Matburn Episode 16: Stuart Cooper

This is a very special episode with the one and only Stuart Cooper. Stuart is a world renowned jiu-jitsu film-maker known for his exciting highlight videos and short-films which typically document the journey of influential jiu-jitsu practitioners. In this episode Stuart gives a powerful testimony about his journey with jiu-jitsu and film-making which subsequently lead to a life-threatening drug addiction. He details how he slipped into a dangerous routine of training, travel, and taking pills to help sleep while dealing with jet-lag. Routine turned into habit. Habit turned into dependency. Dependency turned into full-on addiction. Stuart talks about how he fell into a paralyzing depression after weaning himself off his pill addiction. In a desperate attempt to regain his old-life back, Stuart took a chance and sought out an ayahuasca shaman. He tells us about his experience with ayahuasca and his climb back to the life he once had. It's an amazing story about overcoming adversity and addiction.