In this heart-opening conversation, Nicholas Janni and William Ayot explore language not as mere words, but as psychoactive energy – living vibrations capable of healing and awakening. They invite us to move beyond surface narratives into the deeper currents of speech that embody presence, precision, and truth.

William shares moving poems such as The Remembrancer and Of Hares, Grace, and the Miraculous, while Nicholas offers frameworks that bridge leadership, coaching, and the artistry of words. Together, they reveal how poetry and authentic language can act as a psychoactive force – opening hearts, evoking collective grief and joy, and reweaving our capacity for genuine human connection.

This is more than a conversation – it is a living transmission, an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and rediscover language as medicine: a bridge between soul and society, and a path to leading with presence, courage, and heart.

William Ayot is a poet, teacher, author and ritualist. In his thirties he experienced a personal crisis, which led to years of intensive study, under a remarkable group of poets, psychologists and medicine teachers. He has worked in rehab centres and prisons, led initiatory rites of passage for adults and youth, and for over a quarter of a century, delivered arts-based programmes on leadership issues across four continents. He now works with individuals and groups, using poetry, personal-work and ritual. Writing includes the play Bengal Lancer, three collections of poetry (E-Mail from the Soul: New & Collected Leadership Poems, won The People’s Book Prize) and the prose book Re-Enchanting the Forest: Meaningful Ritual in a Secular World. He is currently writing a novel, preparing another collection of poetry, and building a ritual garden in rural Monmouthshire, South East Wales.

About William Ayot

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