Jul 8, 2020
Host Kash Khan interviews ethnobotanist Stephen Brooks, the co-founder and co-producer of the annual Envision Festival in Costa Rica. He’s also founder of Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design and Botanical Studies. He has started several ecological communities in Costa Rica and is launching the Ecoversity.
In this podcast, Stephen talks about the influence the design of his childhood neighborhood had on him at a young age, the importance of permaculture on his life's work, and the ecological neighborhoods he is creating in Costa Rica.
The Educate Inspire Change Takeaway:
“How can we be able to sleep at night knowing that we’re supporting industries that are so destructive and sad?”
“Permaculture really is the empowerment and the confidence and the toolkit to realize wait a minute, we have a say. We can do things differently. We can become resilient.”
2:40: Stephen talks about his childhood and how the physical design of his neighborhood fostered community.
4:30: Stephen shares the memory of the first time he visited Costa Rica and witnessing a playground full of indegenous children get sprayed by Chiquita Banana crop duster, and how this experience “jolted” him awake on an environmental and social level.
12:28: Stephen says that Punta Mona taught the first permaculture classes in Costa Rica and expands on the meaning of the word, and that it’s not an agricultural system but an ecological design philosophy.
16:20: Kash asks Stephen if he sees what he is doing happening anywhere else in the world, and Stephen shares an “epic story” that a friend told him that gives him faith that this is happening all over.
19:50: Stephen describes his experience with psychedelics and how they have helped him grow and engage with the world around him, and his worry that people can overuse psychedelics before processing their experiences.
25:40: Stephen explains the ecological neighborhoods he has been building in Costa Rica and his efforts to merge agriculture, education, community design, and events into 1,000 hectares of space at a time through radically reforesting and regenerating the land.
33:31: Stephen talks about the importance of training people to recreate communities and break free from current societal structures, and how permaculture teaches us to become intentional and efficient, which helps individuals redesign aspects of reality.
List of Resources
-https://www.puntamona.org - Punta Mona
-https://www.ecoversity.org - Ecoversity
-https://www.envisionfestival.com - Envision Festival
-https://maps.org - Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
-https://www.instagram.com/puntamona/
- Punta Mona Instagram
-https://www.instagram.com/envisionfestival/
- Envision Festival Instagram
-https://www.instagram.com/alegriavillage/
- Alegria Village Instagram
Guest Contact Info
-https://www.facebook.com/Puntamona - Facebook
-https://www.instagram.com/stephenrbrooks/?hl=en
- Instagram
Sponsors:
EcoLife Supplements
This podcast is proudly supported by EcoLife Supplements, Rythmia Life Advancement Center and our very own Psychedelic Documentary series PANTERA
Whilst in Costa Rica last year I came across a guy by the name of Anthony Walsh who handed me a bottle of hemp extract CBD oil and after just taking a few drops I was sold. I immediately felt more relaxed and less stressed. I found the quality of my sleep improved and it even helped me with my meditation practices.
The reason this product stands out for me was Anthony himself is passionate about healing the world one person at a time and has personally invested thousands of hours researching CBD and cannabinoids in order to fully understand it and to help guide others to receive the maximum benefits.
Please visit https://ecolifesupplements.com/blog to learn more and make sure you get a 10% discount by using the coupon code inspirechange. Currently delivering in the USA only.
Rythmia Life Advancement Center
Rythmia Life Advancement Center is one of our first podcast sponsors and is a special place for me. It’s where I experienced my first deep healing plant medicine journey which sent me on a road of self discovery that ultimately led to the creation of my podcast.
If you’d like to find out more please visit them at www.rythmia.link/khan or give them a call on +1 (877) 835-1806 quoting EIC to receive a free shuttle worth $300 off your trip
Pantera
For the last year and a half, I've been working on a psychedelic documentary series called Pantera where I travel around South America visiting plant medicine retreats and documenting my transformational journeys. The first episode ‘ Our Ayahuasca Journey Begins’ is due to be released in the coming weeks. If you would like to keep up to date with what we're doing and receive the latest updates and releases please register your email at www.pantera.film
Thank you! - Kash Khan , EIC Founder