My Ayahuasca Experience – Part Two: Night One With Grandmother

There’s a moment before every first ceremony when fear tightens, identity resists, and truth begins to breathe. Night One starts long before the cup touches your lips, on the plane, in the tension between who you’ve been and who you’re afraid to become. By the time the sun drops behind the Andes and your name is called in the maloca, you realize there is no turning back.

In this episode, I take you into that moment… the doorway between the known and the unraveling.

Grandmother met me instantly, no warm welcome, no gentle reunion. My confidence was my mistake, and she humbled me with a cosmic slap that dragged me into the gravity of the real work. What followed was a war in space that was really a war inside myself: fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of collapse, fear of not being able to protect the people I love.

And just when the darkness felt overwhelming, support arrived in the form of white light, my wife’s essence, reminding me that even in the deepest battles, I’m not alone.

Then came the purge… the clearing… the release. And what unfolded next were two funerals.
One for the fear that my daughter needed saving.
One for the fear that money could crumble my life at any moment.

Grandmother melted my illusions, literally, and showed me the quiet truth beneath survival:
Humans are here to love. Everything else is noise.

Night One left me humbled, emptied, and changed. I wasn’t done healing… but something irreversible had shifted.

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MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

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Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com0:00 - Intro1:20 - Part Two - The Deep Breath Before the Plunge

  4:36 - Night One - First Ceremony

  5:14 - The Dose - The amount you drink?

  6:45 - How long does it take to kick in

  7:09 - The night I met the one foot tall shaman guide.

  10:29 - What’s it like?

  12:43 - Grandmother

  16:13 - The Offer of Darkness? What should you do?

  18:15 - The Battle Ship War

  20:21 - My Intentions - The Fears I was ready to shed.

  23:56 - I am not in control

  24:52 - The Purge

  27:57 - The Next Realm - Waterworld - The First Funeral

  31:13 - The Next Realm - The Financial District - The Second Funeral

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Episode 1 of 4 Part Series — Dying to Know: My Ayahuasca Experience Into the Sacred Valley of Peru

This opening episode marks the true beginning of a five-part, raw, unfiltered account of my time working with plant medicine in the Sacred Valley of Peru at the Arkana Spiritual Center. Before any medicine was poured, before the visions or revelations, there was the quiet ache. The inner calling. The fear beneath the fear. The deep, restless sense that something in life still feels unfinished.

Most people don’t seek out Ayahuasca or Sapo because everything is perfect. They come because something inside them is dying to know, Who am I really? What is this life for? Did I miss something essential while trying to keep it all together? The paradox is that what we’re dying to know is not “out there” somewhere in a jungle or temple. It’s here, buried beneath layers of identity, protection, trauma, and roles that no longer serve us.

Plant medicine doesn’t teach you new information; it excavates. It dismantles the inner tyrant who insists life must be predictable and safe. It burns off outdated versions of the self so a truer knowing can rise. Ego death isn’t your death; it’s the death of everything blocking your access to truth.

But the real challenge isn’t the ceremony, it’s integration. You can’t pour awakened clarity back into the shape of an old life. Integration is about becoming the version of you that the medicine revealed and staying awake in a world designed to pull you back to sleep.

This is why I came back to Peru, not for novelty or visions, but for the soul's quality control. To shed another layer, to die another small death, to remember something ancient living inside me. Something I had forgotten.

This is the moment before the beginning.
Where running stops.
Where remembering starts.
Where the real journey begins.

For more information on the Arkana Spiritual Center: www.arkanainternational.com

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

3:43 - Dying To Know

5:17 - The Paradox of Plant Medicine

6:59 - Ego Death

7:52 - Integration - What comes after the experience?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s no secret and plain to see what the true cause of disease and most of all the problems we face today comes from Emotional Mismanagement. Our inability to control the only thing we actually have control over. Our response to the inconvenient obstacle course of challenges life throws at us..

Today, we’re talking about one of the most critical skills in emotional self-mastery: protecting your peace by recognizing the people who quietly drain it. These people and their patterns show up so subtly that we often don’t notice our energy leaking until we’re already exhausted, frustrated, and combative. In essence, we all work hard to maintain consistency and reach the flow state where things start going our way. These people seemingly show up with the intention of stealing that flow.

Therefore, I call them Flow Burglars, and I’ve identified five predictable archetypes, each of which disrupts your flow in its own way.

During today’s playtime, we are going to learn how to recognize, disarm, and outsmart them BEFORE they drain your energy and burglarize your flow.

Here are the 5 Archetypes:

1. Comfort Clinger, who uses your support to avoid growth
2. Ungrateful Goblin, who absorbs your kindness without a hint of appreciation
3. Validation Vampire, who appears to want guidance but really wants your agreement
4. Narrative Ninja, who manipulates through emotional storytelling
5. Hard-Headed Hurricane, who chooses chaos again and again and invites you into it.

Discernment protects your peace because it keeps you from stepping into roles you were never meant to play.

Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

0:00 - Intro

3:42 - The Flow Burglar

6:05 - My first encounter with a Flow Burglar

15:15 - What are they looking for?

18:02 - Repeat Offenders: Advanced forms of Flow Burglars

21:36 - The Final Truth

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This week, I want to explore something most people overlook: the paradox of friendship. I wrote a piece for a new podcast episode called “The Friendship Frequency” - The Paradox of Friendship: How Not Needing Friends Draws the Right Ones Closer

Reflecting on the previous conversation on “Validation,” I see a strong correlation between seeking and obtaining friends and the desire for validation. This can get sticky as we find ourselves seeking friends for the wrong reasons, which means getting tethered to the wrong people who not only don’t serve you and your goals and dreams, but also cause conflict and unnecessary distraction. I interviewed an extraordinary guest on my podcast named Chris Bailey who has a crazy viral TED Talk on this topic

We’re taught to find good friends, to look for connection, to build community. But what if the real secret to attracting the right friends isn’t about seeking at all? What if it begins with becoming comfortable walking alone, and realizing that we were never truly alone to start with?

Here’s the paradox: the less we need friendship to feel whole, the more we attract friends who are whole themselves.

The person who doesn’t cling, doesn’t perform, and doesn’t chase — becomes magnetic. It’s the same principle that applies in business and leadership: the individual who leads with calm confidence, who doesn’t exude desperation for clients or approval, naturally draws people in.

So today’s conversation isn’t about loneliness — it’s about wholeness. It’s about understanding how self-friendship becomes the signal that draws in the right people, and how those relationships enrich our lives when they’re built on resonance rather than need.

Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

0:00 - Intro

3:17 - The Paradox of Friendship

6:55 - Where are the Friendships that last born?

9:57 - The Juice is worth the squeeze with a good friendship

12:38 - The power of learning to walk alone.

15:15 - The Field of Consciousness

19:23 - Warning - The Flow Burglar

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Great morning, world—welcome back to Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick, where confusion dies and progress thrives.

Today, I’m joined by someone who has changed the way thousands of people think about motivation, achievement, and the stories we tell ourselves about success—Nic Voge.

Nic is a Senior Lecturer at Princeton University and one of the foremost voices on Self-Worth Theory, a framework first developed by Dr. Martin Covington. His work brings this theory to life, helping students, professionals, and leaders understand how the drive to protect our self-worth often hides beneath patterns like procrastination, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome.

You may know Nic from his viral TED Talk, where he reveals why high achievers often struggle the most—and how true confidence comes not from doing more, but from redefining where our sense of worth comes from.

This isn’t just a conversation about productivity—it’s about identity.
It’s about how we relate to failure, success, and the quiet belief that we are—or aren’t—enough.

So take a deep breath.
Because today, we’re going to make sense of the stories that shape our self-worth—with Nic Voge.

Contact Nic Voge - Website: https://vogeacademy.com - Insta: @vogeacademy - YouTube Viral Video: https://youtu.be/52lZmIafep4?si=NSg6LbXFmfRJQ6X5

Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

3:49 - Procrastination and Self-Worth Theory

9:12 - Self-Worth Theory Lens - How can we see things in people they can’t see?

12:36 - What is Self-Worth Theory - The Why behind our actions

20:16 - Strategic Self-Handicapping

27:38 - What are your thoughts on participation awards? Good or Bad?

35:08 - Imposter Syndrome

46:24 - My little Secret of overcoming Stage Fright.

48:35 - What’s Next For Nic Voge?

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In this episode, I explore the paradox of Artificial Intelligence, not as a hero or a villain, but as a mirror. What’s really rising or falling isn’t AI itself—it’s us, the humans holding the prompt. Together, GPT-5 and I unpack how this technology can awaken creativity or quietly erode it, depending on how consciously we engage with it. Make Sense?

What you’re about to hear is not just a conversation between man and machine. It’s a collaboration between awareness and automation, a real-time experiment in creation itself.
Because here’s the question that keeps me up at night: What happens when the tools we built to extend human intelligence start to replace the act of thinking itself?

This episode isn’t about whether AI is good or bad. It’s about whether we, as humans, will rise with it—or fall asleep beneath it.

So, take a breath.

Let’s make sense… of the Rise and Fall of AI.

Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

0:00 - Intro

4:15 - In this episode, we will….

8:37 - Opening Remarks from ChatGPT

16:44 - The Rise Of AI

22:21 - AI as a Luxury to Necessity

25:32 - Collaboration

27:35 - The Fall of Ai?

31:48 - The Learning Dilemma

37:03 - The Future Role of Humans?

40:12 - The Final Verdict from Chat GPT

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another One From The Vault episode of the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Podcast — where we revisit timeless insights from the original Rise Up With Dragon series. In this powerful throwback, Dragon explores the subtle yet life-changing difference between wanting something and having it. You’ll dive into the mechanics of motivation, belief, and urgency — and discover how most people stay stuck in the wanting phase because they never fully align their identity and actions with the state of having. This short, punchy session is the perfect mental recalibration to help you close the gap between desire and reality — and step into the mindset of already having what you seek.

Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:

► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com

► Instagram: / drjcdoornick

►Facebook: / makessensepodcast

►YouTube: / drjcdoornick

MAKES SENSE PODCAST

Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast.

SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.

FOLLOW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button on the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec

Podcast Affiliates:

Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon

OUR SPONSORS:

• Makes Sense Academy: A private mastermind and psychologically safe environment full of the Mindset and Action steps that will help you begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about
• The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another, yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level. Relax, reestablish, and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.