Latest / The Lauren Castle Show / You Don't Have to Choose Between Science and Spirituality

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You Don't Have to Choose Between Science and Spirituality · The Lauren Castle Show

• speaker-0: In Chinese medicine and other ancient forms of medicine, we're not supposed to stay in one season forever. And I feel like the culture that we have today is like we're all supposed to be in summer all the time, feeling great, productive, the sun's shining on us. And that's the middle age years, right? anywhere between your twenties to your forties. The idea is like we stay stuck there and we get Botox and all these ways that we try to stay in those years. But that's not how life works. The way to prevent yourself from feeling stuck or being stuck or being stagnant is to actually embrace the movement that's gonna happen whether or not you want it to happen. Change is the only constant thing in life. speaker-1: Welcome to the Loren Castle Show, a podcast for people on a path to well-being, body, mind, heart, and soul. Join us for conversations at the intersection of pharmacy, functional medicine, and psychedelics. My hope is that each episode will leave you feeling inspired to step into your power, speak your truth, and live your most authentic life. Let's begin. Welcome back to another episode of the Loren Castle Show. I am really excited for this week's episode because we're taking a little pivot from our scheduled programming. And, you know, I talk a lot about how I think everything happens in divine timing. And this episode definitely feels like that. So I'm bringing back my amazing friend Dr. Marina Booksoff, a fellow pharmacist and herbalist, and someone who I've known since 2020. I think we got into it on our first episode that we recorded together, that we met in B school from Marie Forlio. And Marina is one of our regional coaches for F and PHA, but we've also both just been on very similar paths, sort of outside of the traditional pharmacy space in regards to functional medicine, but also plant medicine. And for a long time, We had been circling this idea of bringing together a space where pharmacists could really dig into this and not even just pharmacist. I would say this this really applies to any women particularly that have felt this pull between the worlds of maybe this scientific conventional background and the way that we were raised, but also potentially herbs and plants and The earth and seasons and cycles and all of these things, and trying to find the balance in the modern world of how all of these things fit together. And so Marina had sent me a message a couple of weeks ago, and transparently I'm terrible about managing my inbox. So I didn't even see it until more recently. And when I saw it, I was like, my gosh. I'm so excited about this. she's been building a program behind the scenes, something that I think we both were sort of envisioning, but we'll we'll get into talking about human design here in a minute and how this all fits into the puzzle. it was something that she as a manifester, I think just needed to take the initiative on leading. And I, as a projector, when I Felt that invitation to share about what she's built and to be able to be part of it and to be invited into this program. It just, it finally all came together in this really amazing way. And so all that introduction aside, I'm excited to welcome back Marina to talk a little bit about her new program that's called the Founding Members. for her modern medicine matriarch program. So welcome Marina. speaker-0: Thank you so much, Lauren. Thanks for inviting me back on. And I'm super excited as well. This is something that has been brewing, so to speak, in my body, my heart, my mind, my soul for a really long time. And like you said, it just feels like the puzzle pieces are finally coming together for me to be able to offer this out into the world. And the community is already forming and the seeds are planted. And so I've already held the space in person for some of the sessions and online. And it's been super rewarding. And I'm truly, truly finally feeling like I'm building the home for women to belong in, for women specifically that right now don't feel like maybe they belong fully in this scientific community or in the spiritual community, but they're Curious and wanting to find other like-minded people. And to be honest, I found that community when I started herb school post-my pharmacy graduation and seeking through various functional, nutritional, coaching kinds of trainings. And then when I finally went to the open house for my herb school, I cried. To be honest, I cried when I was asked why I'm there. And then As I enrolled and I met all the people and we got to know each other, I finally felt like, wow, these people have similar values. And I finally feel like I belong and I'm not crazy and I'm not in this alone. And there's these people that think like me and operate like me and envision the world that I wanna be in and I want to raise my children in. speaker-1: Amazing. It's so beautiful. yeah, I would love to hear more about what really sparked this idea to finally come to life now at this time. because like I said, we we sort of have been circling this idea. I know for me, I got really interested in things like energy medicine and Plant medicine and all of these things in twenty twenty three when I went to Costa Rica for the first time. And we have some shared experiences in and being on retreats in Costa Rica that we were just talking about before this. separate retreats, but shared experiences of being part of retreats and hosting retreats. you know, and I I met someone who was a shaman in that retreat. And I had no idea what that was. Like I wasn't familiar with the term even really, but she was someone who really just taught me about how to connect with the earth and to connect with the elements and the four directions, and how we can call in the energy to create sacred space, essentially. so it's it's a very spiritual sort of practice and you know, my My background, I grew up in a evangelical Christian church, Pentecostal, went to Christian private school up until seventh grade, was super involved with my youth group through high school, started going to a church whenever I was at pharmacy school at Ohio Northern. I was Methodist affiliated and, you know, they had the chapel services. like we even didn't have class on Wednesday mornings because they had chapel. so like very indoctrinated. But I sort of stepped away from some of that for a little bit. And then whenever I kind of rediscovered this other side of spirituality that wasn't tied to any one religion, it was really interesting for me. And there was definitely a a different sort of connection that I felt with relating to yeah, like the wisdom of of our ancestors and of the earth itself and just nature, which again, depending on your background especially, that might not be something you're super familiar with, and yet it felt natural. It felt just like, of course, this all makes sense. everything is connected. and so That was where my introduction to a lot of these things came from. And then I felt like functional medicine was such a good bridge though into that because I had already started learning about plants and supplements and nutraceuticals and, you know, the idea that these different herbs, things like oregano or turmeric, you know, could be really powerful. But then also I got curious about, well, yes, we can process these plants, but also how can I use them myself? How could I grow these plants myself and really just incorporate them in my day-to-day life? And so, like all of these little pieces kind of started coming together for me. And Marina was always someone that I would just reach out to whenever I had questions and of like, What do you think about this? Or I found this passion flower? Or, you know, how do you prepare a tea properly? which I know is a a really big part of what you're building here. So yeah, just tell me a little bit more about like the the impetus for why now, and then maybe we can get into what all is included a little bit more tangibly. speaker-0: Yeah, absolutely. I would say that I credit a lot of those who came before me, not least of which are my own ancestors and my lineage and my culture and heritage and me growing up in a different country where herbs were much more out in the open and much more integrated into pharmacy practice. In fact, all the pharmacists in the Slavic speaking countries and cultures. are trained in herbs as well as pharmaceuticals. And there's a whole nutraceutical field that is very well developed and industrialized in a big way. And there's a lot of research that's coming out of those countries as well. So there's there's a lot of training that goes beyond just the main active ingredients. And there is this sense of holism where we study the whole plant and we don't just toss the baby out with a bath water where there are these midwives and wise women and people who are herbalist and work with the land and work with the plants and whether we call them shaman or other medicine men and medicine women, that we can look to all the different indigenous people across the whole world that have people like this. they specialize in medicine and healing and We didn't have the pharmaceutical industry up until, a hundred or one hundred and fifty or so or two hundred years ago, right? so this is fairly and relatively new technology. And the old technology and tradition was really looking to the world around us and the seasons and cycles of nature that you were mentioning, and how do we harness that? within ourselves and within our lives and within our communities to work with the energy of the body and with our biology. And how do we support ourselves through different seasons and stages of life and of the year when we don't have all the modern conveniences, right? And we've survived thus far for generations through all of our intricate lineages and all that it took for each of us to be born at this time. Our ancestors definitely knew herbs. So they were able to pass that down as a survival skill. And again, the the people in the birthing worlds, birthing babies and helping women care for babies and helping with the childbearing years and then after, you know, all of that wa had its own again, technology that is really beautiful, I think. And of course, there were shortcomings too, which is where we can fill in the gaps now with some of the functional principles and even pharmaceuticals or surgeries and all the advances that we now have. And I feel that we really would benefit in reconnecting with some of those practices and understanding where we are within this cycle of life and within. This ecology because none of us exist in isolation. So to answer your question, I think the teachers that came before me, the students of this craft that came before me that gave me inspiration and permission, even if they were scientists or they were pharmacists, the fact that they were interested in some of these things gave me the permission really to say, yes, I'm interested too. And Because I look up to them, I feel good about this. I this is not strange and it's not out of the ordinary for me to think that there is something to this other world. And when we put the words evidence-based medicine out there and we only look at the clinical trial data that's available, and we discount again all of these traditions that have. Thousands of years of evidence, even if it wasn't written down or not randomized in a trial somewhere. It's like, how much data do we really need to prove to us some of these essential foundational basic principles that yes, we are nature, we are part of nature, and we can observe all these natural forces that are moving the things around us. And within us, right? So it's like this physics or quantum physics, if you want to call it, or natural laws, astrology and looking at the stars and how the movement of the stars is affecting the waters on this earth, how the moon is interacting with our tides, how we look at the planting seasons and the farmers need to look up into the sky to know what seeds need to be planted and when. And this is what truly sustains us. We can't possibly take the number and amount and quality of supplements to ever make up for these basic foundational life-giving sources that are found in nature in their whole forms, supported by the sun and the movement, the wind, the earth, the soil, the air. I mean It sounds esoteric maybe as I'm speaking about this, because we may have heard about this from, fiction books about sorcery or something like that. Or maybe we've heard of some of these concepts and there's a difference between astronomy and astrology. But the point is a lot of what we are exposed to and study in the modern world are kind of stripped and reduced versions of what's the ancient studies were of all of these things that I'm mentioning. And that is because we decided what was important and what was not, what's evidence-based and what's not. And some of that was valid, absolutely. Like they used to do lobotomies for headaches and migraines, right? I I'm very happy they did away with that practice. So, you know, I think some of it is good that it's no longer practice because it really was harmful and now we have better tools. And then also a lot of the context for the things that just make common sense were also stripped away. And I think this is the root cause for a lot of our suffering today and a lot of our pain and our illness is that the conveniences and the reductionist approach of the modern life lifestyle that we enjoy, right? Because it is convenient. At the same time, a lot of those practices are out of sync with nature and with what the body is designed to do and how we're designed to rest and how we're designed to cycle. And there's this expectation that we're pretty much expected to be like a robot, you know, speaking about AI and all this amazing evolution that we're experiencing right now in technology. But humans were expected to do that, to go to your job and perform and be productive and have the same schedule every single day. And I think there is nuance to that. And so the reason I'm bringing this to life now is because I've been experiencing with my work and my clients and my own evolution and learning that there are these deeper patterns that show up. For people again and again and again, because no matter again, how many tools and real really amazing technology that we have, including specific testing and optimized ranges, surgeries, what have you, all these interventions that we have at our disposal, they're not touching those root causes and those patterns. And my hope is that we rediscover some of these things and take control and take sovereignty and autonomy and feel at home in our bodies and take these tools that are freely available and go outside and see the sun and hug the trees. I went out on a walk earlier today and I hugged some trees, you know, and that recharged me and made my day 'Cause the plants, they operate on their own cycle and their own rhythm. And they help us to slow down and to grow some roots and to enjoy the present moment. And so I think there's many roads here, meditation and mindfulness and coaching and so many other things that I haven't mentioned. But I think one of the most simplest and most accessible ones are just all around us, staring us in the face. And it's the land that we live on and it's the rivers and it's giving thanks and it's doing so in community. So I finally just said, okay, it's it's time, it's time for me to create this because this is what can truly move the needle for people. It's not just having a one-on-one conversation and looking at your labs and figuring out what you can tweak. That is important. And also it's important for you to feel like you're part of something and it's meaningful and it's simple and it's beautiful and it's life giving. speaker-1: Amazing. I I'm so excited for this. And like you said, there's so many, so many layers to this container that you're creating and that I am really excited to be a part of as a participant, but also bringing in my own wisdom and sharing my own gifts in my own ways. And I think that's gonna be something that is so unique about being in group containers or group. programs, especially longitudinal ones, right? That are going to last for a year. you know, where that you can really go deep with a group of women and explore, you know, what's there for you. You mentioned, you know, living with our cycles. Like that, even before I went to Costa Rica and before the psychedelic piece came, that actually was the intro and like the sort of breaking point for me whenever I realized it took a year for my cycles to come back after coming off of birth control. Like I knew something was really wrong then because I was like, this is not natural. This is not normal. And yet my own conventional objectives in it then was like, it's it's totally fine. It'll come back when it wants to, right? Like no level of intervention outside of you can take progesterone, you know, madroxy progesterone if you want to to like stimulate it. But no digging into the underlying causes or recognition that that's not going to actually even work because my hormonal levels were so off. And it wasn't a pattern of just take this pill or do this thing, right? It was I had to change the way I was showing up. Like I was burning the candle at both ends and trying to survive in a corporate world. grinding day in and day out and not honoring my body and finding rest and taking time away. And so once I finally started tracking my cycles and paying attention to all of that, when I did get them back, it it changed so much about being able to, you know, do cycle syncing and some of these things that I had seen other women talking about online, but yet I had been so disconnected from my natural rhythm literally my whole life. Like I I was in my 30s by the time that I finally realized, wow, what do you know? Like our bodies are a living miracle. They go through this amazing cycle every month. And my energy is different from day to day. And I can actually honor that and live in accordance with it and not just have to push through at any given point. And then I started applying that to my business and living in cycles with the seasons. And that's why we shifted, you know, even the way we operate our boot camp for functional medicine pharmacist alliance was like, we take the winter off completely. Like we don't do a live cohort. Because that is the time that we should actually be going inward and kind of descending, right, into the darkness for a period of time to rest and rejuvenate instead of the way our modern culture positions everything, which is holidays, new year, new you, crazy first of the month in the pharmacy, right? That just is like the antithesis of the way nature actually operates. And so yeah, I'm I'm just excited for what this is and for the women who choose to say yes to this program. I wanna share my screen actually on here. I know if you're listening to this podcast, I would encourage you to check out the video as well on YouTube, also on Spotify. We're working on getting video on Apple eventually. but we'll talk through all the things that we are. sharing about, but I do think that for those who are watching this, it could be really helpful just to see what all is included in this program. So walk us through. speaker-0: Yes. Thank you. So the concept is that we are forming an ecosystem and we are building the village. You know, that phrase that it takes a village to raise a child, for example. And I truly believe that it takes a village to do anything, you know, and the fact that we have changed into nuclear families, but now there's so much divorce and so much falling apart. And even for the families that are together. Everybody has their own rhythm and schedule and it's all arbitrary, like we were saying, so many after school activities, so many clubs and social events and XYZ. And it's like people don't even get together to eat a family dinner. 'cause we also had the explosion of TV dinners, the frozen TV dinners. Hopefully that's not as much anymore. But anyhow, I feel like I wanted to create this. wholesome ecology where we all get together and we support each other. And it's not a hierarchy, it's a circle. And we are all an integral part of the foundation and the structure. And even though I am the facilitator of it and the creator of it, the idea is that we're all contributing and we're all paying it forward in our own way to our own communities outside this space. And so we are building the village together. And it's called the modern medicine matriarch, is the concept. So we are becoming these wise women. It's the process of understanding our own power through the challenges that we face and overcome and go into the darkest depths of facing your own shadow and your own fear and whatever was painful. Acknowledging that, not just bypassing it or pretending it's not there. it's actually by embodying your full self with the ups and the downs that you can then become whole. So just like with the plants, we want to focus on whole plants, whole foods. We wanna be a whole person and embracing those parts of ourselves that maybe we think we should be rejecting, or those parts that maybe silently sabotage us or discreetly sabotage us in little ways. It's by accepting all those parts of us and all those pieces and looking at each other as mirrors and reflecting back that, you know what, despite all of this, we are this amazing, powerful person and we are capable of doing great things through great challenges. And sometimes that's what it is. Your greatest accomplishment is on the other side of the dark night of the soul, so to speak. And that has been true in my own life. So in this community that I'm building, it's for you to experience that wholeness, for you to be in sisterhood and in community with other women that are facing similar things. And obviously, we all have very different backgrounds and very different lives. And yet the themes I'm noticing and everybody I speak to are very similar and very relatable and very human. So the idea is that we are this village for each other. Maybe you don't feel quite like that in your own community. So this is your opportunity to be around women that want to grow, that wanna evolve, that wanna explore these again, simple ancient ways to support. themselves, one another, and then eventually pass it down and trickle it into their communities. So you can be the one, you can be the change that you wish to see in the world. speaker-1: So I love just the way that you worded so many things on this website, right? You read the research and pull an Oracle card. And yeah, like I I'll never forget, I'll I'll share this story. I pulled an Oracle card in an F and PHA meeting one time. And I had a pharmacist who said, that's not for me. I don't know if I'm in the right place. And it was a moment that I was like, that's interesting. And it sort of planted this seed in me that I was like, I think that what I've built with FMPHA is going to continue to live on and be that evidence-based place for pharmacists to come and get the education around the clinical and the business and the practice models and the implementation. And while we do talk about certain aspects of body, mind, heart, and soul, right? mental, emotional, spiritual health is at the core of the functional medicine matrix. It's challenging to try and bring in every possible aspect of spirituality into a program that is trying to serve everyone, all pharmacists, right? And so for a long time I've sort of been envisioning a place outside of FMPHA that I myself could belong. And that we could have these discussions around reading the research and also pulling oracle cards, trusting the evidence and also trusting the knowing in your body, right? Too spiritual for the scientific crowd, too grounded for the starseed one, tired of leaving half of yourself at the door. You don't have to choose. We live in an and world. I'm like, yes, exactly. You literally took the words right out of my mouth. Like it's so. Perfect. and it it really describes I think what we're both seeking and and trying to create this space for. speaker-0: Yeah. And I think this actually answers your previous question about why I'm creating this and why now. Because I also have a clinical herbalism training program and I've been mentoring other pharmacists for a number of years. And I've been teaching for a naturopathic school and it's very much evidence-based and rooted in the functional space and the principles of naturopathy and do no harm and basically getting out of the body's way and allowing the innate intelligence and wisdom of the body to heal itself and providing the proper tools for that, of course, and being supportive. And so I too had the experience that not this is not for everybody. The s more spiritual side is not for everybody. Some people are just there for the evidence-based functional and medicinal uses for plants, let's say. and that's Totally fine and that's okay. And also I realized that I'm a multidimensional and multi-passionate person that is open to that way of being. And so I wanted to create a separate community, which does overlap sometimes with the clinical. So you can be part of both if you want to. And there's special rates, and we could talk about that if you do join both both. but essentially maybe you're just one or the other. That's okay too. And for me, I'm both. So I wanted to create both. And I wanted it to be that, you know what, you can choose, right? I'm not forcing you to to do read the research and pull the Oracle card, but if you want to, I'm all for it. and so this is the pay the way and the format that I felt would be serving of wherever you are in that spectrum. And if you are also looking for permission or like looking to who else is embracing that, Lauren and I are examples of that where I only just now learned that she also is training in tarot readings, which that's something that I've also been learning about. And I didn't even know that about her, even though I knew her for years, because I think this is something like I was mentioning, maybe there are these parts or aspects of yourself that you feel like are not okay. Let's say if you're a scientist or pharmacist or a healthcare professor Provider or whatever profession you have. And then your hobbies or your inner world could be maybe seemingly at odds or paradoxical to that. And so I'm just here to say, you know what? Maybe it's okay to explore the evidence and the trials and the data, and also trust that there has been wisdom. From the past that we need to reintegrate because I feel like we're part of this lost generation and also for our parents before us that decided to say no to all of the stuff that was in the past and just do the modern stuff. And I think that's a big mistake. I think we need to look for what was working, what was amazing that we just decided to throw out when. Right now we're suffering, and Lauren and I, and probably many of you listening, can see that our healthcare model is not keeping up and there's a huge burden to the system from the food side, from the disabilities and the chronic illness, from all of the diseases, all of the problems, right? And we're just not being able, we're not able to keep up with the demand, our supply of our healing tools and modalities. Is not serving the general public, and we're getting sicker and sicker as a society. So then myself as a manifestor in the human design system, like you said, I'm just seeing the big picture here. And I'm just like, we have to be able to address this as a root cause level, but not just for each individual. But again, because it's a sickness that's affecting us as a society. We have to deal with it as a society. And again, to quote James Maskell, it's gonna happen in community. This is how communities can become sicker together if we create that culture of sickness and doing all the things that make us sick, unbeknownst to us maybe, and due to a lot of factors. But when we do know, when we have the awareness and when we get to the support levels that we have access to. we can create this culture around health. And then that trickles out to the communities. So that is really what I'm envisioning. So if you're the pioneer of your family and your community and you want to make a change, then you can do that. You can change it for yourself first and then trickle out. speaker-1: Yeah. So I love this description here as well. that sort of describes the seasons that this is going to be moving through. Now I know this episode that we're recording right now is coming out on Thursday, November fifth. and so we're already in the fall season and we're kind of moving into the winter. and I think this describes a lot of, you know, some of the things you were just talking about, but feel free to give us, you know, a deeper overview of, you know, what all is really included in this program. speaker-0: Yeah, so this is where my nerdy and organizational side is coming out and the pattern recognition. So I grouped a lot of things that I saw in the herbal energetic systems and in the menstrual cycle and the seasons of life that a woman goes through, as well as the seasons that we're in in nature. So in the northern hemisphere, which is where I am, we are going into the fall, the winter, the spring, where, we're gonna have the the fire of the summer is cooling down and then we're gonna be experiencing the longest night of the year. And then we're gonna go into this rest period and then maybe like a re envisioning and rebirth p period, which first of all, to have a rebirth you need to have a death too, I think. Nobody likes to talk about that part, but that's what I was mentioning before that maybe what you consider to be quote unquote bad or something that's a challenge, something that you don't like to talk about, something that you don't like to face, something that you fear. this there's actually also a gift in that. And there's a polarity that we all just inherently have to deal with when we're on this plane of existence where even our darkest pain, it's like yin and yang. There is this siege that is contained within that that has the solution for it. So that's what we're heading into when we go into the winter. It's like the crone period where you're the elderly and you're gonna be going on into the spiritual plane. And then there's gonna be a rebirth. And then spring is that rebirth period where you're gonna now emerge. And again, this is not physical, it's metaphysical in our community, but we can also look to the physical world to understand that there is truth in that. We can look at the plants, that they all have a cycle. We all bloom at different times, even if plants generally bloom in the spring, they all bloom at different times, right? So I think we can find a lot of parallels and correlations in the natural world that make us aware of what we're going through in our world, in our life. And make it easier for us to deal with things because again, it's like the awareness that, wow, yes, it does feel natural because it is natural because I am natural and I am part of nature and I am nature. So there's been a big disconnect and I think there's more and more of a divide now. It's like with the AI and what's the ecological you know, repercussions of using AI, perhaps. So there's gonna be a lot of different camps, and there always were and they there will be, I believe. and no matter which time we look at in history, we're gonna see people were going through different themes, but they're all similar in a way too. And that's the season that we're in right now. You know, there's like a lot of unknowns, there's a lot of division, there's a lot of black and white thinking, and so In a community like this, we're just examining, well, how does nature deal with this? And what answers does nature hold for us? And how do we work with plants? You're also gonna get a seasonal tea guide. So how can we work with plants each season? And I even break it down into each month. And I recommend which plants correlate with that energetics of the system and of the season that we're in, and how it can help you move through some of these things because In Chinese medicine and other ancient forms of medicine, the idea is we're not supposed to stay in one season forever. And I feel like the culture that we have today is like we're all supposed to be in summer all the time, feeling great, productive, the sun's shining on us. And that's the middle age years, right? anywhere between your twenties to your forties. And the idea is like we stay stuck there and we get Botox and all of these ways that we try to stay. In those years. but that's not how life works. So the way to prevent yourself from feeling stuck or being stuck or being stagnant is to actually embrace the movement that's gonna happen, whether or not you want it to happen. Change is the only constant thing in life. And I've heard it said that God is change. So when we embrace it, we can actually know. And understand and accept and help ourselves through those processes, including moving through our emotions. So I tie each season to an exploration of an emotion. So f so in the fall we had fire, like the last remnant of that summer. And that is correlated with our premenstrual syndrome. So right before our menses. It's like this is when your emotions are on edge and we need to understand them and become aware of them instead of trying to stuff them inside a box and lock them up somewhere because they're gonna come spilling out, whether you like it or not. And then we have all these diagnoses like PMDD, but really it's again your body's wisdom. Progesterone needs for you to manage your stress levels and for you to give it good nutrients. So the body's symptoms are actually just a way for it to communicate. And so that is what this is about. It's not about me diagnosing you or prescribing anything. It's about you becoming aware of what your body is needing and how it can look to nature, look to the seasons, look to the patterns in nature and in our life, and give it the proper nutrients. to thrive or the proper foundation. So I'm not gonna go through all of them, but that was just an example. And so we do that with every season and we have monthly calls depending on which tier you enroll in, we have one to two monthly calls where we have all of these themes that we explore and you're invited to explore how this relates to your own life. Cause again, this will be different because we're all coming in with different levels of experience and knowledge of this. And I just want to also say, that I grew up secular. So Lauren mentioned her background. And so I am by no means have I always used these kinds of systems. This is pretty new for me. I've just started learning about them way after pharmacy school, when I was in herbalism school. And then when I was going to these different communities and this is when I realized like This is the crux of the human condition, right? Like we can go into the science, we can go into the healing arts. And yes, we can heal ourselves. I don't think there's ever like an end point to that. We continue to grow and evolve and to heal and dig deeper through the layers and shed some things and then maybe come back around in a spiral. But the idea is that we can look at things from different perspectives and different lens. So that is what I'm offering. It's not that one way is better or one way is worse and one way is superior and or one religion or one spiritual tradition is the thing. Maybe you do find that you really resonate with one. And my job is to give you different perspectives that resonated for me. And I think Working with nature is probably the most universal one that I'm offering because our bodies really, really reflect that to us. And if we just pay attention to our bodies, we can also notice how that correlates and vice versa. And that in itself is a huge step forward in your healing journey. speaker-1: I love it. So if this is sounding like super aligned for any of our ladies who are listening, Marina is very graciously extending her founding member rates to our community for a couple extra days. so I think November seventh. Is going to be the final day to join at the founding member REITs. It was supposed to end October 31st, but we had our our call today. And I think we both were sitting with our own ancestors over the weekend. And yeah, this just felt really aligned. And I know I'm super excited to be, like I said, a participant in this, right? This is not my program that I created. But it's one that I think we have really been able to collaborate on the idea of it. And so when Marina invited me to be part of it and to go on this journey with her and to invite the people in my circle and my sphere into this space, I just I was like, yeah, this makes perfect sense to me. So Tell us a little bit about the three different levels. And again, if you're watching the video, you can see all of this on the screen. If you're listening to the podcast, we'll try to break it down with the different levels and the pricing for you. And you can, of course, go to the website. It's holisticembodiment.com. Pretty awesome, like URL that you snagged. So tell us a little bit about what's included in each of these three tiers. The initiation tier. Alchemy tier and the embodiment tier. speaker-0: Yeah, I had this URL for a while. I bought this domain a very long time ago and I finally have a use for it. So yes. the initiation is our basic community. So you get access to the four seasonal circles for each season of the year, which is actually free. So if you want to invite other people, you're welcome to. And then you have one monthly workshop. Where we go through some of the themes, like for example, with this time of year, with sewing Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, like a lot of people are celebrating the end of the harvest season and honoring those who came before them. So we're gonna have something on that today with sharing cultural stories and foods and teas from our ancestors in our circle. So there will be things like that throughout the year. and then you get the digital Tea ceremony guide that I mentioned. So, how to prepare teas, where to purchase teas. and then there's a list of 12 teas, one for each month of the year. So you can go deeper if you wanted to explore and work with a particular tea over a period of time. And by tea, I mean any plant, not just the caffeinated tea beverages that most of us are familiar with. Coffee is also a plant, by the way. So if you love coffee, so many things that are ingrained in our cultures come from plants. and of course, they could be used in a like a very reverent way and ceremonially, but they could also be commercialized or abused. so there's a line that we have to walk down this path. And so my teachers have taught me about sustainability and growing practices and harvesting and All of those things will be incorporated into the journey. And so the tea guide will go through a lot of that and then where you can order those teas again. if you want to go to a local herb shop, that's always recommended and start to build those local conversations and network for yourself. And then I also do a mindfulness coaching system called positive intelligence, which has been super helpful and instrumental. And I would say specifically for that bridge between scientific and rational and then the more spiritual practices, this is that amazing bridge. And to recognize again those parts of self that maybe are at odds with each other. Like a part of you wants something, a part of you seems to get in the way of it. so it's it's a way for you to unify your whole self so that you can get out of your own way. You can be fully on board with your desires and figure out what's holding you back. And so for those members, I'll give you the assessments so you can understand yourself a little bit better, and then we'll have a call to talk about the results. So that will be my gift to you. And then for the alchemy level, it's everything that is an initiation. and I forgot to mention we also have a Telegraph group. So you get to come in and talk to other members. it's kind of like a Facebook community, but I wanted to do it outside of Facebook. So it's on Telegram. and it's pretty good because you can also see past messages and things like that. And then I break it up through different topics as well. And we have an additional member circles. So anybody above initiation levels gets two circles a month and there's a lot of interactive opportunities there to meet other members and share about what you're learning and to discuss those themes that you're going through. And then I give you a seasonal curriculum and workbook to also kind of do on your own time so that you are processing these things a little bit deeper. And then you get the Full mental fitness coaching program, which is an app on your phone and it's a day-by-day experience. It's guided and it's automated. So it's really great. It's like having a coach in your pocket 24-7. So you go through the sort of onboarding foundational track that takes about seven weeks. And then you get to choose your own adventure and go into deeper coaching areas using the model that you're learning about. which is the positive intelligence and saboteur assessment that I mentioned, but then deeper into that and understanding yourself. And there's a little timer that's built in so that you can be mindful throughout the day. Cause I think this is one of the biggest challenges. It's like, yeah, maybe we can be mindful once a day or be grateful or be present. But this app really reminds you. Hey, it's time to be a little more present, and it only takes two to three minutes of your time. So even the busiest executive or professional can do it. So that's what I really love about it. Doesn't matter how busy you are, you can find two minutes to go on the app. All right. So that's the first two levels, and then the final level is embodiment. And this is where you get to work one on one with me. So you get everything in the other levels. And you get the clinical track included. So you have the full herbal system, every lecture taught by me, plus a vault of guest teachers that I've had as bonus content for the program. And it's 119 hours. And I have a whole CE tract as well. So you can claim CE from whatever accrediting body that you want to apply for. I just had a student applied for a fitness trainer program. So it's not even herbal or clinical related, but they accepted it. So that was really great. so you can petition for CEs that are relevant to your field of study or practice. And you get one-on-one calls with me and support in between calls outside of the general chat. So you'll have one on one access to me. So we have several calls a month with each other plus in between calls contact and you get the whole clinical modules and everything included. Now, if you wanted to, you could also add on the clinical module. Like if you didn't want the full embodiment VIP one-on-one support, but you still wanted the clinical, you can add that in to either the initiation or alchemy track. speaker-1: So initiation for founding members again, only through 11.7 is $197 per year or $19 a month. The alchemy is $19.97 per year or $197 per month. So essentially you're saving a little bit if you do sign up for the yearly subscription. And then the embodiment tier is $10,000 per year or $977 per month. And there are limited spots for that. so Marina has an application if you're interested to make sure that it's the right fit for you. I'm excited to be, like I said, joining forces with her on this because I'm gonna be kind of sweetening the pot for anyone who's interested by offering a free comprehensive human design report with any of the three tiers, initiation, alchemy, or embodiment. If you join the alchemy, the middle tier for the 1997, I'm also gonna do a one-on-one reading with you. And then if you do the embodiment tier, we're gonna do a full deep dive into every aspect of your chart as deep as we can possibly go. So those are my gifts to you. And I'm really excited. I actually just did my first public human design readings last week here in Dayton, Ohio, where I live. And it all happened because I was actually just following my human design. So it's like If you've never heard of human design and you're like, wait, what is this again? I think you've mentioned it before. Nicole and I did a podcast episode on it. You can go back and watch that one. But it's essentially a system that's taking your astrology and overlaying it on the systems of the Kabbalah, the Iching with the 64 gates and the hexagrams, and then the chakra system. So the seven energy center centers. and so it it really ties in well with all of the things that we're going to be discussing. in this program with Marina. And it's just been so life-changing for me. And I just I really feel like over just this last week, something like shifted in my own timeline of what I'm meant to be doing and how I'm showing up and the people that I'm serving and connecting with. And again, like so much of it has come from working with my human design over the last seven years. I got started with this in 2019 and just It's something I just used for myself. And then whenever anyone would let me look up their birthday, I would pull their chart for them and just tell them what I saw. And finally being invited publicly to do this because of a simple TikTok post that I made. Like I just showed up on TikTok one day and started talking about, hi, hello, it's me again. I'm back on this platform. I live in Dayton, Ohio. I love pharmacy, functional medicine, psychedelics. Human design, tarot, astrology. I've been in a tarot and astrology mentorship over the past year because I realized that a lot of human design is actually based in the system of astrology. And I didn't have a good thorough grasp and understanding of those systems. And so now that I've added that piece, it all just makes even more sense. And now that I've done these readings for other people, I finally invested in the software that you use to look up these charts, which again. It's very mathematical. Like, there's a lot of calculations that go into this. and it's it's very precise in that way that like you really do have to have your exact birth time for this to be as accurate as possible. And just seeing how much deeper it even goes, it's it's so fascinating to me. And I just I love it. And there's ways you can apply it to your health, there's ways you can apply it to psychology. So I think it's a really natural fit with the PQ, which side note on PQ, Marina and I did the PQ coaching program together. I did not go on to become a certified coach. Like I decided that I I did the intro coaching program and I really enjoyed it. It was life changing for me, especially if you're someone who has been struggling with mental health. Or if you also are someone who's interested in plant medicines and learning how to work with your consciousness and how to quite literally navigate your consciousness in an altered state. Honestly, when you're in a feeling of anxiety or depression or overwhelm or anything like that, in a sense, you are in an altered state, whether you realize it or not. Your physiology is being Hijacked by all of the emotional chemicals that are circulating. And when you learn how to use PQ to step out of the mind and come back into the body, we do an exercise where you rub your fingertips together and you just feel the ridges of your fingertips. And as you're doing this and you're placing that focus and attention on a physical aspect of your body. It's going to quiet the saboteurs. It's going to quiet the noise in your head that is probably telling you horrible things. how often do we just have such negative self-talk about you're not good enough or you mess this up or you're never gonna get where you want to go? And all of these things. And that's exactly what this PQ Saboteur assessment does. It helps you identify what those voices are in your head that are trying to protect you. That was honestly the biggest unlock for me is once I understood that all of all of the negative voices, all of the voices, whether they're quiet or loud, they're actually all protectors, which kind of gets into IFS. If you're familiar with with that system, they're protectors. They're just trying to keep you safe. And so When you can become conscious of those thoughts and you can start to take that step back and say, thank you. Thank you, self, thank you, mind, thank you, body. I really appreciate that we are trying to stay safe and I've got this. We've got this. We're ready. We can move on. We can do this. We can be who we wanna be. We can go where we wanna go. you can really start to navigate your life and show up in relationships and at work and with your family in all of these different ways and just be so much more present and patient and positive. That's where the the positive intelligence piece comes into play is positive psychology and being able to use these other tools that Marina will get into you, especially if you do the full program, to learn how to shift your thinking and to be curious and Yeah, it's just it's amazing. So it all it all lines up again with everything that's in the program. And then you layer in the human design piece and learning how to trust your intuition or trust your gut or sleep on a decision or whatever your particular human design authority might be, it becomes even more personalized. So I'm just thrilled to be able to contribute and add that in. And again, The clinical track I think is really amazing for people to add. That's so generous that it's included with the embodiment highest tier. But even if you're joining in that alchemy tier, the middle one, adding the clinical track on is such a great value if you want to really dig into the science behind these beautiful herbs and teas that we're going to be working with all year long. So A little bit more about the actual tea ceremonies. Marina is gifting you guys a amazing tea set if you are joining the higher tiers. You wanna tell us a little bit about what that looks like too? speaker-0: Yep. So for the alchemy and embodiment here, I am including the seasonal teas from Magic Hour brands. If you've heard of them, it's absolutely amazing. She has so many wonderful blends, but she also has the elemental line, which really aligns with what I'm building. So there's the fire, there's water, there's air, there's earth. So I'm gonna give you the seasonal blend. For the season that you join. So right now we're still in fall and fire. So that's the one you're gonna be getting for the alchemy tier and the mod embodiment tier. And also for embodiment, if you pay in full, you're gonna get all four of them right away when you sign up in painful. speaker-1: Amazing. I am so excited. I've seen this brand of tea before and I've never actually purchased it myself. So I know Marina, how many students have you had go through your programs all in all? Do you have a rough estimate? speaker-0: probably a little under 50. I have to go through my records, but I have to say the way that I got started, even with the clinical training, was from a lot of the people that were looking for something like this and reaching out. And my first round, a few people found me through your community, the functional medicine Facebook group. So, you know, I really have to go back and Thank you for building that foundation, that community that we're looking for something and all roads kind of intertwined. And I birthed that first program. And now it's time for us to add in a new wing and a new way to experience the herbs, not just clinically, but experientially and learning through working with them on a deeper level. And I I do try to do that in the clinical track, but this is gonna focus on that. It's gonna focus on building the relationship with the plants and not just learning about them in theory. speaker-1: Yeah, amazing. So I know you've got more frequently asked questions available on the website, holisticbuttembodiment.com. Everything is recorded. So if you can't make it live, of course, everything will be there for you to watch afterwards. Workshops are mostly on Tuesday evenings. we talked about the CE credit, the monthly or yearly payment options. you don't have to have a clinical background for these. Entry level tiers, the initiation or alchemy. so I I want to make sure people hear that because, my own audience and and sphere of influence, I guess, of people who listen to this podcast, I think is shifting and evolving, which was my intention. Like I fully intended whenever I launched this podcast, the Lauren Castle Show, that it wasn't just the functional medicine pharmacy show. It's for anyone that I'm connected with because I think that, you know. There is so much more than just that relationship of being a pharmacist or being a functional max medicine practitioner, but being a human and being in this space with other people who are just beginning their journey or at different places in their journey, whether they're clinicians or not. I just I love that. And I'm gonna jump on another human design tangent. My incarnation cross is left angle cross of masks. And so oftentimes I feel like I have to show up as doctor. Lauren, right? And yes, all my social media handles are that. But I'm like underneath, the titles or the accolades or the professional degrees and all of these things, I'm like, it's just me. I'm Lauren. I'm just another human woman who is trying to navigate this earthly experience and happen to fall into this path of being a pharmacist and practicing functional medicine and exploring plant medicines and just I'm excited to be able to be in a room with people from all walks of life, right? I think that diversity of who will be in this program is incredible. I think that wraps up our kind of episode that we wanted to share today. The circle is open, your seat is waiting. There are founding member seats for the first 10 members. so you can lock in that pricing, which is even more important. Again, Marina is very graciously extending the pricing through 117, but you can also lock in that pricing. and so if you have questions, Marina is available to meet with you. You can also email her marina at waltroffwork.com. check out the website and join us. So the in the enrollment is open, right? You can join now and hopefully get in on that founding member rate. But even if you end up seeing this podcast episode after this deadline, you are still able to join. You can still go to the website. You can still join us because we're gonna be here for a whole year exploring all of these amazing themes. So I'm really excited. To be part of this and to be invited into this circle with you. speaker-0: Likewise, thank you so much for helping me share and spread the word about this and giving me some time on your platform. I'm so looking forward to welcoming in new members and joining each other and chaperoning each other and walking each other home, so to speak. So really excited and it would be my pleasure to serve you. speaker-1: Amazing. Thank you, and I hope that we see so many of you inside. Until next time. That's it for this episode of the Lauren Castle Show. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I hope you'll join us for the next one where you'll hear more stories from me and some of my amazing guests. Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast no matter where you watch or listen, and check out our website, dr laurencastle.com and fmpha.org. We'll see you next time.