Building community together
We are excited to introduce our new Community Leaders who will be bringing their unique perspectives, boundless passion and unwavering dedication to The Flying Sage community. We are excited to embark on this journey together and grateful to have such amazing people supporting our efforts.
Community Leaders
-
Gabriel Largaespada
Born and raised in Nicaragua, Gabo has always had an affinity for the realm of the physical, the psychological and the spiritual. As a movement coach, he’s had the chance to observe how physical exercise can change not only a person’s body but also the way they think and exist in the world.
Gabo’s connection to the spiritual realm was initiated through psychedelic medicines, meditation and breathe work practices. He’s guided group meditations, facilitated healing events and now aims to continue furthering his passion for helping people through a modality that he finds incredibly powerful, psychedelic medicines.
-
Mehran Seyed Emami
Mehran (Mind Body Integration) is a trauma-informed MDMA-assisted psychotherapist based in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples now known as the city of Vancouver. He is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC), and Certified Practitioner of Compassionate Inquiry (developed by Gabor Maté). He is a graduate of the Integral Counseling Psychology and Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research programs at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). He is also trained in Somatic Experiencing and Holotropic Breathwork, and in his work with clients, invites a holistic and somatic (body-centered) approach, while looking through a biopsychosocial-spiritual lens.
-
Dana Harvey
Dana Harvey is a Psychedelics and Microdosing Educator and Guide. She supports people who are curious about or exploring plant medicines for personal growth and healing to reduce risk and unlock the propensity for transformation. Dana’s own personal growth and healing journey revealed to her that even when you tick all the boxes of external success, inside, you may still be stuck and suffering. She embarked on a journey to find true happiness and fulfillment. In the process, she left her corporate position as CCO and Head of Investor Relations for one of the leading publicly traded psychedelics companies to follow her passion for serving people at a heart-felt level. Now, Dana intertwines two decades of coaching and mentoring people in business, confidence, positive mindset and life transformations with specialized training in psychedelic tripsitting, somatic integration, mindfulness, breathwork, microdose coaching, Internal Family Systems, and group healing models as well as hands-on apprenticeship to provide psychedelic-assisted support to individuals and groups. Dana founded The Flourish Academy through which she provides loving guidance, shares evidence-based knowledge and cultivates supportive communities like The Flourish Academy Clubhouse with 2K+ members and Vancouver Women in Psychedelics.
-
Damian Kai Norman
As a certified counsellor specializing in trauma and somatic therapy, a 2x certified breathwork facilitator, a psychedelic integration counsellor, a certified ICF accredited coach, and a holistic movement practitioner with a professional dance background; Damian Kai Norman values community, freedom, and physical-emotional embodiment. He loves facilitating group work and wellness retreats, creating safe containers for authentic vulnerable conversations, befriending our nervous system, and cultivating our capacity to feel fearlessly. Norman has over 10 years of experience facilitating, including internationally across Canada, Europe, and South America. Norman is a student at heart and is currently in the second year Somatic Experiencing International training and completed the Embody Lab Somatic Attachment Therapy program. Norman has completed levels 1, 2a, 2b, & 3 of Robin Clement’s Breathwave Facilitator training, co-facilitates with Robin in level 1 and 2 trainings, and co-facilitated the first Clinical Breathwork program in North America. Norman is a certified Level 1 Craniosacral Therapist, a certified yoga instructor, a Level 3 graduate of the Movement Flow program, and completed four years of professional dance training at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and York University. Norman brings Breathwork, Psycoheducation Cirlces, and Embodiment Workshops to TheraPsil, Qi Integrated Health, corporate & wellness companies, retreats, festivals, and trainings. He is a leader in conscious men’s work through the Expansive Man and the Arka Brotherhood, has completed levels 1 & 2 of the Conscious Relationship Training (CRT), completed The Power of Awareness meditation training, and was one of the first graduates of Toad School psychedelic training. Lastly, he is a graduate of the Rhodes College Professional Counselling Program. Norman has an intimate relationship with trauma and continues to learn through lived experience how to compassionately relate to his own chronic pain through working with the nervous system. Norman is here to do the work with you and attune to your personal journey. With a calm grounded presence and an uplifting encouraging spirit, Norman invites you to connect with your body and build a relationship of trust, curiosity and compassion… Creating a loving partnership with yourself.
-
Alireza Jambor
Alireza is an engineer, movement coach, and psychedelics enthusiast. He has explored a range of practices and disciplines such as Yoga, Acrobatics, Capoeira, Dance, Climbing, and Fire Spinning. Ali's mission as a teacher is to inspire individuals to engage in a physical practice that transcends mere improvements in strength, flexibility, and aesthetic appeal. He advocates for a meaningful practice that promotes extensive exploration of the body and fosters physical and mental growth, self-expression, playfulness, and creativity. Furthermore, Ali believes that with proper approach and intentionality, psychedelics can be seamlessly integrated into a movement practice, further enhancing a sense of play, skill acquisition, and creative exploration.
-
Aga Postawska
Aga is a trauma informed Breathwork practitioner, Kambo and Bufo facilitator, and mushroom medicine guide. She has over 10 years of professional experience working in the realm of holistic healing and expanded states of consciousness. She is a playful explorer of our inner worlds and is passionate at providing a safe space for people to heal with the help of spirit medicines.
-
Brian Carew
Brian Carew (Lion Ra) is an intuitive divine masculine coach and guide. Weaving ancient philosophy, practice, and paradigms in a modern context, Brian is here to lead and inspire through both his embodied wisdom and ability to share the stories of older ways in language and practices that are relevant to our modern day. Brian has been led and taught by many great plant medicines from a very young age and attest much of his wisdom and deeper knowings to these immersions and initiations. As a Flying Sage Community Leader, Brian's intention is hold space and guide those on the journey of discovering themselves through the assistance of plant medicine, and how to integrate those lessons and teachings so that learning may become embodied and infused into the persons way of living and being.
-
Navin Sahjpaul
Navin Sahjpaul (Music Therapist, BMT, Certified Yoga Teacher, Musician, Mental Health Advocate) is a South Asian man of colour who identifies as an Indo-Canadian (he/him). Both of his parents were born in India and immigrated to Canada at a young age with their families. He resides and works in Vancouver, BC and this life journey thus far has led him to pursuing a career path in being of service in this world. Navin is deeply passionate about well-being, mental health, community building, and healing, a believer in the idea that one can overcome life adversity and does not have to live an existence that consists mostly of pain and suffering.
-
Angela Ivy Leong
Angela is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Founder of An Elegant Mind (AEM) Counselling Inc., a private practice that specialises in relational intimacy, sex, and psychedelics. Angela holds a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia. She has over 10 years of experience helping people from the lowest to the highest rungs of society find meaning in life. Her method involves a deep acknowledgement of core wounds, the development of key skills for functional, loving relationships and the psycho-education required for the embodiment of the sexual self. Clients who have worked with Angela have experienced deep emotional release, compassionate strategies for becoming unstuck, and transformation into more authentic versions of self expression. In the An Elegant Mind (AEM) method, clients are taken through three levels of healing: (1) individually–where you carve out your authentic sense of self, (2) relationally—where you learn relational skills, and (3) sexually—where you learn to use pleasure as a form of intimate relating and a way of being. At AEM, we acknowledge that psychedelics are an epistemology in and of themselves (a way of knowing), and that spirituality is inextricably linked with psychology.
-
Sagan Bolliger
Sagan is a psychedelic guide and co-creator of the Earthlings Institute with his life partner Helena Zhu, where they offer transformative private and group experiences with the medicine 5-MeO-DMT, monthly integration circles, and facilitator circles for fostering community and best practices among psychedelic facilitators. As a young person, Sagan found himself confronted with the task of healing as he found the symptoms of his childhood trauma standing in the way of him becoming the person he wanted to be as an adult, as they manifested in depression, shame, and anxiety. He has had many teachers and allies on the path of healing, but among the most significant for him have been the earth medicines, meditation, and his connection to the natural world through skiing, rock climbing, and quiet contemplation. He studied Psychology and Philosophy as an undergraduate, completed a Masters in Computer Science, and was in the midst of pursuing a career in Artificial Intelligence when he found himself called by the medicine to step into service as a guide in the spring of 2020 just as the world was shutting down and reinventing itself in light of the pandemic. It’s been a beautiful journey of re-focusing on his own inner work, learning from mentors, and stepping into community. Sagan approaches his work as a guide with a deep honouring of the courage it takes to show up for ourselves in the process of healing and believe in creating a therapeutic container with enough love and acceptance to bring home even our most deeply exiled parts.
About the program
The Flying Sage Community Leader program is pivotal for the dynamic growth of our community in multiple profound ways. First and foremost, these seasoned and experienced leaders bring a wealth of diverse experiences and insights, ensuring that our community development draws from a rich tapestry of knowledge and backgrounds.
Their expertise extends beyond just the theoretical understanding of psychedelics; it encompasses integration, therapeutic practices, facilitation techniques and the art of building supportive networks. This collective wisdom enriches our community's discussions, events, and overall atmosphere, providing unparalleled value to all of our members.
Unique Skill sets
Collectively, this group of Community Leaders bring many different therapeutic focuses to the community including but not limited to…
Internal Family SyStems
Movement Flow
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Sex therapY
Trauma informed counselling
Psychedelic Integration therapY
Breathwork
Shamanic practice
Music therapy
Microdosing coaching
SOmatic practice
And much more…