Book questionnaire
https://ayahuascaincolombia.com/book-form/
In this episode of Ayahuasca Podcast, host Sam Believ (founder of http://www.lawayra.com) has a conversation with Nick Courtright. Sam interviews Nick about how his Ayahuasca experience changed his life and Nick interviews Sam about a book Sam is going to write.
Nick Courtright is an American poet, educator, and essayist whose work fuses philosophical inquiry with lyrical expression. He is the founder and CEO of Atmosphere Press, a hybrid publisher dedicated to authors’ rights. As an author, Nick has written several acclaimed books, including Let it Be Light and The Forgotten World.
Topics discussed:
Introduction to Nick’s journey with Ayahuasca and initial motivations (01:26)
Personal transformation through Ayahuasca at LaWayra (03:54)
The unexpected side effects: quitting alcohol and running a marathon (04:48)
Atmosphere Press: ethics and the publishing process (07:04)
Integrating Ayahuasca experiences into daily life (18:14)
The inspiration behind Sam’s upcoming book (22:38)
If you would like to attend one of our Ayahuasca retreats, go to http://www.lawayra.com.
Find more about Nick Courtright at http://www.atmospherepress.com.
Transcript
Nick Courtright (00:00)
Ask me about it, ⁓ for sure.
Sam Believ (00:04)
Hi guys and welcome back to Ayahuasca Podcast. As always with you the host Sambiliyev. ⁓ Today I’m having a conversation with Nick Courtright. Nick is an American poet, ⁓ educator and essayist known for his literary work that blends philosophical inquiry with lyrical expression. He has authored several books including Let it Be Light and The Forgotten World, both of which have been received in a well received in a literary community. ⁓
Sam Believ (00:31)
His work explores themes such in existence, identity and the human experience through a meditative and reflective lens. Now you kind of see why we have him on because very, very related to the ayahuasca work. ⁓ And Nick is also a founder of and CEO of Atmosphere Press, which is an acclaimed literary hybrid publisher dedicated to authors’ rights. ⁓ Nick, ⁓ welcome to the show.
Nick Courtright (01:00)
Thanks for having me, glad to be here.
Sam Believ (01:02)
Most importantly, ⁓ Nick is not just a publisher or just an author. Nick is also one of our previous patients as we like to call them at Loire. So ⁓ Nick, tell us a little bit about yourself ⁓ and kind of tie it into what brought you to work with the plant medicine.
Nick Courtright (01:26)
Yeah, so I, for ⁓ years, you know, like even as far back as high school, I was always interested in the fabric of reality. did ⁓ speeches for my speech class ⁓ back in high school about, you know, how everybody saw everything differently. And we were all sort of filtering reality through our own individual lens. So even when I was young, I was, you know, really interested in this idea of like what on earth is going on here, right?
Nick Courtright (01:56)
⁓ And then over the course of life, know, good things, bad things, you know, like having anxiety, reading about philosophy, you know, trying to deal with difficult things in life, you know, such as divorce or like being a parent, you know, all of these sort of things, like ultimately, I, you know, led me to try to, you know, find some truth in the world or, you know, have some different experiences. And I’m, ⁓
Nick Courtright (02:25)
somebody who travels the world a lot. That’s what my most recent poetry collection is about. ⁓ But really, ⁓ going to Columbia, trying Ayahuasca, I ⁓ didn’t fully know totally what I was getting myself into. I was kind of like, this is gonna be an adventure, ⁓ but I didn’t realize that it wasn’t just gonna be an adventure. It was gonna be a great opportunity to process stuff that I hadn’t fully processed to…
Nick Courtright (02:54)
heal from some things that were problematic in my past. ⁓ And definitely, you know, it made a big difference for me coming.
Sam Believ (03:04)
You’re a real life poet that’s not often you meet one. And I’m happy you chose Lawyra to come ⁓ for your ayahuasca experience. And just shortly, ⁓ what did it do for you? And I know you’re coming back in January. What is the ⁓ next chapter?
Nick Courtright (03:08)
Ha
Nick Courtright (03:25)
Yeah, so like I said, I went there with no like big expectations. Like I remember during the first, you know, word circle, people talking about like, what’s your intention? Like, what are you trying to accomplish? And I was sort of like, well, you know, like, my life’s pretty good. You know, I like run my own business, you know, I got a beautiful wife, I’ve got good kids, like, you know, I wasn’t dealing with any sort of ⁓ super problematic thing. ⁓ I, but then, you know, during the process,
Nick Courtright (03:54)
I ended up sort of realizing that there were things that I needed to work through, like, for example, my divorce that happened a decade ago and a lot of like forgiveness mutually, like my relationship with my parents, things like that. ⁓ And the sort of result coming out of it has really been amazing. Like, for example, ⁓ I ⁓ quit drinking.
Nick Courtright (04:18)
you know, like I just like stopped. Like I wasn’t really drinking a lot before, like, like, but I did, I did drink. I was like a normal person, like out there drinking regularly, but just sort of ⁓ as a side effect ⁓ of the Ayahuasca experience at Lawyra, I just was like, I don’t need alcohol anymore. It just wasn’t something that I needed. ⁓ And that sort of also led me towards just a sort of a greater health journey. And this year, like,
Nick Courtright (04:48)
two months ago I ran a marathon. Like that’s insane. That was like never on my radar at all before going to Lawyra. So I was going there to be like, I’m gonna like try this drug and I’m gonna trip and it’s gonna be crazy. And then I’m gonna tell everybody how crazy it was. I wasn’t expecting that it was gonna lead me to, you know, not drinking anymore and running a marathon, but that’s what it did. ⁓ So I think it’s interesting. And one of the things you said,
Nick Courtright (05:17)
at the Loira was, you know, that it’s not necessarily going to give you, you know, what you want, but it is going to give you what you need. And I really feel like that was kind of the result that I got.
Sam Believ (05:31)
⁓ That’s a really nice side effect you got and that’s actually more common than you would think people coming ⁓ drinking ayahuasca for whatever reason and then realizing they’re not drinking alcohol anymore which is extremely nice and what you said about you know coming just to experiment and sort of maybe looking ⁓ for this new experience, kind of new jungle style high ⁓ and then finding a lot ⁓ in it but however
Sam Believ (05:59)
One of the reasons I want to write a book and we kind of talk about it later You know what what’s the topic of this episode all about is for that to kind of explain to people? What I was can really is and what it can do for you and? ⁓ How to do it right whether they come drink it a little wire or somewhere else so a little I kind of went ahead and Shared the little secret, but yeah this episode of the podcast will be a lot about the book ⁓
Sam Believ (06:27)
Nick when you came to Loire and after having his experience he said if you ever want to write a book I’ll help you publish it and back then I don’t think I ever thought about writing a book ⁓ but that thought as a parasite festered in my brain and recently when Nick messaged me and said he’s coming back I was like I felt like I’m ready to write a book and I couldn’t sleep the thoughts started coming the phrases the parts and ⁓
Sam Believ (06:56)
But yeah, Nick, first let’s talk about ⁓ your publishing company because I know it’s not a regular one.
Nick Courtright (07:04)
Yeah, yeah. So I started back in 2015 Atmosphere Press, like I used to be a college professor. That’s what I was for a dozen years. I taught all sorts of literature, creative writing, freshman composition, all of that for a dozen years. And then I just started helping writers sort of as a side gig. It was just a little side hustle I had helping writers and then, you know, published one book and it was sort of
Nick Courtright (07:30)
Interestingly enough, it was about the universe and the meaning of life. That’s why the press is called Atmosphere Press. It’s sort of started with this very, you know, ethereal sort of mystical philosophical sort of perspective. ⁓ And then it just grew and grew. And now here we are nine years later, we’ve published more than 1200 books ⁓ across all genres where an author sort of forward press, it’s all author rights based.
Nick Courtright (08:00)
so authors keep the rights to their work. ⁓ I, know, authors are very involved in the process, the design, the editorial, the publicity, all of that. Cause I knew I wanted it to be something that was ethical, that was like, you know, straightforward where authors would, you know, sort of contribute financially to hiring professionals to make their book really awesome. ⁓ and it was, you know, sort of one of those happy surprises that happens in life.
Nick Courtright (08:28)
I were, I wasn’t trying to be an entrepreneur. I wasn’t trying to be, you know, a big publisher or whatever. It just kind of happened. ⁓ And I think it’s interesting how that sort of really works with an Ayahuasca experience is just like the authenticity of it, the active service part of it. ⁓ And also in a sense, like writing a book, publishing a book, it is like a therapeutic process.
Nick Courtright (08:57)
of taking something that’s inside of you and transforming it into an artifact and that is part of who you are. ⁓ So I think that that’s a really beautiful experience that ⁓ I and my team foster through Atmosphere Press. And then similarly, that same kind of journey of discovery can happen through Ayahuasca.
Sam Believ (09:22)
⁓ Something interesting you mentioned which is ⁓ how you kind of never really plan to start a publishing company and Because of that you have more authenticity, you know, we kind of called this synchronicity in In the medicine space so same thing happened to me. I never planned to start now as a retreat nothing that kind of gives people comfort because I think if they know it and if obviously they trust me when I say it they kind of like yeah, it happened to me. It’s like you you’re
Sam Believ (09:52)
you’re being led on a certain path, so it’s like a higher meaning to it. And then, you you never know, maybe you became a publisher because somebody needs to write a book because it needs to change the world. Not saying it’s going to be me, but ⁓ just an idea. ⁓ So, yeah, it’s nice to be guided by in life by something bigger than you. It gives you you sort of comfort. And that’s a lot what you work with through Ayahuasca.
Sam Believ (10:20)
And when you were here at Loire, you know, what made you ask me that question about the book? ⁓ What made you think, you know, is, what, yeah, just tell me.
Nick Courtright (10:33)
Yeah, so I think it was just, I mean, it was such a, you know, powerful experience. And was a powerful experience for everybody there. There were 25 people there and everybody was just like, had their minds blown. And I know that that’s happened for many, many people, you know, over the course of time, you can look up the Google reviews. It’s crazy, right? ⁓ You know, not too many places have like better, you know, score than my company, but Loira does. So props on that.
Nick Courtright (11:02)
⁓ so, you know, it was just something where it’s like, wow, there’s a lot of education to be had here. And in, know, Western medicine, a lot of times, you know, we’re like, you know, using pharmaceuticals to try to help people. ⁓ you know, we’re, you know, not necessarily treating ourselves super well, but doing something at a place like the wire where there’s medicine is a big part of it. Cause it, you know, opens up your neural pathways, increases neuroplasticity, you know, it’s sort of.
Nick Courtright (11:33)
pulls the blinders off and sort of, you know, helps you confront what it is that’s really going on with you. ⁓ I think that that part’s amazing. And the fact that you had a business, you were sort of the one who was making this happen for all of these people. It was clear that you had, you know, a lot of experience and that there was an opportunity here to help, you know, a whole lot of people. ⁓ If only they sort of understood.
Nick Courtright (12:02)
more what they could get out of this kind of experience.
Sam Believ (12:06)
Definitely there’s a lot of education that needs to be done and I think that what makes me want to write that book is I see that there’s a lot of PhDs or people Smart people writing about ayahuasca. There’s a lot of people that had their own experience that write about an ayahuasca But I don’t think there is enough people that have seen transformational experience of thousands of people and guided them through it and from the point of view of like
Sam Believ (12:33)
understanding how to do it properly and what really works and then write a book. So I guess that’s why it makes sense to me and ⁓ thank you for giving me that idea because I’m really excited now to write a book and as you said writing a book is this process, this healing process in itself and as I am slowly scribbling ideas ⁓ in my notebook I realize that I’m filling up empty spaces and blanks that I have in my
Sam Believ (13:00)
knowledge, I’m doing more research and I’m kind of creating this more succinct model. So let’s switch this interview around from me asking you questions to now you asking your questions. You know, as a publisher, ⁓ what would you want to know from me in order to ⁓ make sense whether this book even needs to be written? And then obviously for those who are listening would really love ⁓ if after you finish listening to this episode, ⁓
Sam Believ (13:30)
I’ll leave a link in the show notes to a forum where you can give me your feedback because I need to ⁓ know your feedback. But later on that.
Nick Courtright (13:42)
Yeah, yeah, I think it’s, ⁓ you know, it’s, it’s just a great topic. And I think one of the things you mentioned is really spot on is that out there in the current marketplace, there is, there are bunches of books that are written from like, more of a medical perspective, or like a chemical perspective, right about like, you know, MAO and inhibitors, you know, or whatever, and like, that sort of thing. And then there are also
Nick Courtright (14:08)
They’re your firsthand testimonies where people are like, I saw the stars sparkling, you know, or whatever, you know, but the idea that in a sense, you know, you’ve been a witness to many, like almost in a sense, like a large scale clinical trial, ⁓ right? ⁓ Is a really sort of interesting, you know, piece of the puzzle. So I guess one question I have for you is,
Nick Courtright (14:36)
How would you go about incorporating some of the, you know, transformative things that you’ve witnessed people experience into the…
Sam Believ (14:48)
So I’ve been thinking about that a lot about how to structure the book and what I think I would do is ⁓ start with just a general explanation of what it is, how it works, just to kind of make people understand that this book is for them. So before I even go into specific stories and let’s say somebody who’s reading that book is… ⁓
Sam Believ (15:13)
is depressed but then all of a sudden there’s a story about somebody overcoming alcoholism so they’ll be like boring you know that’s not for me so what i would start with is like ⁓ explain ⁓ it would be like before your ayahuasca experience during your ayahuasca experience after your ayahuasca experience so the i’m thinking about including 10 to maybe 20 stories and after ayahuasca experience part maybe i’ll mention them shortly in the beginning just for motivation sakes
Sam Believ (15:43)
but kind of go people I interviewed, people that gave us testimonials, people I know personally, we can, we’ll even throw in your story there about how you stopped drinking and all the good stuff. So just like firsthand accounts of people overcoming specific issues and telling their stories. Cause I think people like hearing stories. And obviously the good part is that I have most of them ⁓ on video or in a podcast format. then maybe I could smartly include some links so people can go and actually see, but ⁓
Sam Believ (16:12)
That would definitely be a part of it. mostly I would, as you say, it’s kind of like a ⁓ one person study, but I would include mostly like a meta analysis of things, not because I actually know how to make a meta analysis, but because, you know, if you ask me a question, my brain gives you an answer because of things I’ve seen and experienced and heard and, know, countless word circles, hundreds, if not thousands of hours of listening to people describing their experiences. So I kind of have that wisdom now thanks to.
Sam Believ (16:41)
being there for so long and I can kind of give people that motivation.
Nick Courtright (16:48)
Yeah, so what sorts of, what are some of the biggest transformations that you’ve seen that you think might be a part of?
Sam Believ (16:56)
I number one depression, ⁓ number two anxiety, addiction, ⁓ sometimes physical ailments, a lot of times ⁓ finding direction in life. You know in Loire we say our motto is connect, heal, grow. So from the healing point of view, everything physical and mental, just so many different stories I can’t even recall them all. And even physical healing, know a lot of
Sam Believ (17:26)
autoimmune issues, gut issues, ⁓ skin issues, ⁓ every basically every disease mental or physical that starts with emotions ayahuasca goes there and somehow massages it out of you obviously not ayahuasca itself with integration as well and integration would be a big part of the book as well ⁓ but not from a theoretical point of view but from what actually worked
Sam Believ (17:54)
for people and for myself included, because I am going through my own journey ⁓ and I can attest to many things with the first hand experience, including depression and lack of direction in life.
Nick Courtright (18:08)
Tell me a bit more about integration and how that would feature in the book specifically.
Sam Believ (18:14)
So obviously in ⁓ every retreat we teach about integration. have a ⁓ number of podcast episodes about integration, ⁓ if you’re not, because integration is sort of one of those ⁓ overly talked about topics, but in short, integration is how you take your iOS experience and then bring it back to your real life and kind of make them on the same level. So it’s not just like, here’s my life, here’s my iOS experience, two separate things, never connected. It’s like how to take.
Sam Believ (18:44)
Core lessons and bring them into the into your life, but mostly it’s about forming habits ⁓ actually how to do stuff in such a way that you don’t ⁓ That you keep doing it because integration is you know You do your Alaska ceremony I was to treat for one week and then your integration is the next year before you come and My question to you Nick How was your integration process you because I think it was what a bit more than a year since you’re coming back now
Nick Courtright (19:14)
Yeah, so I was there ⁓ in January. So it will be like exactly a year, pretty much. ⁓ And yeah, I think one thing that really helped me a lot was the fact was that the diet, you know, was very helpful. ⁓ Because I had to, you know, quit caffeine, and I had to quit alcohol, ⁓ I, know, before coming, and then obviously was not on those things there. And then it was like, when I got out, I was like, it’s
Nick Courtright (19:44)
I’ll just finish out dry January, you know? And by the time January was over, I was just like over it, you know? So I think that, you know, integration starts like almost in a weird way, like before the experience, right? Like I was going to work with you before you even do it, right? Because you need to prepare for it, you know, and then, you know, you sort of chart behavior and then the neuroplasticity is so high that anything that you’re sort of setting in motion
Nick Courtright (20:14)
like in the immediate aftermath can really take root. Like I also like quit caffeine, which is like freaking insane. You know, like that I never would have liked. I was drinking like multiple cups of coffee when I was like 16 and now I’m in my forties. I hadn’t gone like two days without coffee and like literally decades, ⁓ you know? ⁓ So I think that was a big part. ⁓ And you know, thinking about it, you know,
Nick Courtright (20:43)
going back and listening to the music, you know, there was like a recording from a session that I was at. That was a really helpful part to sort of like put me back in that place to review the notes that I had written. ⁓ I do think, you know, it is, it doesn’t, you know, it’s difficult to make it last forever, right? You know, I think it is like with a lot of things and that’s why I’m going back. It’s like getting a booster shot, right?
Sam Believ (21:10)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Courtright (21:11)
⁓ is really helpful in this time, you know, I’m planning on like going deeper in like having more intentionality. Like I know some things that I want to get out of it this time. Whereas last time I was sort of, you know, wandering in like thinking it was just an adventure. ⁓ so yeah, I think that, you know, integration is an ongoing lasting process. ⁓ and you know, you need.
Sam Believ (21:37)
Yeah, now you know why you’re coming and hopefully in your preparation for your next visit you will be maybe reading small parts of the book that I’m writing and you’ll be next level ready so you will be the patient zero.
Nick Courtright (21:53)
⁓ Patient zero sounds dangerous, yeah, ⁓ I remember, you know, like thinking about Lyuaira as sort of like the the world’s strangest hospital, right? ⁓ And, you know, and you do refer to people like as patients, and that’s like an interesting way of thinking about it. But like, in a sense, if everyone is there to heal, you know, that is an appropriate term. ⁓ So in terms of the
Sam Believ (22:21)
Everyone’s there to heal whether they know it or not including yourself. Yeah
Nick Courtright (22:25)
⁓ Yeah, yeah, I didn’t know it. Yeah, I was like, they’ve got a swimming pool, you know. ⁓ You know, it wasn’t necessarily like you’re going to like confront some deep stuff. But, you know, that’s interesting. So I guess in terms of the your book, I what sort of ⁓ timeline are you thinking of in terms of getting this thing ready?
Sam Believ (22:38)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Believ (22:50)
I would say the sooner the better. ⁓ Once I finally got this clarity that the world needs that book, now I’m like yeah, world really needs that book because ⁓ I want to ⁓ write a book for people who are ⁓ on the verge. I want to write a book that you would want to… ⁓ If you already had ayahuasca, I want to write a book that you wish you read before you had your first ayahuasca experience. That kind of book. ⁓
Sam Believ (23:19)
It’s a book that answers all your questions and kind of helps you do it right. ⁓ So I think the sooner the better. would say I would like to ⁓ have some kind of manuscript or ⁓ something readable ⁓ before January. So let’s say this year, which means that you’d be able to read it not as a publisher, but of course, partially, but also as somebody that is going to have an iOS experience. So you’d have an
Sam Believ (23:47)
extra motivation. think I know you, I think you have a lot of books thrown at you that you have to read. This is different so that you can even use it yourself and then can give me productive feedback. And then the rest of it depends on you. If you want to publish it, then hopefully 2025 is the year where I have a book, physical one.
Nick Courtright (24:10)
Yeah, I think it is good and I think it is helpful because there are plenty of ayahuasca user guides and stuff like that out there. But I think there are lots of seemingly redundant books about all sorts of topics, but there’s always that individual angle. And I think the way that it’s done at Lawyra is
Nick Courtright (24:38)
just a really like fantastic way of approaching it and like thinking about it. It’s not overly clinical. You know, it has an element of like Western healing to it, you know, and like community building, but then also, you know, is obviously like very authentic, you know, with a lot of like traditional elements as well. So I think that there’s, there’s a lot, you know, that can be added and that can really sort of help people prepare for the experience and also
Nick Courtright (25:07)
you know, be useful to them in the aftermath.
Nick Courtright (25:14)
So what are you going to call it?
Sam Believ (25:17)
⁓ Actually, ⁓ what I’m gonna do is just read all the title ideas. So once again, I’m gonna make a forum and ⁓ a comment section for this podcast episode. So guys, you please go ahead and let me know what you think about the title and about everything else that we’re gonna share. Here are the possible titles. Reasonable Ayahuasca, the Ayahuasca Book.
Sam Believ (25:44)
How I learned to stop worrying and love ayahuasca. How to actually heal with ayahuasca. Things I wish I knew before trying ayahuasca. A.I. ayahuasca as in A.I. ⁓ Ten years of therapy in one week. Healing with ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is for everyone. Read this book before you try ayahuasca. ⁓ Is ayahuasca right for you? ⁓ Ayahuasca for the first timers. Ayahuasca for normies.
Sam Believ (26:13)
ayahuasca is calling ayahuasca is calling you actually the last one came up to me tonight when I couldn’t sleep I have a newborn but also just my brain keeps going back to to the book ideas and I like this one a lot what do you think yourself personally
Nick Courtright (26:30)
of which one the ayahuasca is calling you.
Sam Believ (26:32)
I was just calling or I was just calling you.
Nick Courtright (26:36)
⁓ I think it’s, I think it’s good. think that they have a lot of like good candidates there. think obviously like seeing the structure of the book, you know, is going to be really important to see like how the parts are broken down, how the chapters are broken down. Cause you don’t want the sort of the tail to wag the dog, right? You know, so ⁓ the title is going to have to follow it. I think in terms of marketability, you know, like healing with Ayahuasca, you know, would probably.
Sam Believ (26:55)
Yeah.
Nick Courtright (27:05)
you know, get a good bit of traction. Cause I think that that does sort of tap into the idea of like, this is, you know, a methodology that can, you know, have big effects for you. Obviously that book is not necessarily going to appeal to people who are, you know, going ⁓ to do ayahuasca as an adventure, right? Or like people who are just like doing it to check some interesting thing off their list, right? They are going to get healed by it.
Nick Courtright (27:35)
you know, but they aren’t necessarily knowing that before they go there. So I think it’ll be interesting. It’ll be really great to, you know, see what other people’s, you know, insights are on, you know, which ones. And that’s one thing I know with Atmosphere Press anyway, with any author who works with us, I think probably a good solid like quarter of the books that we end up publishing, the book title changes during
Nick Courtright (28:03)
the production process because they’ll go through editorial meetings and it’s like, actually, we want to change that. We want to throw a subtitle on there and we work collaboratively with the author. And then of course, like the marketing department and all of that to try to think about like, what is going to be, you know, the best way to position this book to have the type of impact that you want to have.
Sam Believ (28:26)
Definitely, ⁓ I’m excited learning more about that.
Nick Courtright (28:30)
Yeah, it’s a whole ⁓ giant pile. And of course, you know, writing it, you know, I’ve had four of my books published and writing a book is ⁓ definitely a labor of love. So if you’re wanting to get done by the new year, you’re gonna have your work cut out for you. ⁓ it’s totally doable. And you have a lot of, you know, great content, you know, from the podcasts, you know, that’s a lot of like golden content from a lot
Nick Courtright (29:00)
testimonials ⁓ that you have on Google reviews, for example, if you could get permission to mine those for pieces and claims that you could use. mean, there’s a lot of content that you can deploy.
Sam Believ (29:17)
Definitely. Any other questions, Nick?
Nick Courtright (29:19)
Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, one thing I’m curious ⁓ to understand more about ⁓ is how do you anticipate that this book will ⁓ alter the sort of experience of people going to Lwai?
Sam Believ (29:41)
So the book that I want to write, I just want it to be kind of as an exhaustive ⁓ guide in a way that you will kind of position you. You will know more about Ayahuasca than some of the facilitators. Like the idea is you’ll be so, so ready. So when you come to Lawyra and let’s say I’m going through my normal introduction and guides, you’ll know everything and more.
Sam Believ (30:11)
It’s basically this book will give you so much trust with the medicine. It’ll give you so much understanding on how to manage your expectations. It will give you understanding how to set your intention. It will give you stories like everything, everything you need to just ⁓ be like 100 % ready. So it’s kind of like book slash course in a way because it will, it will.
Sam Believ (30:38)
⁓ My plan is to not have anything missed there anything that comes to using ayahuasca to actually heal and grow as well So ⁓ that’s that that’s what comes to me to mind when you ask that question
Nick Courtright (30:51)
Yeah, I think it’ll be great. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing that and to being a part of it. And should I show the tattoo?
Sam Believ (31:02)
yeah, please do.
Nick Courtright (31:04)
⁓ So there’s that.
Sam Believ (31:07)
For those who watching the video, he’s showing a Lawyra logo, the logo of the retreat, same that I have on my t-shirt. ⁓ that’s really cool to see when people, their experience was so significant that they wanna put it on your skin. ⁓ That’s really cool, Nick. ⁓ You’re one of the very few.
Nick Courtright (31:15)
You
Nick Courtright (31:23)
Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. I mean, it was definitely like, ⁓ I’m not, I don’t have like a million tattoos or anything. So it was like, you know, a significant thing, you know, but as as I got back, I think it was like part of the integration experience. It’s like, remember this, you know, like remember this process, remember like sort of the, you know, the piece that, you know, I came to. and I think it’s good. I think it’s also like helped me.
Sam Believ (31:39)
huh.
Nick Courtright (31:52)
I, you know, be a better publisher and better business owner as well. ⁓ Cause now like, if there are any authors out there, you know, if you end up submitting a manuscript to atmosphere press, like we’re going to try to treat you really well, you know, like we’re going to try to treat you with respect throughout that entire journey. And I think that, you know, that was, ⁓ those were beliefs that I had before ayahuasca.
Nick Courtright (32:19)
but Ayahuasca just reinforced them more that we wanted to give to people. We wanted to be more generous. We wanted to be more helpful. We wanted to be more dynamic and inclusive and like thoughtful and sensitive and all of these other things. So it all kind of, you know, works together.
Sam Believ (32:37)
The love and the connection is definitely something ayahuasca teaches you. ⁓ So I want to ask the people that are listening, know, what book would you want to read ⁓ about ayahuasca? Would you ⁓ even want to read a book? know, maybe I’m just, maybe feel free. I’ll give you the completely anonymous forum to fill. You can tell me everything you think. Maybe there is no need for a book.
Sam Believ (33:06)
Maybe there is too many books already. Maybe there is something else you need. So I’m just going to tell you shortly ⁓ what I want to write a book about. And then you can also tell me which all of those things are interesting and which are not. So basically, I want to write a book for people that have done ayahuasca a few times and just want to do it better. Or people have never done ayahuasca. So book to motivate people to try it for the first time. Book that kind of teaches you that
Sam Believ (33:36)
ayahuasca is for everyone of course not everyone but almost everyone but most likely for you and Because you know, there’s a lot of like people think that it’s only for a certain kind of people Yeah, educate people how to do it. Right avoiding common pitfalls I wanted to provide most complete most holistic most up-to-date most down-to-earth explanation how ayahuasca healing actually works so nothing
Sam Believ (34:01)
know too woo woo but also not too scientific stuff that actually works and so yeah and of course ⁓ hopefully get people motivate them to come and drink ayahuasca and ⁓ would be lovely if they come to lawara as well so that’s that’s what i want to write a book about and you guys can let me know what what would you want this book to be about if you think there is a good idea to write a book
Nick Courtright (34:28)
Yeah, and I think the real trouble that you’re going to be in, Sam, is when you realize that you need to write more than one. ⁓
Sam Believ (34:36)
Yeah, so in choosing the title I need to also consider to make sure it rhymes with the future titles Yeah
Nick Courtright (34:43)
⁓ Well, like you were just saying, you know, ayahuasca is for everyone. Like that’s a great title, right? Like that would also be great. You know, so there’s the, you know, the healing with ayahuasca, you know, could really lean into like the sort of trauma focus, you know, and then the ayahuasca is for everyone could lean into like the community focus and like, you know, I mean, there’s, there are a lot of different things. Cause one thing that you
Sam Believ (34:50)
Yeah.
Nick Courtright (35:11)
almost in a sense want to be careful for is not to try to write the book that’s the book for everyone. Right. Cause then anytime we encounter an author who’s like, well, who’s your target audience? And they’re like, everybody. It’s like, well, if it’s everybody, it’s nobody. Right. So it almost like makes more sense to like have books, like multiple shorter books that are focused towards specific, you know, subsections ⁓ of, know, your potential.
Sam Believ (35:27)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Believ (35:37)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Courtright (35:41)
audience. But of course, that’s a pain in the ass. ⁓
Sam Believ (35:43)
I’m gonna write one just for you, Nick. I’m gonna call it Ayahuasca for Publishers.
Nick Courtright (35:48)
⁓ Yeah, yeah, just do that.
Sam Believ (35:50)
No, but it’s a good idea. yeah, my book is it’s actually very specific. I know exactly who needs it. And that’s basically our target audience, people who come to the wire. It’s males and females 25 to 40. ⁓ They people that heard about ayahuasca, they feel the calling they they have some doubts, you know, they want to learn more. ⁓ First timers, people on the fence or even people that
Sam Believ (36:16)
done ayahuasca once and now they’re confused like what am I supposed to do what is what am I supposed to do with all this information like how do I actually use it to heal because it’s not as easy as it seems so I know exactly who I’m writing a book for but you know when we said about titles and also continuations of the book as you know the virus motto is connect heal grow and so if I write a book about healing with ayahuasca then I can write a book about growing with ayahuasca
Sam Believ (36:42)
when I am ready to ⁓ and when I know more about that. But if I want to write all those books, who’s going to run Loire for me? So that’s another question.
Nick Courtright (36:42)
and
Nick Courtright (36:50)
Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s where we ⁓ when I come down in January, we’ll talk about that the whole being a business owner part because we’re both, you know, business owners and you know, trying to, you know, run an operation and not be like swallowed by it at the same time. You know, that’s that’s always a challenge.
Sam Believ (36:58)
Yeah.
Sam Believ (37:12)
Definitely so ⁓ Yeah, think I think it should be clear by now what What am I planning to write and the best part is that now as soon as this episode is out? I’m the cat is out of the box. So I will have to write a book now there is You got you guys can keep me accountable and if you come back in January and ask me for my book and I’ll be like ⁓ You know, I kind of changed my mind, you know, feel free to kind of ⁓
Nick Courtright (37:29)
Yeah, you’re in trouble.
Sam Believ (37:40)
poke me or say something that’s not nice so I don’t keep myself accountable. ⁓ Nick, ⁓ talk to us a little bit more about, you said, being a business owner, obviously being a publisher, ⁓ your own family life, how do you do it all together and how maybe did IOSCA help you in any way?
Nick Courtright (38:06)
Yeah, I think, you know, and my wife has like spoken about this, that like Ayahuasca, like I came back more patient, right? ⁓ And now I’m like, okay, like now I need to level that up. You know, I want to be, I’ve got two kids, a 10 year old and a 15 year old. And you know, like I’m a good dad, but I want to be a better dad. And I’m a good husband, but I want to be a better husband. And you know, I’m a good business owner, like with my team of like,
Nick Courtright (38:36)
45 people working for Atmosphere and all of that, but I want to be better at it, you know, and so I think, you know, all of these things, like they do all require balance and there are only so many hours in the day, right? So learning how to decide what to prioritize, you know, what to, you know, put my attention into, you know, I think is, is always a challenge. So I think whenever anybody is just stuck on like the hamster wheel of life.
Nick Courtright (39:05)
you know, ayahuasca is like, definitely a way to stop the hamster wheel, you know, like, you’re going to have to like, look at things through a new lens and like see a new perspective. And that can give you a lot of like an almost like semi objective view of your life. And that’s not necessarily going to be easy, like parts of it, you’re going to, you’re going to hate, know, you’re going to be like, ⁓ I’m screwing this up or like, I’m not doing this part right.
Nick Courtright (39:33)
You know, but that’s going to like give you the opportunity then to make adjustments, to like get rid of bitterness, to get rid of regret, you know, to, you know, sort of start anew and, you know, patch things up if there are any damaged elements. ⁓ so yeah, I’m looking forward to, ⁓ to diving deeper this time. And, know, this last time I had no idea that going on this adventure to Columbia was going to.
Nick Courtright (40:02)
make me stop drinking alcohol and make me run a marathon. Like that was not on my radar at all. It wasn’t one of my intentions. It wasn’t my plan. Like I didn’t care about that stuff. Right. ⁓ so I’m really curious to see what sort of unexpected, you know, things sort of come out of this next go.
Sam Believ (40:24)
Yeah, this is ⁓ mean I love to hear your journey a couple book titles come to me for you to write, ⁓ how ayahuasca made me run a marathon and ⁓ My wife has spoken if you ever write an autobiography. So here’s some ideas for you Yeah, it’s really cool. It’s really cool. So this is once again This is why I need to write a book ⁓ to one of the one of the chapters is ⁓ have some chapter names already
Nick Courtright (40:40)
You
Sam Believ (40:50)
set out. I’ve actually written a few chapters already but one of them says ⁓ I was because not a magic bullet you know it’s like that’s name of the chapter so kind of explaining what’s what’s what’s the work that will need to be done and what is that work because it’s like yeah you need to do work as like what is it how does it look like what do I do in how that structure it how do I do enough but not too much to get burnt out and give up on the whole thing but how do I not
Sam Believ (41:18)
you know, do nothing at all and just become this kind of person that ⁓ just drinks ayahuasca and never does the homework. ⁓ So all of that and more. So I’m really excited. And once again, Nick, thank you for giving me that idea. yeah, ⁓ unless you have any more questions for me, we can start wrapping that one up.
Nick Courtright (41:41)
Yeah, no, think I think ⁓ that’s all good. I just want to sort of got to, you know, plug the business, of course. So if any of you listeners out there are, you know, writers, you’ve got your own ideas. If you want to scoop Sam and you know, write the book, you know, before he does, ⁓ but ⁓ if any of you are writers, like definitely check out atmospherepress.com. You know, we’ve got all sorts of you know, we give away free books, we
Sam Believ (41:49)
the police.
Nick Courtright (42:09)
giveaway free interviews. have a writing residency that we run in Costa Rica. That’s really amazing. ⁓ So we’ve got all sorts of awesome resources. If you’re a writer, you know, come check us out. And yeah, definitely also, you know, if you’re, if you haven’t, if you’re listening to this and you haven’t, you know, try the Ayahuasca experience yet, I mean, I couldn’t possibly recommend it more. I recommended it so much that I literally
Nick Courtright (42:36)
tattooed a thing on my arm so that people would ask me what it was so that I could talk about it. ⁓ you know, that sort of shows how ⁓ hardcore my endorsement is.
Sam Believ (42:47)
That’s a ⁓ dedication. I have a chapter that I wrote is like how not to lose friends after an ayahuasca retreat that that’s ⁓ Yeah, how to not become a zealot ⁓ so ⁓ Interestingly enough as we speak it’s like it all it all makes sense. So it’s all it’s also very necessary You know having different story versions for different people ⁓ Yeah, man, thank you for spreading the word. Thank you for your work ⁓
Nick Courtright (42:54)
⁓ Yeah, by talking about it endlessly and being annoying. ⁓
Sam Believ (43:16)
I ⁓ love the idea if somebody was listening to this and had the great ayahuasca experience, write a book about your experience. Like that’s great. know, like honestly, I think I believe ayahuasca is going to go mainstream next five to 10 years. And when it happens, your book will become best seller. know, it’s people there’s even though it seems like there’s a lot, really think there is not enough ⁓ when the wave of people comes. So.
Sam Believ (43:43)
Nick, thank you so much for inspiration. Thank you so much for, you know, just being you because it makes me feel really happy to see you healthy, happy, fit, and to know that maybe I did a little part in it. So thank you so much.
Nick Courtright (43:59)
Alright, thanks for having me.
Sam Believ (44:02)
Guys, you’ve been listening to ayahuascapodcast.com. As always with you, the host, Sam Belyev. ⁓ Please ⁓ check out the link in the forum, ⁓ link in the podcast description and fill out the forum about questions about the book. Thank you so much and I’ll see you in the next episode.