Dr. John Galaska shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi John, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I am a newly wed at 78. Wow! My wife passed in May of 2019 after 47 years of marriage and my life has burst with new found love. since. Mary and I met dancing and were married in a flash mob pop-up wedding behind the arcade at the poppy fountain in downtown Ojai. It made the papers. So to get even close to answering the question that’s the context. I have a plant rental business, Rainforest Plant Company, and most people in town identify me as Jungle john, but that’s only half the picture. I went back to school in 2017 and earned my second doctorate in clinical psychology in 2020. I call my therapy business Be Calm of Ojai. So I’m Dr. John as well as Jungle John.
My day starts out with checking my schedule for biofeedback and neurofeedback clients for the week and how I will weave them around my teaching at Antioch University in Santa Barbara. Do I have any big event plant rentals for the upcoming weekend? My wife and my daughter might be enlisted to asist. My son maintains the stock in our large shade house and I need to calm myself about the condition of the stock on hand.
I use slow paced breathing and a neurofeedback device to balance my own nervous system just as I teach my clients to do.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I experience a bit of dissappointment each time I meet someone in town who calls me Jungle John. So many people do not recognize the other half of me. I’m thinking about re-branding myself as the mad scientist of Ojai who uses manipulation of brain waves and autonomic nervous system to help you overcome anxiety and get the kind of subjective life exxperience you want.
Who am I! For one almost every venue in town celebrates Mary and My arrival with “The dancers are here.” We love music and dancing. That’s how we met.. Dancing is good for the mind, body and soul. Maybe I’m the dancing Doctor who found new love at 78.
I’m also a professor at Antioch and I light up when I meet former students. I get ecsatatic whenever they tell me something of value they learned in my class.
My life is biofeedback, neurofeedback, hypnosis, teaching psyc and hauling big beautiful plants all over SoCal.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was the naive teenager who joined the army at 19 in 1966 during Vietnam. I was fortunate to spend my entire tour in Germany. Never saw combat. I received a European discharge and stayed in Europe for a total of twelve years.
I skied all over the continent. Flew to Morocco in a private plane. The world never forced me into a box. I chose my own path, stumbled at times, but leared to speak conversational German and a much better Spanish during seven years in Germany and five years in spain. I learned the art of dressage. I’m a beginner.
I was in on the philosophical war between the behaviorists like B.F. Skinner and the Humanistic Existentialists like Carl Rogers, Rollow May, and Abe Maslow. I discovered they were both right, just looking at it from different points of view like people describing an elephant without seeing the whole.
Now I incorporate both philosophical points of view into my practice.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Like many people, about half actually, I emerged from childhood with not enough of the good stuff from my parents. I was very insecure. Thanks to a great therapist, good friends, and re-mothering from from many I became what I call “fully cooked.” That simply means secure enough to have what psychology names earned autonomy. Since I’ve made this transittion I know the path, I can guide others to the same goal..That is what I offer to my clients at BeCalmofOjai.com Try it, you’ll like it.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
That’s got to be at least a group of two. Carl Rogers and the Humanistic Existential theories he put out; Stephen Porges and his Polyvagal Theory that meshes well with everything I believe and teach. Check out my article on the bottom of the “about” page on my website “Return to Nurture.”
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
Dr. John showed me how to calm my nervous system so that I could see clearly and make good decisions.
Contact Info:
- Website: BeCalmofOjai.com RainForestPlantCompany.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeCalmofOjai/ https://www.facebook.com/junglejohnrents
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LF3ibNMUeQ&t=114s
Image Credits
My wives!
