Ep. 151 (Part 1 of 2) | Life coach, recovery coach, and plant medicine ceremonialist Ron Interpreter has created a multidimensional, whole person healing modality that integrates Navajo spiritual teachings and traditions with Ken Wilber’s Integral Model and Integral spirituality. Humanity is shifting, Ron explains, and is now looking to the teachings of the ancestors and Indigenous practices that can bring a sense of authenticity, purpose, and meaning to our lives. Native spirituality teaches us how we can relate to the elements of earth, fire, water and air in terms of remedies and medicines, and also in terms of beliefs and emotional connections. Plant medicine and other mind-altering ceremonies provide us with the means to get beyond the psychological limitations we put on ourselves, attain higher states of consciousness, and receive answers to our deepest questions.
With a calm, articulate fervency, Ron shares the ancestral wisdom he teaches to people in recovery or who are suffering from trauma, including special ops forces and veterans: the Native concepts of taking responsibility, being accountable, forging a relationship with God or Spirit, and living from a profound understanding of what it means to be a human being. “We are in the creation of self—how do we practice ourselves?” Ron asks. The Indigenous teachings that Ron brings forward provide a deep sense of grounding in Nature and Spirit, as we come to a better understanding of our place in the universe and the practices that can open us up to living in a sacred way, in connection with divine being. Recorded August 1, 2024.
“What life am I practicing? Am I understanding who I am?”
(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1
- Introducing business consultant, integral life coach, recovery coach, and co-founder of the Sanctuary of Consciousness, Ron Interpreter of the Navajo tribe (00:59)
- How Ron came to work in recovery as well as teach wellness, yoga & personal development (02:59)
- Growing up on the Navajo Nation learning about our spiritual relationship with the universe, how to cultivate meaning & purpose, and using peyote medicine as a sacrament (08:11)
- On to architecture, consulting, wellness, and life coaching (10:01)
- Enter Integral Theory, which covered all the fundamental bases of Native traditions and philosophies (11:46)
- From integral coaching to recovery coaching, discovering John’s book Integral Recovery & Ken Wilber’s Integral Spirituality (13:38)
- In the ancestral teachings of the Navajo Way, the peyote way, and the Presbyterian Church, the voice of God is all the same (18:21)
- How humanity is starting to look to Indigenous people to understand relating to elementals, cultivating community & authenticity, and finding the meaning of life in psychedelic experiences (20:10)
- John’s experience of Native American spirituality, the mystical spirituality of AA, awakening to Integral, and writing Integral Recovery (23:08)
- Everything in life is really up to you (28:23)
- Ancestral 4-quadrant teachings: the mystical & spiritual; the human experience; what are the practices; where is community in this? (29:31)
- Integral medicine—the whole person approach (31:22)
- Integral’s process: wake up, grow up, clean up, show up (33:28)
- Spirituality is a practice of self (37:20)
- Cultivating skills to become self-sustainable and free of medications (39:11)
- Taking responsibility, growing beyond victimhood (41:10)
- The technique of reframing (49:38)
Resources & References – Part 1
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Ron Interpreter is a member of the Navajo Nation, with indigenous relations to the Apache and Yaqui Nations. As an Integral Certified Life Coach, Yoga YTT 200 HR Instructor, and Plant-Medicine Ceremonialist, Ron is motivated by an individual’s commitment of deepening their personal health and spiritual wellbeing. Ron facilitates a healing modality he calls “Beeh Ji Zhoni – Beauty Within,” an integrative practice incorporating Integral Theory and Navajo Principles of wellness to create a divine state of being; in which One’s alignment of consciousness and spirituality is attained by setting positive intentions, practicing self love, and initiating self discipline to create an abundant and healthy lifestyle.
In his professional endeavors, Ron has expanded the Integral Theory framework into his Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery practices by utilizing the Integral Recovery Model to help individuals overcome substance abuse disease. Furthermore, as a co-founder of the church Sanctuary of Consciousness, whose ministry is to elevate consciousness throughout the planet, Ron integrates the Integral Spirituality Model—an approach to cultivating higher states of consciousness in the development of psychodynamic psychology, stimulating enlightenment experiences to cultivate sound life practices to heal the mind/body/soul connection. More about Ron here: The Psylogia Institute and Sanctuary Of Consciousness.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
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