episode 6 of the RARE SENSE Podcast [https://raresense.substack.com/p/6-ben-ahrens#details]. Ben's treatment at NYCIM was crucial to his recovery from chronic neurological Lyme Disease, and his story inspired me to try the same thing. I spent about two months at their center in the fall of 2022, which absolutely moved the needle in improving my overall condition.

Earlier this year, I was a guest on Caspar's podcast, Your Health. Your Story. I wanted to return the favor as I feel he has a unique and vital perspective on healing. During our discussion, we talked about dirty energy and EMFs, ancient medicine and the moniker of "pseudoscience," optimizing health vs. treating disease, chronic illness in general, experience-based vs. evidence-based medicine, remote healing, the uniqueness of each patient, Newtonian vs. quantum medicine, the interconnectedness of the mind and body, what it means to be alive, getting people back to a self-healing state, treatment as information, the power of belief and fear, subconscious patterns, the downsides of trying to live a perfect life, cell memory, the future of medicine, navigating snake oil salesmen, and other topics.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

17. Caspar Szulc

Measuring the mind through vision.

Abhranil “Neel” Das is originally from India, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master’s in physics. He then received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, performing interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience and vision science. He is now continuing as a postdoc while working at UT's new Psychedelics Research and Therapy Center, conducting tests and analysis on how psychedelic treatment might improve mental health. Much of his efforts have focused on understanding how the visual part of our brain functions, how it makes sense of the images it sees, and how vision correlates to cognition.

I was "Patient Zero" for his current experiments as part of a more extensive study, which is how we met. I found his work fascinating, specifically how measuring eye movement may help diagnose and track quantitative improvement for conditions like depression.

During our conversation, we discussed his studies, EMDR, psychedelics in general, the sense of self, and other topics. Neel has his own podcast, The Room of Lives [https://rss.com/podcasts/room-of-lives/], which focuses on science, spirituality, the mind, and mystery, where this episode [https://rss.com/podcasts/room-of-lives/1073520/] first appeared. Consequently, the initial eighteen minutes were mainly him interviewing me. I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did.

You can learn more about Neel at https://abhranil.net.

Level up your mental health:

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE Substack [https://raresense.substack.com/].

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE podcast on any major streaming platform and leave a five-star review if you love it.

- Subscribe to the RARE SENSE YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@thischrisirwin].

- Take the RARE SENSE Challenge [https://www.raresense.com/challenge].

- Connect with me on all major social media platforms @thischrisirwin.

- Invite me to speak about mind fitness to your organization by filling out the RARE SENSE contact form [https://www.raresense.com/contact].

You can also support my work by purchasing RARE SENSE gear [https://www.raresense.com/gear] or sharing my content with others.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.



Get full access to RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness at raresense.substack.com/subscribe [https://raresense.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

16. Abhranil Das

Chris Irwin (@thischrisirwin) · Zencastr

Chris Irwin (@thischrisirwin)

Mind Fitness for the Human Race. Level up your mental health. DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.

raresense.substack.com [https://raresense.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]

RARE SENSE | Mind Fitness

Chris Irwin's Show

Discussions about mental health and mind fitness aimed at veterans, first responders, frontline workers, and others dealing with mental health problems, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, PTSD, OCD, and chronic illness.