Jon Macaskill is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned leadership and mindfulness coach. During his 24-year Navy career, he served in multiple highly dynamic leadership positions from the battlefield to the operations center and the board room. His style of teaching leadership is unconventional yet highly effective. He is passionate about helping people and organizations become the best versions of themselves through mindfulness coaching, keynote speaking, and grit and resilience training.
After graduating high school, he served briefly as an enlisted sailor in the US Navy before receiving an appointment to the US Naval Academy and graduating from there with a BS in mathematics 4 years later. Jon served in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the coast of Somalia, and in Panama.
After retiring, he served briefly as the Deputy Executive Director for the veteran nonprofit, Veteran’s PATH. He now runs a podcast called Men Talking Mindfulness; does keynote speaking engagements on developing leadership, grit, and resilience; and owns his own consulting company, Macaskill Consulting, LLC. In all three roles, his desire is to improve cultures and individuals through mindfulness, meditation, vulnerability, and compassion.
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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Psychedelic plants and compounds are illegal in many countries, and even possession can carry severe criminal penalties. None of this post constitutes medical advice or should be construed as a recommendation to use psychedelics. There are serious legal, psychological, and physical risks. Psychedelics are not for everyone—they can exacerbate certain emotional problems, and there have been, in very rare cases, fatalities.
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Books Mentioned:
- Man’s Search for Meaning
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
- Reinventing Masculinity: The Liberating Power of Compassion and Connection
- How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
- Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
- Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
- For the Love of Men: From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity
People Mentioned:
- Steven Kolter
- Joe Dispenza
- Michael Pollan
- Deepak Chopra
- Will Schneider
- Theresa Larson
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Bessel van der Kolk
- Bill Burnett
- Liz Plank
Show Notes:
- Your email signature has with the utmost respect. I’ve never seen like that before. Is there a story or a thought behind it?
- Where did you grow up? How old were you when you moved to the US?
- You joined the military at the age of 14. What was the influential point for you to join the Navy and military?
- Do you have any family members who would have served in the military?
- Would you like to share any stories from your childhood days with us?
- How’s your relationship with your parents now?
- When I was reading about your work, I read that you live on a small farm in Colorado Springs. Is that correct?
- How do you cultivate peace and what practices do you enjoy and perform on a daily basis?
- I would love to know about your spiritual readings. Do you study any religious books or they are some forms of a book or a blog?
- What kind of meditation do you do?
- Could you share any stories from your military experience? Anything that pops up in your mind?
- Met counselor who proposed mindfulness meditation when serving in the military.
- What changes did you observe in yourself through the counseling and mindfulness meditation at that point when you were serving in the military?
- May I ask you about the reason behind your depression and anxiety?
- Why did you choose mindfulness as a way to impact people when you could have chosen different areas after you’re retired?
- In your work, when you hear people that mindfulness and meditation are not for them, then how do you convince or influence them to try meditation at least for some time?
- Can you share the physiology of meditation?
- Have you explored other practices in the mindfulness space to cultivate calm and peace?
- Can you talk about your psychedelic experiences and why psychedelic?
- You mentioned your work with Joe Dispenza about healing or healing. What was that? Can you tell us more about that?
- As you have been working on mindfulness and meditation and healing modalities, how has your second marriage been evolved?
- Are you comfortable talking about some of the lessons you learned from your first marriage, which you have applied in your second marriage?
- What is your leadership style and how do you help people develop compassionate leadership and resilient leadership these days?
- Your thoughts on masculinity and toxic masculinity. What is it and how we can let go of those myths?
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