Ep. 18 - East Forest: Creativity, Technology, and the Soul

East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, producer, teacher, and sound ceremonialist. He’s especially known for his beautiful, longform tracks for journeys and ceremonies with psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, and generally for music that invites introspection into the deepest parts of us.  East Forest, also known as Krishna, weaves together nature, music, technology, and elements of this wild human experience we’re having. He is the co-founder of JourneySpace.com.

 His catalog includes a full-length album with the spiritual pioneer Ram Dass, psychedelic therapy soundtracks Music For Mushrooms and IN, and collaborations with artists Jon Hopkins, Typhoon, Laraaji, Dead Prez, Trevor Hall, and more.  As a trailblazer in the global wellness movement, he has guided students through a brain-body approach aimed towards non-religious spirituality, teaching at Esalen Institute, in addition to working with Field Trip, Wavepaths, Imperial College London, UCSF, Yale Psychedelic Science Group, Google, Johns Hopkins neuroaesthetics project, Consciousness Hacking, TED, and more.

In this conversation, we covered:

• What he was like as a kid, and why he walked out of first grade
• The beginnings of his spiritual journey, and the influence of his yogi grandmother
• The heart-opening of psychedelics
• Choosing to see everything (or nothing) as a miracle
• Accepting our parents as human, and also as great spiritual beings
• Giving up the desire to change others, and leading by example instead
• The energy of love and presence -- but also the importance of Action and Service
• Dark thoughts and depression, and his collaboration album with Ram Dass; 
• The role of the Guru in the internet age
• Curating the information we choose to take in every day
• How iPhones have changed the world, forever
• How music can generate emotional responses
• Everyone is an artist -- showing up for our creative work every day
• Staying open to the full range of human emotion and experience, and trusting that we won't break
• Building our daily toolkit and tending to our garden
• Overcoming resistance in the creative process
• Accountability and community
• Psychedelics and Legalization
• and why you should question everything!

To learn more about his work and/or find tickets to his November 2022 tour, go to EastForest.org.  

Resources:

• Instagram: @eastforest @itsarynlove @lovespacepodcast
• Ten Laws with East Forest Podcast (listen on apple) (listen on spotify)
• Dark Thoughts (song by East Forest & Ram Dass)
• Music for Mushrooms (album by East Forest) 
• Sit Around the Fire (song by East Forest, Jon Hopkins, Ram Dass) 
• The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity  (book by Julia Cameron)
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (book by Steven Pressfield)
• Journey Space online platform for musical guidance and psychedelic resources

If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a review and subscribe to the show--thank you for sharing the love.  x