Mind Body Mushroom
Alex West spent twenty years as a United States Navy SEAL, completed fifteen combat deployments, and served over a decade at DEVGRU — including the night they took out Bin Laden. He carried all of it home. In this episode, Alex opens up about the real cost of that life, his reckoning with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, and the integrated healing journey that led him through EMDR, ibogaine, and plant medicine — and eventually to founding One More Wave, a San Diego nonprofit using adaptive surfing to bring veterans back from the edge. A raw, honest conversation about war, healing, and what it looks like to rebuild yourself from the inside out. (0:00) Introduction and overview of Alex West (2:44) Sponsor: One NC Coffee (3:32) Motivation to join the SEAL teams (5:18) Early military career and BUDS training (6:37) Deployment experiences and impact of 9/11 (9:19) Early operations in Afghanistan (11:06) Changing American attitudes toward war (14:15) Transition to DevGroup and first impressions (18:52) DevGroup training and selection (25:54) Transition to Red Squadron (26:34) First Red Squadron deployment (28:00) Introduction to Omega teams and mission (30:11) Challenges working with Omega teams (31:48) The grind of continuous deployments (33:18) Balancing ops tempo with R&D (36:20) Transition to less glamorous military roles (36:45) Reflections and preparation for UBL mission (39:18) Theories on UBL's evasion and intelligence (41:29) Detailed account of the UBL mission (58:08) Transition to post-mission life and mental health (1:01:03) Founding of One More Wave (1:04:17) Impact of adaptive surfing (1:05:18) TBIs, PTSD, depression, and moral injury (1:08:10) Culture of drinking in the military (1:09:02) Importance of seeking help and community (1:10:00) Changes in military culture (1:11:30) EMDR and trauma therapy (1:14:02) Combining modern and ancient healing practices (1:15:47) EMDR for depression and addiction (1:17:02) Somatic therapy and trauma (1:19:08) Ibogaine treatment and personal experience (1:22:24) Political advocacy for Ibogaine (1:29:26) Future plans and personal well-being (1:30:53) Lifelong pursuit of wellness (1:33:37) Thanking Alex West
40 episodios
Comentarios
0Sé la primera persona en comentar
¡Regístrate ahora y únete a la comunidad de Mind Body Mushroom!