LEAVING NIGHTLIFE, MOVING TO COSTA RICA & DMT EXPERIENCES W/ ZARK FATAH

Foreign.

Welcome back to the MBH podcast, Money Buys Happiness. We got a very interesting guest here today. Zark. What's going on, man? How are you?

I'm doing well, man. Thanks for having me, guys. Pleasure to be here.

Pleasure to meet you. It's my first time meeting you, but I've heard a lot about you, seen what you've been doing online. Very impressive stuff. So before we go into all this crazy stuff, maybe for anyone who doesn't know you, an intro on yourself, what.

You do, all the fun stuff. Originally from Toronto, Canada and you know, serial entrepreneur, high school dropout, turned, you know, club guy at a young age. Over 15 years, opened 12 companies, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, music festival, hair salon, health supplements. You know, some might know, like blowfish. I had for 15 years, Maison Mercer for 10 years, Century Room, which became Everly. You know, those are probably more of our well known spots.

Yeah.

So very immersed in nightlife and entertainment for 25 years and had a great run with that. You know, Ralph and I, we, I'd say we made our mark in the Toronto night back in the day and made a big pivot in my life. Turning 40 was a, a milestone for me where I just kind of took a step back and asked, you know, am I really happy? Am I truly living, you know, my best life, let's say. And that's what really kicked off my personal development journey.

I was watching the video on your website too. I mean, I think it's like a three, four minute clip and it's kind of just recapping, I guess, since 2014, what you've kind of been through.

Right.

So I want to talk a little bit about that, that moment where you turned 40 and what exactly was going on through your head. Because I feel we're so go, go, go. Especially in nightlife, right? Especially in hospitality. You're always, and it might seem like sometimes you don't even get a chance to just sit down and say, am I happy right now? Like right now?

Yeah. Yeah. So for me, you know, turning 40, I took a step back and saw that all my closest friends with married kids, you know, that companies, they were growing businesses that they loved, you know, financially abundant, things were, you know, going really well for them. And I took a look at my life and even though on the surface, you know, I'm driving a fancy car, dating beautiful women, traveling to luxurious places, you know, on the surface, my Instagram life looked, yeah, 12 out of 10 like those people's. Right? Yeah, yeah. Inside I was, I was feeling lonely, you Know, I always thought I'd be married with kids by 40, and that wasn't the case. Yeah, I didn't love what I was doing anymore. You know, the restaurants and clubs. I just felt like, you know, my time had come, but I was kind of locked into it because I. I was in debt. You know, I was hundreds of thousand dollars in debt. So for me, it was just like, okay, I do some things really well, and I'm really screwing some things up. So what's out of balance here and what needs to shift? And for me, it was just that moment of realization that, you know, if. If I want to reach the goals that I want for my life by 50, some things need to change. Because I could have swore a couple of months ago I was 32, and here I'm 40. It's like, whoa, this is going to go by real quick.

Yeah.

And I'm 47 now, you know, so that was really the moment where I said, okay, something's got to change. I didn't know what that change was going to look like. But thankfully, I was introduced to the world of personal development, and that was really the catalyst that put me on this path to have me look at a life in a different way, where I was like, okay, now I understand how being bullied and picked on and dealing with racism created that insecurity in me that I needed to grow up to be admired and be liked. Yeah, let's open lots of restaurants. Yeah, exactly. You know, and that's. That's. That's usually the driving force behind most successful people. Yeah, especially with men. You know, we experience something at a young age that creates a belief in us that has us think that we need to be wealthy and popular, admired in order to be more of a man. Right. So, yeah, that's. That's kind of what put me on that path. And lots to share about that.

So that was the turning moment. And from what I know, you moved to Costa Rica, right? What did that happen? Like, very shortly after. Did it take some time to kind of exit the industry? Because as you said, you were kind of, I don't want to say trapped, but even people I know in nightlife, they feel trapped sometimes because, you know, it's just consistent money. But then you're worried about the next week, then the next week, and you.

Want to start something, and ego and the identity and all that. So for me, you know, I have been in nightlife for 25 years. You know, I dropped out of high school at 17, started working at nightlife at 18. So for me, it was really all I knew. So as I was going through my own transformational journey, I knew that nightlife and restaurants aren't really aligned with the life I want to live. I asked myself, well, what the hell am I going to do now? You know, I've been doing this for so long. What else am I good at? You know, I had to take a look at, well, what do I value most in life, you know, and the life that I want to create? What do I need to let go of to have that life and how bad do I want it? And I started to explore what could I possibly do using the skill set that I developed through 25 years of nightlife. And for me, I was very open with my story, which is something I never used to be. I used to be very closed off again, always projecting that Instagram life. You know, I didn't want people to know I was in debt. I didn't want people to know I didn't love being at my club or restaurant.

Yeah.

But in sharing my story, other people like, yeah, man, you know what? Me too. Yeah. I'm not happy and I'm, I'm feeling empty. And some of the people are reaching out. They're on TV, they're CEOs of big companies and they're reaching out, being like, man, I really admire your vulnerability and thank you for sharing that because I'm feeling the same thing. So I thought, wait, you know, my story is resonating with people and over the last, you know, four or five years, I've learned from so many brilliant coaches and retreats and coaches and forums and summits and all this amazing content. I thought, you know, how could I share this knowledge with people in a way that would maybe help them along their journey? So loving, you know, to travel, loving good food and hot destinations and learning and like minded people. I thought, you know, it'd be really cool to maybe start up a travel company focusing on wellness and personal development. So that's what led me to Costa Rica. So I decided I want to start hosting retreats. You know, and the funny thing is, is putting together a retreat is the same as putting together a party. Yeah.

Yeah.

Instead of booking a venue, I'm booking a villa. Yeah. Instead of booking a dj, I'm booking a chef.

Yeah.

Instead of booking talent performers, I'm hiring meditation coaches and yoga instructors. I love curating experiences. You know, the thing I love most about hospitality is you're trusting me with your time and your money and I'm going to Create something that's gonna emotionally, physically, energetically, spiritually, mentally impact you.

Yeah.

And that's what I get to do with my retreats. Yeah. So Costa Rica was just a no brainer.

Yeah.

Close to Canada. Pura vida. Energy. Yes.

I say the energy. There is a point.

Yeah, yeah. You know, this is just a happy vibe there. You know, Costa Rica does half the work on its own. You land and you just feel this.

Wow.

I feel good.

Yeah.

You know, and then eating fresh mangoes, you're in the Pacific Ocean and it's. It's just like a collective consciousness in the town I live in, Nosara, that is tangible. You feel it, you know, So I started hosting retreats and right after my first. It was actually on my first retreat that I decided to close Blowfish.

Yeah.

It was about day six on the retreat and I saw how happy my people were and laughing, sharing and crying and just, I was like, you know what? This is what I want to do.

Yeah, this is.

I felt an energy and passion that had been dormant for a while. And when I felt that, I was like, nah, this is. This is it. So in that moment, I pulled out my phone, emailed my partner, I said, I'm done. That's it. We had just closed down Blowfish to begin renovations, had a new name, new concept, new investors, new lease. Like, we were going all in and we had closed to start consensus construction and we never reopened. That was it. I came back, I sold Blowfish to some friends and just went all in on the.

It's not regulars, right.

I was gonna say, what, what was that like? Like, what if. What was that feeling just to be like, hey, like, sending that email like.

Your baby's at the same time, you.

Know, my first, first business, you know, and something I was very proud of, you know, talking about the ego and identity of it all. Right. Like, people who are feeling trapped in my head, I was like, ah, but you know, I'm owed a million dollars and Blowfish is like my, my pride and joy and people are gonna think I'm a failure. I'll never be able to open another place in Toronto again. And, you know, all these things going through my head. And I remember I was in Miami a few months later and I met this woman and she's like, oh, yeah, I used to live in Toronto. I'm like, oh, cool. You know Blowfish. You're like, oh, my God, I love blowfish. Me and my husband went there for our first dinner. I'm like, oh, cool. Yeah, I used to own Blowfish. And I was like, I used to own blowfish.

Yeah.

I used to. Oh, my God. I used to own blowfish. I don't own blowfish anymore. And I was talking about it like I was speaking about a loved one who had passed away.

Yeah.

And I spent one third of my life in that building, you know, so for me, blowfish was like my calling card, you know, and now it's gone. So I think where a lot of people, entrepreneurs, business owners get stuck, or even people who've had, you know, very, you know, well respected careers, of course, when you leave that job, who are you? Yeah.

Because you're emotionally invested, right?

Not just that, but that's your power, that's your clout. That's your identity.

It's like a label almost. Yeah.

So when you lose that, then who are you? And that's where I think Covid has really messed a lot of people up. Like, people are not able to, like, let's say their car defines them or their house defines them or their wealth defines them, and then that's irrelevant. Well, now who are you? And a lot of people during this time are having to ask that question, who am I? What am I really about? What do I want to be about? And that's why, you know, I think during this time, there's been profound growth and let's say we call it awakening. And then there's also people who spiral downwards in a bad way because they've realized, I don't know who I am, I don't know what I want. I don't love my wife or I don't love my husband. And they, rather than doing the inner work, they hit the bottle or they hit the drugs or whatever.

We've been preaching that this whole time that Covid has done that, it's gone two ways. People have got, like, awaken like crazy or like you said, completely spiral the other way.

But it does come from the attachment of. Of what you do, you know, and you're attaching yourself to your role. You're attaching yourself to your company. And we always say this too, right? Like, you could be someone that's. That's saying for 10 years straight, hey, I'm the. I'm the lead marketer at Coca Cola. I'm the lead market. And then what happens that day that they fire you?

Yeah.

And then what are you. Right, So I. I agree. I think that there. Everyone had that space when the pandemic hit to. To think. And it could have went south, it could have went north. Right. And I think even we had something similar where we were in Night Live too. Like, we were in nightlife in deep. Like, very, very in deep, man. Like, we were some of the best promoters in the city at the time, I believe. And we were known for that. And we're just like, okay, like we're starting an agency now, but you know how it is.

Yeah.

What are you doing with this office? You're a promoter. And we're just like, like, nah. Yeah, they don't believe us yet.

They don't believe us.

Yeah, we got to keep going. Right? But that actually enabled us to think outside the box, put ourselves in their shoes and say, why do I think of Ernesto or Anthony this way? Right. And we did some shrooms too, in January before we did well. But that, that was like packed with intention.

I swear, like, so much attention.

That was a huge, for myself, huge awakening for myself just to kind of humble myself for sure and just realize what's really going on around you day to day. Right. And that, that helped me a lot. But I agree, man, I think the pandemic has helped a lot of people and has unfortunately enabled some people to go downhill into a spiral. Right, but that's where people like you are here to help, correct?

Absolutely.

I'm actually curious to know a little bit more actually about the experiences that you offer. I'm curious, maybe walk me through what one would look like.

Yeah. So like any entrepreneur, you eat in a restaurant and you think, oh, how would I run this restaurant my way?

Yeah.

So having been on several retreats, I always thought, you know, what, what would I do different? And the retreats are essentially the embodiment of what I enjoy most on a personal level, which is I love adventure, I love trying new things, I love fast cars, I love, you know, pushing my boundaries and just stepping beyond what I think is possible. Yeah, I like personal development, you know, learning new perspectives, you know, going beyond our own limiting beliefs, meeting like minded people. Community is so, so important. You know, that was really, really impactful for me in going through this changes. Being with like minded people who have already been through this journey and they're on the other side. And then meditation, breathwork, journaling, yoga, things like that were all very instrumental in my transformation. So essentially I took the things that I loved on a personal level and the things, the tools, modalities that were most helpful for me during my transformation and I incorporated that into the week long experience. So what a few days on my retreat would look like is, you know, we start off with a Morning meditation with some yoga, go right into breakfast. After that, we have a couple hours of workshops and break for lunch, some more workshops, then an afternoon activity. Whether we go surfing, zip lining, cliff diving, and then come back, chill at the beach, watch sunset, have dinner, sit outside, recap the day, talk about what's coming up, have everybody share their different experiences and just allow it to be those different elements of wellness, adventure, personal development, and connection. So, you know, there's some retreats you go on, and it's yoga every day, three times a day, or personal development workshops where you're literally in a room for six hours a day just listening and taking notes. And my retreats are really a great introduction to personal development in a beautiful location like Tofino or Costa Rica or Bali. And you're with 12 people. I keep them tight because I like that intimacy. And the food's always great. You. You know, it's. It's very curated and personal. So it's. Yeah, it's. It's a fun way to learn, connect, and. And you feel safe. You feel like I can. I can show up and be open. Because often the people on retreats, they don't know each other. So it's like, I can tell you.

I was gonna ask you that.

Yeah. I can tell you the stuff that I don't tell my best friend or my partner because you don't know me. You have no contact to judge me. And. And when you have that type of freedom to just be expressed and not have to worry about that judgment, it's. It's profound. Yeah.

And do you find, like, the. Is there. Is there a certain age group that usually, like, you'll usually get people from a certain age group or, you know, it's.

It's been very diverse. I've had people as young as 23 or 24 and had people as old as, like late 50s come typically, though, the sweet spots, kind of like mid-30s to. I'd say, late 40s, you know, people who have kind of already been through their career or they've reached some level of success in their career or business, and they're now contemplating their happiness. They're looking for fulfillment. Most of the people who come on my retreats are people who are in transition and they're looking to kind of evolve that next version of themselves. And they don't know how to do steps.

Yeah, the steps. And. And would you say a lot of people come back, like, as repeat? Like, repeat? I'll say, yeah.

Maybe they implement what you've taught them.

To and yeah, no, I've had people who have come on several trips. For sure.

Cool.

Yeah. Obviously Covid has thrown a real wrench into all of that. For sure. Most of my clients have said, for sure. When you're doing retreats again, I'm coming. And I think the retreat business and wellness travel is going to explode, you know, in the very near future. Just because during this time people, you know, realizing that they, they are hungry for that experience and inner development and they don't want to go back to the all inclusives or they don't want to go to, you know.

Yeah.

Cancun or Miami or wherever and have that typical trip. You know, they want to, they want to invest into themselves and they want to commit to something where they come back.

Yes.

A better version of themselves.

We've even, we've traveled a few times during the pandemic tulum. Twice.

Miami.

Miami. And that was huge. Leaving this city and seeing what like, is going on elsewhere.

Yeah, right.

And how things are, are being treated and looked at in other places. I think that's what a lot of people are hungry for.

For sure.

They're being like, holy, I'm stuck in this city where it's so like down. Like you come here, like you're saying Costa Rica, you come off the plane, you're like, oh my God, I feel great.

Yeah, you come off the plane here.

Even, I think even still now, you come off the plane here and you're like, this place is like dark and gloomy. The energy is off.

That's how we left to begin with. We're like, yo, we need a change of scenery just to stay motivated, you know, and, and we had to thank God. But Costa Rica is next for sure.

We'll be talking about going there, come down, visit.

Also. We, we spoke about this a bit off, off camera, but you're treating a lot of men right now. You're coaching a lot of men, right?

Yeah. So when, when Covid hit, I was already in training to become a professional certified coach. And when I knew, okay, I'm going to have to put my retreats on hold for a little while, I made the pivot to one to one coaching. And for the last year and a half coached dozens of people, both men and women. And it was about three months ago that I made the choice to only coach men. And reason being is there are a lot of options for women and women tend to be more expressive, women tend to be more emotionally available and willing to ask for support, whereas men, especially high performing men, you Know, whether it be founders, CEOs, executives, they tend to be more closed off. They don't feel necessarily comfortable or secure sharing their shit. And the fact that I'm a serial entrepreneur, I've had great success in my industries. I've gone through my own personal transformation. They can relate to me in the sense that the professional success, they know what it feels like to have 300 plus employees doing millions in sales a year. And they also see that I walked away from something very successful and a large operation to pursue something that was more fulfilling, to live a life that's more true to who I am. And I've gone through that process. So I'm on the other side of that journey that they may be considering for themselves.

Yeah.

So they have that trust with you already.

There's a credibility, the trust. And I speak their language.

Yeah.

Yeah, you get it. Yeah, you get it. That's, that's very interesting. What I, what I was curious about was you kind of said, you kind of said something like, or. Sorry, first thing is when you made the decision to start only coaching men, did you get any backlash for that? Like, was there?

No. Well, a few of the women that I was coaching, they said, you know what, that's a great idea. Cool. Good for you. Because they know that, like most of the women I coach, they actually want their husbands to coach with me.

Yeah.

But they say, you know, this would be so good for my husband, but he's just not open to this.

Yeah.

So, like, I can be very straight up with men. I'll call them on their shit. You know, I can, like, I can be with them and understand them, but also, you know, lay the smack down when necessary.

Which they need. Yeah.

And the thing is. Yeah. Especially powerful, successful, wealthy men, they need that. Because who keeps them in line.

Of course.

Right. So that's a role that I step into and I hold it for them. And my female clients, they, they support that. They've actually referred people to me and they understand that it's, it's very needed because men 45 plus are one of the highest demographics for suicide.

Suicide. Yeah.

You know, and again, a lot of these high level, powerful men, they feel alone, they feel isolated. Especially times like this, dealing with extreme pressure. Yeah. You know, and, and then there are also the men who just know, like, you know what? I'm not living my life to the fullest potential and I want to level up, you know, like our friend Matt that we were talking about, you know, he's doing great right now, but he knows like, you know what, there's, there's more here for me to experience something else beyond this. Yeah. So people don't always have to work with a coach when, you know, their world is imploding. It could also be just like, you know, you can go from good to great.

Yeah.

And you want that support.

Yeah. And as a coach, like, what does that look like for you now? Like, is, is that day to day communication with somebody? Is it weekly? Like, what does that look like if someone's working with you on that level?

Sure. So, you know, I. Coaching engagement or, you know, agreements with my different clients. Some, you know, I speak to a couple times a week. Some it's call or meeting in person when possible and then whatsup messages. And yeah, it definitely, it varies based on how committed they are. Yeah. So it's really customized. It's very curated because, you know, each of these different individuals, they have their own set of goals and their timeline as to when they want to achieve. Achieve those goals. So, yeah, it's cool.

I feel, and I really like this industry and what I like about it is I feel like the coaching world is. It's sort of a newer thing, let's say A lot of people would be. A lot of people are hesitant, I think, to like be coached by somebody because there's like that old stigma of like, oh, like, let's say you go to like a therapist, for example.

Yeah, it's very like, what's wrong with you?

You know what I mean?

What's wrong with you? So, like, so judgmental. What not. So have you had anybody come and be like, hey, like, why the am I talking to this guy? Like, who are you? Where are your credentials? Type of thing.

Yeah, that experience. So usually that happens when maybe a wife tries to refer her partner or something like that. But typically it's people reach out to me when they're ready. You know, I have some guys and women who've been following me for years and then, you know, out of blue, I'll get a message and be like, you know that last video you put out, like, I feel like you were talking to me and I don't want to be this way anymore and I'd love to work with you. So, you know, a lot of it just comes from people in my network who reach out and they just, they're ready for a change. And then a lot of the referrals come through my clients, existing clients, who people would be like, yo, you seem different. What's going on? Yeah, I've been Doing the work. Okay. And then it comes through like that. But, you know, you got to be ready to do the work.

Yeah.

Because it's a roller coaster and it's intense and you really got to be ready to go through the grinder because you got to go through the. Before you get to the good stuff. And it's really like peeling back the layers, you know? There's a quote by Eckhart Tolle I love, and he says that we spend half our life trying to become someone and the other half trying to get back to who we once were.

Yeah.

So, you know, we're born of pure light and love, you know, like. Like a little child, like a little puppy running around. Just pure joy, pure love. We know the truth, you know, we know, like, all we know is love. And then parents, influence, school, peer pressure, teenage friends, social media, society. Layers, layers, layers, layers. Layers get put on top of us till we forget who we are. And then one day we wake up and we don't even like who we are anymore. We're confused about who we are. We don't want to be that version of who we are in that moment.

Yeah.

And it's like, okay, well, now. Now what do I do? Yeah, now where do I go? And the work we do is let's peel back the layers. Let's see the shit that's under those layers. Let's work and process that shit. Because often, especially men, things happen to us. We don't allow ourselves to feel it. You can't feel it, you can't heal it, you can't process it. So we bury it. We suppress it down. We push down and push down, push down until we can't push down anymore and implode then. Yeah, and eventually it's going to implode. Right. And that could show up as cancer. Brain tumor shows up as physical ailments, you know, like, every experience we have creates an emotion. Every emotion has a vibrational frequency. If you have had experience that caused you to feel guilt, shame, anger, resentment, hate, those are all low vibrational emotions. Those low vibration motions have a frequency that stays in your energy body. And if that energy body does not get clear, if you've got pockets of electromagnetic energy that are of a low frequency, ultimately that turns into disease and illness. So if you're familiar with the aura, you know, our vibrational frequency, you know, we're all energy. That's all we are. We are just balls of energy floating around in these shapes. Right. And when you do the deep work and you process a thing that happened to you when you were five years old, and you go back as an adult, and you revisit that time that your cousin did that to you, and you realize, man, he didn't mean it. He was just playing. But when it happened to you at five, it was disaster. Oh, my God, I can't trust people anymore. So we can go back, revisit that moment. Have you unpack it. Have you feel it, acknowledge it, accept it, release it. That vibration of resentment can now be transmuted into gratitude.

Yeah.

Joy. True appreciation.

Yeah.

And that's the work. Let's look under the layers. Let's see what's there. Let's unpack it, go to work on it. And that could be painful as.

Yeah.

But as you feel lighter and lighter and lighter, and as you elevate your emotional state, as you raise your vibrational frequency, your aura shifts. Your vibrational frequency shifts. People around you, they're drawn to you. They feel like, yo, what's up with that Ernesto guy? I like that guy. You know? You know it. Somebody walks in the room, of course, and right away you're like, yeah, you.

Can feel energy right away, of course.

You know, positive or negative. And when you do this work and you become more in tune with your energy, you become more in tune with other people's energy. Yeah. And law of attraction, like attracts like. So when you're in a vibration, high vibrational frequency, you're going to draw in those things in life that are of a high vibration. So, you know, it's. It's. We do the work through, you know, through meditation, through breath, work through looking at your belief system, your perspective, your values. How are you balancing your time? What's your schedule look like? You know, because a lot of these successful people, they're like 80% work.

Yeah.

20% the rest of your life. Yeah. And you're wondering why your relationships aren't going well. You're wondering why you're overweight. You know, so it's about having you look at your life and say, okay, what's out of balance? Balance, you know, and. And what are you willing to let go of? What are you willing to take on to create more balance in your life? So that's kind of what I do in a nutshell. Yeah.

I was gonna say, what are the patients? No, I'm curious. More. More for you personally, I guess, as you went through your journey, you went away Costa Rica, and you did all that stuff. You sold the business, I guess, coming back to the city, you know, I want to know what that experience was like.

But.

And I'm more specifically curious about, like, because we were in nightlife. Like, you know, you think you have a million friends. Are these people really your friends? What do they, you know, what do they. What do they take from you? What do they want from you? So, like, did you lose, like, what was that like, coming back? Did you lose a lot of people? Did your circle become small? Like, talk to me about that.

Yeah, I'm glad you asked that question. I got a lot to share on that. So a lot of people thought I lost my mind for sure. People from the external who maybe just saw my life on Instagram and all the, you know, fun, fancy things I got to do. Yeah. To walk away from everything and move to the jungle. Like, bro, like, you look crazy. Crazy. For people who were closer to me, they knew I wasn't happy. They knew I was diving deep into personal development. And my parents, my brother, those close to me when I decided to start hosting retreats, they're like, yeah, that. That sounds like it's a really good fit for you. So I would say the people closest to me, they understood and supported me. I do have some friends who really question, like, is he. Is this, like, some new gig? Some new, like, concept? Like, is he really. Has he really changed his life? Is he really just another doing this? Is this, like some marketing thing? Yeah. Because I did a drastic 180 degree shift in my life.

Yeah.

You know, and many people will tell me, like, I'm amazed at what you did, and you're so brave, and that's so courageous and good for you. And for me, I feel it required me to be courageous to stay and keep living this life. For me, it was like, it was a way out. It was a way to start over. And I had the opportunity to pursue something I actually really loved and felt good about. So I'm sure there's many people who are watching this right now who think I'm full of shit, who think like, but, you know. Yeah. But the truth is, is because it's been like, you know, three, four years now that I've been in this work, that people see that, okay, I actually changed my life. I actually am a different person in many ways, and I can help you do the same for you if that's what you want. So there has been a shift, but if I'd say for the first couple of years, people were very doubtful, and there's probably still a couple of friends who were a little skeptical, and that's okay. And what's interesting where I'm at in my own journey right now. You know, when I left Toronto, you know, I had let go of quite a few things. So I would say I was not living that same dynamic jet set life that I was before. But I went from living a pretty superficial life to getting rid of a lot of stuff, living a very simple spiritual life in Costa Rica. And for three years, you know, I was alone a lot. I was, you know, financially not in a great place. So I couldn't even afford a lot of the things that I used to really enjoy. So I also made a lot of what I used to enjoy wrong. Like, I guess part of me was a bit regretful and almost angry at myself that I had blown so much money on so many superficial things that weren't very necessary, that I made a lot of that life wrong. And there's this thing in the spiritual world, in spiritual community, where being wealthy is bad, owning a fancy car is greedy, you know, being too successful is not aligned with being spiritual. And that's a bunch of bullshit.

Is that crocking shit or what?

It's a bunch of bullshit. And I can say that because I was buying into that, using spirituality as a way to not accept the fact that I didn't have the abundance I actually wanted, you know, and that many people. And again, you can be spiritual and you could be wealthy and you could have nice things and you can be conscious and you can still contribute back to the world in your own way and you can have it all. You can have that balance. It takes work, but it is possible.

Yeah. People don't believe it. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, coming back to Toronto, each time, the first time I came back, I was like overwhelmed. Like I went from being in the Pura Vida jungle bubble of Nosara to the city and I was like the King Street. I didn't know how to manage my energy. Yeah, the second time I came back, I was more conscious about who I saw and how many meetings I booked. And I like to stay in the beaches, so I'm close to the water, close to my parents and I take my dog for long walks on the boardwalk. And it's how I balance myself.

Yeah.

Coming back this time my business is doing well. I'm in a good place financially. I've got more confidence coming back. And on my previous trips, I almost didn't know where I fit anymore because again, part of my identity, well, who am I now in Toronto when I'm not the owner of all these venues and there's the whole scene's changed. Everybody's so young now. Nobody knows who I am anymore. I'm irrelevant. So I almost didn't know it where I fit in Toronto anymore. But coming back this time, it's like I have so much confidence and just high self worth for the work I'm doing and the difference that I'm making, that I feel great being back here. And I'm now integrating, I like to say Zark and Zarak because I don't know if you know, but Zarak's actually my real name and I've been using that more so now because Zark is what I took on at a young age because it was just easier to say. So it's integrating some of the old life that Zark enjoyed with this new level of consciousness and awareness that Zarak has. Yeah, I know I sound weird.

I was literally asking, was there. Was there anything from nightlife that you took with you on this new journey? Was there anything that. Any habits, any sort of characteristics about yourselves that you took with you on the new journey?

Positive.

From a positive, obviously. So in Nosara, I host these dinner parties and they've now grown to 50 people.

Wow.

And I'm still a promoter. I'll always be a promoter that can bring great people together. So I host these dinner parties because I love introducing people, love making new connections. And I would say my promotional ability to create experiences is still something that's with me and always will be. You know, with Ralph being in town, him and I have reconnected and we're actually hosting two events this weekend. So by the time you watch this, it'll be over. But if you guys want to join. Yeah, we're hosting a private party at the old Spoke Club, which is now called Clio, tomorrow night. And then we're hosting a block party in Yorkville.

Wow.

And these are free parties. I think I saw.

Yeah.

So it's on the rooftop of the parking garage across from the Hazel Tower Hotel. These are free events. We're not making a dime off it. We're doing it because I hosted an event. We did, like a ZRF reunion tied into my birthday a month ago. And people were like, thank you. This feels like old times. And I can't believe we're out. We're dancing, and Carmelinda and Eric are DJing. And wow. Like, for some people, you know, they're like me now, well into their 40s and they've got kids and they don't go out anymore. So now they're going out and Reliving experience they had 20 years ago. So, so they were so grateful and appreciative and they were all like, when are you guys doing this again? So we thought, well, Ralph's going back to Bali, I'm going back to Costa Rica. Why not? Let's do one more. So we're doing this party on Sunday at the in Yorkville. And again, it's just for the sake of bringing people together. Bringing people together and let's just get together, enjoy some music. You know, no masks and vaccine passports required because it's outdoors. It's crazy but you know, it's, it's so that's still in me. I love getting people together. I love great music, I love dancing. I love seeing people just celebrating life, you know, and, and I want to do more of that because I have suppressed parts of those parts of me on this serious spiritual conscious journey. I have stopped allowing myself. Yeah. I've held back from really being fully self expressed. So for me now it's like, yeah, you know what? Love getting dressed up and going out for a nice dinner. I love staying in a beautiful hotel. I love driving a Porsche. Yeah. You know, I love those things. But the difference is, is.

I don't.

Love it because I need you to see me doing it.

Yeah.

I love it because you know what? It makes me feel good. Yeah. So I'm gonna do it. And that's the balance I'm finding is integrating the things from my old life that I love and enjoy and doing them without feeling guilty or I think.

It'S the removal of like the ego thing. Right. Which is a big piece of it. And I feel like when you were saying that you were coming back for the first time and the second time, it's probably your ego being like, well, yep. Why doesn't everyone know me? Like you're saying I'm irrelevant. But that's like, that's like, you know, when you remove your ego. I feel like, and obviously, obviously probably done that a million times now. That's when you kind of. Yeah, I fit into society like this and this is who I am now. I might have been that person before, but here I am now. But another thing I like and what you said is saying I think me and him always think about or are always consciously looking into is like we, we had some, some shrooms trips and you know, if I opened up our minds at the beginning of 2020 and then I did it a couple more times for that. But I, I, even for me, I love it. I love the Experience. But I, I think something that I definitely struggle with is trying to be spiritual, but then also allowing myself to still like, like the luxury things in my life. Like, you know, I want a Rolls Royce, that's like a goal for me. I wanna, I wanna have a home on the bridal path. Those are big goals for me. But then a lot of people would look and be like, I agree, well, you can't be spiritual and also want those things. And it's like I'm, I'm having this inner battle being like, well, why can't I?

Have you read the Monk who Sold His Ferrari?

No.

I highly suggest that book because without spoiling it, essentially when you become spiritual or, and you are spiritual, we're all spiritual. Because spiritual just means getting to know your spirit inside. Right. When you, the deeper you dive into yourself and connect more with your soul, the less you're going to want the Rolls Royce and the bridal house and Bridal Path. Because if you asked yourself, why do you want a Rolls Royce? What part of you wants a Rolls Royce? You know, how will that Rolls Royce change your life and why is that important to you? It's a self inquiry that you could look into because you know, if you're making hundreds of millions a year and you're in a financial position where you have abundance and a Rolls Royce and a house on bridal path is no big deal, it's just what you like. Awesome. However, a lot of people aspire to have those similar things, but they're compromising other aspects of their life to have that. Like they're not in great physical health, their relationships aren't as good as they can be, or they're not contributing in any way because they're so focused on, I gotta have that roll.

Yeah, I gotta get, I gotta have.

That house and why do they want it? Maybe they grew up in poverty. So for them, that Rolls Royce and that house signifying, you know, security and abundance. You know, maybe there's some insecurity that they're looking to fulfill.

Yeah.

By having that, you know.

So do you think, do you think it's still possible to want those things and still be spiritually intact and understand and I guess have that balance with your relationships, your family, your career, your friends, stuff like that?

Absolutely. For sure. Yeah. Like if you look at somebody like Tony Robbins, you know, he's a billionaire, he's very spiritual. Sure. He owns many homes and many cars and you know, obviously that is a best case scenario situation. But yeah, I, I've met some Very conscious, spiritual people who are also very wealthy.

I feel like it can almost to a certain extent help you 100%, like, progress on that side of things. But that's, I guess, where a lot of men feel like it's impossible. Like, I can't be touch on my feelings, my emotions, because head down, blinders on, like, you'll see my head. Right. From a career perspective.

Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting because I just came from a session with one of my clients who he's an entrepreneur. He's looking to scale his company. And just in the short time we've been working together, he's realized that by doing more of the inner work, he has to do less of the outer work. Like he said, things are just synchronistically falling into place by way of just him shifting his vibration. You know, like certain opportunities are showing up for him because he's just in a more empowered state. Now, that might sound a little esoteric for some people that, hey, raise your vibration and the universe will just give you whatever. However, if you're familiar with the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza, the concept of manifestation, the concept of our thoughts, our consciousness, create our reality. We. When you do that deep inner work, you're able to tap into those higher states of consciousness. You're able to visualize and connect with the emotion of the future self that already lives at that house and Bridal Path and driving that Rolls Royce. When you can see and touch and feel that future. And you can really call that in through, you know, through meditation, through feeling it in your heart. You are now in the process of creating that future for yourself.

But you've aligned it.

You've aligned it. And. And of course, you have to take intentional action.

Of course.

However, you have to believe that it's possible and then really live in alignment with that and keep yourself in a high vibration to draw that in. Because a lot of guys who get very wealthy, who have all the toys, all the cars and homes and all that, they're doing it from a hurt place. They're doing it from place of frustration, anger, shame, guilt. And those low vibrational emotions will ultimately be what takes them down.

Yeah, true.

I want to bring something back. You said you were holding yourself back at a certain point from having these fancy things. Do you feel like you were in a position where you felt guilty about your own past or feel like you didn't deserve it at that point because you're like, oh, I already did this for 25 years now?

Yeah, I'm on this path now.

No, I can't. Did you feel like. Did you feel like that at all?

You know, a big part of it for me was I just couldn't afford it anymore. And my partner, Ralph and I, you know, we've worked together for 20 years. For the most part, I'd say we've made pretty much the same amount of money most of our career. And he's been. He has a very different mindset around money than I do.

Okay.

So he's been very smart, very strategic with how he's invested. Okay. So I would often look at Ralph and think, man, I fucked up. Ralph's crushing it. Yeah, man, I should have done this, could have done that. And the resentment or the guilt I felt was on the choices I had made. And that was my own work to do to transmute that guilt and frustration into appreciation for. Yeah. I'm living in Costa Rica. I have a different career. I'm helping people change their lives. And if I hadn't lost all that money, I wouldn't be doing this right now. So just trusting that what I've gone through has been exactly what I needed to get me to this point. And I absolutely love what I do. It is the best thing I've ever done with my time and energy, and I love the path that I'm on. And I had to go through those experiences.

Yeah.

And feel those emotions to get to this place of appreciation and gratitude and. And it's beautiful. It's part of the journey. So, you know, for anybody watching this, you know you're going through a shitty time. Yeah. If you're holding on to guilt, if you're holding on to resentment or frustration for yourself, you know, ask yourself, how is this serving you? What are you learning from this? You know, how can you take this experience that you're going through and learn from it? And also, excuse me, often the shitty things that happen to us young in life that we like. I got bullied and picked on as a young child, and of course I didn't want to happen, didn't feel good. But it's what caused me to be a high performer. It's what caused me to go on my own. You know what? You don't want to accept me. No problem. I'll create my own community. I'll create my own whatever it is, my own club that you want to be a part of. And it's those experiences that drove me to be the success that I have experienced.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's in those low points, in Life that it's so important that we stop and take a look, really explore. What is it that this is teaching me right now? Don't be a victim. Look at it and ask yourself, okay, universe has given me this experience for a reason. How can I benefit from this and take that knowledge and, and thrive, grow, evolve?

That's. That's the big thing, I think the, the. The victim mentality. I think a lot of people fall into that and they're just like, ever happened. And then they never really take a step back and say, okay, why? A why? But what did I learn from this? Like, what, What. What am I going to take from this negative experience? They fall too deep in the negative experience, I guess. Right. Instead of saying, like, okay, this happened. Obviously everyone has their own sort of timeline of how they grieve certain things, certain experiences. But it's like, you got to eventually get out of it. And then the thing is, I feel like people get out of it, but they're scared to look back. They're like, I finally got out of the grieving. Like, I don't even want to remember what was there. But instead of being like, hey, let me look back now that I'm out of grieving and be like, why did this happen? What happened to me? How did this change me as a person? Stuff like that. I feel like a lot, a lot of people, they, they. They never want to dive in. Right. And I guess that's probably a big piece of what you do.

And a lot of times people also don't want to take responsibility.

Yeah.

They don't want to be accountable and, you know, accept the fact that I up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was me.

Yeah, I up. I can't blame this on anyone else. And why. Why did I do that?

Yeah.

And what, what inspired me to do that?

Yeah.

And, you know, and how can I not do that again in the future? And learning from our own mistakes.

But I think that's. That's a problem with almost the culture. Same in Western society is that we don't want to tell anybody. They up.

Yeah.

It's like we're scared to say, like, hey, you up? I think that's why, like, me and him are good friends, because we'll tell each other straight, dude, you're an idiot. You up like you did. You know, whatever. It's very straightforward that. I think that's a problem in our society today. People don't want to be honest. We've lost, like, being honest when it comes to telling someone, like, hey, you made a Mistake type of thing, right? Yeah. I think guys, for you, that's why it's cool. You probably come in and these people are almost expecting you. I don't want to say expecting you to do that, but allowing you to do that in a way, right?

Yeah. And often when we take a look at some of these experiences, well, you know, call it mistakes, I call them necessary lessons. Having them acknowledge what they did, but then also having them feel compassion and empathy and forgiveness for themselves is huge.

Yeah.

Because guilt and shame are the lowest emotions of. On the Map of Consciousness by Dr. David Hawkins. So there's an amazing book called Letting Go, the Art of Surrender and the Map of consciousness. And Dr. David Hawkins maps out the different emotional states and their vibrational frequencies. And as we talked about before, like raising your vibration, getting to enlightenment, joy, inspiration is where we ultimately want to be. And guilt and shame are right at the very bottom. So if you're feeling that because of some experience, because of something that happened, that's what you need to really heal and get over. And that's part of the process of healing. So even though they may not want to accept it, that that's what they did, you know, that's part of what we call the shadow work, you know, part of looking at those parts of them that they're not proud of, the parts of them that they suppress. Let's shine a light on that. Let's look at what you've been avoiding because it's always going to be there, it's not going anywhere. And helping them through the process and letting know, like, look, yeah, we all up. Yeah, it's okay, you know, but we could turn those fuck ups into some of our biggest blessings if we're willing to look at it and, and be compassionate to ourselves and, and see that, you know, that taught us something really valuable. Now let's put that to work.

Yeah, I know, I know habit building must be huge for you as well when you're coaching, right? Building habits, building the right habits. Was there any bad habits that you had to kick on this new journey? And in terms of bad habits, what are some ways that someone can kick a bad habit?

Yeah, so there's a book I love called Atomic Habits. So for any of you. Yeah, Looking to break habits, that's a great one. You know, for me, I would say some of my habits that, you know, I had to kick.

Even coming from nightlife as well.

Yeah, I, I wouldn't say it was a habit, it was more of a behavior, you know, feeling the need to be seen, the need to be out and just like really living from that place of wanting the external validation. But, you know, that sort of drifted away as I got more into the world of personal development. I think, you know, probably one of my habits I would like to definitely kick is just social media, you know, like I'm, I'm on my phone a lot, you know, and I'm definitely on my phone more here when I'm in Toronto than I am in college, Costa Rica. You know, I try to justify it by, oh, it's work related and people are sending me dms or whatever. But the truth is, is like, you know, we're bored, we're lone right away. Yeah, yeah, you know, we're like, so that's a habit I definitely want to kick. You know, I've never been a smoker, rarely drink, not into drugs. So I can't say like there's any habits that have been very toxic for me. Probably because I grew up with parents who were smokers and a father who's got a bit of a drinking problem. So, you know, I saw what habits can do to a, to a family. But with dealing with clients who have these habits, it's about helping them to develop new neural pathways that when they get triggered, they can now choose another option rather than going to the default of having that happy hour cocktail every day at 5 o' clock because you're done work, you know. So it's about understanding what is the trigger for that habit, what are some new options that we can introduce and you know, understanding what's the root cause of them wanting to enjoy whatever it is that they're choosing to that's just not aligned with what they want.

You know, mindfulness is huge too, because it allows you to kind of think before you act on that habit.

Yeah. It causes you to, allows you to slow down and just contemplate things. And you know, part of the work that I do with my clients is just getting them really present to the future self that they want to live into. And your value system, like, what are you really committed to? What do you stand for? What are you aligned with? Like, and when you make these choices is always looking at your values and asking, is this choice supporting the future version of myself that I want to be? Because the biggest catalyst for change is not an accomplishment or a reward because those are temporary, the biggest catalyst for changes. Who do you want to be for your family? Who do you want to be for yourself? Who do you want to be for humanity? When you can get Present to that future version of yourself that is someone you're so fucking proud of. Because that dude is awesome. Or that dude, that woman is awesome. Yeah. Then when you can stay focused on who it is you want to be and how different your life will be when you're actually living that life, that's the biggest driver motivator for change.

Yeah, that's huge. I mean, even. Even atomic habits was huge. I learned about habit stacking, which is.

Which is huge.

Yeah.

I mean, I still smoke, so I can't really talk.

I say that's why you're asking this question. How do I keep this happen?

I want to ask about psilocybin.

Yes.

And your thoughts on it and your experiences with it, because we like to talk about it a lot.

Obviously we are trying to talk about with every.

Every guest, but you obviously have experience with it.

Advocates.

Yeah, we. On Tuesday.

Nice. I love it.

Wow.

I love it.

Let's go, let's go.

So on Tuesday, I did eight and a half grams.

Okay. I've never even heard of that.

Eight and a half grams at once. Wow. Don't recommend it. Don't. Don't do that at home.

Try this at home.

Yeah. So it was a guided journey with Colombian shaman here in Toronto. And have you ever done like a ceremonial kind of inward, blindfolded journey?

No, we need to. Yeah, we know we need to.

That would be an interesting podcast. Yeah, for sure. So, you know, it's. It's a purely inward journey, goes super, super deep, as you'd imagine. You know, I've done ayahuasca many times and bufo, and I'm a big advocate for plant medicine. It's been profound for my growth and healing. I believe plant medicine right now is exploding in many ways because plant medicine is essentially a portal to Earth consciousness. You know, grows out of the earth, Mother Earth. Gaia has a consciousness and she's aware of what we're doing to our planet right now, to her. And when you ingest these medicines, you are able to tap into elevated states of consciousness. You're able to have out of body, mystical experiences. It is a portal into the supernatural, you know, into. Into the quantum. And psilocybin is going to change the world in a big way because it's no surprise many people are dealing with anxiety, depression, suicide rates are through the roof. And psilocybin allows you to see more options, think in a different way. It stimulates, promotes neuroplasticity. So your brain is actually expanding, changing when you are experiencing the medicine. And I believe it's so important right now because for those who are looking to elevate their consciousness, for those who are looking to get out of their depression and these negative states that they're in, psilocybin, whether you're microdosing, whether you're doing, you know, something like, I did a guided journey, it's all part of the deep transformational work. And I see it as an accelerator. I see it as a way to go deeper, faster, and speed up the process. Now it's super important that you have some sort of mindfulness practice in place, some support, whether it be a coach, therapist, somebody who you feel comfortable speaking to, because psilocybin will bring things up that you've suppressed. It will access parts of your subconscious that you don't normally have access to, and things will pop out of there. If you do a big dose, things can jump out of there. Yeah, really quick. Very quick. And that's why it's so important to have the support and a mindfulness practice in place. Because you're going to see and experience things that your subconscious has buried. And as I said before, you can continue to ignore it, but at some point it's going to show up. Yeah. So through these journeys, I'm talking about the big journeys, things come up and then, you know, okay, that's there for me to work on. Maybe it's something from childhood, maybe it's something that, you know, that's happened in a recent relationship. And maybe it's also future choices. Like, I find mushrooms to be incredibly informative and guiding. Like, the first time I did a hero dose guided journey in Costa Rica in May, the whole time I was like, yeah, okay, yeah, gotta check. Okay, yeah. Oh, yeah, that too. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Just knowledge. It's flooding my brain with knowledge. And it also does its work where I literally have felt my chakras exploding like massive releases. Like, there were things. Like, the first time I did my journey, I was laying down and my sacral started vibrating. And I kid you not, if I was laying down here on this table, my hips were bouncing a solid foot off the ground.

That's crazy.

My head and my feet were connected and my hip was just bouncing. And there was something that had to be released in my sacral. And the sacral is, you know, where your sexual energy is, where your creativity is. And like, so any blockages, any trauma, anything that's happened, the medicine, whether it's ayahuasca, whether it's psilocybin, it goes through your body, it finds Those low vibrational electro magnetic energy fields that are in there, that don't belong in there anymore and helps you release them. And you know, as I said before, we're energy and energy is always flowing through our body and when we have blockages, the energy doesn't get to flow through. And when energy doesn't get to flow through, think about water coming down a river. If water down a river kind of goes into a corner and just kind of stays there, it gets contaminated viruses, bacteria, like it's, it's not safe to drink flowing. Exactly. So the energy has to flow. And these medicines help you to release those emotions by sometimes presenting you with some dark you didn't know was there. But you relive it, you feel it, you experience it, you heal it, you let go.

Yeah.

And you can feel lighter. And psilocybin is a very powerful tool for your healing. Now on a microdose level, you know, 0.125 is kind of what I like to do. Two days on, two days off. For me, I do it. I haven't been doing it this time, but I feel like I need to for these last few weeks here. It helps me maintain like a nice zen, calm vibration. It allows me to just slow down and be present. And I think that's super helpful because here in the city, like you said, it's always go, go, go, extra meeting, next, lunch, next, this next, next, next, next, next. Yeah, we're always on the go. Psilocybin allows you to be more focused, more present or calm. You know, depression is reliving memories from the past and anxiety is fear of the future. And when you're present, you experience neither.

Yes.

Right. So psilocybin, microdosing, even on a low, low level, can help you with that. Again, it allows you to explore different possibilities. So when you get triggered in a situation, you're able to choose a new option. Yeah, you choose that new option enough times and you start developing a new neural pathway. I like to use like metaphor of like you walk up to a park and you see a path that's been walked on so many times as a clear dirt path there now. And maybe you don't want to go down that path anymore. You don't want, you don't like where that path ends. Yeah, but it's the only path that's there. Or you think that's there. Psilocybin allows you to almost feel, well, maybe I can take this path even though I've never been down it. I'll take this path. I'LL take it down again. I'll take it down again. And what happens if you keep walking down that new path? Yeah, it becomes clear.

Yes.

What happens to the old path? Yeah, grass grows. Grass grows.

Gone.

It's gone.

Yeah.

You know, and that's where plant medicine can be very helpful. Now don't get me wrong, you can have this same change of belief system, system and, and respond differently through coaching and through therapy for sure. But as I said, psilocybin is an accelerator and can help that because it stimulates the neuroplasticity. So I'm a big fan. I plan on investing into a few different companies that are big in psilocybin space. One of them is Dimensions, which is building a psilocybin recovery clinics in Canada and in Costa Rica. You know, there's also, there's a few companies out there I'm watching that I'm excited to support and be a part of. And yeah, I, I honestly think that psilocybin is going to change the world because ayahuasca, yes, it's powerful and it's intense and it's like for me, ayahuasca is a week long experience. Okay.

Yeah.

Obviously you're dieting two weeks in advance, you're probably gonna do it.

Break it down for us. What you actually have to go through to do I.

If you're going to do ayahuasca properly, it's a two week dieta. Now there's different types of ayahuasca, different brews from different tribes. Right. There's a Shipibo in Peru, there's a Brazilian style ayahuasca and then there's a Colombian. So these different brews have, let's say, a different intention or different effect on you. I've done all three and some don't require the two week dieta but for the ones that do, like for the Colombian ayahuasca, it's a two week dieta where you're eating very plain, no salt, no caffeine. It's, it's pretty strict to cleanse the body and just to get yourself ready. Even, even no social media leading up to it, no news, anything that's going to keep the mind busy and a typical ceremony. So obviously in Costa Rica there are places that offer it like Rythmia and Sultana. These are like really nice, almost like plant medicine resorts where everything's set up really well done. Like they've got facilitators, they've got like everything you need to have the best possible ayahuasca. Experience. The only thing I don't like about place like that is you might be in ceremony with 80 people. For me, that's a bit intense because it makes a lot of energies. So with what? Ceremonies usually start around 6pm Shaman and his facilitators are there. They will be playing live music. It starts off with an intention. You do some hape, a little meditation to ground in your intention, and then they'll call up the women, then call up the men to drink. And you may drink two or three times in a night. Ceremony will start in the evening, usually around 6 or 7pm and usually go to around 5, 6 in the morning. As I said, the medicine goes through your body and it finds those experiences, it finds that energy that no longer belongs there. When that energy comes out, let me tell you, it can come out. It's purging. It can come out as diarrhea, it can come out as both.

Wow.

It can be. It can be aggressive. Yeah. And it is necessary, you know, when you're purging, when you are releasing, it's a good thing because it's, it's dealing with the stuff that you can't get to on your own. Or let's just say you don't know.

How to access, how to get there.

Yeah, yeah.

Because we have everything we need. We could heal ourselves. We don't need plant medicine, we don't need pharmaceuticals. We can heal ourselves. But again, most people don't have the time, the discipline, the focus to do the work. So ayahuasca is an accelerator for sure. Now I have a lot of people reach out to me wanting to come to Costa Rica wanting to do ayahuasca. They don't meditate, they don't have any sort of inner work, any mindfulness practice. And I actually put out a video on my Instagram saying ayahuasca is not the answer. Because so many people are looking to come down to Costa Rica, do ayahuasca for a week, and they're going to come home and life is going to.

Be a whole different person.

And I guarantee you, if you don't have a practice in place, you don't have the support, the coaching, whatever integration process. When you get home, you can be in a worse position than you arrive because you go down, your. Your mind is blown, you're experiencing this dark, traumatic stuff that you didn't even know was there.

Yeah.

And now back home.

Back home to go deal with it on your own. Yeah. You know, so, yeah, it's super important to be doing the work in advance and to make sure that your, you have a practice and you have the support for when you get home. So with some of these places like Soltara Rythmia, you might do up to three ayahuasca ceremonies in a week.

Cool.

Sometimes it's back to back day off, another ceremony and you go. The first one is usually cleansing. Let's get all the shit out. Let's go through and see what doesn't need to be there. The second one can be very like cosmic, intergalactic, multidimensional. You're seeing literally beings from different.

Wow.

Dimensions, different solar systems. Like it can be. Could be a lot.

Yeah.

Yeah. It will definitely have you believe that we are truly just. Yeah. A sliver of consciousness having human experience. Because, you know, most of us think this is us, this is our life, what we're about. We are just a sliver of the divine consciousness having this human experience in this skin suit. Yeah. And when the skin suit expires, we go back up there and through ayahuasca, even psilocybin. And definitely with bufo, you can have experiences where you actually go back to the light. And. Yeah, and I, and I, I, I have had that before. I did bufo in 2019 and it was the most profound.

What's, what's Buffalo? I don't even know.

We'll finish up with ayahuasca, then we'll talk about. So, you know, you do your three journeys. There's also breath work, meditation, you're eating really clean during the whole experience and then, then it's time to go home. Or if you're fortunate enough to live in Costa Rica, you know, you, you know, you integrate. It's good to take a few days just to really journal, you know, process what you experienced, ask for help if you need it. And some of these resorts, like Rhythm and Sultara, also offer integration programs, so that's very helpful afterwards. And again, ayahuasca, super powerful. But you have to be ready to receive and surrender. That's so important. Surrender is the, the name of the. I don't say the game is, is really the, the intention, you know, it's the biggest intention as to why you're doing it. Yeah. Don't have expectations. And when you drink the medicine, just surrender and allow mother, grandmother, ayahuasca to do what she needs to do.

Yeah.

And it's powerful.

Yeah.

And, and it's, it's here for a reason. Now bufo, how much time bufo is, and I don't know who the Thought of this bufo. There's a. It's called the Sonoran Desert toad. It's from the Sonoran Desert.

Okay.

Yes, I think.

Yeah, yeah.

And from the toad, when threatened or squeezed, secretes a venom.

Okay.

Yes.

And this venom emits what's called BUFO, which is 5 Meo DMT. Now we have 5.

Joe Rogan always talks about this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think even Mike Tyson mice video, he did.

You're right.

Yeah. Mike Tyson filmed a video of 5 Meo DMT, talked about his ego death experience, which was. It's, it's funny and it's very real.

Yeah.

So. If ayahuasca was like an 8 hour roller coaster ride, Bufo is like a 20 minute rocket ship to multiple dimensions orbiting in the quantum field or unified consciousness. If you make it through, if you break through and surrender and then you drift down through the different dimensions back to your body. And why surrender is so important is because you start to dissolve, like with bufo. And it comes in a synthetic version of 5me odmt.

You smoke a pen, right?

You couldn't smoke in a pen if it's synthetic. Or you can smoke the molecule.

Yeah.

Or you can smoke the actual toad venom. So they find these toads, I assume they squeeze them, they scrape, scrape the venom off, they dry it up and they smoke it. Who came up with that? Wow. I don't know. But you know, it is what it is. And yeah. Somebody must have saw like a crocodile try to eat a toad and get really high and enlightened and be like, wait a minute, something I want to do. So with bufo, as you're pulling on it, like literally by the second pull, everything starts to fragment. Sound starts to just change. Yeah. And you try to get three pulls in if you can, and by the time you're done, that third pull, like you're just like, you're, you're gone.

You're gone. Yeah.

And you're taking off so fast. You just have to remember, surrender, surrender, surrender. Nothing to be afraid of, just surrender. And if you could surrender enough as you start to dissolve and what I mean, dissolve, it's so. It's kind of hard to explain, but you just don't exist anymore. Your body doesn't exist, your mind doesn't exist, space doesn't exist anymore. And you're just gone. And you're just in this white light and you're in this white light and it's just. Your awareness is in this white space and you feel this bliss, this peacefulness. You really understand what oneness is. And for me, I say it's the most beautiful experience of my life because it was strange and familiar at the same time. I felt that I was in somewhere I've been before, and it felt so safe. And then it's gone, and then it's done. But you. You now have this knowing. You have this awareness that that's where we came from, that's where we go back to. And you don't fear death anymore.

Yeah, because always. That's what I always hear. You don't fear death because if that's.

Where I'm going back to or when my parents pass and that's where they go, that's awesome because it is. It's just. It's so beautiful. And it's really hard to put into words to describe the feeling, but it's just. It's. I guess it's God, you know, and, and, and you. You are. You realize we are God. And that's why I say we are a sliver of that consciousness that's having this human experience. So we go back to that, and if we could all just remember that we are light and love and we all have God within us because we are part of that thing, you know, we would then treat each other better. We would treat the planet better, our animals better, because we are all from.

That piece of that.

Yeah, absolutely. And have you seen the movie Soul?

No.

Yeah, that's the. The Pixar.

Disney movie.

Yeah, Disney.

Super cute, Great movie. Animated. And it talks about exactly that. It talks about souls leaving divine consciousness, having this human experience. And, you know, I like to say life is like a video game, you know, and you guys obviously are old enough to remember Super Mario Brothers. You know, level by level, you jump on the dinosaurs and you eat the mushrooms. Of course, you collect the coins and ultimately you fight the dragon and you save the princess. Yeah. And if you do well, you get to go the next level. And if you screw up, you drop down a level.

Yeah.

But, you know, you've got your extra lives and you know you're going to give it your best. And level by level, you have different choices to make. And are you making choices that allow you to level up? Are you making choices that are going to take you down? And right now, as we talked about before in this pandemic, are you making choices to level up your life, or are you allowing the vices to take over that are going to cause you to start your next life at a lower level? And that's a massive challenge Growth, opportunity that we're all facing right now. So when you realize that when our life is over, we go back up there until it's next time to play. You don't fear death as much anymore, you know, and you just trust that all the things that happen, good or bad, are to serve us and an opportunity for us to grow. It helps us deal with those challenging situations that we might not be happy about at the time, but we can pause and say, no, wait a minute, there's something for me to learn from this and I'm gonna stay optimistic and I'm gonna look for the silver lining in this. And I know I'm going to be more resilient, stronger and wiser on the other side of this.

Boom.

Holy.

That's funny, dude. I just got my hair cut two days ago and I was talking to my barber about dmt. Yeah, he's like, he's, he's done it twice. I don't need to do anymore. I've done it enough. And he, he said like the exact same thing you said, is exactly what he said. He's like, I, I was gone Earth and everything was not there. Time SP was like, he was like, it was just, it's non existent anymore. And he was saying about being like in a, in a different dimension with. So I guess some people maybe experiences, some don't, but with other beings and they're like, I don't know how to explain what they are, who they are, what it is, but it's other beings and stuff. And I'm like, I need to do this. Yeah, that's crazy, right? And you me up with the Super Mario thing because I'm like, holy.

True.

It's true.

These guys must have really been smoking some dmt.

Asking the main.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, listen, because I feel like we can really go forever. I know you got some meetings.

Yeah, all good. I'm actually eating our boy Matt.

Yeah, shout out, my guy. Shout out. Yeah, but listen, we are the MBH podcast. Money buys happiness.

What are your thoughts, what are your.

Thoughts on this statement after all that?

Yeah, yeah, look, money is important. You know, money is an energy. Money represents love, money represents passion. You know, it is what we receive in exchange for our energetic contribution to whatever we're doing. And I grew up with a very toxic money mindset with parents from a third world country who live check to check. And I grew up thinking people with money are assholes and that money's root of all evil. And you know, all those other things that are said about Money. And I've had a shift in belief and. Can money buy happiness? Money can afford you the freedom to make choices that allow you to live a life that will bring you joy.

Stamp that. Let's fucking go. Stamp that.

Yeah. Get it tatted. Yeah. No, you know what? We.

We usually say it in like a much shorter, less for both. Yeah, we're very. Just like. It buys you freedom. And it's what you do with that freedom that. That will decide if you're happy or not. Right. The choices you make. But you really worded a lot better than me and this guy usually do.

But it's like. Yeah, it does.

We've made the name just kind of a little bit of a clickbait thing.

Sure.

But. But, but it has grown because we ask every guest that everyone has their own experience. But, But I like what you said about everyone has a different relationship with money.

For sure.

I think that's a big thing. And, and then like you said, maybe you grew up thinking it was a toxic thing because people with a lot of money were bad people. That's something that I have been trying to. I'm very opinionated on my Instagram. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but I. I try to put out the message that having money doesn't make you a bad person.

Right.

It's what you do with it.

For sure.

At the end of the day. Right. So how you got it and how you got it.

Correct.

Very true, very true, very true. So I really like that, man. Yeah, I really. I really like the way you put it.

Cool.

It's.

We're gonna have to get you back, sir.

Yeah.

Holy.

We gotta come see you.

Mbh. Yeah, for sure. Dean, you ready? Yeah, I'm always ready.

Let's get the tickets, bro.

Listen.

Yeah, no, it was a pleasure to have you, man. I think a lot audience is gonna have an eye opener of a. Of a session when they watch this one.

Yeah.

Because I was just listening the whole time and I'm just like, yo, you.

More things to ask you. But I mean, like I said, we'll go forever, but I think we're gonna have to bring MBH to.

To Costa Rica for sure. Yeah. And. And when you guys do come down, I have a bunch of great entrepreneurs that you can meet with as well. It's a great nomadic community down there, so for sure set up. Yeah, yeah. And you know, one thing I just want to plug here is I am developing an online version of my coaching program. So, you know, I take on very, a very limited amount of one to one clients because, yeah, it's an energetic thing as well. And with the online course, I'll have videos, workbooks and exercises that teach a lot of what we spoke about today, but in an online format that people can buy, download, do at their own pace. Because I want as many people as possible to learn what I've learned. Because seven years ago I knew none of this. Seven years ago I was scratching my head thinking, what the fuck am I doing with my life? And thankfully, through the amazing friends and contacts and coaches that I've worked with, that I'm at this place in my life now and I want to share that with others and I want to scale my impact. And I'm excited to launch that. So I'll let you know when that's ready. It's going to be later this year and for anybody watching, you know, you know you can find me on Instagram at Zark Fatah, although I'm going to change that soon because I got to use my real name at Zara and my website, which is all going to change. But I'm sure you're going to put all that.

Make sure people can, can find you and don't be afraid to DM Zark.

Yeah.

And hit him up for sure and ask him some questions. But yeah, in the meantime, man, we'll, we'll definitely try and implement some stuff that you, that you talked about today and definitely gonna have you back, bro.

Absolutely.

It's been a pleasure, man.

Thanks for having me. We out.