In this episode, Joe interviews two people on the frontlines of the campaign for Massachusetts' Question 4: The Natural Psychedelic Substances Act: Graham Moore and Community Engagement Director, Jamie Morey. They discuss the specifics of the initiative, listed on the ballot as the “Limited Legalization and Regulation of Certain Natural Psychedelic Substances,” including the removal of criminal penalties for limited personal use, and the establishment of a regulatory agency that will provide therapeutic access to any of five natural psychedelics (psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, mescaline, and ibogaine). They tell their stories of how they discovered the power of psychedelics, and discuss the work they’re doing, educating a fairly interested – but still very hesitant – public about the bill and the importance of it passing this November. They talk about: The significance of this happening in Massachusetts, especially with the amount of biomedical research happening in Boston The story of a member of Baystaters creating a fraudulent persona in a veterans advocacy group to fight against legalization efforts The challenge of getting people to publicly support initiatives that deal with illegal substances The power of small steps in legislation: Before this bill, MA had the most local measures in the U.S. How data collection should be handled at service centers and more!  If you live in Massachusetts, learn about the bill here, and make sure to get out and cast your vote in November.  For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Diana Quinn, ND: naturopathic doctor, healing justice practitioner, and director of clinical education at the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies, where she directs their Psilocybin Facilitator Training certificate program. She discusses her path from anthropology to naturopathy, and eventually to psychedelics and activism, finding a framework for psychedelic education grounded in healing justice, which recognizes the impact of collective trauma on all of us, seeks to reclaim lost or stolen models of healing, focuses on equity and accessibility, and brings an anti-oppression lens to training programs to give students a greater capacity for culturally responsive care. She encourages seeing things from an anti-capitalist viewpoint, and recognizes the huge clash between using such powerful and mystical medicines inside structures so embedded with problematic human qualities. How can you build inside of these Western systems without being affected by that capitalist energy? She discusses: The importance of respecting plants from other cultures – that no healing or consciousness expansion is justifiable when it threatens an entire species The challenge of integrating the weirdest parts of non-ordinary states into education: How does a Western framework come to terms with the ineffable? How colonialism and the culture born from it has hurt us all The importance of finding your own lineage and what is sacred to you The work of Rick Tarnas and the amazing patterns we can find in astrology and more!  For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Rick Doblin, Ph.D.: founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and former board member at Lykos Therapeutics, MAPS’ public benefit subsidiary. Doblin tells his side of the story: that the FDA’s concerns with double blinding not working had been fully addressed ahead of time, that they had negotiated agreements that were no longer agreed to when new FDA employees came on board, that there was a lot of confusion from going back and forth with the FDA on how Phase 3 studies should be designed, and more. He believes that both Lykos and MAPS made a massive mistake in assuming that provable science was more important than public opinion, and that ignoring critics who were saying whatever they wanted caused them to lose control of the narrative – which clearly influenced the advisory committee. While Lykos figures out their next steps with the FDA, MAPS is focusing their attention on what they feel is most important in light of this ruling: better public education and drug policy. He talks about: How there’s a bias at the FDA to be harsh: Does automatically saying no just make it look like you’re being rigorous? The work of the Dutch government in researching MDMA, and Lykos’ odd decision to not highlight any of it Massachusetts’ Legalization and Regulation of Psychedelic Substances initiative, and the huge opportunity for progress at the local level Why federal agents at Burning Man work so hard to give tickets to attendees for smoking cannabis Why sharing stories of your positive experiences with psychedelics is so important and more!  MAPS has announced that 2025’s Psychedelic Science conference will be in Denver, June 16-20, and will have experiential opportunities before and after.  For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Gabriela Galindo: program coordinator of FLOWS (Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability), an organization working towards social and environmental justice, ecosystem restoration, community building, and the preservation and protection of Indigenous medicines. She discusses her entry point to psychedelics and how she got involved with Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act (Prop 122) when she saw a complete absence of Indigenous representation in the legislature. The narrative that we all have a right to healing and that these medicines belong to everyone is pretty common today, but Galindo argues that this is not fair: that each plant has its own history, and that each is protected by its own culture. Shouldn’t the communities that have stewarded these medicines for centuries have a say in whether their medicine is going to be shared and legislated at the state level? Shouldn’t they have the ability to consent to these new proposals? She talks about: Why she likes using ‘movement’ instead of ‘renaissance’ when discussing our psychedelic culture What we could learn from Indigenous people’s harmony with nature as we face an ongoing climate crisis The balancing act of pleasing everyone: Would decriminalization be as supported if Indigenous communities wanted to keep some of these substances criminalized for the protection of their culture and their ecosystems? How psychedelic communities should evolve to include community work into their routines: What do local communities need and how can you help? The importance of knowing when to step aside and truly center a community voice and more!  If you’re in Colorado, Galindo will be leading a panel on Oct. 17 called “Honoring Sacred Plant Medicines: Restoring Balance Through Indigenous Wisdom” as part of Wellness Week in Boulder. Click here for more info. For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Mareesa Stertz: lead of strategy/communications at the Global Psychedelic Society, co-founder of Lucid News, and filmmaker, currently finalizing her second feature film, “Confessions of a Psychonaut.” She discusses her path to wanting to create the film: how she always felt like something was wrong with her but didn’t know exactly how to start her healing path, how seven ayahuasca trips didn’t give her the breakthrough experience she wanted, and how she realized over time that she didn’t have a hidden moment of trauma to overcome, but rather, lots of “little t” trauma – something that a lot of us have, without necessarily knowing it. She saw the true power of people sharing their stories of becoming healthier, and has found that aligning our stories to the classic framework of the Hero’s Journey and Carl Jung’s concept of individuation is the perfect formula for self-awareness, growth, and finding more meaning in life. She talks about: How the Hero’s Journey makes sense of the abyss, and how the abyss helps us to see how much we’ve been programmed Her formula for a good story: who you were before the event, the event, and how it changed you Her Sphinx project, where she aims to bring giant sphinxes (from “The NeverEnding Story”) to Burning Man, as a way for people to determine if they are “worthy” Her “Talk Box” art installation, which involves strangers meeting in a confession booth to engage in meaningful conversations based on a wheel of questions The power of group coherence and how much stronger a healing container can become over time and more!  Stertz is offering a course on finding where the Hero’s Journey is in each of our lives: “Emerge: A Journey of Self-Authorship” begins on October 29. Click here for more info. For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Micah Stover: certified psychedelic somatic therapist and author of the upcoming book, Healing Psychedelics: Innovative Therapies for Trauma and Transformation; and Craig Heacock, MD: adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrist, and host of the Back from the Abyss podcast. Stover discusses the inspiration for the book: the ancestral voices she started hearing after she had children, being featured on Heacock’s podcast and becoming fascinated with people’s healing stories, and her move to Mexico, where she learned the beauty of a less complicated and more connected life. She learned that the village you surround yourself with is really the medicine, and that existing in the mysteries of life can be much more beneficial than trying to solve everything. Combining her Western training with more Indigenous perspectives, she wondered: Where do science and spirit meet? And how can they dance together? They discuss: Stover’s early days of offering medicine journeys in Mexico, and how much leaning on elders from all backgrounds matters The importance of discernment in non-ordinary states: Is spiritual bypassing just the absence of discernment? How finding a village can be just connecting to the earth: How much of our trauma is from a “nature deficit disorder”? The power of transference and the relationship between therapists/facilitators and clients The idea that modern psychology has fallen short because we’ve sterilized love out of the room, and the challenge of bringing love back as part of a safe container and more!  The book, which is laid out somewhat like a workbook (and which Heacock wrote the foreward to) comes out on November 4 and is available for pre-order now. For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, David interviews Glauber Assis, Ph.D.: research associate at the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies, director of the Psychedelic Parenthood community, Vital instructor, and leader of Jornadas de Kura, a plant medicine center in Brazil. He talks about growing up in Brazil in the shadows of colonialism, and how he felt his early experiences with ayahuasca and the Santo Daime church decolonized his mind, changing his relationship with himself and his family, and eventually leading him to start his own church: Céu da Divina Estrela. He believes that to truly know ourselves, we need to experience other cultures, and to truly see the commonalities between each other, we need to recognize just how different we all are. He feels that true growth is not found in the substance or experience, but in the relationships we have with others, and our ability to change. He discusses: -How ayahuasca becoming a global phenomenon is revitalizing traditions that may have otherwise been lost -His first travels to the U.S. and why we need to stop romanticizing other cultures -The power of live music in a ceremonial group setting -The birth of his third child in a car, and what psychedelic parenthood really means -The importance of understanding multiple different frameworks and being able to use them together and more!  Bonus: This episode features the first live performance in PT podcast history – a song Assis wrote in the Santo Daime tradition. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Norman Ohler: award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. Following in the footsteps of "Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich," his newest book, "Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age," tells the story of how the Nazi’s passion for methamphetamine turned into a curiosity about LSD, and how their experiments with trying to harness LSD as a truth drug eventually led to the CIA continuing their research under their MKUltra program. The book came about from trying to understand why LSD never became medicine – a question posed by his father, when discussing how LSD could help with his wife’s progressing Alzheimer’s symptoms. He discusses: His path to becoming a “gonzo historian” and how his early psychedelic research was inspired by a friend’s discovery of methamphetamine tablets from the 40s Henry Beecher’s LSD experiments with students at Harvard, and how researchers often didn’t know they were contributing to MKUltra His recent appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and Jesse Watters Primetime His mother’s experience with microdosing LSD and why police showed up at his father’s door with a warrant Why he believes psychedelics will be legalized in the U.S. in the next 10 years and more!  For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Lana Pribic, M.Sc: host of the Modern Psychedelics podcast, certified professional life coach, and founder of Kanna Wellness.  She talks about her early days of rave culture and MDMA, to developing a problem with alcohol and cocaine, to where she is today: finding joy in the simple things in life, embracing recreational psychedelics, and continuously working on herself while understanding that psychedelic experiences are not the be-all, end-all medicine, and that taking space to integrate learned lessons is where the true potential lies. She recognizes that many of us set out to heal trauma or work on something specific, but often get caught in a "healing trap," where a victim energy ends up holding us back –  and keeps us coming back. When is the healing done? When do these experiences become a habit or escape? What are we not integrating?  She discusses:  The "7 levels of energy" framework she uses with clients How she works with clients who return to unhealthy patterns after a big experience The judgment of the psychedelic space, both for people who stop using psychedelics and for people who return to the well perhaps too ofte Her relationship with her mother and how her mother's cancer treatment inspired her to create Kanna Wellnes How much of a factor acceptance is in finding joy in the mundane  and more! Serving Canada (for now), Kannawellness.com just launched, and features kanna extract 8 times more potent than what is on the market today. If you're curious, use code PT10 at checkout for 10% off your order! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Ingmar Gorman, Ph.D.: clinical psychologist and co-founder and CEO of Fluence, a psychedelic education company. Gorman served as a co-principal investigator and study therapist on MAPS’ Phase II and III clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and works with drug sponsors: training, developing the components for clinical trials, and designing therapy manuals. With his insider’s perspective, he discusses the reasons why he believes the FDA rejected MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD: from ICER’s 2.1 section of the report giving legitimacy to allegations they don’t have the authority to research, to Lykos not being able to defend some accusations due to confidentiality, to the damage caused over time (which likely influenced the decision) from attacks against Lykos from dissenters. He discusses: How, despite abuse claims, the main allegations in the report were actually about the mishandling of data or influence of investigators on participants The complications of needing to follow study frameworks: Should your adverse experience be in the report if it happened outside the study window? How easily opposition can attack and demonize a faceless company, while forgetting the humanity of the people behind it Inner healing intelligence and the proposition that people have been indoctrinated into this concept by MAPS The need for journalists to research more and not just jump on a narrative and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Beth Weinstein: spiritual business coach, host of the “Medicine For These Times” podcast, and founder of the Psychedelics, Sacred Medicines, Soul’s Purpose & Business summit. She talks about a pattern she noticed of people working with psychedelics and seeing progress on what they set out to heal, but with a short-lived afterglow, as they remained in unfulfilling jobs without making any changes. She wondered: What if they applied the lessons they learned during their experience to their careers? What small steps could they start taking to either improve their current job, or find their true soul’s purpose and carve out a new path? Weinstein’s path has led her to combine practical business action plans with more spiritual and traditionally psychedelic modalities to help people grow in their careers and become their most authentic selves – especially if they’re trying to enter into the psychedelic space. She discusses: The importance of making time to talk things out with a coach, integration circle, or friends – especially in a culture that only gets more distracting and chaotic every day The challenge of differentiating between guidance: Is it your soul’s true purpose, or a trick of your ego? The weirdly taboo topic of money in psychedelics, and the delicate balance of aligning with charitable values while making a living The mystical aspects to how life can change with new energy: Maybe that layoff happened at the perfect time? The power of positivity and small steps toward change, and how working on something outside of work can transform how you show up at work and more!  Weinstein’s newest course begins early next year: The True Path Entrepreneur Group Business Coaching Mastermind Program, which is a 12-month live coaching course designed to reprogram limiting patterns and beliefs and help move people into alignment with their true path. Click here for more info and to apply. For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, David interviews Daniel Shankin: psychedelic integration coach, Vital instructor, and founder and director of Tam Integration. He talks about the underrated importance of integration circles, how he created Tam Integration out of a personal need for them, how simple it can be for people to create their own groups, and how open-ended newly formed groups can be. He also discusses his “fractal inquiry” coaching method, and how the best coaching involves simply asking questions that lead clients to their own realizations and wisdom. He is offering courses that teach both of these skills: a course called Creating Community Psychedelic Integration Circles, and the newly-launched, year-long Mt. Tam Psychedelic Integration Coaching Program, beginning in October. He discusses: The importance of learning how to focus on your breath, especially during a tough experience Hugging the Hindu spiritual leader, Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi), and the special energy that some people have The benefits of knowing when a mind path isn’t worth exploring The difference between judgment and curiosity The weirdness of psychonauts, and how maybe getting a little weirder is what’s needed for your healing and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Joanna Kempner, Ph.D.: associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University and author of the recently released, Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine. The book profiles the history and groundbreaking work of ClusterBusters, a nonprofit researching and spreading awareness about what someone named Flash discovered decades ago: that for some people, psilocybin and LSD could stop cluster headaches from coming on. Through early internet message board posts and email exchanges between Bob Wold, Rick Doblin, and others, Kempner pieced together their story. And through attending ClusterBusters meetings, she discovered that a lot of the true healing lies in the bonds formed and the hope people find when seeing something new work for a pain for which science has no answer. She discusses: The lack of political will behind something so debilitating: Why is there no funding for this? The importance of patient advocacy and the role of the internet in sharing novel information The difficulty in studying a disease so unpredictable: How do you run a randomized trial when you don’t know when a cluster is going to happen? Why the headache community clashes with psychology Concerns over how to ethically combine underground and Indigenous knowledge with above-ground University research and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Mustapha Khan: Emmy Award-winning director with over 100 film and television credits, who has worked with clients such as Coca-Cola and Honda, and celebrities ranging from Maya Angelou to Snoop Dogg. Khan is finalizing a film about Lenny and Elizabeth Gibson and their ongoing work at Dreamshadow – the people and community responsible for Joe and Kyle meeting and the creation of Psychedelics Today. He talks about meeting the Gibsons, being welcomed into their community (instead of his proposed “fly on the wall” role), how centered and happy he felt after his first breathwork session, and what he has learned through the process: that breathwork can be an incredibly healing modality, but the magic he has found has been more in the community surrounding it, and the responsibility (and honor) of being a sitter for someone else. He discusses: The first time his breathwork went psychedelic, and speaking with his recently deceased Mothe How he got into filmmaking and why he wants to tell stories about people like the Gibson The beauty of breathwork not having a dogma or doctrine attached to it The power in holding space for someone else, even if it’s just being presen The importance of taking action that aligns with psychedelic ethos: What can you do to contribute to your community? and more!  Khan is hoping to release the documentary, “Life and Breath,” in October. In addition to a screening at Dreamshadow, PT will likely do a virtual one as well, so stay tuned for updates! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Danielle Nova: founder of Psychedelic Recovery, founding team member of Decriminalize Nature Oakland, and Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society. As a recovering addict, Nova discusses how working with psychedelics helped her find her way to recovery, and how she's spreading that knowledge to others through her Psychedelic Recovery program, which focuses more on 'targeted abstinence,' instead of the total abstinence model of Psychedelics In Recovery (which works alongside AA's 12-step program). She believes that it's extremely important to reframe addiction as a life process or temporary state of consciousness (rather than a life sentence you can't escape), and that beating addiction is not about constantly being afraid of a relapse, but about evolving to a state of empowerment: that you can overcome it, and that actually, a horrific addiction may have saved you and brought you to where you're supposed to be. She discusses:  The complications of Western medicine and the impact of conflicting medications that are nearly impossible to stop taking How self-regulation of tough emotions with outside stimuli (be it drugs, pornography, or even video games) trains people to rely on external forces rather than themselves How addicts end up programing themselves with 'addict consciousness,' and the power of changing one's mind state to view suffering as the fuel for a new purpose How, over time, we will likely start viewing microdosing as a regular dose, and the large doses we're used to will be seen as overdosing How being part of her ayahuasca experience (and having one himself) completely changed her father's perspective on drugs and addiction and more! She has co-created Microdosing Facilitator Training with Adam Bramlage of Flow State Micro: a first-of-its-kind 4-month program teaching clinicians, facilitators, and coaches about microdosing and how to safely guide others through the practice. The next cohort launches in January 2025. For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Deanna Rogers: Registered Clinical Counselor and Vital instructor. She discusses how trauma grows in our bodies, and the importance of practitioners and facilitators becoming trauma-informed before working with clients. She stresses the need to create the right conditions for clients to be able to work with trauma – to bring compassion to the different parts of their self and build a relationship with the uncomfortable ones, to interrupt negative narratives, and to learn how to exist in a place where they can embrace their window of tolerance and explore discomfort in a safe way. What is the specific container and pace each client needs? How flexible is their nervous system to be able to work with these states? What can be done to bring out the empathetic witness in themselves? And most importantly, how can their sense of agency be improved so that they feel like they’re fully in control of how deep things go? She discusses: Her early ayahuasca experiences, and her path toward working with others, including working with Gabor Maté and Peter Levine How psychedelics allow us to access our irrational, animal parts, and how this work is often a combination of sacred and messy The need for facilitators to have a basic understanding of the nervous system and fight or flight reactions Moving away from the idea of: “There’s something wrong with me.” What do these chronic narratives do to our bodies? Working with clients to build out the capacity of their nervous system first, before working with any trauma and more! Rogers is one of our Vital instructors, featured in one of Vital 4’s new Specializations: Somatics & Trauma. This cohort begins on September 17, and the application deadline is next week, September 3, so apply today before it’s too late! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Jean Lacy: Executive Director of the Illinois Psychedelic Society; and La Shawn K. Ford: 17-year member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 8th District. Together, they are working on the CURE (Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens) Act, which aims to decriminalize plant medicines and bring a state-regulated model for psychedelic use to Illinois. Similar to Oregon's model, but with hopefully a more cohesive ecosystem, it would include service centers, different license types, the removal of psilocybin and psilocin from the controlled substances list, and a percentage of taxes allocated to education of first responders and law enforcement. Guided by the mistakes of cannabis legalization, they're putting a lot of focus on accessibility – not just for consumers, but for people trying to get licenses and open businesses. What does equity and inclusion look like in a psychedelic service model? They discuss:  The need to educate lawmakers about psychedelics and shine a light on the myths and lies of the Drug War  The importance of understanding the process and doing the work when working with lawmakers: When it's done right, democracy can actually happen Why conversations about accessibility and certain provisions need to happen up front, as bills are being written The impact of bipartisan support, and how bipartisan psychedelics are starting to become The overwhelming support for the CURE Act that Rep. Ford has seen, from people of all walks of life and more! If you want to help, please sign their petition and/or make a donation. And if you want to help on a larger scale, get out there and have those conversations: Tell your story, and tell it to lawmakers. Your voice can make a bigger difference than you realize.  For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Rachelle Sampson, Ph.D.: researcher and founder of Blue Prism Coaching; and Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.: researcher, speaker, and creator of the Pollination Approach. They are both Vital instructors and Associate Professors at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Based on a passion for regenerative economics (how we might be able to apply patterns of nature to socioeconomic systems), they are co-leading the Connected Leadership Study, a research project tracking how psychedelic experiences can facilitate change in people in leadership positions. They believe that a shift from a mechanistic attunement to a more synergistic recognition of our interconnectedness should lead to new ways of thinking, resulting in more creative leaders with better decision-making and team-building skills, and corporate culture caring more about values, regenerative models, equity, and sustainability – all while still being successful. They wonder: Can psychedelic experiences create better leaders? Can capitalism become more conscious? They discuss: The structure of the study, what they learned in the first cohort, and why they track participants for a yea How change happens over time, and why they believe it to needs to happen from the bottom u The concept of emergence and emergent change illustrated by the shifts in movement of a flock of bird How synergistic attunement can be traced back to the cellular level The challenge of balancing the therapeutic aspect of psychedelics with the more corporate strategy/professional side and more! The study’s next cohort begins in October, so if you’re a business leader interested in being a participant, head to Leaders.study for more info. And if you’d like to learn more about these concepts, the new Regenerative Business and Leadership specialization path in this year’s cohort of Vital digs deep into this world. And we’ve just extended the applications to Sept. 2, so you still have time to apply! For links, head to the show notes page.

As the psychedelic renaissance continues to spread throughout the West, we learn more about these substances and experiences every day. But are we losing the important ancestral teachings and Indigenous knowledge that got us here? In this episode, Kyle interviews Alonso Del Río: author, musician, filmmaker, founder of the Center for Healing and Consciousness Studies (Ayahuasca Ayllu), and facilitator with 45 years of experience largely under the framework of the Shipibo tradition. Together with translator, Francisco Rivarola, they have developed a course called “Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance,” which aims to be both an honoring of knowledge that has safeguarded these traditions, and a bridge between that wisdom and our Western frameworks, teaching ancestral traditions (largely Shipibo and Incan-Peruvian), the roles and function of dietas, the less talked-about dangers of brujeria (witchcraft), holistic frameworks for dealing with mystical experiences, and the connection between spirituality and responsibility towards nature. The course features 20 hours of Del Río’s teachings (with subtitles) and is the first time they’ve been made available to the general public. He talks about: The importance of following guidelines when working with ayahuasca, and how Westerners often don’t respect the rigor required to do it right The different types of healers in the Shipibo tradition, from good and bad to the “Ascended Master,” who transcends physical limits and is incapable of causing harm The potential for ayahuasca to be weaponized, how often this happens, and the risks for Westerners who aren’t aware How the consciousness level of a person can be related to the emotions that that person allows themselves to have How the expansion of consciousness is healing in itself and more! Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance is a self-paced course that can be taken at any time, so if you’re interested, take advantage of early bird pricing and check it out in the Psychedelic Education Center now! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode of VItal Psychedelic Conversations, Vital instructor, Diego Pinzon hosts his first podcast, interviewing Vital graduate and clinically-trained psychologist, “The Kinki Buddhist”: Kate Amy. As Amy’s interest in psychedelics grew, she began to see a clear intersection between psychedelic states and the non-ordinary states she’d reached through years of meditation practice, as well as lessons from Buddhism that could help in better understanding psychedelic journeys. She talks about the importance of really understanding what it is one is seeking when looking to have a psychedelic experience, and the significance of integration – no matter how long it takes. While she has tips that have worked for clients, she feels that the psychedelic space has a long way to go in establishing best practices for the most effective integration. She discusses: Why she uses the name, “The Kinki Buddhist” How she frames the psychedelic experience as taking an evolutionary substance (and/or receiving a software upgrade) The necessity of having a positive relationship with the self before a big trip The continuous process of patients and facilitators both engaging in shadow work, and ways of discovering our different hidden parts The rigidity many of us prescribe to certain healing frameworks, and how beneficial it can be to view strict rules as guidelines for exploration instead and of course, her experience with Vital! The deadline for submitting your application is next week, August 23, so make sure to get your application in today. For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Chris Koddermann interviews two members of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Mass General Hospital: founding director, author, and co-founder of three drug development companies, Dr. Jerry Rosenbaum; and psychiatrist and associate director and director of cognitive neuroscience, Sharmin Ghaznavi, MD, Ph.D. Rosenbaum and Ghaznavi bonded over an interest in rumination, and wondered: How could the plasticity-inducing effects of psychedelics change these negative loops people find themselves in? How important is the ability to break out of those loops – and learn new patterns – when our concept of self is so central to who we are? Ghaznavi is studying the effects of psilocybin on rumination and scanning patients at multiple times throughout the process to track data we still don’t really have: how psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity changes over time, and why. They discuss: How much of a role the default mode network takes in the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics: Is it overblown? Hyperscanning, which involves scanning two individuals at the same time, looking for potential concordance in signal and/or an increased alliance between the therapist and patient The Schultes Legacy Project and the work of Stephen Haggarty to explore the potential of largely unstudied psychoactive plants Critiques of the recent ruling on Lykos and MDMA-assisted therapy and the clash between the FDA and the advisory committee: Were they really on the same page? The false dichotomy of neuroscience vs. patient experience: Does the subjective experience actually increase plasticity and other measurable benefits? and more! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Tiffany Hurd: microdosing coach, speaker, business leadership advisor, and student in our current cohort of Vital. After 15 years in the corporate healthcare industry and several years on antidepressants, she started microdosing psilocybin and saw an immediate change in her life, tapering off antidepressants within a few months. She realized that she could blend her background in business development and strategy with microdosing, helping companies (and specifically company leadership) become more vulnerable, heart-centered, and innovative. She has found that the changes in people have (not surprisingly) led to improved employee mental health, better team relationships, and more open-mindedness and authenticity, and likely, a large reason for that is not the microdosing itself, but the increased attention to preparation and integration – two huge factors often not discussed with microdosing. She talks about: Why mentorship/coaching has not been seen as an integral part of a microdosing practice, and why it should be Her drive to normalize the use of low-dose psychedelics, especially in our Western ‘go all in’ culture The benefits of pairing microdosing with other healing modalities, and how microdosing can help you embrace more of them Why she signed up for vital and how she feels about the course half way through How she deals with the illegality of substances in the corporate world and more! Microdosing is one of the new specialization tracks featured in our next cohort of Vital, beginning September 16. If you want to know more, send us an email or attend one of the next Vital Q+As! For links, head to the show notes page.

The path of the psychedelic renaissance has largely touched on the aspects of therapy, personal growth, and initiation rites, but now, the relationship between psychedelics and creativity is being studied more and more. Can psychedelics really increase intellect, novelty, and problem solving? In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Bruce Damer: astrobiologist with a long history of work at NASA, and now the president and co-founder of the Center for Minds, a new nonprofit researching the best ways to improve creativity and problem solving. He talks about how we’re losing our best creative minds to hyper-specialization, and while there is lots of research pointing to psychedelics as creativity-enhancers, we need to develop frameworks and protocols to be able to measure exactly how that works, and the best ways to encourage better results. The Center for Minds is sponsoring research while running its own three year project studying creativity in a naturalistic setting, and aims to answer: How do we unlock more genius? What’s the main driver for novel thinking? He discusses: His path to psychedelics, including his time with ‘endo-tripping’: training his mind to trip without any external substances The importance of adding ‘set up’ to set and setting, representing one’s intentions and preparatory work up until that point The tale of his extraordinary ayahuasca experience where he journeyed together with Mama Ayahuasca all the way to the beginning of life on earth His theory on the real origin of life, and why the ‘survival of the fittest’ framework shouldn’t be our North Star The absolute necessity of mentorship from elders and more! The steps the Center of Minds will take in studying psychedelics and creativity will largely be steered by people’s personal stories, so please share yours with them by filling out their survey. What has worked for you? What is your personal protocol? For links, head to the show notes page. 

Jungian psychology takes a fascinating look at the relationship between the conscious and unconscious parts of our minds. How is this framework brought more to the forefront through psychedelics and an understanding of our many parts? In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Jung experts and Vital instructors: Maria Papaspyrou, psychotherapist and co-founder and director of the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (IPT); and Dr. Ido Cohen, clinical psychologist and founder of The Integration Circle. They talk about the experiences that helped them first understand the concept of multiple different parts making up their being, and dive into what it is about psychedelics that allows us to discover and work with these different parts: how the protector parts of our psyche work overtime to keep parts away from us, and how psychedelics can dissolve them, leading to a better understanding of ourselves. How much of our persona is based on who we feel we’re supposed to be? What shadow parts are stopping us from being our true selves? And what amazing parts of ourselves have yet to be discovered? They discuss: The idea of self as a unified entity: Does this concept make sense anymore? Risks in understanding how different parts work together, from justifying behaviors to inflating defensive structures The need to move away from solution-based to more process-focused frameworks, and the power in treating healing and growth as an ongoing process The rejection of the shadow and the archetypal (and impossible) wish to extinguish all suffering The large discrepancy between what people think being a psychedelic facilitator is vs. the reality and more! If you really want to dig into Jungian ideas, Jungian psychology is one of the new specialization tracks featured in the next cohort of Vital, beginning September 16. If you want to know more, send us an email or attend one of the next Vital Q+As. For links, head to the show notes page. 

As many mushroom enthusiasts will attest: the more you learn about the fungal kingdom, the more you see how important mushrooms are to every ecosystem they’re a part of – and how life-changing a relationship with them can be. In this episode, Joe interviews Jasper Degenaars: mycologist, educator, and the Hyphae Headmaster at Fungi Academy, offering retreats, communal living, and online courses to teach people how to grow mushrooms and form a deeper connection with them. Degenaars tells of his path to Guatemala and the Fungi Academy, from foraging to cultivation, to the impact psychedelic experiences have had on his life. He believes that mushrooms show up where people like to live; that they are integral to ecosystems, and that they are the masters of death and life – and of ego death and rebirth. The Fungi Academy has several several in-person events for which they just opened up registration, self-paced courses you can enroll in now, and their next Sacred Mycology Summit takes place Feb. 23 – 25, 2025. He discusses: The importance in studying the entire organism rather than just specific compounds The stoned ape theory and possible new evidence Why he prefers the term ‘magic mushrooms’ to the reductionist way of only talking about psilocybin The clash between clinical Western approaches and Indigenous tradition The Iron law of prohibition and how MDMA has gotten stronger and stronger His desire to move more into permaculture, including courses teaching it alongside the fundamentals of psychedelics: How can they work in tandem? and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

Psychedelics in palliative care has become an exciting new framework for people looking to ease anxiety and embrace spirituality, but the concept is not as simple as just providing a substance. In this episode, Joe interviews Livi Joy: Director of Health and Safety, Existential Palliative Ministry Lead Facilitator, and more at Sacred Garden Community (SGC). As she screens applicants for SGC (and Beckley Retreats), she talks a lot about the process and the safety measures that are absolutely necessary when using psychedelics in palliative care – especially under the framework of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Does the patient have at least one strong support person? Do they need to start or increase therapy? Does their home need to be rearranged due to possible fall risks? How will certain medications muffle their experience? Are they truly physically healthy enough to be able to handle a powerful journey? And also, is the sacrament always necessary? She discusses: How preparation questions for a journey are often in line with preparation for death Why it’s important to provide these experiences for people far from the dying process itself What Sacred Garden’s core tenant that everyone can have an experience with the divine means to her Atheism and the complications that arise when discussing spirituality and consciousness: Who’s really in charge? How psychedelics can help with understanding and preparing for death, but our culture is too death-phobic too embrace it and more! For links, head to the show notes page: 

In this episode, Joe interviews Erica Rex, MA: award-winning journalist, past guest, thought leader on psychedelic medicine, and participant in one of the first clinical trials using psilocybin to treat cancer-related depression. She tells the story of her recent harrowing experience, brought on by 6 times the amount of Syrian rue that was recommended: from entities threatening her, to a sense of terror she was going to die, to finding her way out of it with time, and most importantly, context to process and a strong support system. She and Joe emphasize the reality that bad trips can happen at any time, with any dose, for any reason, and that – if you can make your way through the experience without being traumatized – you can learn a lot about yourself during those states. She discusses: Methods to help others having a bad experience Her skepticism about psychedelic therapy being in a medical context at all Her thoughts on the recent ICER recommendation against approving MDMA and the multiple topics not addressed Possible complications from MDMA use nobody talks about, from cytotoxic effects to even sudden-onset psychosis The pathologizing of anything outside the ordinary, to the point that we’re trying to suppress natural human emotions and reactions and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Monica Nieto: Vital graduate, psychedelic facilitator and integration coach, and founder of Holistic TherapeutiX, a retreat center offering cannabis and breathwork retreats; and Jordana Ma: past Vital instructor and psychological counselor who runs retreats in Peru following the Asháninkan tradition of traditional Amazonian medicine. They discuss their similar paths to psychedelics and healing, the power of plant dietas and fully immersing yourself into nature, and learning to hear your true teacher: the inner healer. They highlight how we’ve lost the connection to the ecological consciousness within our bodies, and how the plants – perhaps in a self-serving way – have become allies, trying to teach us to heal the web we’re a part of and reconnect to nature and ourselves. They discuss: The importance of combining traditional perspectives and Western psychotherapy into a spiritual practice The similarities between yoga and traditional Amazonian medicine Singing as a somatic (and breathwork) practice How things are meant to work in synergy, and the problem with science trying to extract compounds rather than respecting the power of the whole plant Their role models who have inspired them and informed their work and more! The Vital Early Bird discount ($2000 off!) ends on July 22, so make sure to apply today! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Jon Reiss: critically acclaimed filmmaker, author, and host of the Plantscendence podcast, which tells people’s psychedelic stories and is beginning its second season soon. He talks about his early days of directing Nine Inch Nails and Type O Negative videos, and how Plantscendence was born after he realized that the conversations he was having with people about their most transformative experiences were perfect for a podcast. He discusses his first psychedelic experience with ayahuasca, how microdosing is helping him today, and his realization that people can get to these big experiences in many different ways. He discusses: The two episodes of Plantscendence that stand out the most to him Using the term, ‘plant medicine’ His 30 years of meditation practice and how it likely helped him to integrate his first psychedelic experiences The concept of plant intelligence and how plants can stop you from being a “consciousness tourist” Kabbalah, Kashmir Shaivism, non-duality, and his Shaktipata experience and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Sara Reed: Vital instructor, lecturer, and lead psychedelic research therapist at Imperial College London; and Alex H. Robinson: Vital student, integration coach and psilocybin facilitator for Heroic Hearts Project, and distinguished Army SOF combat Veteran with a decade of active duty service. Reed has worked with MAPS to make clinical trial populations more diverse and is creating culturally sensitive Clinical Research Forms for future research trials, and Robinson spearheaded her unit’s Cultural Support Team program and contributed to policy changes to help place women into traditionally male-centric Special Operations roles. Representing marginalized groups themselves, they’re both passionate about making psychedelic therapy more inclusive and representative of the general population, and getting more practitioners up to speed to be able to deliver culturally competent care. They discuss: The importance of having difficult conversations and calling out bad behavior The fallacy of zero-sum thinking: Doing something special for a smaller community doesn’t take away from the main goal; it adds to it The benefit of being able to self-reflect and personalize content when most psychedelic education consists of one-sided lectures The challenge of getting people who don’t feel represented to enroll in clinical trials, and how personal stories go a long way and more! For links, head to the show notes page.  Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

In this episode, Joe and REMAP Therapeutics Founder, Court Wing, host Lynn Watkins: medically retired USAF JAG & Ops Resource Mgmt Specialist; and C.J. Spotswood, PMHNP: principle psychiatric clinician at REMAP Therapeutics, and author of The Microdosing Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health through Psychedelic Medicine. Watkins tells her story of 20+ years of chronic pain: from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome brought on by a severed nerve to multiple foot surgeries, chest pains, cognitive issues, the inability to move her toes, burning mouth syndrome, and more, which unsurprisingly resulted in depression, anxiety, and being unable to work. Wing and Spotswood talk about their initial assessment, how they figured out how to work with her and her multitude of medications, and the incredible success they saw when combining practiced techniques, neuromodulation, and regular assessments with neuroplastic windows brought on by psilocybin. They discuss: How much preparation was done before introducing psychedelics, and the importance of realizing that they were dealing with PTSD How often a history of chronic pain is related to a history of trauma, whether the patient realizes it or not Consequences and complications of medications, specifically Clonazepam in Watkins’ case The cascade of ailments and side effects that can happen from just one injury and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Casey Paleos, MD: Vital instructor, researcher, psychiatrist with a private practice offering ketamine infusion therapy and KAP, and co-founder of Nautilus Sanctuary, a non-profit psychedelic research, education, and advocacy organization.  Paleos talks about how stress creates trauma, and how the symptoms Western medicine tries to silence are actually signals – a quality assurance mechanism sending an alert that something is wrong, and that when symptoms are labeled as ‘treatment-resistant,’ is it actually a case of one’s own inner healing intelligence outsmarting a medication to make sure that that message is delivered?   He discusses: MAPS’ recent advisory board ruling, past ethical violations, and how training should be done How consent in a therapeutic relationship is an ongoing process of checking in How psychedelic-assisted therapy (and maybe all therapy) is simply removing obstacles so one’s own inner healing intelligence can do its job The importance of a culture (and training) that celebrates all therapeutic modalities as complementary: There’s a lot of uniqueness in this world, so we should embrace that   and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.: developer of Somatic Experiencing®, educator, and author of several best-selling books on trauma. His most recent book, An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey, is exactly that: a change from more scholarly writing into an extremely vulnerable telling of his early childhood trauma and how he has healed over the years. He talks about how his unconscious convinced him to write the book, how trauma can move into the body, and how he needed a student to identify how his trauma was affecting him. He believes that we all have wounding, but it's how we carry these wounds and tell our truth that matters.  He discusses:  The need to allow space for both Indigenous traditions and evidence-based Western frameworks The power of having even just one distinct moment of feeling cared for and loved How Colin Turnbull saw healing differently after living with an African tribe for three years Why he suggests 15-20 sober experiences with non-ordinary states for each drug experience Why not having a community or empathetic other makes us more vulnerable to trauma and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Erika Dyck: author, professor, historian, Vital instructor, and research chair in the History of Health & Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. Dyck talks about the book she co-edited: Women and Psychedelics: Uncovering Invisible Voices, which was released in March as a Chacruna anthology, and collects pieces from several different authors highlighting the untold or lesser known stories from women throughout psychedelic history. Albert Hofmann was the first person to intentionally ingest LSD, but who was the first woman to do so? Who were the women assisting in research or sitting with experiencers in the early days who never got the credit for their contributions? Who were the women supporting some of the biggest psychedelic names in history? She talks about: The contrast in societal attitudes towards psychedelic exploration based on stereotypical gender roles Some of her favorite stories from the book, including a woman diagnosed with manic depression becoming one of the first guides in LSD trials The use of psychedelics in pregnancy and birthing practices across other cultures Traditional gender attributes: Are women more wired to care for others? Is there something about the psychedelic experience that’s inherently feminine? The importance of moving past the gender binary and implementing more diversity in research – with the challenge of needing to universalize medicine at the same time and more! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Lia Mix, LMFT, CPTR: founder and CEO of Delphi, a consulting firm dedicated to the healthy growth of the psychedelic movement. After many years of working in community mental health and 15 years in the commercial health insurance industry (where she helped to establish coverage for autism), Mix was one of the first graduates of CIIS’s training program, and after a very distinct MDMA-assisted therapy session, she wondered: “How can I be of service?” She’s since helped to launch The Board of Psychedelic Medicines and Therapies, the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association, and Enthea, and is working every day toward a more unified and uniform psychedelic space, with healthcare frameworks, official boards and certifications, consumer protections, and a general consensus that this is our responsibility to manage – not some outside regulator’s. So how can we, as a scattered psychedelic community, come together? She discusses: Her path to psychedelics and how nobody was talking about how to bring psychedelics into healthcare The need for a unified code of ethics for any practitioner of psychedelic therapy The FDA, Lykos Therapeutics, and how the recent advisory committee’s recommendations on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy were largely based on fear How there actually is a lot of financial possibility if we can all agree on what is absolutely essential right now and more! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Kaitlin Roberson: Vital graduate and co-founder and CEO of Cacti Therapeutics, a psychedelic biotech company developing novel therapies for chronic pain; and Dr. Michele Cox, DO: current Vital student, veteran, physician, and co-founder of LifeBloom, a brand new company focusing on bringing community and connection into women’s healthcare. They talk about their work: Roberson’s research on trauma and chronic pain, and why she feels that working in the pharma industry is a calling; and Cox’s framework as an osteopath, the value she’s found in touch and connection, and how she explains to clients what to expect when undergoing ketamine treatment. They discuss: Why psychedelics are such useful interventions The body’s ability to tell us what’s wrong, as long we’re listening The destabilization that can occur after a big experience: If you don’t have a good support system, is it really the right time? Self-care and our tendency to never feel like we’re good enough How there is energy in everything and we should all recognize that more And, as Vital students, they talk about what they hoped to get out of Vital and how it delivered more than expected. If you’re just discovering Vital, be sure to check out the website and fill out an application. Secure your spot and take advantage of the Early Bird discount! For links, head to teh show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Amanda Holley: pharmacologist and regulatory consultant in nonclinical drug development, and previously a nonclinical pharmacology/toxicology reviewer at the FDA. With Lykos Therapeutics working towards FDA approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, ICER (Institute for Clinical and Economic Review) recently published its draft evidence report, concluding that they couldn't endorse this modality. While disappointing to the psychedelic space, this report doesn't determine the FDA's official stance, and also really highlights a lot about how the FDA works, the knowledge gap between consumers and regulators, and how clinical studies should be designed in the future. Holley talks about the FDA's dedication to safety and data, and how, essentially, drug development comes down to a risk/benefit analysis.  She discusses:  Misconceptions about the FDA, especially related to psychedelics The path of a substance in early drug development and how breakthrough status works The complications with blinding psychedelics, the placebo effect, and how much therapy is a factor The contrast between productization and harm reduction: Should we be concerned with creating products, or understanding these substances better? How changing one molecule really does create a different drug and much more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews two Vital graduates: Alice Dommert: certified breathwork facilitator and co-founder of retreat company, The Infinite Center; and Kara Tremain, ACC: somatic practitioner and growth and development coach. A huge part of Vital is the experiential aspect of attending a retreat. Students report that being part of a group process, feeling the power of the proper set and setting, taking a journey as both a sitter and experiencer, and separating from the world and connecting with each other has been one of the best parts of the program – even life-changing. With Dommert behind 13 Vital retreats to date, she and Kyle dive into what they’ve learned in how to run a successful retreat. They discuss: Facilitator humility and how important it is for everyone to be on the same page How much additional activities can add to the experience (tea ceremonies, CrossFit, chanting, fireside chats) The importance of allowing enough time and space for everything, from personal time with facilitators to possible issues Co-creation and openness: What can facilitators and people coming to the retreat build together? How do we create the most meaningful time together? If you’re interested in Vital, applications are now open with an Early Bird discount! And if you want to attend a Vital retreat, we have a few spots left in two: a transpersonal breathwork retreat in Pennsylvania, July 9-14, and a cannabis + breathwork retreat in Agoura Hills, CA in October. Head to the Infinite Center’s website for details. For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Charles Stang: Professor of Early Christian Thought and the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. The Center was created to gain a better understanding of world religions by bringing scholars from their respective countries to study and live alongside Divinity School students. As students and Stang started to become interested in psychedelics, a zoom series, "Psychedelics and the Future of Religion," began, and the school just hosted their second conference, "Psychedelic Intersections: Cross Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred." Next year's Psychedelics and Spirituality conference will take place February 15, 2025.  He discusses:  Harvard's psychedelic history, and why it's important to not erase the past out of the interest of presumed legitimacy How people are consistently having extraordinary experiences with psychedelics, but not always with religion: Are people becoming less (or more) religious? The Immortality Key, the Eleusinian mysteries, and psychedelic enthusiasts' need to connect Christianity with psychedelics Psychedelics and other mystery religions, like Hermeticism and Mithraism Why religion is important to so many people, and how it helps us understand the "more-than-human"  and much more. For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode – the first in the 2024 series of Vital Psychedelic Conversations – David interviews Pierre Bouchard, LPC: Vital instructor and lead trainer for the Congregation for Sacred Practices; and Kara Tremain, ACC: recent Vital graduate-turned-instructor, somatic practitioner, and growth and development coach.  In this series, we pair up a Vital instructor with a current or previous student as a way of showcasing different (and aligned) perspectives on what they feel is most vital for the psychedelic space to be discussing, while also highlighting their experiences with Vital, our 12-month training program. The next cohort begins September 17 and we're accepting applications now.   As they are both are passionate about somatic work, they discuss:  The power of somatics in showing people how much our bodies and nervous systems matter, and how our thoughts are often not the main driver How ketamine or MDMA can help with somatic work How somatic sound can be, through music for journeys, sound bowls, or tuning forks: Can just the right frequency create magic? How somatic work is not solely about resolving trauma, but also about learning to conduct energy and use one's body as a tuning apparatus and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Alex Belser, Ph.D. and Bill Brennan, Ph.D.: psychologists, psychedelic researchers, authors, and co-creators of the EMBARK model, a framework for psychedelic therapy.  When Belser and Brennan worked together at Cybin, they canvassed the field of psychedelic research and saw very little reporting (if any) of the manuals researchers were using, so they created the EMBARK model as a "big tent" framework – a way to understand what patients were going through from the perspective of six different clinical domains, where the clinician can go deeper into whichever domain is needed based on their specific skill sets. The EMBARK model has been used in four Cybin trials to date, and its corresponding book, EMBARK Psychedelic Therapy for Depression: A New Approach for the Whole Person (co-authored by Belser and Brennan), was released in April.  They discuss:  The six domains and four ethical care cornerstones that make up EMBARK, as well as the many proposed change mechanisms that come into play Concerns over facilitators stepping aside and letting the medicine do the work: How much of a factor is someone's presence in the room? How much smaller, "little t" traumas can affect people – trauma doesn't always come from a single hallmark event The need for facilitators to be trained well (and trauma-informed), as it's nearly impossible to tell when an adverse outcome is coming and more! For links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, special guest host Court Wing interviews Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD: professor and chair of rehabilitation medicine at UT Health San Antonio; Joel Castellanos, MD: co-founder and associate medical director of the Center for Psychedelic Research at UC San Diego; and MaryAnn Welke Lesage: a long COVID survivor who reports experiencing drastic improvement in symptoms after MDMA and psilocybin therapy. As the world slowly recovers from COVID, many people are seeing continued or new symptoms, and while much is still not understood, these symptoms are being categorized as long COVID: essentially a persistent viral inflammation causing brain fog, headaches, depression, and other hard-to-diagnose symptoms. With estimations of as many as 18% of people in the U.S. experiencing this at one point and 6.8% currently dealing with it, could psychedelics – which can decrease inflammation and reset neural networks – help alleviate these symptoms?  They discuss:  How long COVID fits into what we already know about psychedelics, pain, and inflammatory medicine Why MDMA or psilocybin therapy, specifically, can help The importance of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and the myriad of tools these physicians have learned to work with Why anecdotal evidence matters towards future research and more!  For more info, read Lesage's article, "How Psychedelics Became Key to My Long COVID Recovery," as well as the official paper: "Long-COVID symptoms improved after MDMA and psilocybin therapy: A case report." For more links, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Sean Lawlor: writer and therapist specializing in ketamine-assisted therapy at Reflective Healing in Fort Collins, CO. His first book, Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing, will be released on June 4. Written as somewhat of a primer for psychedelics and psychedelic therapy, he talks about how he decided to write the book, how Michael Pollan was an influence, and the importance of making psychedelic literature not boring: Research and statistics are important, but how does one relate to data points when trying to understand something so rich and weird? He discusses: Studying philosophy, from Nietzsche and Freud to Jung and William James When a clinical frame or license is important (but can you always trust a license?) How context and interwoven culture matter when differentiating between plant medicines and man-made psychedelics Brian Muraresku’s The Immortality Key and research into ancient Greeks using psychedelics: Why do we place so much importance on proving this? The importance of community, rituals, shared meanings, mythology, and rites of passage and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Elliot Marseille, DrPH, MPP: founding director of UC Berkeley’s Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics (CEP), a network of health economists and researchers analyzing the economics behind emerging psychedelic-assisted therapies. In the early days of drug research, efficacy was the leading factor in decision making, but as time has gone on, people are looking much more into the economics of everything: If a government is granted X amount of money, what should they spend it on that will be the most beneficial to the most people? How do you create models for future research and regulations based on the data we have now? Can there be a time in the near future when someone sits before Congress and says, “This is the exact societal cost of not making psychedelic therapy accessible”? He discusses: His early work with the SABA Foundation, studying at the economics behind HIV/AIDS treatments in developing countries His experiences working with Ram Dass and having a big psychedelic journey with Leo Zeff His issues with the recent ICER (Institute for Clinical and Economic Review) report which said they couldn’t endorse MDMA-assisted psychotherapy Why we need more studies tracking people for long periods after psychedelic therapy, specifically analyzing their healthcare utilization over time and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of The Daschle Group: Founder and CEO, Senator Tom Daschle; and Public Policy Advisor, Charlie Panfil. As Senator Daschle served in the House of Representatives for eight years (starting in 1978) and the Senate for 21, he was deep in the War on Drugs at its peak, and thankfully, as seen with so many of his constituents in recent years, the data and personal stories of so many healed people has broken through the propaganda and made him a strong advocate for psychedelic-assisted therapy. While minds are changing and progress is happening before our eyes (the majority of substances the FDA is currently researching for psychiatric indications contain some form of psychedelic ingredient), government bureaucracy, a severe lack of communication between the FDA and DEA, and decades of lies are still massive roadblocks. How do we address all of this while advancing research? They discuss: The need to develop a partnership between the public and private sectors, mostly for the cost of treatments The DEA’s place in all of this: If they’re essentially a law enforcement agency, why are they involved in the safety and efficacy of medical treatments? The STATES Act, the Breakthrough Therapies Act, and how they can affect research Why we need to move past relying on opioids, and instead, embrace a science-based drug policy and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Simon Yugler: psychedelic-assisted therapist, educator, and author of the book, Psychedelics & the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, which comes out this fall. He digs into depth psychology and why it’s a beneficial framework for navigating non-ordinary experiences – a practice he believes will be the next focus in psychedelic education and understanding, alongside more analysis into the archetypes and myths that reside within (and all around) us. In an age of hyper-individualism and isolation, the stories and archetypal energies we share (which can be brought more to the forefront with psychedelics) can be incredibly healing and connecting. He discusses: The challenges of reintegrating to reality after the classic Hero’s Journey, and how some people don’t want to The time he ate 7 grams of strong mushrooms and nothing happened, confirming to him the omnipresence of trickster energies Jung’s theory on individuation, and how true individuation actually creates deeper engagement with the world How myths offer windows into deeper realms, and a breakdown of his Mythopoetic Integration Method How psychedelics show us our souls, and how so much of the chaos in the world can be related to a denial of the soul and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Sami Awad: Palestinian peace and nonviolent activist and founder of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; and Leor Roseman, Ph.D.: Israeli neuroscientist, researcher, and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.   They talk about Roseman's 2021 paper, "Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis," which looked at what happened when people with fiercely different opinions moved beyond fear, anger, and othering, and sat together in a safe container and drank ayahuasca with the purpose of healing collective trauma. When the focus of the participants moved toward understanding each other, Roseman and Awad saw a unity that gave them a lot of hope, leading to the creation of their nonprofit, RIPPLES, which is focused on using psychedelics for peacebuilding – first in the Middle East, and hopefully soon, everywhere. As Awad says, "If it can happen here, it can happen almost anywhere." They discuss:  The efficacy of psychedelics as a tool for nonviolent activism, building peace, and recognizing – and healing – collective trauma The balance between the idealistic and the practical, or 'the irony of harmony' – if you focus too much on the connectivity of psychedelics, do you actually exclude voices? The concept of "my liberation depends on your healing and your liberation depends on mine" The challenge in doing something with the hope and enthusiasm that comes after a powerful experience: How do you make sure that wave of hope continues rippling through choppy waters?  Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of the Heroic Hearts Project team: Director of Donor Development and founder of The Hope Project, Allison Wilson; and Director of Research and founder of Hystelica, Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley. They discuss how The Hope Project – a nonprofit that supports spouses of veterans, Gold Star Wives, and female veterans with scholarships to psychedelic healing retreats, integration, community, etc. – merged with Heroic Hearts Project, and why this is such a necessary part of the veteran healing story: How does a family hold space for a vet returning to a suddenly alien civilian life (especially after a psychedelic journey)? How does a spouse deal with their own trauma from constant worry and isolation? Wilson and Blest-Hopley are learning that, for many spouses, having their own experience (and with other spouses) has been incredibly beneficial. They talk about: The concept of secondary PTSD (often referred to as ‘compassion fatigue’) and the many ways it can manifest How Heroic Hearts is working with Imperial College London to use veteran retreats as real-world observational research The importance of involving family in the healing process, and how positive outcomes can trickle down to children The need for more research into how PTSD and the effects of psychedelics are different in women based on their unique physiology (as most studies have focused on men) and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview William Richards, STM, Ph.D.: senior advisor at Sunstone Therapies, psychologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, contributor to Vital, and author of Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics & Religious Experiences. He talks about the first time he experienced psilocybin in a research study in 1963, his early studies on the psychology of religion, working with Abraham Maslow, how he became one of the early psychedelic therapists, and what it was like for all of that to disappear when Nixon came into office and shut everything down. He discusses his move into psychedelics and end-of-life care after seeing patients’ fear of death completely disappear, and contemplates whether psychedelics could help people prepare for death – how would we live if we no longer feared death? He also discusses: How the integration of psychedelics into palliative care should be a huge step in cultural acceptance How psychedelics could be used for education and boosting creativity, problem solving, and even new perspectives on history and classic works The study of comparative religion and the potential for psychedelics to find the connections and commonality between seemingly disparate religions The impact of psychedelic experiences on the perception of the sacred How fascinating it is that the same substance, dose, and set and setting can create such incredibly different experiences and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Shahar Amit: psytrance musician who has created what may be the world's first modular album for psychedelic exploration under his project, Held By Sound.  He talks about his background in the rave and festival scene, the moment he realized he wanted to make music, and the realization that he could create soundscapes specifically for journeys into non-ordinary states. And he digs into the 'choose your own adventure' framework of the free album: how he actually recorded 3 different albums and figured out how to transition into different moods based on which direction the listener wants to go – from more still to more expansive, to darker or more bittersweet. He has also created music for DMT trials in the UK, and talks a lot about the potential in extended-state DMT experiences. He also discusses:  How he came up with the flow of the album related to phases of the trip How much of a catalyst and safe container music can be, with or without a complimentary substance How psychedelics in a fun, festival experience with lots of laughter can be extremely beneficial – you don't need to do them the 'correct' way Graham Hancock, Donald Hoffman, and the concept of consciousness as the building block of all reality Psytrance, classical music, traditional Bwiti music, Lady Gaga, and what music he feels is best for exploration  and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and special guest, Court Wing, interview Tommy Aceto: former Navy Seal and trauma medic, NCAA athlete, Michigan State Champion Wrestler, and now, psychedelic advocate and ambassador for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition. He discusses his journey from childhood to wanting to become a SEAL, and the toll that military life and its programming can take on a person: how a life built on high levels of endurance, deprivation, and constantly surviving in a fight-or-flight mindset often manifests in Operator Syndrome, chronic pain, depression, and addiction. Veterans are seeing the potential of psychedelics to rewire their brains and allow them to process pain differently, by allowing them to feel emotions they were trained to turn off: “You’ve got to feel to heal.” Aceto discusses: The affirmation and approval many who join the military seek, and how that often translates into needing to stay at certain levels of risk to truly feel alive The similarities between soldiers and professional athletes and high performers Dealing with chronic pain, and how forcing movement is often the best tactic The Controlled Substances Act and how opioids became a business Why the most important thing vets can do today is to tell their healing stories and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle and Johanna catch up, interviewing each other about psychedelic education and what they’ve learned, the biggest challenges, and what advice they would give to anyone looking to get involved in the psychedelic field. They discuss: How sometimes it’s not about the substance: If you want to be a psychedelic therapist, do you see yourself doing therapy without the psychedelics? How no part of education is exempt, and becoming truly psychedelically-competent can involve studying psychology, neuroscience, somatics, religion, history, etc. How people’s experiences are evidence – it doesn’t have to come from a research study to be valid The importance of figuring out what your gifts are and how you could best contribute to progress, and then finding the job that matches it and more! The next round of our year-long training program, Vital, begins in September, but for those who feel that that may be too much of a commitment, our most popular course – the 9-week Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners, LIVE – begins on May 8. Head to the Psychedelic Education Center for more details! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Philip Wolf: writer, member of Rolling Stone's Culture Council, founder of Cultivating Spirits (the first company in the U.S. to offer legal culinary cannabis experiences), and founder of CashoM, an education company offering a certificate in cannabis stewardship. He discusses his recent Rolling Stone article about the need to divorce ourselves from the colonial mindset that pervades the psychedelic movement, and he talks about the difficult conversation that came about when he asked a very critical group of psychedelic leaders how they felt about the article, and how it taught him just how powerful having these difficult conversations can be.  He also discusses:  The importance of asking questions and not making assumptions Why we may need to abandon the "no justice, no peace" attitude if we ever want to move forward The idea that instead of endlessly battling the establishment, maybe it makes more sense to change our consumer mindset and allow capitalism to do its thing The importance of reaching out to local Indigenous tribes and allocating resources to go to them, not make them come to you The challenge of merging spirituality and science, especially for a regulatory model focused on profit and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Lenny Gibson, Ph.D.: philosopher, Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, 20-year professor of transpersonal psychology at Burlington College, and the reason Joe and Kyle met many years ago. He talks about his early LSD experiences and how his interest in the philosophy of Plato and Alfred North Whitehead provided a framework and language for understanding a new mystical world where time and space were abstractions. He believes that while culture sees the benefits of psychedelics in economic terms, the biggest takeaway from non-ordinary states is learning that value is the essence of everything. And as this is being released on Bicycle Day, he discusses Albert Hofmann’s discovery and whether or not it’s fair to say that Hofmann intentionally had the experience he did on that fateful day. He also discusses: The end of Cartesian thinking and the need for a new understanding of reality that incorporates the insights of quantum mechanics How philosophy has been taught as an intellectual endeavor, and how we need to embrace the practical and conceptual side of life John Dewey and quantitative thinking, William James and pragmatism, and was Aristotle a Platonist? The novelty of the creation of LSD, and how it gave us a path to a mystical experience that wasn’t culturally bound and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Joey Lichter, Ph.D.: professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department at Miami’s Florida International University, and one of the few professors in the U.S. teaching a course about psychedelics at the collegiate level. He talks about his path towards the course, the challenge of creating a curriculum that covers everything in a few months, and the importance of teaching young minds about psychedelics the right away; shifting drug education from the “Just say no!” D.A.R.E. model to a more balanced, honest, and evidence-based approach. He aims for his students to think critically, ignore the hype, and see all possible angles with a fairly simple approach: Present the full story. He discusses: The importance of teaching history, from Stan Grof to MKUltra The work of David Nichols, David Nutt’s drug harm scale, and the greatest lesson William Leonard Pickard took from LSD The representation of Spravato as a new drug, and his concerns with the over-medicalization of psychedelics Teaching about the complexities of Timothy Leary: Was he a positive or negative force? Decriminalization, legalization, and how he gets students to think about drug policy and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Devon Phillips: community & partnerships officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Phillips works on strategies to tackle the questions: How do we responsibly mainstream psychedelics? And how do we get culture engaged? He's focusing on being the bridge to psychedelics outside of research, facilitating workshops and psychedelic coming-out stories at music festivals and conferences. He talks about harm reduction and drug checking at festivals, the concept of training big names to become trustworthy resources, the differences found in a hop hop crowd compared to EDM, and the power in using psychedelics for pleasure and celebration – not just healing and growth.  He also discusses:  MAPS' involvement with the NFL for their 'My Cause, My Cleats' campaign, and how the San Francisco 49ers' Jon Feliciano is bringing awareness to psychedelic healing Details about MAPS' first responders training, fiscal sponsorship program, international therapist education program, and upcoming membership program (launching in June) The success of MAPS' Psychedelic Science and his hopes for the 2025 edition, taking place June 16 - 20 at the Denver Convention Center Dr. Carl Hart, drug exceptionalism, and the importance of creating safe containers and inclusive drug policy  and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Keeper Trout: archivist, author, photographer, co-founder of the Cactus Conservation Institute, and creator of Trout’s Notes, a website compiling personal research and collected data to help ethnobotanical researchers. From an interest in cactus taxonomy, Sasha Shulgin urged Trout to go through his files, resulting in a friendship, and eventually, an 8-year project of digitizing all of these files into the ever-evolving Shulgin Archive. Trout discusses: His relationship with Sasha and The Shulgin Farm project, which aims to make the farm a community resource for therapy, research, events, and more The messiness of cactus taxonomy, and how he believes we’re nearing the end of being able to properly identify plants The perception of LSD as unnatural and why the natural vs. synthetic argument is largely political Why repealing the Controlled Substances Act is the path we should take over decriminalization or legalization and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Alexa interviews April Pride: creative entrepreneur, veteran of the cannabis space, and now, founder of SetSet, an educational platform and podcast (picking up where The High Guide left off) for women curious about psychedelics. With Alexa about to embark on the journey of motherhood, she asks many of the questions parents working with psychedelics have to consider: How do you overcome the stigmas of being a psychedelic parent? How do you talk to your children about drugs? How do you know if a substance is ok to use during pregnancy? Pride discusses: Being dubbed “the weed mom” and why she embraced the nickname Parenting children around drug use and how parents lose credibility when they lie (the kids are going to know) The need for more research into how substances interact with women’s cycles and changing hormones Knowing when to trust your doctor and how more conversations lead to more knowledgeable doctors Microdosing psilocybin and the developing SetSet protocol and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Paul F. Daley, Ph.D., who worked with Sasha Shulgin in his lab for the last seven years of his life, helping him finish (and co-authoring) "The Shulgin Index, Volume One: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds." He is now the co-founder, Chief Science Officer, and Director of Analytical Science at the Alexander Shulgin Research Institute (ASRI), focusing on the discovery and development of novel psychedelic compounds. While Sasha was passionate about self-experimentation, the Institute is aiming for the next step for these drugs: FDA approval.   He discusses:  Meeting Sasha at the 2nd international conference on hallucinogenic mushrooms in Washington D.C. Bonding with Sasha while reviewing the autopsy of researcher Robert van den Bosch for possible foul play The two compounds ASRI is closest to being able to test in clinical trials The 5-HT2B receptor, risk of valvular disease, and why we will likely be hearing more about this going forward How AI and new technology can lead to better safety science   and more! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, David interviews Osiris González Romero: philosopher and Postdoctoral researcher on cognitive freedom and psychedelic humanities at the University of Saskatchewan. Romero believes that our weakest point of research is our knowledge of Indigenous languages, and is focused on highlighting different cultural uses of psychedelics to better inform future drug policy. He’s currently studying more than 100 documents (including one over 400 years old) to establish an honest understanding of why peyote was ever banned. He discusses: Mesoamerican psychedelics and their relevance to cognitive liberty and decolonization How the War on Drugs is our main colonial legacy The concepts of an ontological turn and ontological pluralism The neocolonial, biomedical, and spiritual paradoxes found inside the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ How imagination is often viewed through a lens of illusion rather than problem solving or creativity and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Maria Mangini, Ph.D., FNP: researcher, educator, and midwife who has worked closely with many psychedelic innovators and was part of the original social network at Shulgin Farm – where this episode was recorded. She traces her journey from the influence of pioneers like the Wassons, Shulgins, and Grofs, and historic places like Esalen and Millbrook. She discusses: Her early experiences with the Grofs at Esalen and how she met the Shulgins Gregory Bateson guiding her to become a midwife The similarities between midwifery and psychedelic facilitation The unsung work of Denis Berry in saving the Timothy Leary archives How the working relationship of the Shulgins is a perfect example of the coequality society should strive for and more! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, released on Ann Shulgin’s birthday, Joe interviews Wendy Tucker: Daughter of Ann and Stepdaughter to Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin. Recorded in Sasha’s old office, she recounts her formative years, giving an insider’s look into her Mother’s openness about psychedelics, working with Sasha in the lab, how the Shulgins made a perfect team, and watching a close-knit circle of self-experimenters start to form at Shulgin Farm – and keep coming back over the years. She talks about the energy infused into the property from the decades of research and gatherings, and how she is trying to preserve it – not just to capture its history and the pioneering research that happened there, but as a beacon for future generations. She imagines weddings, conferences, other communal gatherings, and more. Imagine taking a chemistry course in Sasha Shulgin’s lab? To learn more about the project and to donate, head to Shulginfarm.org. Click here to head to the show notes page and watch the video.

In this episode, Joe interviews Juan Pablo Cappello: co-founder and former CEO of Nue Life Health, whose assets were subsequently acquired by Beckley Waves. Cappello digs into his recent article which has been making waves across the psychedelic community: “Profit Over Patients? A Critical Look at At-Home Ketamine Therapy.” He created Nue Life with the goal of helping a million people address the root cause of their anxiety, and while the company was successful, he began to see a problematic trend: that using ketamine while providing services of a mental health company is very expensive and resource-consuming, and as companies saw a large percentage of clients requiring maintenance doses, the most profitable business model became essentially slinging ketamine to patients without providing any real integration or aftercare. Are these companies promising healing but really only guaranteeing recurring revenue? He talks about: How this emerging model makes it harder for ethical practitioners to be able to provide their services The tools they built at Nue Life for long-term benefit, and why these should be the main focus – not repeated ketamine Matthew Perry’s death and how the media was quick to place the blame on ketamine The need for companies and communities to come to gather and create ethical industry standards for the at-home ketamine model How cannabis was almost decriminalized under the Carter administration and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio: integrative physician, psychedelic-assisted therapy facilitator and psilocybin retreat leader, international speaker, podcaster, and author of several books, including "Sacred Medicine: Exploring The Psychedelic Hero’s Journey." She discusses her personal metamorphosis and name change inspired by a powerful ayahuasca experience, and how that moved her into a life more inspired by authenticity and self-love. She gives the details of her retreats, explains her PRISM sessions, and talks in depth about the magic of resiliency: How can we not just return to baseline, but experience post-traumatic growth? She talks about: The power of tuning into creativity in times of depression The efficacy of narrative therapy and writing in general The universal themes of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ and how much agency matters The importance of embracing nonfiction, and her upcoming book series, "The Dreamweaver’s Legacy" The potential of microdosing psilocybin for menopause and more! Her new course on trauma-informed psychedelic therapy begins this month, and her next retreat begins May 10. Head to 1drea.com for details. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Itzhak Beery: author, shamanic teacher, speaker, trip leader, and founder of ShamanPortal.org, an online community and resource for people who want to learn, practice, and teach shamanic traditions. Beery shares his transformational journey, starting from his upbringing on a kibbutz in Israel, to his disillusioned advertising days in Manhattan, to the life-altering sweat lodge experience in Hawaii that eventually led him to write the book, Shamanic Transformations: True Stories of the Moment of Awakening, and realize his true purpose. He discusses the two major sides of trust: how to know when a healing path has truly become your life purpose, and how to know who to trust as a good healer in a world of self-initiated shamans. He and David dig into: How we all have the innate ability to be a shaman How Westerners are often seeking healing too young, before they have the capacity to truly understand lessons they may receive His upcoming book which attempts to teach practitioners how to create narratives out of symbols, The Language of Spirit The importance in not denying the experiencer’s truth and more! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Johanna interviews Laura Reeves: Glastonbury-based facilitator and medicine woman trained in craniosacral therapy, somatic experiencing, breathwork, and more, who holds retreats at sacred sites in the U.K. and Peruvian Amazon. She tells of her journey from serendipitously booking a trip to Ecuador just as she first heard about ayahuasca, to the early ayahuasca experiences that showed her our true interconnectedness, to a heroic dose of psilocybin and a trip to the hospital, to being accepted into training with an Indigenous shaman in the Amazon. With a lifelong love of nature, paganism, and ancient traditions, she stresses the importance of connecting to the natural rhythms of the Earth and harnessing its energy. She talks about: Self-initiated shamans and the dangers that can come from bad actors operating out of integrity and respect for the lineage Ayahuasca as a purgative and the power of energetic clearings Her experience with shamans using Icaros to channel the sounds of plants Shadow work and its role in personal growth and healing The energy of Glastonbury, feeling deep connections to sacred places, and how ley lines inspire places of pilgrimage and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Erica Rex interview Elizabeth Anglin: spirit medium, animal communicator, intuitive healer, alien abductee, and author of Experience: Memoirs of an Abducted Childhood. She talks about her early abduction experiences, the time when she and her father realized they were both being abducted at the same time (from different locations), and the horrifying experience of six beings entering her apartment and realizing she knew one of them. These experiences led her to Budd Hopkins, and eventually John Mack (who did regression work with her) and the John E. Mack Institute, where she became a peer mentor for abductees. She talks about the validity of alien abductions, the concept of spiritual ecology, and the importance of listening to people: There’s so much we don’t know, so is it fair to label experiencers as schizophrenic just because we can’t replicate the experience? She discusses: The commonality of people from the same family being abducted and why some people are lifetime abductees while others are only taken once The differences in abductions and how some seem to only be mental while others are physical and extremely painful The story of Linda Napolitano and the famous Brooklyn Bridge abduction Regressive hypnotherapy work: Are the memories you’re recovering accurate? Quantum biology, the Penrose-Hameroff quantum theory of consciousness, parallel realities, time travel, and quantum jumping and so much more! As the X-Files made famous: The truth is out there. And this episode is definitely pretty out there! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Christopher Koddermann interviews Dr. Sam Banister: co-founder and chief scientific officer of Psylo, an Australian biotech company developing next-generation psychedelics. Banister discusses how he got involved in drug development, how Psylo came about, and the hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonists Psylo is working on. He talks about the compromise between immediate need and ambition, and the ethical considerations and possibilities behind developing non-hallucinogenic compounds: What can we take from the psychedelic experience for people who aren’t ideal candidates for one? Is the psychedelic experience truly necessary? And for what indications will these new Gen 3 compounds be most useful? He discusses: What we can infer about the volatility of biotech and the state of the psychedelic industry based on recent mergers and acquisitions The long-term challenges of drug development and the scalability of treatment options How the initial success of Spravato has played a role in allaying fears around new compounds Head twitch response and concerns it’s not as accurate of a metric as we’ve believed Australia’s decision to down-schedule psilocybin and MDMA, and the speed of implementation and licensing: How long will it be before people have easy access? What he sees for the future and why we need to be careful with language around expectations and more! Click here to head to teh show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris: founder and head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, founding director of the Neuroscape Psychedelics Division at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founder of the Carhart-Harris Lab. A legendary researcher, he talks about his psychedelic origins: studying Freud, Jung, and eventually Stan Grof and depth psychology to try and better understand the unconscious. He discusses the growth of psychedelics and the cultural shifts he’s noticed (especially in the U.S.), as well as what he’s working on today: researching the influence of psychedelics on set and setting by studying experiences in both enriched and unenriched environments. He also talks about: Plasticity: how he defines it, how it relates to critical reopening periods, and how it’s a fundamental thing that transcends the metrics we use to measure it Early LSD studies, the nervousness surrounding he and David Nutt dosing Ben Sessa, and the youthful energy that kept them going How plasticity could be exploited to help relieve chronic pain The potential of psychedelics to help with fibromyalgia and anorexia How psychedelic-assisted therapy brought care back to health care and more! UCSF is seeking survey volunteers, so if you’ve had more than three experiences with ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin (must have experiences with all three) and want to contribute, do so here. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Alyssa Gursky, LPC: artist, research associate and study therapist at the Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy (SNaP) lab, and founder of Psychedelic Art Therapy LLC, which pioneers ketamine-assisted art therapy. She talks about her first mushroom experience and how her art and creative process instantly felt different – how the judgment and concern about where the art was going disappeared and was replaced by a freedom; a return to a more childlike way of being, where all that mattered was the fun of the creative process, and expressing her inner world in art. They realized how much the creative process related to true embodiment and the ability to be fully present, and how healing it can be to simply be with other people and create art.  She talks about: The power of being seen in a group, and how the bravery of one person can completely shift the group dynamic The need for mentorship in the psychedelic space The comfort and freedom found in affinity groups The inspiring lives of Genesis P-Orridge and avant-garde filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky Rick Rubin’s ability to treat creativity as a spiritual act and how attending a live wrestling event aligns with non-ordinary states. Gursky is launching a virtual education and support group this March for anyone who wants to integrate art into client work or their own process. Visit her instagram for details. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Matthew ‘Whiz’ Buckley: former decorated US Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot and now, founder and CEO of No Fallen Heroes Foundation, a non-profit focused on healing veterans and first responders with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Buckley met Joe in D.C. while they were both campaigning for psychedelic therapy to any lawmaker they could speak with. He talks about how the government is spending a fortune on the military, but not paying the total cost, since so much of that is externalized onto the soldiers themselves. He points out how many of them care more about making money than saving lives, and how we need “We the people” moments to wake them up or remove them from office. He discusses: His time in the Navy and his transition back to civilian life, coming to terms with trauma and realizing how much was physical (including tinnitus) His life-changing experiences under ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT with the Mission Within How we should be teaching veterans about various mental health options (including psychedelic-assisted therapy) as part of their transition process The signing of the National Defense Authorization Act and the disappointing amount of money reserved for psychedelic research: Was it all just lip service? The complications that arise when trying to get benefits from the VA while also trying to move on: When honesty about mental health isn’t incentivized, when do you tell the truth? His experience operating legally in Colorado and how he plans to stay on top of Governor Desantis to bring psychedelics to Florida and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Saga Briggs: freelance journalist and author of "How to Change Your Body: The Science of Interoception and Healing Through Connection to Yourself and Others." A collection of interviews, peer-reviewed research, and personal story; the book dives deep into the mind-body connection, how to become more embodied, and our need for social connection – which factors into mental and physical health far more than most of us realize. The nod to Michael Pollan’s book is also a challenge: Have we been focusing too much on our minds and now it’s time to pay more attention to our bodies? How much of the benefit of psychedelic experiences is related to truly experiencing our bodies? She discusses: How neuroscience is starting to look more at brain-body interactions, and the psychedelic space’s growing interest in somatics The minimal and narrative selves: Do psychedelics make the minimal self traverse over the narrative self? Flexible switching and applying interoception to a social context Her concept of a ‘possibility space’ and new ways of perceiving The benefit of adding embodiment practices to psychedelic assisted therapy – especially during preparation and integration and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Steve Rio: psychedelic guide, performance and transformation coach, musician, and co-founder of Enfold, a retreat center in BC, Canada. While Enfold caters each experience to each client, they largely work with 5-MeO-DMT (which is unregulated in Canada); partly because of its power, and partly because Rio realized how much was missing in terms of safety and process when using the substance. They are trying to fill in the gaps, working with the University Health Network Centre for Mental Health to analyze measurements of mindfulness, DAS tests, the Brief Inventory of Thriving survey, and language used when describing experiences to collect as much qualitative data as possible. He discusses their screening process, why they work with synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, why they encourage everyone to go to a group session, and how 5-MeO seems to bypass psychological processes and largely be related to somatic release. He talks about: The power of 5-MeO and being humble and honest with yourself: Are you stable enough to handle the dysregulation? 5-MeO bad actors and 'Drive-by 5' people who show up, do the drug, and leave The plight of Sonoran Dessert toads and the need for more data around their declining populations How 5-MeO seems to connect people with a higher power, and the need for the experiencer to find their own context for it The importance of creating a clean and open container for spirituality and meeting the client where they are and more! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Ayize Jama-Everett: author, educator, filmmaker, and therapist with a long history of work in substance use and mental health services. When Jama-Everett was last on the show, “A Table of Our Own” – a film focusing on healing, psychedelics, and bonds within the Black community – was still in its infancy. It’s now complete, and he and others behind the film are touring with it, with showings coming up in Detroit, LA, and Boston. A free follow-up discussion hosted by CIIS’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research is happening Feb. 15, and, from February 15-16 only, the film is available to rent online. He gives his full origin story: growing up around substance use, how he got into therapy and healing people through journeys, how “A Table of Our Own” came about, and how it was influenced by mushrooms. Then he discusses a lot more, with a much-needed critical eye: His experiences with some notorious bad actors in the facilitation space Decriminalization and how we celebrate small wins while ignoring steps back Drug exceptionalism, the Drug War, and the demonization of crack Power dynamics and the dangerous concept of letting go Why the Black community is so skeptical of psychedelics And he talks about why it’s so important to meet people where they are – that what works for one person or one community won’t necessarily work for another, and the above-ground, corporatized, overly medicalized model will never work for everyone. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Grinspoon: primary care physician and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, TedX speaker, certified physician life coach, and author of the new book, Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Expert Untangles the Truth about Marijuana. He tells his story of growing up in a house where academics like John Mack and Carl Sagan regularly smoked cannabis, and being inspired by the groundbreaking books of his father, Lester Grinspoon. An outspoken advocate for drug policy reform and embracing different, non-AA paths to recovery, he talks about how he got there: his opiate addiction, fall from medicine, subsequent return, and learning just how deep the stigma against drugs goes, and how much the medical establishment is another arm of the Drug War. Seeing Through the Smoke aims to tell the truth about cannabis, especially on benefits and real and debunked harms. How can we get more physicians and lawmakers on our side if all they know is propaganda? He discusses: -The challenge in speaking honestly with physicians about drug use -Why physicians are in support of researching psychedelics but not cannabis -Stigmatized language and Drug War vibes in medical software -The truth about cannabis, schizophrenia, and the risk of drug-induced psychosis -Portugal and the ‘Rat Park’ model -The importance of listening to what patients are saying – especially when we don’t have enough good data and more! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Kate Pate: Ph.D. neurophysiologist; Founder and CEO of Coruna Medical; founding board member of the Psychedelic Medicine Association; and Founder of The Way Back, a company that will provide education and coaching services related to military, veteran, and first responder health – often in wilderness settings. She talks about her introduction to psychedelics through the Heroic Hearts Project, where she later served as an integration coach and director of research, looking at psilocybin for traumatic brain injury symptoms, and how the gut microbiome changes after ingesting ayahuasca. She points out that gut health hasn’t been a focus of research, but it’s now emerging as a key indicator of physical and mental health. So, how do psychedelics, particularly plant-based ones, come into play? Are the long term shifts after an experience related to a change in the bacteria inside of us? She breaks down what a microbiome is and how it changes based on diet; how inflammation is created and the inflammatory cascade that happens after a head injury; how toxins create a stress response similar to an allergic reaction; the frustrations of vets and the limited resources of the VA; the commonality of substance and alcohol use disorders in people coming home from service; the many nonprofits she’s worked with; and how important it is to increase science funding from the government. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe speaks with Paul F. Austin: Founder & CEO of Third Wave, Founder of Psychedelic Coaching Institute, and host of Third Wave's The Psychedelic Podcast. Recorded in-person at this year's reMind conference, this episode – a shared release with Third Wave – is a rare glimpse into the inner workings of both Psychedelics Today and Third Wave, with Joe and Paul reconnecting after early podcast appearances and interviewing each other about where they've come from and where they're going now that they're so many years into this. Paul breaks down Third Wave's history and new coaching training program, and Joe discusses Vital: Why he invested in Vital over an investment raise, what we've learned from the first two cohorts, how we've handled scholarships, and why sometimes losing money can be worth it if it's for the greater good. They talk about the challenge of keeping the lights on while trying to create something new; the balance of running a media company while building out an educational platform; the importance of staying focused and ignoring the noise; the relationship-building they've seen from their students; why we need to welcome the corporate types we may be inclined to dismiss; and why seeding good actors in as many roles and communities as possible is vital to the growth of psychedelics.  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Ryan Latreille: Founder of Hearthstone Collective, which sells functional mushrooms and low-dose kanna designed for microdosing; and Kanna Extract Co., which is focused on offering high-potency kanna extracts more for ceremonial and recreational use. He talks about how he found his way to kanna; his first psychedelic experience (kanna mixed with MDMA); how he worked with a Koi tribal leader to find high-alkaloid kanna; how they created the strain they use; and why so many people are interested in kanna and more people should try it, as he believes it’s not only a natural alternative to other substances and alcohol, but also a great entry point for people looking to experiment with microdosing. If you want to learn a lot about kanna, this is the episode for you, as it is all discussed: How dosing should be done depending on what you’re looking for; whether or not it’s fair to say kanna is ‘MDMA-lite’; Indigenous history of usage; drug interactions and safety; the journey from seed to harvest; a breakdown of different grades of kanna; how the ratio of different alkaloids creates different experiences; and what could be possible by combining different alkaloids, different strains, and by pairing with different substances. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Emma Knighton: Somatic trauma therapist, Vital instructor, and psychedelic integration therapist focusing on consciousness exploration, complex PTSD from childhood abuse, and queer identity development. This episode is a bit of a masterclass on consent and boundaries within the client/practitioner relationship. She discusses power dynamics: how conflicts arise due to the breaking of established boundaries; safety, and embracing the idea of creating a container that is ‘safe enough’ to go into places that feel unsafe; and the importance of maintaining agreed-upon boundaries no matter how much the client may want to break them. They discuss ways to fulfill the need for touch when touch was not agreed upon, and the concept of practicing touch interactions before the experience – that playing out possible scenarios will create a somatic map so bodies remember what it feels like to be near each other while one body is deep in an experience. And she talks about much more: What she’s learned from the kink and sex work community and their similarities with the psychedelic world; ways to handle consent in group settings; the clash between giving people agency but needing to step in and protect them; restorative justice models and how they could be used in a much-needed psychedelic practitioner accountability system; the need for practitioners to continue doing their own work; and how part of true consent is being honest about one’s own limitations or conflicts as a practitioner. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Erik Vaughan: Co-Founder and Manager of Epiphany mushrooms, a mushroom and mental health company based in Akron, Ohio. Epiphany mushrooms will initially be selling Lion's Mane, Reishi, and Cordyceps, and they plan to expand into more functional mushrooms while also pursuing a license to operate healing centers in Colorado. Vaughan was involved in changing Colorado's psilocybin legislation after lobbying to add a section that allows product testing labs to register and charge for their services – while voluntary and complementary to required testing, it allows growers to have an unlimited amount of product for testing purposes; adds an extra step in keeping the grower and lab in compliance with state law; and, as more states work on their own legislation, highlights the need for potency testing to let customers know exactly what they're ingesting.  He discusses changing attitudes and how Michigan can lead the way for the midwest; why he's excited about Colorado and what they got right; the enthusiasm of the mycology crowd; Rick Perry's speech at Psychedelic Science 2023; the iron law of prohibition and mushroom products sold in Ohio; and the incredible inefficiency of the drug war (when viewed like it was not designed to do exactly what it's doing). Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Christine Calvert: Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator. She talks about how addiction led her to breathwork, how breathwork has helped her over the years, how breathwork can be a compliment to other self-work, and how becoming comfortable with breathwork first could be a very important stepping stone towards better understanding the psychedelic experience. She talks about how years of breathwork helped her navigate complicated states of consciousness, and the incredible benefit of learning to trust our body's capacity to heal itself.  She discusses using bodywork in sessions and the importance of having the experiencer be the one who requests it; how much a facilitator's past relationship with touch affects how they use touch; the risk in meditation vs. the safety of breathwork; the concept of learning self-awareness; how profound it is to be witnessed in breathwork's dyad model; and why researching and creating guidelines for this kind of work seems impossible. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, recorded in-person at the recent reMind conference, Joe interviews Kaci Hohmann and Dave Kopilak: business attorneys at Emerge Law Group and co-chairs of Emerge’s psychedelics practice group. Hohmann also serves as Chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section. They were both drafters of Oregon Measure 109 (with Kopilak as the primary drafter), so this episode goes deep into the details, legalities, and possibilities behind Measure 109. What licenses are involved? What does a business heading to Oregon need to prepare for? What do they think the feds will do and how does that relate to cannabis’ Cole Memorandum? What is tax code 280E and how can its effects be minimized? What do they see the future looking like? They discuss what they do for clients at Emerge Law Group; the differences between the cannabis and psychedelics industries; why service centers are likely more important than the products; and how the psilocybin service center experience is more like a relationship with clients than anything in the cannabis world, which makes everything much more complicated – but also much safer. Joe also highlights some recent news, including MAPS PBC rebranding to Lykos Therapeutics, symptoms from traumatic brain injuries being improved by the combination of ibogaine and magnesium, and more! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Mike Margolies: community catalyst; conversation creator; Founder of Psychedelic Seminars; and Co-Founder and Co-Steward of the Global Psychedelic Society. The Global Psychedelic Society was created for all of the different psychedelic societies that have sprung up over the world to connect, share resources and information with each other, and be housed in a central hub so people can find them more easily. He talks about Frederic Laloux’s book, "Reinventing Organizations," and modeling the GPS around the “Teal” concept of organization, where employees are encouraged to show up as their true, honest, and most powerful selves; where it’s more about relationships than hierarchy; and more about embracing a mycelial – and psychedelic – way of thinking and interacting with each other. He breaks down how this way of thinking has progressed from the earliest ways of organizing, and discusses its three main principles of self-governance, wholeness, and evolutionary purpose. He then talks about the Boom Festival: its “Liminal Village,” its inventive Kosmicare harm reduction program, and how drugs are not as decriminalized as people think in Portugal; and Burning Man: how it all came together for him this year when he didn’t even want to go, his experiences with the rain and a friend’s dreams warning of floods, what he learned from the ghost of a lost friend, and how that resulted in the concept of Batman doing a striptease to Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose.” Is the Joker simply a manifestation of Batman’s shadow material and his desire to be a hero? Yea, this one gets weird… Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Christine Caldwell: graduate of the first cohort of Vital and Founder of End of Life Psychedelic Care (EOLPC); and Mary Telliano: end-of-life coach, psychedelic facilitator, and Founder of The Anam Cara Academy, which trains people in the art of end-of-life coaching. Whether we’re comfortable with it or not, we’re all going to die. And research shows that psychedelic experiences can help tremendously with the anxiety and depression that surround that inevitable transition between realms. Caldwell and Telliano discuss the role of a death doula; how they found their way into end-of-life care; why the West’s relationship with death changed during the Civil War; the role of families in the process; the legality of providing end-of-life psychedelics and the complications that arise when people are unable to leave their homes; and how different substances can be used based on each person’s abilities and comfort level.  They talk about why the mystical experience of psychedelics can be so helpful during this process (and how the placebo effect can be a very real factor); tell a few stories of amazing things they’ve witnessed while doing this work; and drive the point home of how important it is for us to reintegrate death as a natural part of life – to have rites of passage around death, to learn from death, and, much like we need to remember our inner healing capacity, realize that we all have the capacity to play the role of a death doula for someone else. Click here to head to the show notes page.  Click here to apply to Vital! Applications close on January 14. 

In this episode, we toast to the beginning of an exciting and hopefully groundbreaking 2024 by switching things up a bit. Christopher Koddermann, Co-Founder and Chair of Board of the International Therapeutic Psilocybin Rescheduling Initiative (ITPRI) will be conducting some interviews for PT, and in this episode, he does his first – with our Co-Founders, Joe Moore and Kyle Buller. Kyle tells the story of his fateful New Years Eve snowboarding trip that resulted in a near death experience and a complete change in his life’s trajectory, and Joe discusses his more academic roots and how he and Kyle were united through their shared passion for the work of Stan Grof, holotropic breathwork, and transpersonal psychology. Psychedelics Today was created largely with no aims other than to promote transpersonal psychology and archive the best insights from their mentors, but has obviously turned into so much more, mostly from the simple goal of trying to spread the word through interesting conversations. They talk about the growth of PT; how they got involved in education; the harms of the drug war; why decriminalization isn’t enough; where they see ‘the psychedelic renaissance’ going; what has surprised them the most in the last few years; and what we’re most proud of: Vital – how it came to be created, what’s involved, the benefits of the retreats, the self-discovery they’ve witnessed, and what they’ve learned through two successful cohorts. The next edition of Vital begins on January 23, and we’ve extended applications until January 14, so if you’ve been curious if Vital is the answer you’ve been looking for, now is the time to act! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Kayse Gehret: artist; author of "Body/Work: Careers in Massage Therapy"; and the Founder of Microdosing for Healing, a virtual community for microdosing and other modalities of the healing arts. She tells the story of embracing microdosing and her grand mal seizure disorder going away, and how the inability to touch people during the pandemic led to the creation of Microdosing for Healing. She breaks down the details of the program, challenges she's seen, and the importance of using every effective modality possible to align with each person's individual experience. The next 6-Week Immersion Group course begins January 26. She talks about how accessing the body is usually the best entry point to healing; how effective journaling and other personal development practices are to recognize change (especially with how subtle microdosing can be); the efficacy of group process; how physicians are beginning to see the power in community and connection; concerns over the "jump in the deep end" attitude of many people leading to destabilizing experiences; how regular check-ins are important to keep people connected to their original intention; and the idea that people are striving for an unattainable state of perfection - that our goal should be a constant state of improvement and aligning ourselves to who we are meant to be - and microdosing until we don't need to microdose anymore. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Mike Finoia: standup comedian, Producer for the hit show, “Impractical Jokers,” and co-host of the Comes a Time Podcast with Dead & Company bassist, Oteil Burbridge. His new Special, “Don’t Let Me Down,” is out now. He talks about his early days of recreational drug use at jam band shows; a powerful psilocybin experience; passing out before his first ketamine experience and how his commitment has made subsequent experiences much smoother; and how his continued work has allowed him to focus on what’s truly important. He’s seen positive results from talking about his ketamine-assisted psychotherapy experiences on stage, and he’s working on new material that will be much more focused on not just psychedelics, but the therapy, self-work, and growth he’s gone through in his journey. He also discusses the influence of other comedians; the bioavailability in different ketamine methods; how psychedelics are like a performance-enhancing drug; the importance of having a working, attainable idea of success and not getting caught up in other people’s lives; the benefit of asking people in the audience to raise their hands if they’ve done psychedelics; and the importance of recognizing that psychedelics are absolutely not for everyone – at least if they’re not ready. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and Kyle are honored to welcome back Stanislav and Brigitte Grof: Stan being the person who kickstarted their interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness, breathwork, and this podcast; and Brigitte: his other half, co-creator of Grof® Legacy Training, and support system (and often, voice) since his stroke a few years back. They discuss the recently released Stanislav Grof, LSD Pioneer: From Pharmacology to Archetypes, which Brigitte assembled in honor of Stan’s 90th birthday. It celebrates his life’s work in pioneering research into non-ordinary states of consciousness and transpersonal psychology, and features an extended interview with Stan; testimonials from a number of legends in the psychedelic and psychological fields like Jack Kornfield, Rupert Sheldrake, Richard Tarnas, and Fritjof Capra; and a large photo album of rarely seen pictures, including Stan doing his first experiments with LSD. And they talk about so much more: The evolution of LSD psychotherapy as Stan realized people’s experiences were coming from the psyche rather than any pharmacology; why he started practicing and teaching breathwork; Stan’s love of treasure hunts; how the perinatal matrices were born and how each corresponds to astrology and religious archetypes; why experience in breathwork can be so beneficial to better psychedelic experiences and facilitation; why integration is equally as important as the experience; and an argument to take archetypal astrology more seriously – that there is often a synchronicity that can’t be denied between these archetypes, events, and experiences. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Angie Leek, LMFT/LPC-S, SEP: Vital instructor, Founder of the Holos Foundation for Transpersonal Healing, and psychotherapist offering KAP through her private practice, Holos Counseling; and Justin LaPree: Vital graduate, decorated Marine, former firefighter, and Founder and President of Heroic Path to Light; a retreat center in Austin, Texas offering psychedelic-assisted therapy and community to veterans, first responders, and Gold/White Star families. LaPree shares his personal journey of struggling to reintegrate into life after war and the daily traumas he lived as a firefighter leading to an eventual suicide attempt, and the healing he found when he rediscovered the community and purpose he had been longing for. And Leek tells her story of her spiritual emergency and the nonlinear path she found for coming to terms with her repressed trauma, further illustrating a common theme we see in this space of the wounded healer, and the challenge of taking care of yourself first in order to be able to heal others. They discuss the importance of specialized communities for trauma healing; the need for a support system and the power of sharing experiences with others; how they both work with their clients, the idea of viewing preparation as “pre-integration”; why families and friends also need to be prepared; and how, if you feel like something needs to change or you’re in need of a community, maybe it all begins with you. They also talk about how much they loved Vital and the impact it’s had on their life paths. The deadline for applications for the 2024 cohort of Vital is tomorrow, December 20, at midnight, so if you’re ready to take the leap, head to vitalpsychedelictraining.com to apply now! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Mason Marks, MD, JD: drug policy analyst, writer, Professor at the Florida State University College of Law, and senior fellow and project lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. As somewhat of an expert on drug policy and FDA regulation, Marks discusses much of the current legal landscape: What was controversial and most interesting about the FDA’s recent guidance for researchers running clinical trials; how an amendment changed Colorado’s Natural Medicine Act and the odd vibe coming from the rule-making process (very private with canceled meetings and a notable lack of urgency); concerns over Oregon’s confusing program not being sustainable; and how Senate Bill 303 drastically changed confidentiality and how personal data would be collected in the state.  He also discusses the complications and ethics of end-of-life care and psychedelics; the theoretical heart valve risk from chronic use and ways we could research this; the challenge of informed consent; the legal risk of transactions involving people gifting illegal substances; the Gracias Foundation’s recent $16 million grant to Harvard and how people at Harvard feel about psychedelics; and more.  POPLAR, which was founded to essentially change laws around psychedelics, is hosting a conference on February 16 in Manhattan called “Drug Law for the 21st Century,” which will be looking back on 50 years of DEA drug policy and envisioning what could be different going forward. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Flor Bollini. Named “The Corporate Shaman” by Forbes Magazine, she is an entrepreneur, medicine woman, and the Founder and CEO of NANA Health. NANA Health is a platform that provides best practices, educational content, and peer to peer support around a framework that is fully personalized, using what they call “psychedelic-initiated transformative medicine.” Inspired by feminine energy, African tradition, and Ayurveda, their concept is that if you can’t afford a luxurious retreat, what can you do at home? What are the lifetime practices and biohacking techniques that can enable your self-healing capabilities to take over, with or without any psychedelics? Is your trajectory reversible? She talks about accepting her healing destiny and what she learned from several ayahuasca experiences across different countries; contrast therapy and the use of sweat lodges throughout history; how so many of our struggles come from repressing sexual energy; why 5-MeO-DMT is the best tool to treat the most complex issues; the concept of using 5-MeO as a Eucharist in church; why we need to connect with the divine; and why we need more spirit in Western medicine. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Daan Keiman, MA: Buddhist, Psychedelic Chaplain, and Co-Founder of the psychedelic think-and-practice tank, Communitas Collective Foundation; Aura Ahuvia: Rabbi who served five years as President of the ALEPH (Alliance for Jewish Renewal) Board and is now the Founder of Psychedelic Rabbi; and Josh Harper: Consciousness Medicine Guide who works with Ligare, a Christian Psychedelic Society. They dig deep into the intersection of psychedelics and spirituality, focusing largely on the concept of psychedelic chaplaincy: how they each define it and how spiritual caregivers are uniquely positioned to be of service to those coming out of powerful and unexplainable mystical experiences (whether they be psychedelic or not). They discuss why being grounded in a spiritual tradition is important, but how it’s often more important to be open to mystery and exploring that which is complex and difficult, even if that means someone questioning if their religion is truly right for them anymore. Each tell their stories of struggling with and eventually embracing their religion and how psychedelics and spirituality became part of their lives, and discuss much more: Psychedelics in religious history and the slow embrace of mysticism in today’s renaissance; the importance of truly listening to individuals’ experiences and not dismissing life-changing experiences as ‘drug-induced’; how practice (no matter what kind) is a huge benefit of religion; and the need to eventually de-center psychedelics from the narrative – that the shared experience of coming together in community and asking big questions is where the healing truly lies.  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews John H. Buchanan, Ph.D.: certified Holotropic Breathwork practitioner; contributing co-editor for Rethinking Consciousness: Extraordinary Challenges for Contemporary Science; and author of the new book, Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety. Recorded shortly after a week-long philosophy and breathwork conference which they both attended, they mostly dig into the challenging philosophical concepts of Alfred North Whitehead: how everything is made up of a feeling; how everything is relational and we all feel each other’s experiences; how Whitehead defined occasions and how moments of experience are accessing the totality of the past; and how neurology and the mind-brain interaction impacts human experience. This analysis leads to a lot of questions: Is the past constantly present, in that it is an active influencer on all our actions? When we relive a past event, where does that live in our minds vs. bodies? Are we tapping into a universal storehouse of past events, or are we tapping into past lives (or into others past lives)? When we sense that someone is looking at us, what is that? He also discusses his realization that the experiential element of non-ordinary states of consciousness was the most important; his entry point into breathwork; why breathwork creates a perfect atmosphere for conversation; reincarnation and the idea of being reincarnated into other dimensions; the concept of objective immortality and how ripple effects from a single moment continue onward; and the fallacy of misplaced concreteness and psychoid experiences: Are they real beyond our psyche? Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Shauheen Etminan, Ph.D. and Jonathan Lu: Co-Founders of Magi Ancestral Supplements. Through studying ancient Zoroastrian writings and 2,000 year-old Chinese texts in search of compounds and formulations forgotten by history, Etminan and Lu co-founded drug discovery company VCENNA in 2019 to use extraction technology to isolate these compounds. This led to an understanding of the health properties behind beta-carbolines, which led to their nootropic company, Magi Ancestral Supplements. They talk about the early days and experimenting on themselves, how beta-carbolines create dream-like states, and how their research sent each of them further into their own heritage, and asking themselves: How do we remember what our ancestors knew?  They discuss espand, haoma, Syrian rue, and how common Syrian rue is in both Iranian culture and psychedelic history; what is a drug vs. what is a supplement; common threads they’ve seen across different cultures and how we may be repeating some of their mistakes; Etminan’s recent ayahuasca experience with the Santo Daime church; and of course, some of Magi Ancestral Supplements’ products and their expected effects – from deep meditation to lucid dreaming to even mild hallucinations. You can get 10% off any product using code PT10 here. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Bessel van der Kolk, MD: pioneer clinician, researcher, and educator on traumatic stress; Founder of the Trauma Research Foundation; Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School; Principal Investigator of the Boston site of MAPS’ MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study; and author of the #1 New York Times Science best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma. As of this recording, van der Kolk was publishing his last paper and closing down his laboratory, so he looks back on his past: being part of the group who put together the first PTSD diagnosis in the 80s; the early days of psychedelic research and how he discouraged Rick Doblin and Michael Mithoefer from pursuing MDMA research; how the DSM has no scientific validity and was never meant for the diagnosing it’s being used for; how science wasn’t seeing the whole picture and pushing us mindlessly from medication to medication; and how trauma research has evolved over the years as society learned more about how the mind actually works.  He discusses the struggle to validate “softer” sciences; the impracticality and price of the MAPS protocol and the need for more group and sitter/experiencer frameworks; the efficacy of psychodrama and how that plays out in group sessions; his interest in using the Rorschach test more; how rolfing helped him; the problem with diagnosis and people becoming their illnesses; bodywork, somatic literacy, and how disconnected most people are from their bodies; and how, in all the healing frameworks he’s explored, he has never seen anything work as profoundly as psychedelic-assisted therapy. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Dana Lerman, MD: a decade-long infectious disease consultant who has since been trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy, ecotherapy, and Internal Family Systems, and is the Co-Founder of Skylight Psychedelics, where she prescribes IM ketamine and trains therapists who work with it. Lerman tells her story: how working with kids with cancer made her want to learn medicine, what it was like working as an infectious disease expert during COVID, and how fascinating it has been to start with modern medicine and then fully embrace the traditional frameworks of ayahuasca ceremonies. She has realized that part of her role is to bring that intention, ceremony, and inner healing intelligence to modern medicine – that that will greatly benefit patients as well as clinicians who naturally want to be healers but are burnt out by the bureaucracy and distractions of the faulty container they find themselves in. Skylight Psychedelics is working on opening a clinical research division, researching psychedelics for Long COVID, and bringing in-person psychedelic peer support services to emergency rooms. She also discusses intergenerational trauma and how psychedelics have affected her parenting; the impossibility of informed consent in psychedelics and why there should be disclaimers as well as instructions; accessibility, the need for insurance to cover psychedelic-assisted therapy, and why the price of these expensive treatments actually makes sense; why we should be sharing stories of mistakes and things going wrong during ceremonies; and why one of the biggest things we can do to further the cause is to educate our children and parents about psychedelics. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, health tech entrepreneur, inventor, and Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer at Apollo Neuro: Dr. David Rabin, MD, Ph.D. He talks about his path to psychiatry; his realization that trauma and chronic stress were primary themes at the root of most mental illness; and the creation, research and implementation of the Apollo wearable: the first scientifically-validated wearable technology designed to improve energy, focus, and relaxation based on touch therapy. The idea was born from Rabin asking himself: If we're all starved for touch and constantly feeling unsafe, our bodies prefer a calm, soothed state, and MDMA seems to work by amplifying feelings of safety and essentially telling our brains, "you're safe enough to heal now," could a rhythmic vibration programmed to stimulate touch receptors and put our bodies into a meditative state fool our brains into the same perceived feeling of safety – especially if that stimulation is constant? Would our nervous systems be able to tell the difference? So far, the data seems to prove that this technology works.  He discusses what they learned from initial research about how people were using their Apollo wearables; heart rate variability and what changes it; MAPS' Phase III MDMA-assisted psychotherapy results; the idea of the inner healer; using the Apollo in conjunction with ketamine and other psychedelics to ease pre-experience anxiety; and the concept of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as reverse trauma, the reality that it could stop epigenetic memory, and the question of whether or not the Apollo can do this on its own. Apollo Neuro is continuing their research by running 14 different trials right now, and if you ever participated in a MAPS trial, you're eligible for a free wearable. If you're just curious about trying the Apollo, you can receive $50 off using this link.  Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David speaks with two current Vital students: Certified Depth Hypnosis Practitioner and Founder and Executive Director of Zoo Labs, Vinitha Watson, CHT; and artist and outdoorsman with decades of experience in bodywork, structural integration, and Vipassana meditation: Judson Frost. They talk about their personal paths: Watson’s work educating musicians about the music business and their value with Zoo Labs and Frost’s work as an artist; as well as how their experience as parents has grounded them, and how they found Vital. They discuss the importance of integration, having a process, and recognizing how long that can take; being adequately prepared and learning mindfulness skills ahead of a journey; and bringing courage to the space (and as the space-holder, encouragement). They talk about how they hold space, and how one needs to view integration from a spiritually-open perspective to enable people to find their own meanings behind what they experienced.  They discuss how Watson uses a combination of hypnotherapy, transpersonal psychology, and buddhism to create a slowed down mystical experience; how hypnotherapy can benefit a psychedelic experience; bodywork and how we can’t view the mind and body separately; and more. And since they’re nearing the end of their Vital experience, they discuss what they’ve gotten out of it, and reflect on something they didn’t expect: a collective feeling of regenerative healing inside their Vital community. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews internationally renowned musician, comedian, writer, and actor, Reggie Watts. Watts starred on “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” most recently was the bandleader on CBS’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden” for the last 8 seasons, and just released his memoir, "Great Falls, MT." Watts discusses his early days of LSD use and how he felt psychedelics and cannabis were useful (in contrast to alcohol); how movies and TV rarely get the psychedelic experience right (and is that because writers haven’t experienced it?); and how the Situationist Movement inspired his concept of being a “disinformationist,” which he uses to bring an instability and psychedelic nature to his shows. And he discusses ketamine: why he loves it (especially with other people), a party he recently attended where everyone was open to trying it together, and why the group collectively agreeing to go deeper is so important to the experience.  He shares his thoughts on treating certain drugs as bases and others as modifiers, and how the wrong drugs are being treated as bases; the negative feedback loops some drugs (cocaine, nitrous oxide) send us into; psychedelic exceptionalism and the low quality, synthesized drugs created solely out of capitalistic greed; microdosing and the question of whether or not it’s become popular out of a fear of going deeper; what he wants to bring to to the psychedelic conversation; and why sometimes (in the right context), “going off the rails” can be a great thing. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Ted Riskin, LCSW: psychotherapist running group KAP sessions and certified in Core Energetics, Internal Family Systems, and Holotropic Breathwork, which he has taught in various forms for 26 years. He discusses group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy: how he runs sessions, why being welcomed and loved in a group seems to be a bigger factor than the psychedelic, how he came to combine IFS with ketamine or breathwork, and why exploring the parts work of IFS seems to work so well with non-ordinary states of consciousness. And he talks about two complications we often don’t think about with Group KAP: the challenge of getting our different parts to all truly consent to an experience (and how do you get them to?), and how very safe spaces can inspire oversharing, and sadly, subsequent shame. He discusses knowing when to use a non-directive approach vs. intervening; how people often learn more about themselves as a sitter; using core energetics before experiences to move energy we’re often afraid to work with; the importance of embracing anger (when necessary); memory reconsolidation and bringing exiles from the past into the present; the concept of double bookkeeping; and finding the magic in realizing that sometimes, just being there (“being a useless person” as he says) is all that’s needed. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Imran Khan: Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. Khan shares his journey into the world of science and policymaking, beginning with science journalism and inspired by David Nutt’s famous ‘Equicy’ paper and subsequent firing for telling the truth. Realizing how strong the disconnect was between political and science worlds, his goal became to represent science when it comes under attack; using campaigning, lobbying, advocacy work, etc., and essentially becoming a translator between science and society – bringing these overly complicated concepts down to a level every day culture can understand. At UC Berkeley, he’s focusing on research, training scientists to be better communicators, educating the public on the benefits of psychedelics, and trying to make research more trustworthy. He discusses the word “science” and how it’s used to describe lots of things; the hard problem of consciousness; color constancy, perception, and the influence of priors; the risk of abuse in all therapies; trust and why people don’t always “trust the science”; the risks of putting too much faith in experience insights; the word “sacred”; and more. He concludes by discussing the findings of the first UC Berkeley psychedelic survey, which revealed public sentiments and attitudes towards psychedelics, and, while mostly positive, truly proved the need for people like Khan to be out there educating the public. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Erika Dyck: Vital instructor, historian, professor, author, and editor of the new book, Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelics; and Jono Remington-Hobbs: graduate of the first cohort of Vital, coach, facilitator, and now, Co-Founder of Kaizn, an experiential wellness company with a strong focus on community, creating a feeling of safety, and modern rites of passage.  They talk a lot about rites of passage and how they create liminal spaces to reflect on the deeper questions we need to ponder but our culture doesn’t allow time for. They talk about how categorization took us away from tradition; how so much of what we get out of these experiences isn’t related to psychedelics at all; why we struggle with connection in the digital age; the power of community as medicine and recognizing a kinship in others; and why we need to integrate our heads and hearts and live more heart-led lives. They also dive into why cultures have always sought out non-ordinary states of consciousness; how our current state of needing to make sense of a chaotic world is similar to the mindstate of the 60s; psychedelics’ success in palliative care; coaching and why it should be attached to therapy; the creation of the word “psychedelic”; flow states and discovering the intrinsic calling we all have; and the Vital question that starts the podcast out: Are psychedelics the future, or will psychedelics just bring about a different way to think about the future? Reminder that we’re accepting applications for Vital 2024 now until December 21! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Alexander Beiner: Executive Director of Breaking Convention; writer for The Bigger Picture substack; and author of The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World. He tells his personal story and how his first psychedelic experience felt like a homecoming; discusses his Rebel Wisdom media platform, where, through interviews, he tried to make sense of social upheavals and conflicts through a more flexible, psychedelic way of thinking; and digs deep into the Greek concepts of Moloch and Kairos: how Moloch represents the winner-take-all, race to the bottom, sacrifice-your-values-to-appease-the-system game playing we all get stuck in, and Kairos represents the openness that comes from psychedelics – the transitional, seize-the-moment opportunities we need to take advantage of. And he discusses much more: the power of dialectic inquiry; the corporatization of psychedelics and how we’re really in a psychedelic enlightenment; how the medicalization of psychedelics is like a Trojan horse; and the concept of technology (and specifically the internet) mirroring the switching between realms that we think is so rare in psychedelics – aren’t we doing that every time we look at our phones?  Beiner was recently part of Imperial College London’s initial trials on intravenous, extended-state DMT, testing correct dosages and speeds for the pump. He describes the details of the study, how he thought they were messing with him at first, and what he saw in his experiences: an outer space-like world of gigantic planet-like entities, and how a massive Spider Queen entity taught him about intimacy and how our metaphysical and personal worlds aren’t separate at all. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Alexa interviews Dom Farnan: Founder of DotConnect; author of the best seller, “Now Here: A Journey from Toxic Boss to Conscious Connector”; and Founder and Chief Consciousness Connector of DoseConnect™, a first-of-its-kind company blending organizational strategy, systems thinking, and talent acquisition in the psychedelic space. Farnan shares her personal journey with psychedelics, discussing her experiences with psilocybin, ayahuasca, and 5-MeO-DMT, and how the last few years of her life have been focused on slowing down and integrating those experiences. She discusses the current state of the psychedelic industry, including downsizing and company closures, but also opportunities from networking, community engagement, and volunteering. She believes that while options may not be clear now, they will be there in the future, and may be jobs we never anticipated. So get to know companies now, and pay close attention with good discernment – not everything is as it appears. She discusses her experiences with mentors and coaches; how psychedelic journeys and integration build onto each other; the importance of journaling; the need for patience as the industry grows; her book and the concept of conscious leadership over toxic leadership; and the beauty of embracing the openness we experience after a psychedelic experience: Can we use what we’ve learned to reprogram what we’re taught about life, invest in ourselves, let go of dissenting and limiting voices, and truly redefine what success (and happiness) means to us? Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews author of Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That’s Lost Its Mind; speaker; and Founder of the Flow Genome Project, which researches and trains on improved human performance. This episode – the last of the many recorded at Psychedelic Science 2023 – may ruffle some feathers, as Wheal is very outspoken and opinionated, focusing on what he spoke about at the conference: the pitfalls of the psychedelic movement. While his outlook is negative, he speaks with humor, and these shadow aspects are issues we need to be talking about: how the nature of capitalism and returning profits to shareholders affects the concept of set and setting; how easy it is to prescribe ketamine and the puppy mill clinics popping up everywhere; how innovators are racing to the bottom to get ahead; the designer drug epidemic likely leading us to a Prozac Nation 2.0; digital narcissism, Instagram “Shamans,” and the dangers of cults; chemists trying to take the experience out of the drug; the overuse of psychedelics creating super egos; and much more. While he believes the hype and excitement of the psychedelic renaissance is leading us towards a trough of dissolution and that people aren’t turning their amazing experiences into net positives anywhere near enough, he believes that fewer people using psychedelics less often and more intensely – with initiatory practices, intentions, integration, and honest self-reflection – will help us all climb out of our egos and move towards a healthier society. There is hope, but we need to honestly look at all the shadow aspects in order to move towards it. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews psychiatrist, main researcher behind the first US Phase II trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and Senior Medical Director at MAPS Public Benefit Corporation: Dr. Michael Mithoefer; and Research Group Lead at the University of Zurich, and Principal Clinical Biomarker Lead at Boehringer Ingelheim, Katrin Preller, Ph.D. Mithoefer, Preller (and David) are speakers at the upcoming Psychedelic Medicine – Israel, which we all hope can go on as planned, December 10 - 13, in Tel Aviv. They discuss the conference and their current research: Preller's neuroimaging and work with psilocybin for alcohol use disorder, and Mithoefer (likely) being extremely close to seeing the FDA approve MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. He talks about how the therapeutic protocols for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy were created, what it's like to be so close to legalization, and how the next challenges will be accessibility and not minimizing therapy in favor of faster turnover.  They discuss neuroplasticity and whether or not it actually translates into something in humans; the concept of performing brain scans before a psychedelic experience to look for trauma biomarkers (and how this could actually result in savings over time); the excitement of seeing clinical work and neuroscience progressing in parallel; why integration frameworks need to be individualized; and the importance of embracing different therapeutic approaches. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. and Manesh Girn, Ph.D. once again take over hosting duties, this time interviewing Gül Dölen, MD, Ph.D.: Associate professor of Neuroscience and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, and head of the Dölen lab. Dölen largely researches the neuroscience behind social behaviors and is most known for her work in establishing how psychedelics reopen critical periods of learning, and that the true benefit of psychedelics could be in learning how best to reopen those critical periods, how long they’re open for, and which therapeutic frameworks and integration practices could best take advantage of them. Her most recent research was giving MDMA to otherwise very asocial (and violent) octopuses to prove that a drastically different species would exhibit typical MDMA-inspired prosocial behavior. And, after discovering that all the classic psychedelics worked to reopen critical periods – that psychedelics are apparently the master key to opening these periods – she’s now researching why, through the PHATHOM project (Psychedelic Healing: Adjunct Therapy Harnessing Opened Malleability). You will likely learn a ton in this episode: why critical periods close as we get older and what may impede them from opening more often; how plasticity and metaplasticity relate to each other and why increased neuroplasticity isn’t always a good thing; how the length of different psychedelic experiences relates to efficacy; why the different results of MAPS’ and Compass Pathways’ studies show the importance of therapy; how autism could be related to critical periods; why repeated psychedelic use may make it harder for one’s brain to reset; and how important context is in the ability to reopen critical periods – especially around social learning. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Federico Seragnoli: coordinator of the ALPS Foundation, psychologist who works with patients undergoing compassionate use treatments with psychedelics, and Founder of the ALPS Conference. This year, the ALPS Conference (which stands for Awareness Lectures on Psychedelic Science) takes place Oct. 27 – 29 at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva – a prime location for a conference due to Switzerland’s legality around psychedelics, where any citizen can apply for psilocybin or LSD therapy if they fall into the category of ‘treatment-resistant.’ Seragnoli discusses how the conference was originally inspired by an article on the MAPS blog about how to be a psychedelic researcher; and talks about its humble beginnings, its new location, and why it’s moved across the country each year. The conference features names like Rick Doblin and Michael Mithoefer, but he’s most excited about the smaller size of the event and the panel discussions, which gives attendees a chance to ask questions and hear some real conversations.  He discusses the vibrant field of psychedelic therapy and research in Switzerland; the importance of compassionate use and the criteria physicians need to be able to use it; the impact of students creating psychedelic associations at their universities; and Seragnoli’s new research: seeing if there is a link between cognitive science and a conceptualization of science – if you can model consciousness off neuroscience, can you model it off how you feel? Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Johanna interviews Jungian analyst-in-training, writer, researcher, 5Rhythms® teacher, and Vital graduate: Mackenzie Amara; and Vital instructor, clinical psychologist, and creator of our new course, “Illuminating the Hidden Self: Navigating the Jungian Shadow with Psychedelics“: Dr. Ido Cohen. This sequel to their fascinating discussion about shadow work earlier this year focuses on dreams, as Amara, while dreaming that she was having an acid trip and coming to the realization that dreams and LSD may be sending her to the same place, is researching the similarities between the odd worlds of dreams and psychedelic experiences: Is it the same place? Do the dreams we have after psychedelic experiences continue those visions and ‘Aha!’ moments? Can they answer questions for us (the concept of “sleep on it”)? Does dream analysis result in a greater feeling of integration? Can we use the dreams we have before experiences to help guide the experience itself? The conversation goes a lot of places: the many aspects of Jungian psychology; the fluidity of Indigenous perspectives around visible and invisible worlds; how Jung wrote “The Red Book”; the concept of eros and reclaiming our relationship with aliveness; how nature is in constant equilibrium (as are we); how to build a relationship with your dreams; how to work with symbols in dreams; and much more. Ultimately, this episode is about the clash between the conscious and unconscious, the willed and the incidental, and waking life and other realities, and dream analysis and integration work is really tracking vitality in the human psyche: what is alive in us and how does it want to live out in our beings? What makes us come alive? Can our dreams tell us? Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Louie Schwartzberg: renowned filmmaker known for the award-winning documentary, “Fantastic Fungi”; and now, director of the new film, “Gratitude Revealed.” He talks about his path to photography and filmmaking and how psychedelics were a huge inspiration – how his techniques of slowing down, speeding up, and zooming in were ways to capture the invisible aspects of reality – that which is “too slow, too fast, too small, and too vast for the human eye,” but is always there. He discusses the premiere of “Fantastic Fungi” and the waves it spread through the psychedelic space; The Louie Channel, his new streaming channel that will feature all his work in 4k and the work of other curated artists and friends; and the clinical trial he’s involved in to see if participants have better results in the treatment of their alcohol use disorder by watching his imagery set to music on an 80-inch screen while on psilocybin – research that hopefully leads to the concept of being able to prescribe images and music to people based on specific criteria.  He discusses his new film, “Gratitude Revealed,” which explores the power of gratitude: making it a daily practice (and especially a post-psychedelic integration practice), how resilience is one of the best benefits from practicing gratitude, and how easy it is to stop a rumination spiral by simply finding something to be grateful for. He also talks about the blessing of being a photographer and always thinking of beauty; how psychedelics make people more environmentally conscious; tripping with parents; how a shared love of nature could be the bridge between opposing sides; and how the best way to deal with the climate crisis is to start in your own yard.   You can watch “Gratitude Revealed” now, and then, on October 25th, we’re hosting a Q+A with Louie Schwartzberg on our Navigators platform. head to psychedelicstoday.com/events for details. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Deborah C. Mash, Ph.D.: neuroscientist; Professor Emerita of Neurology and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; and leading researcher in addiction and brain disorders for over 30 years. She is also the CEO and Founder of DemeRx Inc., a clinical stage drug development company working to advance ibogaine and its active metabolite, noribogaine, for the treatment of opioid use disorder. She talks about the Federal and state complications behind ibogaine research, the need for partnerships between clinics and researchers, what needs to be done to collect much needed Phase II and III ibogaine data, and why this all has to be in partnership with the FDA.  And she discusses much more: her story of how studying Cocaethylene led to her finding out about ibogaine; ibogaine and QTc-prolongation; deaths related to iboga and the amount of variables that aren’t considered; how the French were essentially using noribogaine in the 1930s; and, as this was recorded at Psychedelic Science 2023, her thoughts on the event and Rick Doblin’s opening statement. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, David interviews Madison Margolin: NY-based, psychedelics and Judaism-focused journalist; host of the Set & Setting podcast; co-founder of DoubleBlind Magazine and the Jewish Psychedelic Summit; and author of the soon-to-be released, Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up With Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground. They explore the relationship between Judaism and psychedelics, with Margolin sharing her experiences growing up in a Hindu-Jewish family; her personal journey with her Jewish identity; and how her use of psychedelics has deepened her life. She talks about the significance of Jewish holidays, and how holiday traditions connect them to nature and themselves in a very psychedelic way; the importance of intentionality; the beauty in dancing through an uncomfortable ayahuasca experience; the Jewish Psychedelic Summit; whether or not ancestors were using substances (and does that matter?), and why being in Israel feels so different – and psychedelic.  Margolin is an instructor in our new course, “Navigating Psychedelics: Jewish Informed Perspectives,” where she will be leading discussions on setting sacred time and space, particularly focusing on the significance of Shabbat and the energetic frequencies that are at play during certain holidays. The 9-week course begins next week – October 10 – so sign up now!  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode – with the 2024 edition of Vital announced and officially on sale – we’re launching another series of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, with David hosting Jasmine Virdi: Vital instructor, writer, educator, and activist who works at Synergetic Press and volunteers for Fireside Project; and Tabata Gerk: Vital student, psychotherapist, and facilitator. As always, they discuss what they think the most vital conversation should be right now, largely expressing concerns over the medicalization of psychedelics and the idea of a ‘traumadelic culture,’ where psychedelics are often only seen as healers of trauma and not doorways to mysticism and new ideas. And they point out another concern: the romanization of Indigenous culture and not recognizing that these are contemporary cultures that are affected by the same Western, capitalist paradigms that affect us all. They also discuss the concept of epistemic injustice and needing to respect other ways of knowing; hyper-individualism and why we became so reductionist as a society; the role of money (who defines the problem and the solution?); concerns over who decides who is allowed to use these substances; the power of small steps of change; and, through talking about Gerk’s recent Amazonian ayahuasca experience, they dig into what it is about these experiences and surrounding communities that make them so special. Could we take some of that and effectively incorporate it into our Western models? Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Ethan Nadelmann: author, speaker, Founder and former Executive Director of Drug Policy Alliance, host of the PSYCHOACTIVE podcast, and one of the leading voices in drug policy reform and harm reduction.  Nadelmann shares his journey from Princeton University to founding Drug Policy Alliance, to working with George Soros, encouraging Gary Johnson to push cannabis legalization, and interacting with prominent figures like Milton Friedman and Grover Norquist. He explores the motivations behind the drug war, the massive growth of incarcerations it led to, why the US spread its war on drugs abroad even when it went against our best interests, and, thankfully, the progress made in fighting the drug war – particularly with cannabis and psychedelics. And he discusses much more: the banning of drug testing kits; the damages of our slow learning curve against the idea of a safe supply; the risks of under-prescribing opioids for people who actually need them; how libertarians, the right, and left are all starting to become against the drug war for the same reasons; why cigarette smokers should all switch to vaping; the concept of needing to pass a test at the pharmacy to prove you understand (and won't abuse) medication; and some strong arguments for decriminalization as an incremental step. And he asks some pretty important questions that we can all simmer on for a bit: how do we find a balance between helping people and not opening the rest of society up to harm? How do we challenge abuse in a way that doesn't hurt future harm reduction efforts? And how do we incentivize people into acting in their own best interests?  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this special episode, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. and Manesh Girn, Ph.D., who joined David in episode 403 to discuss the launch of their new course, essentially interview each other. As the 2nd edition of their popular course, Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, begins on October 4, we wanted to give them a chance to highlight some of the aspects of neuroscience students can expect to learn in the course, and what so many people who are interested in psychedelics don’t fully understand: What does neuroplasticity actually entail? Can one predict if a patient is more apt to have an experience with ego dissolution? How does the amygdala relate to mood disorders? When are critical periods of greater plasticity and socialization at their most beneficial? How does neuroplasticity relate to chronic stress? They also discuss lessons they’ve received from their own journeys; why they created the course; serotonin; psychological flexibility; body-based versions of self vs. memory-based versions; psychedelics and re-encoding memories (and the potential for false memories); how psychedelic therapy is different from standard drug treatments; psychedelics and the default mode network (is the story oversimplified?), and much more.  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Rachel Harris, Ph.D.: Psychologist in private practice for over 40 years, researcher who has published more than 40 peer-reviewed studies, and author of the new book, Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground. She talks about graduating college and going straight to Esalen, where she had little concern over therapy or integration, and how, after 20 years of ayahuasca experiences, she learned to see psychedelic-assisted therapy and ceremonial, transformational experiences as very different things. She discusses her ayahuasca journeys; a surprising MDMA experience; what having an ongoing relationship with the spirit of ayahuasca means; Ann Shulgin’s concerns over going through death’s door while in a journey; what true integration is; how psychedelics can help prepare for death, and more. And she talks about her new book, Swimming in the Sacred, which collects the stories, unique perspectives, and wisdom of 15 female elders who have been working in the underground for at least 15 years each, and how their experience has led to a somatic-based intuition and ‘know it in their bones’ feeling that so many new practitioners and facilitators need – and can only come with time.  Click here to head to the show notes page. 

Last year, Joe attended his first Burning Man, and sadly, we didn’t hear much about it. In this episode, recorded just a few days after Joe returned from his second outing of nearly 12 days on the playa, Victoria changes that, asking Joe all the burning questions we all want to know. He talks about preparing for Burning Man and the numerous obstacles he and his partner, Ali, encountered on their very slow journey there; the media’s interpretation of the rain and mud vs. the reality of being there in the middle of it all; the bogus reports of an ebola outbreak and disaster zone surrounded by FEMA officials (and was that all a prank by Burners?); the debate over the environmental impact of such a massive event, and more. And he talks about the many joys of Burning Man: how, despite the weather and needing to remain at camp more, the community, abundance, embracing of all that is weird, and passion to share and make the best of it all made this a better year for him in many ways. He learned the importance of patience, avoiding a frantic state, and fighting panic with positive vibes, which was made infinitely more easy with the Big Krab Car: the art car Ali built and they drove around, DJing on all week. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews General Stephen Xenakis, MD: an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist who retired from the U.S. Army in 1998 at the rank of Brigadier General and began a career starting up medical technology companies and clinical practice to support human rights and new methodologies of healthcare.  In June, he became the new Executive Director of the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association (APPA), whose mission is to bring practitioners together as a community; develop the best training programs and practices; shift to a more patient-centered, integrated model of care; eventually accredit practitioners to practice with legal substances; and overall, help to make these new modalities more mainstream.  He discusses their path to success, which began with their publishing of the first professional practice guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy practitioners, and will continue on with ethical guidelines and clinical practice guidelines in the future. And he talks about the idea of a safety net for people who have adverse effects from psychedelic journeys; what clinicians need to know about psychedelics; concerns over accessibility; and the importance of identifying the correct treatments for the correct patients, as each person’s path to healing will likely be drastically different. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Dr. JoQueta Handy, Ph.D., IMD: speaker, author, educator, Natural Integrative Health Practitioner, and CEO and Chief Visionary of Brilliant Learning, Handy Wellness Center, and Brilliant Blends. She shares childhood memories of growing up on her Grandparents’ farm, where she developed a deep appreciation for nature, staring at the stars, and the beauty in stillness, and how coming back to that stillness has been key in her life and psychedelic journeys. The conversation then shifts to all that she’s learned through her work with children on the autism spectrum: the problems of putting people into boxes; how autism affects everyone; the different ways people learn; the connection between autism and the gut microbiome; and how she has learned more from some of these children than any book could teach her – culminating in a story of discovering that a very challenged child people were ready to give up on could actually read and comprehend everything he was hearing. She discusses her favorite adaptogens; the art of stacking adaptogens and different modalities; her multi-day coaching sessions; Internal Family Systems; quantum biofeedback; the use of supplements in microdosing; and Brilliant Blends, which sells blends of supplements designed to provide benefits as close to what psilocybin can provide (but legally) – inspired by the unique needs of autistic individuals. PT listeners can receive 10% off all purchases with code: PT10. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In the first-ever episode of Hyphae Leaks, Mary and Reggie sit down with Joe Moore and share their backgrounds, impetus for launching a psychedelic tell-all podcast, and what listeners can expect from the first season. Want to dig in on some of the topics discussed today? Quick links: Quick stats on biodiversity and Indigenous communities. Excellent reporting on why Indigenous lands protect biodiversity. Why we can’t blame the unhoused issue on drug decriminalization. Follow Reggie Harris on Instagram Follow Mary Carreón on Instagram Follow Hyphae Leaks on Instagram Subscribe to the Hyphae Leaks Substack. Catch Season 1 of Hyphae Leaks streaming NOW wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every third Wednesday until Dec. 20. Rate, review, and subscribe!

In this episode, David interviews the President of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, host of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, and Psychedelics Today advisory board member and Vital contributor: Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD. She shares her journey with psychedelics and how they enabled her to leave a toxic job and pursue her passion for advocacy with vitality, and how important it is to focus your energy where it's best used. She talks about where we find ourselves in the psychedelic space based on Psychedelic Science 2023, as well as her recent TV appearances and the responsibility of preaching to the non-choir. And she discusses the idea of perfectionism in today's age; the need for psychedelic people to be involved in non-psychedelic conferences; the complications behind requiring physicians to experience psychedelics; the concept of it being malpractice for a physician to not mention psychedelic options; and the Psychedelic Medicine Association's upcoming virtual conference: Sana Symposium 2023, which happens October 26-27.  Morski talks a lot about the importance of educating healthcare professionals about psychedelics, debunking myths, and the need for standards in training therapists and primary care providers. She highlights how there is still no nationally-recognized certification for even ketamine providers, so how can people make informed decisions on who to trust? The Psychedelic Medicine Association is taking steps to improve this paradigm, offering a new course called "Managing Medical Risk in Patients Seeking Psilocybin Therapy," which will work to help clinicians make risk assessments for patients seeking psilocybin therapy – something that is not really being done today.  Click here to head to the show notes page.   

In this episode, Alexa interviews Chase Hudson: Founder of HempLucid, a premium CBD wellness brand. Hudson discusses his journey from being a firefighter to becoming involved in the cannabis and hemp industry, the origins of HempLucid, the restrictions they faced, and their current genetics and flagship water soluble tincture. He talks about the benefits of CBD and cannabis used in conjunction with psychedelic therapy - especially ketamine-assisted therapy, which he gives to his employees as a benefit. And he talks about Lamar Odom and the documentary he executive produced, "Lamar Odom Reborn," which chronicles how Odom came back from rock bottom through high dose CBD, iboga, and ketamine therapy. He also discusses the idea of cannabis as a gateway drug to healing; the need for insurance to cover psychedelic therapy; the changing landscape of Utah from religious ideology to psychedelics; ketamine as the bridge between old and new models of healthcare, and more. And they talk about their own journeys a lot, with Hudson telling the story of his powerful and life-changing ibogaine treatment, and Alexa sharing stories from her tragic car accident and recovery, as well as the ketamine sessions she recently began. The conversation ultimately becomes one about the need for education and conversation to help us all climb out from decades of drug war propaganda.  Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, David interviews East Forest: Portland, OR-based producer, podcaster, ceremony guide, and musician, specializing in ambient, electronic, contemporary classical, and indie pop music largely to guide listeners through deep journeys.   Forest discusses his live performances and influences; how his music pairs with journeys and specific psychedelics; the difference in the connection and vibe from a live performance vs. a recording; the difference between single-artist music created specifically for sessions vs. Spotify playlists; the inhumanity of generative music; his Journey Space online music and journey platform; and the challenges of making money in a time when music is more prevalent than ever, but also more in-the-background and diluted.  He talks a lot about sound itself: the role of rhythm and sound in communication and personal transformation; how richer overtones and increased layers of sound increase effects; research into very low pulsating tones, and how more synthesized sound and the growth of AI has created a yearning for more authentic, imperfect sounds.   His newest album was just released August 18: “Music For The Deck of The Titanic,” an homage to the musicians who spent their last few hours playing songs for passengers amidst the chaos and tragedy – an album Forest sees as an offering to the chaotic moment we’re all in. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Satya Thallam: Policy Advisor at the international law firm, Arnold & Porter; and longtime policy expert based in Washington, D.C. who previously served in senior roles at both the White House and the U.S. Senate. Thallam was the lead author and negotiator of the Federal Right to Try Act, which grants terminally ill patients access to experimental therapies and substances that have completed Phase I testing but have not yet been approved by the FDA. He discusses its intricacies and benefits, how psychedelics were not a focus but were always obvious, whether or not it allows people to grow their own mushrooms, and more. He talks abut the implementation of the first Federal legalization of hemp under the Farm Bill in 2018, breaking down the history and detail of how it came to be, and why a difference of .3% in weight truly matters when establishing law. He discusses the changing landscape of politicians and psychedelics; how local action creates a culture of inspiring Washington; the internal fight between different agencies and the endless lobbying it takes to get things done; how one needs to cater their argument by who is listening; risk assessment and judgment-proof operations; the concern over whether or not we got everything wrong with cannabis; and why we will likely begin seeing a lot of coalitions popping up in the psychedelic space. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews Lisa Wessing: Clinical Psychologist and facilitator specializing in harm reduction at Kiyumí retreats in The Netherlands.  Wessing shares her personal journey and the shift from being uninspired with studying psychology to being a part of space-holding in Mexico and finding her true path. She dives into the world of Kiyumí retreats, discussing their holistic healing approach using psilocybin, somatic movement, dance expression, and other methods supporting their four pillars of embodiment, nature, mindfulness, and art. She discusses their more long-term program with Dr. Gabor Maté integrating his Compassionate Inquiry framework; their Equity Program, which offers partial or full funding for people who may not have the financial resources or who come from marginalized communities (e.g. BIPOC & Queer); and the importance of integration as a continuous process and checking in with people much later to build their “Kiyumíty.” Much of this discussion covers the challenges of somatic psychology and facilitation in group containers: how most people are somatically illiterate and the journey of becoming more somatic; what to do about someone laughing or singing in a group context; what moving into one’s body really means; and different ways of using art to integrate an experience. As part of our Vital program, we are running a psilocybin retreat with Kiyumí from September 6-11, and we have some available spots left! If you like what you hear, you’ll be in The Netherlands in September, and want to have an amazing experience with us, click here for more info! Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, recorded in-person at Psychedelic Science 2023, Kyle interviews Senator for the Mexican Green Party, Alejandra Lagunes. Lagunes is the first Senator in Mexico to promote the use of psychedelics, and has been organizing open parliaments to foster collaboration between researchers, scientists, politicians, and Indigenous people, culminating in a groundbreaking decriminalization initiative to decriminalize psilocybin and psilocin from list 1 to list 3 (meaning they could be prescribed), create a new chapter for entheogens (and move mushrooms there), build an economically beneficial framework for Indigenous people, protect ancestor knowledge by law, and make big bioconservation moves with changes to environmental laws.  She discusses her personal journey with depression, anxiety, and a life-saving ayahuasca journey; how Covid uncovered a crisis in meaning and an openness to talk about mental health; the need for accessibility and safety in psychedelics against challenges in politics and policy implementation; our mental health crisis and the need for innovation, education, and overcoming stigma; the influence of US drug control policies on international regulations; the power of storytelling; and why we need to go back to our origins. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Stéphane Lasme, a former professional basketball player from Gabon who is now a partner at SteddeCapital, a private markets investment platform investing long-term capital into U.S.- and Africa-based opportunities across sports ownership, infrastructure, technology and plant medicine. Lasme speaks of his childhood, growing up in Gabon with more traditional Catholic values while journeying deep into the jungle to visit his Grandmother every summer. It was there that he embraced the cultural aspect of Gabon and community, and first learned of iboga, which he had a profound experience with at age 12, and would later revisit in his basketball days. He discusses the drive and passion that led him to become the first person from Gabon to play in the NBA, and the subsequent pressure, stress, cultural differences, and “ok, what now?” moments that came at the end. He talks about Gabonese traditions; how iboga improved his stress relief and mental focus; how embracing yoga and Buddhist methods of self-discovery improved his life; scientific reductionism vs. the magic of mystery and trying to define an experience; and more.  While Gabon allows for the export of iboga, Lasme’s goal is to build a lab and treatment center in Gabon and share the power of Gabonese culture with people – so they can experience the medicine in its own country, with its traditional rituals and music. He has begun the fundraising process, and through his investment and facilitation work, is working to get African athletes to invest back into Africa and make Gabon a major destination for iboga. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins, and renowned researcher of nearly 20 years: Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D. Recorded in-person at MAPS’ Psychedelic Science after running an 8-hour workshop on psychedelic therapy for addiction treatment, Johnson was still happy to sit down with PT to explore a wide range of topics: the under-researched concept of integration; how to best take advantage of optimal neuroplastic windows; why psycholytic therapy used to be more common; how our current protocols and research models are largely arbitrary; and his hopes for new, experimental, and flexible models of psychedelic therapy. He also discusses his ongoing smoking cessation studies; the Oregon model (are we doing therapy or not?); misrepresentation in psychedelic therapy and knowing your lane; and the role of music in psychedelics: why shouldn’t people pick the music they know will give them goosebumps? Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Maya Albert: Co-Founder of the Psyched conference, and Director of Operations at Tabula Rasa Ventures and the Synthesis Institute. She shares her journey of how she became involved in the psychedelic space through her mother, and her personal experience as a patient in a clinical trial on psilocybin for the treatment of anorexia – a much more common and deadly affliction than most people realize. She discusses her involvement with the various psychedelic gatherings surrounding Davos and the World Economic Forum, as well as the work she’s doing with Tabula Rasa and some of their clients seeking to expand insurance coverage to psychedelic-assisted therapy.  She discusses the Synthesis Institute’s recent struggles that shook up the psychedelic space, what they’re doing to save the company, how Retreat Guru has helped them, and the implications for the wider psychedelic movement. And she talks about much more: the legality and vetting process for training in Oregon and Colorado; truffles in the Netherlands vs. classic psilocybin; the idea of alcohol as poison and ‘Cali sober,’ and how can we all be more collaborative and not sling mud at each other? Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle interviews the Founder and CEO of FreshCap Mushrooms and host of The Mushroom Show on YouTube, Tony Shields. He talks about how an early interest in lucid dreaming sent him down a psychedelic path, and how, as his interest in mushrooms has grown, he’s watched the culture shift from a narrative of mycophobia to one of appreciation and interest. With FreshCap Mushrooms and The Mushroom Show, he aims to provide much needed education around this vast and mysterious world of fungi. He talks about the thriving psilocybin scene in Jamaica, and how, through filming a documentary there, he learned how much communities still don’t know about mushrooms, how much tourism supports the country, and how much of a special vibe Jamaica has for psilocybin retreats. And he discusses much more: why lion’s mane should help with concussions and TBIs; indications mushrooms could heal, from long Covid to paralysis; concerns over over-medicalization; why Terence McKennas’ ideas weren’t as crazy as many thought; visiting mushroom shops in Canada; the secret language of mushrooms; where psychedelic people can start to learn about functional mushrooms; and why, if he could embody any mushroom, it’d be cordyceps. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, recorded on the eve of MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2023, Kyle interviews MAPS’ Founder and President, Rick Doblin, Ph.D. He begins with an overview of the fast-approaching (and largest ever) psychedelics conference, emphasizing its significant growth, many features, and bipartisan opening ceremony, then discusses MAPS’ soon-to-be-released confirmatory Phase III data on MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, which should set the stage for legal MDMA and the increasing need for trained psychedelic therapists.  As the FDA is requiring studies on adolescents, he discusses this sensitive issue and questions why it’s so controversial, since teenage years are often closer to both trauma and a more malleable brain, Indigenous traditions certainly didn’t have age limits, and honest drug education – something that is absolutely necessary to fight the backlash against this quickly growing field – teaches us that it’s not the substance; it’s our relationship to it. Could not having these rites of passage be hurting us? He also discusses the natural vs. synthetic conflict; breathwork; whether or not cannabis is truly damaging to young minds; Federal rescheduling vs. state rescheduling; why it’s controversial to give therapists MDMA in training; Gul Dolen’s work with reopening critical periods; psychedelics in couples therapy; and much more. Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC: a police peer support, community outreach, and health-fitness officer; founding member of the Community and Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery Program (C.L.E.A.R.); and psychotherapist trained in ketamine- and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Any regular listener of the show should be familiar with how passionately Joe is against the drug war and the resulting policing of what many of us feel should be legal, so this in-person conversation with a police officer who seems to mostly be on our side is pretty refreshing to hear.  Gergerian discusses his entry into the force in his 30s, and what it was like to bring in a healthy “why is this illegal?” viewpoint on drug use and personal agency vs. the slow moving attitudes he saw in much of law enforcement. He talks about how working nightclub security taught him about safe spaces; the problems with officers not proactively moving on actionable information and building relationships with communities; and the very philosophy behind law enforcement: what do they hope to accomplish, do they want to make real change, and do they believe in the laws they’re enforcing?  And they discuss so much more: the need for diversity, cultural competency, and broadness in perspective; the criminalization of self-directed behavior; the effect critical incidents have on officers; drug war paranoia, legitimate concerns over hotlines and sensitive data, and psychedelic culture’s relationships with police; creating a culture of harm reduction within law enforcement, and what it might look like for police officers to receive psychedelic therapy. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews one of the world’s leading experts on human performance: New York Times bestselling author and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective, Steven Kotler. Kotler's work explores the neurobiology of peak human performance, flow states, and aging, and the concept of getting our biology to work for us rather than against us in our later years, by using the parts of our brains that expand in our 50s, combined with neuroplasticity, learning by play, and the biggest factor: working toward a very difficult - but not impossible - task. His 30-year exploration of the neurobiology behind people accomplishing 'impossible' feats led him to test his theories by teaching himself to park ski at 53 with resounding success, then using his protocol with people up to 70 years old the next season. The story is told in his newest book about challenging tired concepts of aging, "Gnar Country."  He discusses the power of flow states and how much flow actually amplifies productivity, motivation, wisdom, empathy, and more; why dynamic motion is a key activity for greater longevity and why skiing and similar action sports are some of the best examples; why dynamic activity in novel environments is even better; why changing one's mindset may be the biggest factor toward change; why corporations are looking at flow training and where these concepts could go in the future; and of course, how this all relates to psychedelics.  Click here to head to the show notes page!

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Gabrielle Lehigh: Co-Founder and Managing Director of Psychedelic Grad, a web-based community serving as an educational and career hub for up-and-coming psychedelic professionals; and the host of the related podcast, “Curious to Serious,” where she speaks with students and professionals about the path they took to land in the psychedelic field.  Lehigh recently earned her Ph.D. with research on something not many are looking at: the stories behind powerful and transformative psychedelic experiences specifically at music events, based on 38 interviews and over 500 surveys mostly collected at day-long festivals in the southern United States. While the goal was largely data collection in support of the clear potential for therapeutic benefit in using psychedelics in recreational settings (as many of us who have experienced this can attest), she was surprised to learn how many people still blindly trust dealers; how much festival security can affect safety; how the community often makes more of a difference than the music itself; and how many parallels exist between colder clinical models of psychedelic-assisted therapy and the completely open festival experience.  She discusses how she found her way from environmental justice to psychedelics; what people are most looking for on Psychedelic Grad; why she chose to use the word “transformative” in her research; what music she has had her best experiences with; why psychonauts shouldn’t forget about Pink Floyd; and much more. Click here to head to the show notes page!

In this episode, Kyle interviews the Reverend Dr. Brian Rajcok, Lead Pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Avon, Connecticut, who recently completed his Ph.D. in pastoral counseling. Rajcok dives into the intersection of spirituality, religion, mysticism, and how psychedelics bring these topics together, discussing a transformative peyote ceremony and the awe-inspiring moments of surrender, connection, and divine presence that left a lasting impact on him and deepened his connection to God. And he talks about his recently completed dissertation that was inspired by it all: "The Lived Experience of Professional Mental Health Clinicians With Spiritually Significant Psychedelic Experiences," which he created to gauge the relationship between religious spiritual commitment, tolerance, and multicultural counselor competency. He shares stories from the study and reflections on how these experiences have changed the way involved clinicians work.  And he discusses much more in the realm of psychedelics and religion: why he pursued pastoral counseling and how psychedelics come into play; the balance between tradition and reason and spiritual commitment and tolerance; the legal and regulatory considerations of religious psychedelic use; the concept of a faith quadrilateral; the need for psychedelic experiences in counseling training programs; the big question of 'when is it religion and when is it mental health care?'; and how the future of psychedelic spirituality could be humanity's biggest evolution. Click here to head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Rosalind Watts: famed clinical psychologist, former clinical lead on Imperial College London’s first Psilocybin for Depression trial, and Founder of ACER Integration.  She discusses the awakening she had after having a child; her work at Imperial College and realizing the importance of staying in touch with patients; the challenges of balancing her work with being a mother; her ACER integration model and the interconnectedness of trees in a forest; how the Watts Connectedness Scale works (and David fills it out); and how much the outside-the-hype surrounding pieces matter – the therapy, the therapeutic relationship, the lessons learned, and the work done to integrate it all.  And she talks about another moment of awakening, at last year's Psych Summit conference, where capitalism's obsession with profit-over-care frameworks and "magic bullet" and "brain reset" narratives was on full display, which fully enforced what she hopes for in the future: a world where we embrace non-clinical, ceremonial, and nature-based practices; with healing centers (psychedelic and non); supportive communities; infrastructure around conflict resolution and restorative justice; and a shift towards collectivism and collaboration – and how that all starts by finding our psychedelic elders.  Click here to head to the show notes page!

In this episode, Joe interviews Oliver Carlin, Founder of Curative Mushrooms, a grow kit solution company designed to produce mushrooms of one’s choosing within 30 days with little effort and no growing experience.  Carlin tells his personal story of 20 years in the Navy to a 7g psilocybin journey and the work of perfecting these grow bags; how a grow bag works; how easy it can be to grow your own mushrooms; the advantages of growing your own mushrooms vs. buying them; the legalities of grow kits and how he has been able to do this; steps growers can take to reduce their legal risks; the variety of people benefitting from mushrooms (especially in the veteran community); and how growing your own mushrooms seems to make the experience more curated and special. Curative Mushrooms recently hired someone to create new strains for them every month, they do bimonthly live Q&As for people interested in growing, and they ship a bonus mycology book with each kit that shows how to study spores. They offer growing kits for Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, and Shiitake mushrooms, but his most popular option is the “All-in-One Happy Mushrooms for Sad People” kit. Click here to go to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Roberta Murphy: member of the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research and training medical psychotherapist. This is a rare impromptu podcast, recorded about a half hour after David heard Murphy speaking on a panel at UK’s Breaking Convention conference. He asked her if she wanted to be on the podcast sometime, and before they knew it, they were recording. Fastest turnaround ever? She discusses her past research and what she's doing at Imperial College; her work on a psilocybin for depression trial; a psilocybin versus Escitalopram trial; her hopes for psychedelics treating people with Parkinson's; and her recent co-written paper on the ARC Framework (Access, Reciprocity and Conduct), where she will be focusing strongly on the Conduct aspect through her work at Imperial.  She mostly talks about her other recent paper exploring the impact of one of the more important aspects of therapy: the therapeutic alliance on the psychedelic experience. How does the treatment dynamic between the therapist and the client impact the outcome (and course) of the therapy, and what determines whether it's neutral, negative, positive, or very positive? Click here to head to the show notes page.  

In this episode, Alexa interviews Rachel Clark: Education Manager for DanceSafe, a public health nonprofit specializing in serving people who use drugs and their communities. As we move into the prime festival season, more people are going to be doing drugs, and the importance of harm reduction and drug testing becomes even more central to the experience. She discusses the complications of drug testing and how it’s more of an act of ruling substances out rather than determining purity; the fentanyl problem and its surrounding myths; how to identify and treat an overdose (and what not to do); Philadelphia’s struggles with Xylazine highlighting the problem with regional cross contamination; and DanceSafe’s “We Love Consent” and “Healing is Power” campaigns, which aim to open up the dialogue of true harm reduction and safe spaces outside of the substance alone. Check out DanceSafe.org for more info, and use this link when you’re ready to make a purchase! psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Alexa reminisce about last week's Psychedelic Science 2023, dubbed as the largest psychedelic conference in history.  They discuss Joe's two Psychedelic Morning Shows with Anne Philippi; Court Wing, Bob Wold, and the work of Clusterbusters and the new Psychedelics and Pain Association; Aaron Rogers and athletes' growing interest in psychedelics; the legality of mushroom growing kits; and the overall fun and overwhelming atmosphere of such a massive event. And as Alexa had her first breathwork session with the East Institute, they dig more into breathwork, which serves as somewhat of a follow-up to our breathwork episode a few weeks ago.   They also talk about a short film they came across called "Open Up," which looks at the party lifestyle of always seeking a new high, the potential of ketamine abuse, and what can happen when people don't talk about their problems. https://psychedelicstoday.com/2023/06/30/psychedelics-weekly-a-recap-of-psychedelic-science-2023/

In this episode, David interviews Professor Celia Morgan, Ph.D., who holds the Chair of Psychopharmacology and co-leads the Transdisciplinary Psychedelics Group at The University of Exeter. This was recorded on the dawn of UK's Breaking Convention conference, where Morgan was speaking about the therapeutic potential of ketamine as well as the danger of people developing a dependence on it. She touches on that topic, but largely discusses her current Phase III Trial for ketamine-assisted therapy for the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder (also called the KARE model (Ketamine for reduction of Alcohol Relapse)), a collaboration with Awakn Life Sciences. She discusses her other research: studies on mindfulness intervention before and after ketamine, epigenetic changes after ayahuasca use, the antidepressant qualities of ayahuasca, and CBD for cannabis dependence. And she talks about the necessary balance for making treatments amazing but affordable; how connecting with nature during integration is key; how the drug is just a tool, yet we focus on it too much; and how we need studies on how different therapies work with different substances. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In the second episode of our special, two-part series, the Psychedelic Morning Show, Joe Moore and Anne Philippi are live once again bright and early from Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver. Listen to this podcast as they interview four guests working on the front lines of psychedelic research, law, and the treatment of chronic pain.  Guests for this episode include:  Tommaso Barba – PhD candidate at Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London Allison Hoots – Attorney at Hoots Law Practice and advocate; President of Sacred Plant Alliance Bob Wold - Founder & President, Clusterbusters Court Wing – Founder, REMAP Therapeutics  psychedelicstoday.com

Psychedelics Today is reporting live this week from the industry event of the year, Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver. Listen in to this podcast as our co-founder, Joe Moore, and New Health Club founder Anne Philippi hit the conference floor bright and early in the first episode of a special two-part series, the Psychedelic Morning Show. In this limited series, Joe and Anne chat in real-time with guests working in all corners of the psychedelic ecosystem, from advocacy, law and finance, to research and therapy.  Guests for this episode include:  Dr. Julie Holland – Psychiatrist, psychedelic researcher, author and medical advisor for MAPS Daniel Goldberg – Co-Founder and Principal at Bridge Investments & Palo Santo Hadas Alterman – Director of Government Affairs | American Psychedelic Practitioners Association Melissa Lavasani – Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, Founder and President of Psychedelic Medicine PAC Tracey Tee – Founder of Moms on Mushrooms psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Frederick Barrett, Ph.D.: cognitive neuroscientist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and now, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research. With today’s news, Barrett officially takes over for the legendary Roland Griffiths, who has been in the role since the Center’s launch in 2019, and who will continue on as a member of the leadership team while dealing with the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis he has been remarkably candid about in recent interviews.  Dr. Barrett has been conducting research at Johns Hopkins for a decade, authoring or co-authoring some of the first studies on psilocybin’s enduring effects, and receiving the first federally funded human psychedelic research grant from the NIH since the 70s. He discusses the work and importance of Roland Griffiths; the history of the Center and current research he’s most excited about; the mystery of consciousness; and the power and sacredness of music: how we all use music to regulate our emotions, and how he wants to explore the brain mechanisms behind that connection. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this edition of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle dedicate the entire episode to one of their biggest passions: breathwork and the power of breath in reaching non-ordinary states of consciousness. What many listeners may not know is that Psychedelics Today was created because of the lack of attention being paid to breathwork, transpersonal psychology, and the work of Stanislav Grof, so this episode serves as a deep dive into all the facets of our fascinating ability to reach psychedelic states simply by breathing in specific ways. They discuss the history of breathwork; the various methods (box breathing, alternate nostril breathing, rebirthing breathwork, the Wim Hof method, Holotropic and Transpersonal breathwork, etc.); early and most powerful experiences; why Joe recommends becoming familiar with breathwork before a first psychedelic experience; how a breathwork practice can help enhance psychedelic experiences; and one of the most amazing things about breathwork: that it can give people a sense of agency they may never have felt before – that they can produce these experiences and insights with nothing but their own bodies. If you've been curious about breathwork, this episode is a great starting point to learn more.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Liana Gillooly: Strategic Initiatives Officer at MAPS, Board Chair & Founder of the non-profit, North Star, and Advisor to Chacruna’s Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative. While she talks about updates in MAPS’ world and how to manage and scale a rapidly growing industry while trying to change a system from the inside, she mostly talks about what she, the rest of MAPS, and a lot of the psychedelic space in general are most excited about right now: Psychedelic Science 2023, the largest psychedelic conference in history, beginning next week in Denver.  She discusses the growth of the conference; why they chose Denver as a location; and how programming has changed over the years to embrace the multiplicity of identities inside the psychedelic space, including much more business content, a culture stage that focuses on how psychedelics interact with the mainstream, various programs put on by community partners, pre- and post- workshops covering an array of topics, and an area they’re calling Deep Space, which was designed to help attendees get out of their heads and more into their bodies.  If you were thinking of attending, this episode should serve as a great inspiration to finally buy a ticket. When you do, be sure to use code PT15 to get 15% off your purchase, and when you’re there, visit us at booth 834 Wednesday through Friday. Joe is hosting a Psychedelic Morning Show with Anne Philippi on Thursday and Friday, and we’re partnering with Lounge CashoM, an all-inclusive environment designed to be a decompression space from that big conference energy. Email [email protected] for more info, and head to the show notes page for more details about afterparties. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews the Co-Founders of The EAST Institute: teachers, facilitators, and spiritual guides, Lena Franklin and Jeff Glattstein. The EAST Institute offers educational and experiential events, and trains facilitators in the art of the EAST Method™, a multidisciplinary approach combining modern research with traditional, Indigenous methods of healing and integration, touching on transpersonal psychology, mindfulness, meditation, vibrational sound therapy, energy medicine, shamanic healing, natural plant medicines, and more. Their approach is a structured (but flexible) process that guides the experiencer through preparation, the ceremony, and integration, but with a much larger focus on preparation than is typically seen, and with a deep phase of integration touching on six key modalities. They tell their stories of what led them to follow a healing path, explain the basics of the EAST Method™, and talk about their facilitator training program. And they discuss: how beneficial it can be to introduce shadow work right off the bat; how the West needs to learn to stop deifying medical degrees and learn to trust our inner healers; the power of energy and the energetic reciprocity between our bodies and the medicine; and how we, as a culture, need to break through our conditioning – from propaganda, fear, and the self-limiting beliefs that keep us from being our best selves. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Alex Belser, Ph.D.: clinical scientist; author; licensed psychologist; Co-Investigator for a psilocybin and OCD study at Yale University; and co-creator of the EMBARK approach, a new model of psychedelic-assisted therapy that focuses on six clinical domains that typically arise during psychedelic experiences. He is also one of the editors of "Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine," the new anthology from Chacruna featuring 38 essays from queer authors and allies looking at the heteronormative aspects of psychedelic culture and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, self-acceptance, psychedelics and pleasure, and ways the queer community can become allies with other groups. As they serendipitously recorded this episode on June 1, it only made sense to celebrate Pride Month by releasing it now, as well as launching a giveaway, where you can win one of five copies of "Queering Psychedelics."  Belser talks about the concurrent emergence of the psychedelic and queer communities; the need to research the effects of transphobia and homophobia in psychedelic work (as well as the internalized phobias often realized during an experience); why it’s more important than ever to talk about the psychedelic space’s dark past with conversion therapy; why the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire needs to be updated; the idea of queer people being boundary walkers; recreating the Good Friday Experiment, the immense importance of long-form interviews and other forms of qualitative research, the power of love and community, and the question: how does anyone not want to change after a powerful psychedelic experience? www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are once again able to take advantage of Kyle's temporary Colorado residency and record together in Joe's office. While last week focused on the numerous challenges facing a rapidly growing industry of psychedelic therapists, facilitators, and guides, the topic of therapy itself is put under the microscope this week, as they dissect a New York Times article titled, "Does Therapy Really Work? Let’s Unpack That." They discuss whether or not therapy is right for everyone, the efficacy of different types of therapy, the role of the therapeutic alliance in treatment outcomes, and how (if it's even possible) to measure all of these factors. They also discuss: -a study showing that ketamine was more effective than ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for patients with treatment-resistant depression; -the potential benefits of the LSD analog, Br-LSD, in treating people with major depressive disorders, cluster headaches, and more; -Ireland's Health Service Executive launching the Safer Nightlife program, which will partner with music festivals this summer to establish on-site drug testing; -the U.S. slowly beginning to legalize fentanyl test strips, which, for some reason, are illegal in many parts of the country; And much more! See you next week, and if you're in the NYC area, make sure to check out "Tales of Transformation," an in-person event Thursday, June 8 at the Athenæum, moderated by David, and featuring Ifetayo Harvey, Juliana Mulligan, and Raad Seraj. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews the Co-Founders of Enosis Therapeutics: researcher and scientist, Agnieszka Sekula; and psychiatrist, clinical advisor to the Australian Psychedelic Society, and leading Australian advocate for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, Dr. Prash P.  Enosis Therapeutics is a medtech startup that began with the question: how can we use VR – with or without psychedelics – to improve mental health outcomes? They feel that the biggest problem with powerful psychedelic experiences is that, once you’re back in reality, it’s oddly difficult to remember the insights and new ideas that were so clear during the experience, and even harder to make connections that lead to concrete change. They believe that the immersive nature of VR and the novelty of unique VR environments creates a sense of presence that can’t be recreated otherwise – a liminal, in-between state that’s just different enough to allow the patient to feel like they’re back in that non-ordinary state, and therefore more able to anchor their experience and begin to find connections and more clearly understand newfound insights.  This all happens by the user essentially creating nonlinear, abstract, multi-sensory VR paintings while describing what they remembered; allowing them to revisit these worlds later, bring in therapists (or anyone else) to work inside these environments, and hear their own voice describing what happened, thereby creating a mental map that can be worked with in completely unique ways.  They talk about the conflict between new technologies and traditionalists; the problems with moving away from psychoanalysis and not treating psychotherapy as a process; how VR could improve the efficacy of therapy (and improve therapists’ lives); how it could replace models of repeated dosage; how VR could generate analytics to actually quantify success in mental health treatment; and how (whether psychedelics are used or not) culture needs to bring the psychedelic way of thinking to mental health. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle and David meet up to talk news, but end up mostly having a discussion about the numerous challenges facing the rapidly growing industry of psychedelic therapists, guides, and facilitators. That discussion comes from the article, “Psychedelic workers of the world, unite!”, which breaks down the shortcomings and risks of an industry many are flocking to without realizing what they’ll likely have to deal with: unprecedented legal and financial risks, burnout, misalignment with management, transference and countertransference, and what happens when one finds themselves in the middle of a genuine emergency? While these issues could be found in any industry, a big reason why they seem so prevalent and dangerous in the psychedelic world is our lack of elders and passed-down experience – and the faster this all grows, the more we need that guidance.  And for news, they talk about Ohio State making history as the first U.S. University to receive a license to grow psilocybin mushrooms; a new study showing that LSD enhanced learning, exploratory thinking, and sensitivity to feedback; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funding $1.5 million to research the efficacy of psychedelics for substance use disorder – which spurs a conversation about research, funding, and the idea that maybe we’re spending too much time and money on neuroscience. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Priyanka Wali, MD: board-certified practicing physician in Internal Medicine, MAPS-trained psychedelic facilitator, comedian, and co-host (with Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace" fame) of the HypochondriActor podcast, where they discuss interesting medical issues in a funny (and hopefully uplifting) way.  She talks about recognizing and protecting the humanity of healthcare professionals, and how medical school is creating a cycle of hurt people trying to help other hurt people. She believes we need to become more holistic, especially in embracing Indigenous ways of thinking, as their frameworks may be the only way to explain phenomena with which Western science can’t come to terms.   They talk a lot about ancient psychedelic use: the use of a soma described in the Rigveda; Egyptian culture and mushrooms observed in statues; Plato; the work of Brian Muraresku and Graham Hancock; and Vedic chants, Kashmiri Bhajans, and how singing (especially in a group) can be especially healing to the nervous system. And as Wali experienced first-hand the Kashmiri Pandit genocide of 1990, she discusses how much colonialism has changed cultures, and how much our cycles of oppression relate to our collective inability to experience pain and fear.   They discuss the psychological impact of living through major catastrophes; the special and hard-to-describe feeling of returning to your home (especially in a world changed by colonization and constant conflict); the sad case of Ignaz Semmelweis and hand washing; ghosts of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, the concept of ‘future primitive,’ and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are both on the road, so David and Alexa take the helm. They cover news stories about:  -a man in Colorado facing a Class 3 drug felony for giving people psilocybin mushrooms in exchange for monetary donations – pointing out the bold (or stupid?) stances some are taking to highlight the absurdity of legislation that allows possession and donation as long as no money changes hands;  -a study showing what many of us have felt ourselves: that the day after psilocybin-assisted therapy, depressed patients had a stronger brain response to music and saw improvements in the ability to find pleasure in previously empty activities;  -a trip report from a psychedelically-naive 50-year old, showing the power and beauty of MDMA-assisted therapy;  -the New Hampshire state Senate continuing to be behind the times and voting down House Bill 639, which would have created a legal recreational cannabis framework for the state; -a video where people on the street in Oregon were asked how much they thought psilocybin therapy would cost, showing a drastic misalignment between public perception and reality; and a local TV news feature touring Rose City Laboratories, the first licensed psilocybin testing lab in Oregon. And in conversation, they talk about some of the lesser-discussed (and often dismissed) tools like CBD, THC patches, and very low-dose edibles; the problem with drug dealers and harm reduction; the power of music in guiding a psychedelic experience (and in living a pleasurable life); and the importance of dosing and listening to your body to know what's right for you. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Nick Kadysh: Founder and CEO of PharmAla Biotech and member of the board of directors for The Canadian Psychedelic Businesses Association.  PharmAla Biotech is a Toronto-based Life Sciences company with two focuses: contracting with manufacturers to provide researchers with GMP MDMA (created under Good Manufacturing Practice regulations), and creating and researching novel analogs of MDMA. And just today, they announced that Health Canada has authorized them (and their distribution partner, Shaman Pharma) to supply their LaNeo™ MDMA for the treatment of a patient under Canada’s Special Access Program – the first time this has happened in Canada.  He discusses the creation of PharmAla and why their model changed from primarily researching analogs to manufacturing; why they’re operating out of Canada and using manufacturers instead of running the lab themselves; the excitement around Australia’s recent about-face on MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapy; the bureaucracy of U.S. drug policy and how much a broken supply chain affects the whole industry; bad IP and companies filing rapid fire patents; why creating new analogs of MDMA is so important; and why the psychedelic space needs to bring culture along with us. He also talks about Spravato, cannabis and risks of cancer, THC nasal sprays, and research he’s most excited about: that MDMA seems to alleviate dyskinesia caused from Parkinson’s disease, and that MDMA could improve social anxiety in people with autism. He’s aiming to run a clinical trial and believes they have developed a safe MDMA analog that the autistic community will respond to very well. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and temporary-Colorado-resident Kyle once again record in-person, discussing how psychedelics could change business, the drug war and safe supply, and more.  They cover:  -a Rolling Stone profile on David Bronner, who makes the case for multi-stakeholder capitalism; where businesses are accountable to their workers, customers, the environment, and surrounding Indigenous communities instead of just investors – an idea more people would likely align with after a psychedelic experience;  -The first psilocybin service center in Oregon (EPIC Healing Eugene) finally receiving their license via the Oregon Health Authority; -A man who saw his color blindness improve for four months after a 5g mushroom experience; -Delaware officially legalizing recreational cannabis;  -The opening of 'The Drugs Store' in Vancouver, British Columbia: a mobile store selling drugs illegally as a response to the opioid epidemic and constant influx of untested and laced drugs – the "inevitable result of the government doing nothing" towards offering a safe supply;  -and a survey from the CDC showing that cannabis use among teenagers has declined since legal dispensaries began opening, disproving one of the most common prohibitionist arguments that legalization would only increase use.  And of course, these topics bring on a lot of conversation: how businesses need to be more reflective on how they're operating; concern over if too much regulation is nerfing the world; the human cost of the drug war and the ever-escalating amount of ODs and drug poisoning cases; HPPD and the need for research around psychedelics and vision/perception; why we will always need both clinical access and the recreational underground, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Erica Rex: award-winning journalist, past guest and writer, and participant in one of the first ever clinical trials using psilocybin to treat cancer-related depression; and Mona Sobhani, Ph.D.: cognitive neuroscientist and the author of "Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist’s Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe." As Rex discovered the power of psychedelics through a clinical trial, she discusses a huge problem she discovered: that researchers are not preparing participants enough for the ontological shock they may go through in trying to match unexplainable happenings to a rigid framework (or match the normal to a framework that has suddenly shifted) – that while patients have support at the clinic, it all disappears when they return to normal life. She believes that all too often, researchers are doing only what is necessary to be able to continue to receive funding, push drugs through the FDA, and prescribe a pill.  And as psychedelics changed Sobhani from very constrained scientific thinking to being very open to new ideas about consciousness and spirituality, she learned that many scientists had similar stories, and that coming out of the psychedelic closet is sometimes the best thing to do to normalize these ways of healing.  They discuss the challenges of newcomers trying to explain their experience without having the necessary language; how we still don't truly understand mental illness; how the DSM just clusters symptoms to fit 'disorders' into a box; how society has started pathologizing anything we find unpleasant (which of course, is a part of being human); Gary Fisher’s research on using LSD and psilocybin for schizophrenic children, why science needs to combine consciousness research and psychedelics research, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle record in-person again, discussing psychedelics and parenthood, sports, music, and more.  They cover: -an Elle (!) article about how mushrooms are becoming the new ‘Cali sober,’ with more and more people starting to microdose – including parents;  -ESPN's documentary, "Peace of Mind," highlighting the rise of psychedelic use among athletes, including retired NHL player, Riley Cote; -An article discussing how interest in psychedelics has skyrocketed in Oregon since the passing of Measure 109, and how over-regulation and the glacial speed of the government is only driving the growth of the black market;  -An essay attempting to define what it is that leads people to describe music as psychedelic (with several recommendations from Joe);  -DMT aficionados using AI to create and catalog depictions of the entities they've seen; and more! And they have larger discussions about the drug war, how famous athletes are opening people's minds to psychedelics, how strict regulation in psychedelic legislation can create more harm, how we need to collaborate more in the psychedelic space, the concept of a DMT 'hyper-slap,' and the problem of psychedelic exceptionalism and thinking your drug is good while others are bad. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews two founding members of Fireside Project: activist, healing justice practitioner, musician, and Chief Ambassador, Hanifa Nayo Washington; and lawyer, aspiring researcher, and Executive Director, Joshua White, Esq. Fireside Project was created after White volunteered for a help line for years and realized a few things: that follow-up calls made a big difference; that the state of mental health in the U.S. was a disaster (he was talking to some of the same people for years); and that while psychedelics were becoming popular, they would likely only be accessible to the wealthy. Alongside Washington, they realized the most effective thing they could do would be creating a free help line where people could call for peer support during a psychedelic experience, and receive support in integrating that experience afterward. They’ve focused on finding volunteers who may be marginalized or who have been persecuted from the war on drugs, but most importantly, have real experience and true compassion (rather than letters after their name proving their credentials). They are on track to receive 10,000 calls over their first two years. They discuss Fireside’s Burning Man origin story; the serendipity they’ve seen in the organization’s beginnings and so many calls; where the name came from; how they prepare volunteers; what true equity looks like; and how, while it’s a common challenge for therapists and facilitators to hold back and not try to fix a problem, that may be even more important here. Fireside Project takes calls every day from 11am – 11pm PST, and while there is an app you can download, they recommend saving their number in your phone for when you need it (62-FIRESIDE). And to destroy the notion of being afraid to ask for help, they encourage everyone to share their stories on social media: the times that you’ve used Fireside Project or the times you had a challenging experience and wish you had known about them. Many newcomers have no idea this support exists, and it could truly be life-changing for them. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David speaks with Kyle, who recorded at Joe’s place while he was away at Trailblazers in NYC.  They talk about David’s trip to the UK last week for Breaking Convention, then discuss a recent Vice article about looking outside the binary and confined thinking of Western medicine and embracing the underground – that there are cheaper and more accessible peer support models and affinity groups for everyone, but in going underground, we need to be careful that more accessible models aren’t dangerous or re-traumatizing. While businesses are competing to make headway in the psychedelic space, nobody is controlling all of it, which leads to both possibility and risk.  They cover SB23-290, the bill Senate President Steve Fenberg created to establish a regulatory framework for psilocybin access and administration in Colorado in lieu of the advisory board that should have been put in place as part of Prop 122. They break down the positives and negatives of this framework, and ask: how much do these committees who are passing legislation really know about psilocybin?  And they briefly discuss an article on what MDMA therapy may look like when MAPS hopefully gets approval via the FDA early next year, Rick Doblin’s speech at Breaking Convention, and his concept of society eventually having “net zero trauma.” www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Deborah Parrish Snyder: ecologist, Director and VP of the Institute of Ecotechnics, and Co-owner and CEO of Synergetic Press, which has published over 40 books on ethnobotany, psychedelics, biospherics, and social and ecological justice.  Straddling the line between ecology, psychedelics, and psyche, she discusses the many projects of the Institute: Biosphere 2, the large-scale closed ecological system she helped design in 1986; London's "October Gallery," a man-made city biome project that could be a model for other cities; their "Eden in Iraq" wastewater project; and the Heraclitus, an 82-foot ship which has sailed 270k miles around the earth, studying different cultures, mapping coral reefs, and more, and will soon be setting sail again after being rebuilt for the last decade.   She talks about where we're at as a society in regards to the environment: how we're in a period of consequences and it's easy to feel hopeless, but much of the youth are "solutionists" who don't want to hear apologies, and instead, want to do something about it. She believes that while schools don't teach ecology, it's never too late to learn, and non-ordinary states of consciousness could help people remember our connection to nature, care about our planet, and find the others who feel the same way. Consider pairing your self-exploration with improving the world around you: what can you do to turn your perfect, overly fertilized lawn into a regenerative landscape instead? www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle once again record in person, diving into novel compounds, changing opinions, Bicycle Day, and more.  They start by dissecting a very recent controversy around The Church of Psilomethoxin and whether the sacrament they label as psilomethoxin – supposedly created by adding 5-MeO-DMT to the substrate of cultivated Psilocybe mushrooms – actually contains any psilomethoxin in it. Usona Institute published a paper last week reporting on their analysis of a sample they allegedly collected from the Church, which only showed what we’d see in a sample of a typical psilocybin-containing mushroom. While the Church has issues with Usona’s data collection, analytical methods, and motives, they also reiterate a main component of the church: that their "claims to the existence of Psilomethoxin, at this time, are solely based on faith," and bolstered by their “own direct experiences with the Sacrament.” It’s a very interesting story that touches on faith, consent, personal safety, and the harms of the drug war, which Joe covered extensively in a Twitter Space last night with Andrew Gallimore and the writer of a very critical article, Mario de la Fuente.  They also discuss:  -a Time magazine article about the mystery of Long COVID, and how many believe the anti-inflammatory and neuroplastic benefits of psychedelics could be the answer;  -how Bicycle Day may soon become more popular than 4/20, likely due to society’s warmer reception to the life-changing effects of psychedelics (as opposed to their propagandized and unmoving beliefs about cannabis);  -how some analysts believe that seven in 10 ketamine companies will likely face financial challenges as the industry grows too quickly;  and why Snoop Dogg apparently microwaves blunts before smoking them (and does that actually do anything?). www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, on the eve of Bicycle Day, Victoria and Kyle interview two long-standing icons of visionary psychedelic art: Alex and Allyson Grey. They talk about the LSD trip that saved Alex’s life, connected him to Allyson, inspired his art, and even made him change his name; his decades-in-the-making “Sacred Mirrors” project of 21 7-foot tall pieces depicting the complex layers of human existence; the interconnectedness of life; the history of psychedelic art; how imagination and non-ordinary states help us connect with the divine; and the value of art in conveying the mystical experience. Alex and Allyson are the Co-Founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, an interspiritual church/retreat center in upstate New York that, after years of work, is debuting Entheon: an art sanctuary and psychedelic reliquary featuring much of their art and work from favorite artists, a shrine to Tool (who Alex has worked with for most of their career), and a collection of relics from psychedelic legends that includes Albert Hofmann’s glasses, art signed by Stan Grof and the Shulgins, and even Timothy Leary’s ashes. Entheon opens on June 3, on the anniversary of the first acid trip the Greys took together, which gave them a framework for understanding life and an inspiration for art they still follow to this day. And in honor of Bicycle Day, Alex talks about two pieces dedicated to Albert Hofmann, and continues his Bicycle Day tradition of reading a statement Hofmann made a year before he passed about psychedelics being the “absolute highest importance to consciousness change.” In celebration of Albert Hofmann and the gift he gave us, and with inspiration from the incredibly complex and beautiful art Alex and Allyson create, have a happy, safe, and creative Bicycle Day!  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Melissa Lavasani: CEO of Washington, DC-based Psychedelic Medicine Coalition and now, President of the brand new Psychedelic Medicine PAC. She discusses her path to psychedelics, how she ended up running the Initiative 81 campaign (the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020), and how she came to realize that decriminalization efforts can't be the only option we go for – that, like it or not, we live in a system where politics and money are major factors behind any systematic change, and if we want to make any headway, we have to play the game. The Psychedelic Medicine PAC (Political Action Committee) was created to open up federal funding for psychedelic research, as nearly all research today (of which there still isn't enough) is being funded by private companies. They will use donations to support politicians who are on our side and can advance psychedelic progress, who will push for federal funding to get the new and necessary data people who aren't bought in yet need to see.  They talk about speaking with people from the other side of the aisle at a recent education campaign in DC; how federal funding is neutral money; what she learned from DC's deprioritization of cannabis policing; how personal stories and one-on-one human connection can change minds better than traditional confrontational activism; and the need to get ahead of the inevitable wave of big pharma propaganda they'll bring when they officially step up to the table. She believes the path to helping the most people is advancing science and data through federal funding, and that begins with education and getting more politicians on our side. If you agree, follow them for details about their upcoming event in May, visit their table at Psychedelic Science this June (use PT15 for 15% off tickets), and donate to the PAC or the coalition.  Also, as a bonus, this episode begins with a mini version of Psychedelics Weekly. Joe and Kyle didn't have enough time to record a full episode, but still wanted to check in and review a few notable stories and highlight our recent Vital graduation ceremony. See you next week! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe lets Court Wing take lead in interviewing two of the leaders behind Clusterbusters: Founder and Executive Director, Bob Wold; and President, Eileen Brewer. A long-time friend of the show, Court Wing has become our resident expert on chronic pain, writing articles about how psilocybin relieved his chronic pain, and hosting Timothy Furnish, MD & Joel Castellanos, MD in their episode about phantom limb pain. Now he speaks with Clusterbusters, a non-profit dedicated to educating people about the horrors of cluster headaches, funding ongoing research into new treatments, and normalizing the miracle that psilocybin has been to so many sufferers in alleviating their headaches.  Wold and Brewer discuss their past struggles (Wold is a cluster sufferer and Brewer has migraine disease) and discovering the amazing intervention of psychedelics; the battles they've gone through in spreading this knowledge; how using psychedelics is also helping people work through PTSD; the barriers that legal psilocybin is creating; the concept of schools having a drug education program; the research looking at cluster headaches and other headache diseases; their creation of the Pain And Psychedelics Association, and more. While cluster headache sufferers have a lot to be frustrated about; as psilocybin becomes more mainstream and more and more research is funded, they now have a lot of hope. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is back in Colorado and in-person with Joe, and they discuss what stood out to them in the news this week: -A New York Times interview with Roland Griffths, where he talks about his cancer diagnosis and how meditation and psychedelics have helped him prepare for the inevitable end; -An article on the rising popularity of psychedelics among mothers, and the benefits and risks of moms rejecting alcohol culture in favor of something new (and largely illegal); -The NBA removing cannabis from its list of banned substances and allowing players to invest in cannabis companies, which follows years of other sports slowly accepting that cannabis is a part of our culture and there’s no need to play the part of “big brother” anymore; and an article looking at legalization from the perspectives of people who were against recent measures like Prop 122, and how some towns in Colorado and Oregon are looking for ways to prevent the creation of psilocybin service centers from being built in their backyards. They also go further into the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition’s recently created Political Action Committee and the work they’re doing to educate lawmakers; Harvard Law School hosting webinars comparing psychedelic legislation and the role of psychedelics in Indigenous groups in Europe, Australia, and North America; Arizona’s HB-2486, which would give $30 million in grants to universities and non-profit organizations to conduct psilocybin research; and Rick Doblin’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews neuroscientist, artist, and educator, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D.; and Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, lead or co-author on over a dozen scientific publications, and regular contributor to PT, Manesh Girn.  They tell their stories of how they became interested in neuroscience, and stress the importance of staying radically open-minded (or “epistemically naive”) when it comes to how much we can claim we understand about the brain, the mind-body connection, and consciousness itself – that while fMRI and other advances have brought us a long way, there are still a ton of “unknown unknowns,” especially around creativity, decision making, and imagination. They discuss the misconception that we only use 10% of our brains; comparisons between the brain and the universe; society’s misunderstanding of “happy hormones” (dopamine, serotonin, etc.); how chronic stress takes a toll on all parts of the body; how MDMA works with memory processing; and how stacking modalities with the psychedelic experience (like play or activities focused on emotion regulation) can really help with personal goals and growth.  They have taken their understanding and fascination with neuroscience and applied it to a new course in our Psychedelic Education Center: “Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects“: an 8-week live course with 10 hours of prerecorded material and a built-in community. It was designed with practitioners and clinicians in mind, but with the goal of still being as accessible as possible for anyone who is curious about the neuroscience of psychedelics, and how that knowledge can help with preparation, the journey, integration, and working with a heightened window of neuroplasticity.  Class begins on May 17, and if you sign up before April 12, you can get $100 off! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe calls in from Los Angeles to cover the week's news with David.  They review:  -Dr. Julie Holland's recent appearance on the The Cannabis Investing Podcast, where she discussed the concept of cannabis being a psychedelic; -Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada, planning to establish a Psychedelic Research Centre, with a focus on the historical and ethical context of psychedelic substances, using a "two eyed seeing" approach that combines Western-style science with Indigenous perspectives; -A group of investors creating a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to purchase real estate for the purposes of psychedelic therapy, which, if used as the collaborative model we imagine it could be, could solve a lot of problems; -Diplo completing the Los Angeles Marathon in 3 hours and 35 minutes while under a reported 4-5 drops of LSD, and the dismissive spin mainstream media added to the story;  and a Rolling Stone article focusing on (and somewhat oversimplifying) the conflicts between the medicalization and decriminalization/legalization camps (can we just do both?). The articles of course lead to much larger discussions: how cannabis has helped David overcome OCD; the need for more transparency and a review system based on abusive behavior in the psychedelic space; the idea of collectivization in therapy models; why we need to agree on ethical foundations; and our general misunderstanding of IP and IP law: was all the criticism of Compass Pathways unwarranted? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, David interviews Sunny Strasburg, LMFT: Clinical Director at TRIPP PsyAssist; psychedelic trainer, consultant, therapist, and writer, specializing in EMDR and Internal Family Systems, and offering ketamine-assisted therapy as well as ketamine therapy retreats (often co-led by Dr. Richard Schwartz).  She talks about her family history with magic, and how the act of calling energy in and out pairs with psychedelic work; how the human experience is made up of contrasts; why we need to embrace the recreational part of psychedelics; how art can be used more in therapy; and how post-experience group integration is the act of creating mythology, recreating the small-community-sitting-by-the-fire archetype – that community we so desperately need. And she discusses ketamine: different ways she uses it; how it pairs perfectly with Internal Family Systems; and how it’s autobiographical medicine, making us an observer and allowing us to separate ourselves from our story. While passionate about the mystical, magic, and reconnecting to nature, she is also very involved with virtual reality, and she discusses how VR and meditation apps are easing people into non-ordinary states and familiarizing people with breathwork. With the help of pioneering psychedelic DJ, David Starfire, she created PsyAssist, an app with music playlists and voice integration for people to enhance ketamine experiences that don’t otherwise include therapy or integration work. PsyAssist was acquired by VR company, TRIPP, and they’re running a study on people using VR before a psychedelic experience to see if data proves that VR really does reduce the anxiety so many of us feel before taking that big journey. But she reminds us: as we become more connected to technology, VR, and AI, being connected to other human beings will become more and more important. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Ph.D. student in the Drug Use and Behavior Lab at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Haley Maria Dourron. She talks mostly about the paper she co-authored last year with Dr. Peter Hendricks and Camilla Strauss: “Self-Entropic Broadening Theory: Toward a New Understanding of Self and Behavior Change Informed by Psychedelics and Psychosis,” which analyzes the long-standing comparisons between the psychedelic state and psychosis, and points out important distinctions between the two – that science should be looking more at the way one processes information and their level of self-focus rather than similarities in outward behavior. She discusses what she calls entropic processing, which is essentially how one’s brain creates novel ideas, relations, and insights based on very loosened mental schemas: with new information being considered in new ways (with no filter), do the connecting pathways that seem like eureka moments actually make sense?  She discusses the broaden and build theory and the broadening of intentional scope; entropy; chronic LSD use and risk of psychosis; schizophrenia and psychedelics; why science needs to embrace naturalistic research, and more. As of this release date, there are still a few participatory spots left in her current study on the effect of psychedelic experiences on people who have a history of psychosis, so if you had an episode of psychosis at some point and have gone on to use psychedelics, she wants to hear your story. Head to the show notes for the link. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are back at it, talking about news and what's going on at Psychedelics Today (applications for Vital close this Sunday, March 26, and we've just announced a new neuroscience course!). Following up on last week's news that Field Trip Health had closed five clinics, they start with more unfortunate news: that Field Trip is laying off a lot of people, Ronan Levy has resigned as the CEO, trading has been suspended, and the company has obtained CCAA Protection (which, through the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, essentially allows a struggling company a chance to restructure its finances to avoid bankruptcy, all through a formal Plan of Arrangement). And in similar news, all Ketamine Wellness Centers (an Arizona company recently acquired by Delic Holdings) would be closing immediately, with employees let go with little warning or explanation. These stories (and Synthesis Institute’s downfall) highlight the sad reality many of us in the psychedelic space forget: that just because a business is heart-centered and psychedelic-minded, it's still a business, and businesses need to be profitable to survive.  Next, they cover Melissa Lavasani and the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition creating the Psychedelic Medicine PAC (Political Action Committee) to get more government funding behind psychedelic research. Members of PMC went to D.C. last week, presenting a psychedelic briefing to begin the process of educating legislators about the realities of plant medicines and psychedelic-assisted therapy (and Joe was there).  And they discuss more: concerns over Australia's recent about-face on MDMA and psilocybin being used legally; a recent study where researchers used EEG and fMRI together to record what is happening in the brain while under the influence of DMT (and we should probably have Manesh Girn on again to explain it better than we could); and an interview with Eric Andre at SXSW where, in about 2 minutes, he brilliantly shines a light on drug exceptionalism, the lies of the drug war, and the need for more education on psychedelics – all to a bewildered reporter who didn't seem prepared to talk to Eric Andre (we are- please come on the podcast!). www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews the Co-Founder and CEO of Beckley Retreats, Neil Markey.  Markey describes Beckley Retreats as comprehensive well-being programs, and talks about the importance of holistic wellness – that, while the retreats are centered around two group psilocybin experiences, the true benefits come from complementary factors: the four weeks of online prep and community building before the retreat, the six days in Jamaica surrounding the experiences, the six weeks of integration work after, and the depth of connections people find in the new community they may not have realized they needed so badly. He breaks down the details of the retreats and what they look for in facilitators, and tells a few success stories that really highlight how trauma, opposing ideas, and an infatuation with material objects and amassing wealth can all get in the way of real relationships and meaning.  Beckley Retreats is currently working on two new projects: an observational study with Heroic Hearts and Imperial College London on using psilocybin for-traumatic brain injury, and a study with Bennet Zelner and the University of Maryland to bring executives through a retreat to see how it affects leadership and decision-making: can they prove that these types of experiences lead to more heart-centered leaders? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle join up once again to discuss the news and articles they found the most interesting this week.  They start with the business news everyone is talking about: Field Trip Health & Wellness closing 5 of their clinics due to financial struggles (a deficit of $48.7 million since their inception and a net loss of $6.9 million reported for the last quarter), little confidence they'd be able to receive more funding, and the changing landscape of ketamine telehealth now that the Covid Public Health Emergency should finally come to an end in May. They also highlight an article dissecting the collapse of Synthesis Institute and the lessons to be learned, with both stories really showing just how new and unstable psychedelic business still is, and how the allure of first-mover advantage can be a dangerous gamble. They also discuss four drug reform bills introduced in Vermont: two of which would decriminalize simple possession of all drugs, making a "personal use supply of drugs” a civil offense with a $50 fine; one removing penalties for using or selling psilocybin; and the last decriminalizing certain psychedelic plants and fungi.  And they look at a research study aiming to learn more about people's lives after they've been involved in a clinical trial, Time Magazine's article about psychedelics and couples therapy, and a study that found that while 64% of survey respondents said at-home ketamine helped their symptoms, 55% (and 58% of Millennials) said they used more than the recommended dose – either by accident or on purpose. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David hosts another Vital Psychedelic Conversation, this time with Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.: Vital instructor who teaches economics at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business; and Giles Hayward: Vital student and Co-Founder of Woven Science (a company backing and building psychedelic and wellness tech companies) and El Puente, which focuses on Indigenous biocultural preservation. Zelner believes that the traditional capitalist system we’ve grown accustomed to is an extractive and predatory one directly in opposition to a natural system we should be striving to emulate – one that circulates resources and exits largely in equilibrium with its different parts. His concept of the Pollination Approach (or regenerative economics) is about developing economic structures that are capable of balance: where communities are built to directly benefit each other and where businesses are structured to share resources and capital to all involved. In a hyper-individualistic system where loneliness and never feeling good enough are key drivers of depression, anxiety, and trauma, how could we not benefit from feeling more connected to each other, our communities, and the businesses that exist within them?  They talk about different ways the pollination approach could be applied; how psychedelics disrupt these broken systems; how we can make these treatments affordable; and why we should be focusing on the delivery and integration of substances rather than creating new ones. And since Hayward is about to graduate from Vital’s inaugural run, he shares his feelings on the program and how it fell into this concept of regenerative economics.  The application deadline for this year’s Vital has been extended to March 26, but that will be the last extension. So if you’re interested, now is the time to apply! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Graham Hancock: legendary bestselling author and writer and presenter of the new Netflix docuseries, "Ancient Apocalypse," where he travels the world looking for evidence of lost civilizations likely much more advanced than historians previously believed. Hancock talks about his early books and how ayahuasca influenced his writing; the similarities in cave art and the common link of altered states of consciousness; how integral non-ordinary states of consciousness likely were to early religion (especially Christianity); how much the annihilation of religious traditions has hidden history; why his and Rupert Sheldrake's Tedx talks were originally taken offline; new understandings of Neanderthals' intelligence and creativity; the Quetzalcóatl; and the concept of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: could there have been an advanced civilization 12,800 years ago that we're just starting to comprehend? Could it have been Atlantis?  He discusses the conflict with mystery and archaeology's obsession with scientism and materialist reductionism – that we keep trying to force everything into little boxes of approved science and have lost our imaginations and openness to possibility, especially when you realize how often narratives are built based on interpretations of data rather than facts (since the farther back we go, evidence becomes harder to come by). He believes science needs humility, a willingness to listen to Indigenous history, and a much more open mind when it comes to altered states of consciousness: “I'm convinced we're missing something important from our past, and if we don't look for it, we won't find it.” Hancock has just announced that he will be a speaker at UK's Breaking Convention, April 20 - 22 at the University of Exeter, and some of the PT team will be there too! To save 10% off tickets, use code PSYCHTODAYBC10 at checkout. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David is joined by Kyle, who is finally home after a lot of traveling, to talk shop and dig into the articles they found the most interesting this week.  They begin with the news that Paul Stamets now has a species of mushroom named after him (Psilocybe stametsii), then take a look at a recent self-report study called “Prevalence and associations of challenging, difficult or distressing experiences using classic psychedelics,” which aimed to collect data on just how many psychedelic users (in this study, anyone who had ever tried a psychedelic) felt that they had had a challenging or difficult experience. They discuss the results and highlight some interesting data: that LSD was the most commonly associated substance, that smoking cannabis was one of the most commonly reported interventions, and of course, the question of whether or not these experiences were beneficial.  They then talk about Synthesis Institute closing its doors, the possible hope Synthesis could have, and the sadness in this – when businesses fail, it’s easy to look at numbers and profit margins and be dismissive, but we forget the people involved; not just at Synthesis, but the hundreds of would-be students.  And lastly, they look at an article about a California-based startup called the Reality Center, which uses a combination of pulsing lights, sounds, and vibrations to create a drug-free but seemingly very psychedelic experience, reminding us yet again that you do not need a substance to achieve  non-ordinary states of consciousness. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Vital instructor, Dr. Devon Christie: Senior Lead of Psychedelic Programs at Numinus, MAPS-certified MDMA therapist, and now four-time guest; and Vital student, Emefa Boamah: coach, facilitator, and trauma-informed intuitive guide specializing in embodiment.  We've all heard the trope, "It's all in your mind," but it's also in your heart, soul, community, support system, and body - the focus of this episode. Christie and Boamah dive deep into the various aspects of the relationship between non-ordinary states and our bodies: ways to embody our bodies more; how the body is a fundamental source of truth; the benefit of checking in with one's body after an experience (to validate or disprove what may have come up); the importance of movement and rest; the different bodies we inhabit (physical, emotional, energetic, mental, and spiritual); and ways to accept (and eventually love) our bodies in a society that's always working to make us hate them – is self-love the ultimate act of defiance? They also discuss the post-experience plasticity in everything, and the challenge of preparing an experiencer for something we can't know; how facilitators and practitioners need to track their own subconscious feelings and reactions; the concept of embodied inquiry; the necessity of remaining curious and humble; and the idea of using integrative practices to find ways to become the person you want to be – the person you may have seen glimpses of in non-ordinary states.  And as this year's edition comes to an end, Boamah reflects on her experiences with Vital, particularly the communal aspects of the retreat and how healing it was to literally be lifted up by her companions. Head to the show notes to see a video showcasing some of the Vital experience, and if you're curious about whether Vital is right for you, please come to an upcoming Q+A. Applications close March 19! www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Victoria interviews Tracey Tee: co-founder and CEO of Band of Mothers Media, co-producer and co-host of the Band of Mothers podcast, and founder of Moms on Mushrooms, an online educational community for psychedelic-curious moms outside the prying eyes of social media. With similar histories of womb trauma, self discovery, and body reconnection, Victoria and Tracey discuss the complications of motherhood, substance use and embracing psychedelics in a broken culture, in which engaging with small, approved coping mechanisms is fine – where the “wine mom” archetype and numbing yourself with medications is celebrated, but where we don’t often talk about how challenging motherhood can really be, and the lasting mental, physical, and spiritual impacts of birth, loss, and grief. Tracey’s goal with Moms on Mushrooms is to bring mothers together for personal growth, healing, and most of all, for the safe, supportive container that so many women considering plant medicine need. She tells her story of creating and performing “The Pump and Dump Show” and the psychedelic journeys that led her to creating M.O.M., and discusses much more: how those large dose journeys reconnected her with her body; how microdosing has helped her feel more vulnerable, honest, and in tune with her daughter; how psychedelics can help parents realize where problematic core beliefs came from; how teaching children the ways of the world forces parents to confront and reaffirm what they truly believe; and the challenges mothers face in even talking about wanting to try psychedelics. If you’re a mother and this episode resonates with you, check out Tee’s Microdosing 101 (for moms) course or join the Moms on Mushrooms community for $4.44 a month. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Psychedelics Weekly is back after a brief hiatus (everyone was either traveling or sick last week!), with the OG PT team: Joe and Kyle.  With the exception of some commentary on John Oliver's recent piece on psychedelics (which was excellent), they skip the psychedelic news this week in favor of Psychedelics Today news, as a lot has been going on! In the last few weeks: Joe sustained a traumatic brain injury and a broken arm; Joe, Kyle, and Victoria attended PT's first Cannadelic in Miami, where Joe and Kyle moderated or sat on several panels, Kyle and Victoria went and saw Afroman, and we won the Psychedelic Brand of the Year award(!); Joe experienced a music festival in different ways (completely sober, and somewhat still in a concussion daze) and did some interesting research on psychedelics and post-concussion effects; Despite Joe and Kyle both getting sick and not being able to attend all of it, the last Vital retreat was an amazing one, capping off a year of incredible content and connection that is only fueling the fire to make this year's Vital even better; And, due to issues beyond our control with the planned venue and the City of Los Angeles, we had to cancel Convergence. Phew! As promised, lots going on!  www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, David interviews Kevin Cannella, LPC: MAPS-trained psychedelic psychotherapist and Co-Founder and Executive Director of Thank You Life, a nonprofit organization working to provide access to psychedelic therapy by eliminating its financial barriers. Co-Founded by Dr. Dan Engle, Thank You Life is very new and still in the process of officially launching, having just obtained 501(c)(3) status in December and recently gaining its first corporate sponsor in Dr. Bronner's. The nonprofit came from the realization of just how expensive psychedelic-assisted therapy can be, and Cannella wondering: what if there was a fund practitioners could plug into when a patient couldn't pay? While access for the patient is obvious, this model benefits the practitioner as well, which is something not often discussed in the psychedelic space – we focus a lot on how much these services will cost the patient, but rarely on the practitioner deserving to be paid fairly for their time and expertise.  Cannella tells his story of immersion into a world of ayahuasca, yoga, and vipassana meditation; volunteering at the Temple of the Way of Light, living in Hawaii, then Brazil, and finally, landing at Naropa University, where his passions were finally validated. He discusses looking for signs and learning to trust intuition, ways to increase accessibility outside of a 501(c)(3) model, how it feels to be paid well for your work, and why he only wants to work with practitioners who offer therapy alongside their chosen substance. Head to their website to donate to the Thank You Life fund, and follow them on socials for details on upcoming launch/fundraising events in April and May. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, David interviews Victor Alfonso Cabral, LSW: Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Fluence Training and Licensed Social Worker and practicing psychotherapist in Pennsylvania. Cabral is currently involved with the film, “We are the Medicine,” which aims to explore the reemergence of plant medicines from the perspective of people of color from all backgrounds and walks of life, with the added factor of a strong hip hop influence. Filmmakers Eric Blackerby and Esteban Serrano want the film to normalize the concept of psychedelics and healing for people of color, but also the notion of men being truly authentic with each other and building each other up with love and support – something that challenges society’s expectations on how men (and more specifically, Black and Brown men) should be in relationships with one another. Head to pictureacolorfulworld.com to donate and sign up for the mailing list for more info on future fundraisers and screenings.  He begins the episode by reading a powerful poem he read at Horizons NYC, then tells his story: his childhood and his mother’s sacrifices; how trauma caught up to him in college and led to the low point of his life; his subsequent 120-pound weight loss journey and embracing of therapy, how his first psychedelic experience resulted in an awakening of possibility; how he became a social worker and why he felt instantly aligned with the work; how he ended up working for PA Governor Tom Wolf; and how he came to be interviewed by Sway Calloway (who is also an Executive Producer of the film). His story and all of the organizations and efforts he’s been involved with prove that being authentic, following your heart, and building relationships with the right people can lead to growth and positive change in whatever path you choose in this space.  www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, Joe interviews Greg Lake, Esq.: Co-Founder of the Church of Psilomethoxin, author, and attorney specializing in working with entheogen-based religious practitioners in establishing their right to consume their sacraments under existing religious freedom laws. Psilomethoxin (4-Hydroxy-5-methoxydimethyltryptamine or 4-Hydroxy-5-MeO-DMT) was first synthesized in 2021 by mixing 5-MeO-DMT with psilocybin substrate, and after initial tests and months of user reports, it was deemed safe to use. Lake co-founded the Church of Psilomethoxin in 2022 with the goal of shifting the paradigm of religion to primary direct experiences and individual beliefs rather than a dogma everyone must follow, with a big focus on community and discussing the ultimate questions of life together – with Psilomethoxin as the sacrament of choice. While he prefers member-to-member referrals, there is an application on the site, and he hopes to grow the church through linking people up regionally, (eventually) training people to facilitate, and partnering with a data collection company to gather real-world data on both Psilomethoxin and on why people are seeking out psychedelic churches in the first place.  He discusses several cases that brought us here and inspired his work; why he believes Psilomethoxin won't be a target of the Federal Analogue Act; the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the need for states to establish similar state legislation; the importance of new churches establishing evidence in the public record; how much courts take sincerity into consideration; and the concept that, while we're quick to think of the law as the enemy, courts often don’t want to go after churches – religion is a sacred and intimate thing, so who is the victim if a court brings a church to court that hasn't harmed anyone? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Carla Kieffer: psychedelic educator, Certified Psychedelic Facilitator, Community Liaison at Maya Health, and Founder of Kairos Integration, a company offering psychedelic training, preparation, facilitation, integration, and microdosing support. This episode was recorded in-person, in between the first and second psilocybin retreats at Atman Retreat in Jamaica, where Kyle, Johanna, and a large group of Vital students just worked with Carla last month. Many participants that attend retreats are new to psychedelics, and often don’t know each other, so it was powerful to have a group of classmates follow the breathwork model of having sitters and journeyers take turns (which is the same model she uses for her Psychedelic Guide Training and Certificate Program), and demonstrates how much one can learn when taking the role of the sitter and how the journey becomes the teacher. They talk about how big the therapy part of psychedelic-assisted therapy is, in how rare it is to have someone attending to your every need for hours on end, and wonder: How can we take that aspect of holding space for each other and apply it to everyday life?  She discusses the importance of data collection and how her Internal Family Systems training has helped her balance her love for the mystical with her more science and data-based mind; the importance in facilitators meeting some sort of baseline harm reduction and safety training (and the need to establish an agreed-upon set of standards); the need for increased accessibility; how important it is to further educate about and normalize conversations about psychedelics; and how integration isn’t just a box you check off as part of the experience, but a continuous process and part of our lives, where checking in on ourselves should be a regular practice. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Devon Christie: Senior Lead of Psychedelic Programs at Numinus, educator at CIIS and Vital, and MAPS-certified MDMA therapist; and Dr. Pamela Kryskow, MD: founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and Medical Lead of the nonprofit, Roots To Thrive. Christie and Kryskow recently co-authored one of the first papers looking at MDMA for chronic pain, “MDMA-assisted therapy is associated with a reduction in chronic pain among people with post-traumatic stress disorder,” which came about after they received access to MAPS’ Phase 2 data from a lead-in PTSD study and noticed significant improvements in pain measurements – something the study was not looking for at all. They’re looking into where chronic pain fits within the frameworks of Western medicine and psychedelic-assisted therapy, and discuss the many reasons why MDMA should be tremendously helpful for chronic pain and other conditions that fall under the large umbrella of central sensitivity syndromes and nociplastic pain. They are currently working on a new study following the MAPS protocol that will research MDMA-assisted psychotherapy specifically for people with fibromyalgia, which some believe might be physicalized PTSD. If you’d like to contribute a tax-deductible donation, visit giving.viu.ca, select “other” from the dropdown, and type in “MDMA for Fibromyalgia.” They talk about how research trials focus too much on the molecule while ignoring what the patient is saying; how a large percentage of physicians and patients don’t at all like the psychometrics used in measuring data; how physicians regularly use expectancy bias but research trials don’t (and how that affects results); why everyone needs to place higher importance on the biopsychosocial model; the idea of being more humble with science and using “theoretical” more often; the problems with microdosing trials; and the issues with evidence: If there isn’t sufficient evidence, why isn’t there? And what exactly would be sufficient? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is joined by another new voice from the PT team: one of the main instructors and facilitators from our Vital program, Diego Pinzon.  Originally from Colombia, Diego has been living in Australia since 2008 and has been involved in the Australian psychedelic scene, playing roles in the charity sector, research with Psychae Institute, and is one of the researchers in the St. Vincent’s Melbourne trial, Australia’s first trial using psilocybin for end-of-life depression and anxiety. Diego gives his insight into the recent TGA re-scheduling of psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, respectively. They cover the details, unknowns, and concerns: Is there enough time to train enough people? Do they have the infrastructure for this? What are the substances actually going to be? What percentage of people who apply will be granted access? What will it cost? And while psychiatrists will be able to prescribe, how much will the program really focus on therapy?  And they discuss Vancouver’s Filament Health creating the world’s first ayahuasca pill, which is close to FDA authorization to begin a Phase 1 trial. Of course this news begs some questions as well, mainly: with psychedelic use being such an active experience, how much does something like this change our relationship to ayahuasca? And with a consistent, more predictable experience, does that kill the magic? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna takes the helm for the first time, hosting a conversation with Jungian analyst-in-training, writer, researcher, 5Rhythms® teacher, and Vital student: Mackenzie Amara; and clinical psychologist, long time PT collaborator, and Vital instructor: Dr. Ido Cohen. As this episode features three huge fans of Jung (Johanna wrote her Master’s dissertation on The Red Book and teaches a course through PT), they focus less on education and the future of psychedelic therapy, and instead get pretty deep; shining a light on an integral part of psychedelia (and life) we often avoid: the shadow. What is the shadow and what is true shadow work? What did Jung give us, and why is Jungian psychology so relevant for integrating psychedelic experiences?  They discuss the notion of the unconscious as a place you can develop a relationship with and access by very different means; the idea of the healer as the container; the problematic binary of good vs. evil; the flawed concept of ego death; the differences between authentic and neurotic suffering and personal and collective consciousness; the archetype of the wounded healer and why facilitators should both be wounded and in the process of healing; and how wonderful it is that society is beginning to embrace the weird and what makes us unique.  There are no shortcuts in life and there is no “cure” for the parts of the human condition we aren’t comfortable with, but in the capitalist, efficiency-above-all-else West, we aren’t raised to sit with the unpleasant, and instead learn to seek a quick fix, which has created an environment where we’ve lost the ability to feel in the ways that we need to. Can you be with someone else’s pain if you’re running from your own? Can you have real compassion if you’ve never suffered? Can you be complete without knowing your shadow? www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews artist Rupert Alexander Scriven, who, under his brand, Vintage Disco Biscuit, recently released “The Art of Ecstasy”: a coffee table book of images of ecstasy tablets he collected for 25 years. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, David is joined by Director of Advocacy at the National Psychedelics Association, Kathryn L. Tucker, JD, who updates us on the 3 AIMS vs. the DEA cases, discussing what their outcome could mean for the future. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, Vital Psychedelic Conversations switches it up, with Kyle interviewing our Coordinator of Education and Training, Johanna Hilla, about 2022's inaugural edition of Vital. And what can students expect this year? www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica "Jaz" Cadoch & Sovereign Oshumare: Co-Founders of ALKEMI, a consulting firm for psychedelic ethics and accountability. They discuss the Prop 122 conflict, what true access means, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, Manesh Girn joins new podcast voice, Julian Bost, to explain recent research we found confusing, and to discuss schizophrenia, inflammation and depression, and the ways we learn. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork® practitioner, author, developer of InnerEthics®, and Vital instructor: Kylea Taylor: M.S., LMFT; and therapist and Vital student: Shabina Hale.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Gina Gratza, MS, LMFT: Portland, OR-based research therapist and educator at InnerTrek, a psilocybin facilitator training program. She discusses MDMA, Burning Man, therapy, psilocybin, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews clinical psychologist and Vital instructor, Dr. Dominique Morisano, and facilitator and Vital student, Jessika Lagarde, about their perspectives on psychedelic education, and of course, Vital.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Raad Seraj: host of Minority Trip Report, a podcast for underrepresented views in psychedelics/mental health, and founder of Mission Club, an education & investment platform. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe is joined by Kyle, calling in from a retreat in Jamaica. They discuss data Concerns in Oregon, hopeful legalization in NH and Missouri, and Vital: the retreats, what students are saying, and the 5 elements. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews researcher, writer, and one of the world’s leading experts on 5-MeO-DMT, Dr. Malin Vedøy Uthaug. She discusses Heron’s theory of catharsis, dietas, freediving, the mind-body connection, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe covers Prince Harry coming out of the psychedelic closet, Virginia lawmakers proposing the legalization of psilocybin, psychedelic legislation already in plans for nearly a dozen states in 2023, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews neurobiologist, researcher, & author, Dr. Andrew R. Gallimore, who discusses his newest book: "Reality Switch Technologies", DMT, intravenous infusion pumps, John Mack, Terence McKenna, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David and Joe discuss Tryp Therapeutics researching psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for I.B.S.; NY lawmakers pre-filing a bill to legalize natural psychedelics; and British Columbia decriminalizing drugs.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews author and board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, C.J. Spotswood. They discuss microdosing and why nurses could be the answer to the psychedelics and scalability problem. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle cover a study where psilocybin improved stress response; The Economist highlighting psychedelic medicine as a main story for 2023; and the Minnesota Medical Association endorsing decriminalization. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews internationally recognized Indigenous rights activist: Sutton King, MPH. She discusses the challenges Indigenous people continue to face from intergenerational trauma, and their resiliency. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle discuss concerns over Prop 122 and data privacy, the hopeful end to the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder; and the cost vs. value problem of psychedelic therapy: is it worth it?  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Zach Leary: author, facilitator, trainer, host of the MAPS podcast, and of course, son of psychedelic legend: Timothy Leary. They discuss Ram Dass, Michael Pollan, flotation tanks, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe & David discuss the DA dropping a felony drug charge against a Denver mushroom rabbi, the economics of psychedelic-assisted therapies, and the belief that most US states will legalize psychedelics by 2037.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews New York Times best-selling author, pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, legend in the health and wellness space, and (somewhat surprising to us) psychedelic advocate, Andrew Weil, M.D.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and David discuss methylation and genetic memory; why the term, “The Psychedelic Renaissance” is problematic; and the importance of harm reduction – especially at music festivals. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Sherry Rais: CEO/Co-Founder of Enthea, a benefit plan administrator offering psychedelic-assisted therapy as a benefit to interested employers. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Alexa discuss our first conference-meets-festival, Convergence; a study looking at the potentiality of 5-MeO-DMT reactivation; and the story of a woman using cannabis as an adjunct treatment for cancer. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Victoria interviews James Fadiman, Ph.D., Adam Bramlage, and Conor Murray, Ph.D, who discuss the benefits of microdosing and the first-ever take-home wireless EEG microdosing study (which you can be a part of).  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David, Joe, (and in her first appearance) Alexa Jesse discuss The PACT Caucus and Breakthrough Therapies Act, Jim Harris overcoming paralyzation through psilocybin, and research on chronic pain and Alzheimer's.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Marc Aixalà, writer of "Psychedelic Integration: Psychotherapy for Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness." They discuss what integration truly is, and how it should be more personalized.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David welcomes Jon Dennis, Esq. They discuss Colorado Prop 122 and Jon gives an update on Oregon's legal psilocybin as the Oregon Health Authority finalizes its proposed rules. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Co-Medical Director of Nue Life, Dr. Ben Medrano. He discusses the risks, safety, and efficacy of at-home ketamine, Nue Life's recent study in Frontiers, and Nue Life's Nue Care program.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this inaugural episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are back together again to kick off a new weekly show. In this episode, they discuss the recent Wonderland controversy and Colorado Proposition 122. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this Veteran's Day episode, Joe interviews two members of the Heroic Hearts Project: Founder/President, Jesse Gould, and Chief of Operations, Zach Riggle. They discuss their current studies, their new documentary, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Victoria interviews podcaster and comedian, Dennis Walker. He sees his platform, Mycopreneur, as "The Onion of the psychedelic space," and talks about the need for more satire in our increasingly serious lives. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Canadian cannabis policy reform legend and long-time anti-drug war activist, Dana Larsen. They discuss prohibition, civil disobedience, and his Coca Leaf Cafe, where he sells coca tea and peyote.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Court Wing (Founder of REMAP Therapeutics) joins Joe in interviewing Joel Castellanos, MD, and Timothy Furnish, MD, of UC San Diego's Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative (PHRI).  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Steven Radowitz: Medical Director at Nushama, a wellness center in New York City primarily offering IV ketamine, with a strong focus on allowing an undisturbed, explorational journey. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, a top-selling natural soap brand. They discuss Colorado Proposition 122, a ballot initiative that would decriminalize several natural medicines in the state.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Rochelle Hines, Ph.D. and Dr. Dustin Hines, Ph.D.: Co-Founders of Tesselate Therapeutics, which is focused on the development and testing of novel psychedelic molecules.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Jennifer Montjoy: psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and Medical & Research Director at TRIPP; a 501(c)(3) psychedelic training organization. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Jamie Wheal: author of Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That's Lost Its Mind, and Founder of performance research/training organization: the Flow Genome Project. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Reggie Harris: Founder of Oakland Hyphae, which organizes events like the Hyphae Cup (previously the Psilocybin Cup), and performs psilocybin potency testing through Hyphae Labs.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Victoria interviews Cory Firth: Chief Storyteller at the Nikean Foundation, a non-profit passionate about storytelling, and aiming to build the largest collection of transformational psychedelic stories online. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Jason Slot, Ph.D.: Associate Professor of Mycology and Evolutionary Genomics at Ohio State University. Slot discusses mushroom reproduction and what the science of evolutionary genomics entails. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Stephanie Wang: Founder and CEO of KA! Empathogenics, which has created the first-ever supplement chew with the primary ingredient of kanna, a natural succulent plant with effects similar to MDMA. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Sawyer Hurwitz: filmmaker and augmented reality collage artist who releases art under the name, Psychotronic Solutions. He also directed our new TV show, "Psychedelics Tonight" airing on ALTRD.TV. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Clinical Psychologist and Founder of the Psychedelic Society of Vermont, Dr. Rick Barnett, from a live event in Burlington, VT this past June. They discuss psychedelics' various contexts of use. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Hans Eriksson: clinical psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer at HMNC Brain Health, which is currently in Phase 2 trials for Ketabon, a non-dissociative, prolonged-release oral capsule.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Brom Rector: podcaster and founder of Empath Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in psychedelic medicine startups. They discuss investment, IP, the psychedelic crash, ibogaine, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Founder of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective: Ifetayo Harvey. She talks about the racism of the drug war, the importance of caregiving, and what we can do collectively to make change. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Laura Guzmán-Dávalos: 40-year veteran mycologist at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico; and daughter of Gaston Guzman, who most consider the world authority on the genus, Psilocybe.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Doctors James Fadiman, Sam Gandy; and David Luke. They discuss Fadiman's past research and Gandy and Luke's new paper, "Psychedelics as potential catalysts of scientific creativity and insight." www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Alex Enchin & Ian-Michael Hébert, MA; Co-Founders of HOLOS, a company building hospitality wellness centers with a strong focus on community, reconnection to nature, and a return to wholeness. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Seth Rosenberg: Washington DC-based mycologist and anti-drug war advocate who worked on DC's decriminalization Initiative 81, and who was presumably arrested for purchasing legal plants online.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Jim Gilligan: Interim CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Tryp Therapeutics, a biotech company researching psychedelics for the treatment of eating disorders and nociplastic pain.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews transformational coach and guide, Brenna Gebauer; in-person from her parents' RV at this year's Lightning in a Bottle festival, with facilitator and past guest, Mark Haberstroh stopping in too.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews globally-recognized cannabis activist, author, entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and “Father of the Legal Cannabis Industry,” Steve DeAngelo; discussing industry, decriminalization, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Christopher Koddermann: Co-Founder of the International Therapeutic Psilocybin Rescheduling Initiative (ITPRI). He discusses patents, IP, and what needs to be done to reschedule psilocybin.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Kevin Balktick: Founder & Director of Horizons; one of the world's longest-running psychedelic media and education communities, which is expanding to Portland, Oregon this year with Horizons NW. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, "Vital Psychedelic Conversations" returns with Kyle interviewing Steve Thayer: psychologist, Clinical Director of Education & Training at Novamind, and co-host of the Psychedelic Therapy Frontiers podcast.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Susan Beaulieu: Extension Educator at the University of Minnesota Extension, who works with her community (the Anishinaabe people) around intergenerational trauma and community resilience.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Soren Shade: producer of the third season of “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia" and Co-Founder of Top Tree Herbs, a kratom tea company dedicated to educating people about kratom and normalizing its use. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Victoria Dekker debuts, interviewing the CEO of TheraPsil, Spencer Hawkswell, about the charter challenge that effectively sues the Canadian government for ending psilocybin exemptions for end-of-life patients. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Monnica Williams, Ph.D. She discusses the mental health impact communities of color face as a result of racism; and what therapists, clinicians, and researchers can do to improve this paradigm. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Joost Breeksema: Executive Director of the OPEN Foundation, which manages the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) which returns to Amsterdam this September 21-24. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Kim Dudine: Chief of Staff at OpenNest Labs and Director of Membership and Strategy at Trailblazers Presents. She discusses the benefits, psychedelic nature, and unifying aspects of cannabis. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Melissa Lavasani: Founder and Executive Director of the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, proposer of DC's Initiative 81, and interviewee in Michael Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind" docuseries.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Lauren Katalinich & Anya Oleksiuk of the Psychedelic Society, a website/community that runs events and works to build the community so many people need after having a psychedelic experience. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Sisi Li, Ph.D.: Data Architect for Porta Sophia; a non-profit online library collecting relevant prior art in the world of psychedelics for innovators and patent reviewers around the world.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Christopher Dawson & Andrew Galloway: Co-Founders and CEO/COO, respectively, of Dimensions; a company creating retreats blending traditional plant ceremony with modern science and 5-star luxury.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews David Nutt: Psychiatrist, Founder/Chief Scientific Officer at Drug Science, Chief Research Officer at Awakn Life Sciences, and Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews T. Cody Swift, MFT, and Miriam Volat, MS; Co-Directors of The Riverstyx Foundation. They discuss plant medicine bioculture; peyote conservation, and working for the survival of Indigenous culture. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews James Lanthier, the CEO of Mindset Pharma; a biotechnology company discovering and developing new (and hopefully safer, more predictable, and more palatable) psychedelic compounds. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Julie Zukof: Head of Strategic Partnerships for Nue Life and the creator of Psychedelic Women, and Michelle Weiner: a double board-certified Doctor specializing in integrative pain management. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dick Simon: Co-Founder and CEO of Sensorium Therapeutics, an organization created to research plants we already know are effective and synthesize new ones. How can we best optimize what we know?  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this bonus episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Scott Shannon: Co-Founder and CEO of the Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies; a non-profit created to certify healthcare professionals in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Founder of Access To Doorways, Courtney Watson. Watson talks about ancestral practices, Diasporic religions, & trauma healing for QTBIPOC communities. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews Founder and Executive Director of MAPS, Rick Doblin, Ph.D. He discusses the abuse allegations unearthed in the recent “Cover Story” podcast series, real-world evidence, and MAPS' future goals.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, David interviews clinical psychologist and Founder of the Psychedelic Society of Vermont, Dr. Rick Barnett. He discusses addiction, recovery, spirituality, and the Psychedelic Science & Spirituality Summit. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Philip Wolf: Founder of the "elevated dining" company, Cultivating Spirits. His new project is CashoM; an education platform for cannabis consumers, from beginners to connoisseurs. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews the Founder of Personal Plants: Amanda Reiman, Ph.D., MSW. She discusses our connection to plants and the endless possibilities of cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other Web3 projects.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle interviews Dr. Reid Robison and Steve Thayer, Ph.D.: CMO (Robison) and Clinical Director of Education & Training (Thayer) at Novamind, and hosts of the Psychedelic Therapy Frontiers podcast. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews retired Nurse Practitioner, Midwife, and Air Force Captain, Kimberly Juroviesky. She discusses ketamine, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, and her goals with her Ketamine Task Force. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Lyle Maxson: Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Entheo Digital, a “technodelic” company working with VR and digital therapeutics to explore how technology can help us.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, David interviews former journalist and Founder/CEO of The New Health Club, Anne Philippi. She discusses non-linear healing, intergenerational trauma, and how psychedelics can heal the workforce. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Kole, who was famously arrested for growing mushrooms in Denver back in 2020 – shortly after psilocybin had been decriminalized there. He talks about his arrest and trust.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe sat down for a live recording with the team from Umbo Mushrooms: Unlimited Sciences founder, Del Jolly; Former UFC champion, Rashad Evans; and 10-year NFL veteran quarterback, Jake Plummer. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Jason Grechanik; a tabaquero running plant dietas, ayahuasca ceremony facilitator, and host of "The Universe Within" podcast. They discuss shamanism, dietas, breathwork, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews philosopher, clinical psychologist, and Co-Founder of Dreamshadow Group: Lenny Gibson, Ph.D. They discuss shamanism, Greek mythology, Whitehead, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, David interviews Dr. Dominique Morisano: clinical psychologist and Co-Founder of the upcoming conference, "From Research to Reality: Global Summit on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Medicine." www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Daniel McQueen, MA: author of “Psychedelic Cannabis” and Executive Director of the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness. They discuss self-care, cannabis, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, Christine Calvert, LCDC. They discuss the many facets of the holotropic paradigm, the nuance of touch, the ethics of spaceholding, and more.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this Earth Day episode of the podcast, Joe interviews publisher, ecologist, planetary steward, and co-owner of Synergetic Press, Deborah Snyder. They discuss Biosphere 2 and how psychedelics and ecological spaces overlap. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

In this episode of the podcast, Joe speaks in-person with chemist and drug researcher, William Leonard Pickard; famous for being sentenced to two life sentences in 2004 for the alleged manufacture of 90% of the world’s LSD.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews certified death doula and founder of the Diaspora Psychedelic Society, Omar Thomas. They discuss psychedelics and parenting; investing in Jamaica; and death. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, David interviews lawyer and activist, Jon Dennis, Esq. Dennis has been heavily involved in Oregon’s Measure 109, and discusses his proposed framework for protecting religious freedom and access. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews clinical psychologist, Dr. Ido Cohen. They discuss integration and how commitment to ourselves through the process can lead to long-lasting, sustainable change. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Special Counsel at Emerge Law Group, Kathryn Tucker, JD, who has been protecting the rights of the terminally ill for 35 years and was part of the team behind Oregon's Measure 109.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Senior Lead of Psychedelic Programs with Numinus Wellness, Dr. Devon Christie. She talks about biomedical ethics, mindfulness, and informed consent and touch.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews spirit healer, geomancer, and author of the new book, “Journeys With Plant Spirits: Plan Consciousness Healing & Natural Magic Practices,” Emma Farrell. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews professor of anthropology and historian, Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., who co-authored "The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity." www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Adam Bramlage: Founder and CEO of Flow State Micro, a functional mushroom company and microdosing educational platform. He discusses historic use (and microdosing) of psychedelics.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Dr. Adele Lafrance: psychologist, author, researcher, and developer of Emotion-Focused Family Therapy, which focuses on the role of family in psychedelic work. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, David interviews Chief of Staff and Head of Operations at Nue Life, Kabir Ali. Ali discusses ketamine-assisted therapy, addiction, health coaching, and the overlooked gift of self-love. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle and David interview the author of “No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model" and IFS creator: Dr. Richard C. Schwartz.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Ed Prideaux: UK-based journalist working to raise awareness around Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) in affiliation with the Perception Restoration Foundation.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews clinical psychologist, writer and researcher, Michael Sapiro. They discuss the importance of continued training, when to intervene, and mainstreaming mysticism. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle interviews Laura Mae Northrup, LMFT: educator, podcaster, somatic psychotherapist, and author of "Radical Healership: How to Build a Values-Driven Healing Practice in a Profit-Driven World."  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews researcher, author, and Co-Founder/Director of the Breaking Convention conference: Dr. David Luke. He discusses DMT entity encounters and the transpersonal.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews author and Professor of Neuroscience at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil: Sidarta Ribeiro. They discuss dreams, set and setting, LSD, jurema, and biopiracy.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews two Vital teachers from The Center for Optimal Living in NYC; Founder/Director, Andrew Tatarsky, Ph.D., and Juliana Mulligan: Psychedelic Program Coordinator. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe and Kyle finally interview one of their all-time heroes: Stanislav Grof, MD, Ph.D., who joins them with his wife and collaborator (and co-creator of Grof® Legacy Training), Brigitte Grof, MA.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Sam Gandy: researcher and Ph.D. ecologist who is most interested in the capacity of psychedelics to amplify or ignite our relationship with nature. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Rick Tarnas and Sean Kelly, Ph.D., coeditors of Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof, a new collection of 22 essays from the last 50 years on the impact of Grof's work. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews author and breathwork practitioner, Kylea Taylor, MS, LMFT. She discusses breathwork, spiritual emergency, her InnerEthics® program, and dreams about tripping. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Co-Founder and CEO of Numinus, Payton Nyquvest, who talks about chronic pain, ayahuasca, Health Canada's Special Access Program, the importance of a therapeutic container, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Greg McKee: Chairman and CEO of Tryp Therapeutics, an early-stage biotech company researching the use of psilocybin derivatives to alleviate nociplastic pain like fibromyalgia.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Clinical Professor at the University of Florida, College of Pharmacy, Oliver Grundmann, Ph.D., in what is essentially an "everything you could want to know" episode about kratom. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle interviews Annie & Michael Mithoefer for the 2nd edition of Vital Psychedelic Conversations. They cover breathwork, trusting the process, the inner healer, and updates on new trials for 2022. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Josh Hardman, Founder and Editor of Psilocybin Alpha; a news website and weekly newsletter covering the psychedelic space with a focus on emerging companies and drug development.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle interviews Joe Tafur, MD, in the first episode of a new series featuring teachers from Vital, our new 12-month certificate program. Tafur discusses Indigenous wisdom and the transpersonal. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle and David interview Andrew Penn: nurse practitioner, Associate Clinical Professor, and Co-founder of OPENurses; a professional organization for nurses interested in psychedelic research.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Jonathan Sabbagh, co-founder and CEO of Journey Clinical, which is a telehealth platform that helps approved therapists integrate KAP (and other modalities) into their practices. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe revisits the topic of religion and psychedelics with a Priest and Rabbi both very interested in using religion to frame the mystical: Rabbi Zac Kamenetz and Episcopal priest, Hunt Priest. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews D.C.-based attorney and Executive Director of the Association of Entheogenic Practitioners, Danny Peterson. They discuss psychedelics, religion, and freedom in the United States.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews 2 hosts of fellow long-running psychedelics podcast, Entheogen: Joe Zap and Kevin W. They discuss the early days of cannabis, Timothy Leary, gurus, conspiracies, and more.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss Colorado possibly legalizing several drugs through the Natural Medicine Healing Act, and CO also establishing guidelines around EMTs and ketamine administration.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews Ayize Jama-Everett, Courtney Watson, Leticia Brown, and Kufikiri Imara of A Table of Our Own: a for-Black-people by-Black-people psychedelic conference and documentary. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle dive into all things microdosing: Why people are doing it, possible negative effects, how it could work with pain, and more. And they discuss good outcomes in therapy.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode of the podcast, Kyle interviews Ryan Zurrer, Founder and Managing Director of Vine Ventures, a psychedelic-focused venture fund which just announced an SPV with MAPS called the Regenerative Financing Vine. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, David interviews Co-founder and CMO of Awakn Life Sciences, Dr. Ben Sessa, and then David and Kyle interview Director, CEO, and Chairman of Mydecine Innovations Group, Josh Bartch.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews 17-year veteran of federal policy and founder of Healing Equity and Liberation (HEAL) Organization, Micah Haskell-Hoehl. He discusses HEAL's goals and his path to federal policy and psychedelics. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle address some tweets and discuss ketamine and mysticism, then Joe interviews CEO of MINDCURE, Kelsey Ramsden, about MINDCURE's 2 main pieces: iSTRYM and the Desire Project. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview author, James Fadiman, Ph.D. He talks about the birth of transpersonal psychology, microdosing, and his newest book, "Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are." www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss Mike Tyson and toads, then Joe and David interview Payton Nyquvest of Numinus, who talks about ayahuasca, chronic pain, integration, reciprocity, and psilocybin.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview CEO & Co-founder of Nue Life, Juan Pablo Cappello. He discusses his entrepreneurial past, the psychedelic gold rush, and how Nue Life will use digital phenotyping to personalize health. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and David speak with CEO & Director of BetterLife Pharma, Ahmad Doroudian, about 2-Bromo-LSD, and then David interviews Chief Medical Officer at Wesana Health, Abid Nazeer.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Erica Rex: writer and participant in one of the first trials using psilocybin to treat cancer-related depression. She discusses the study and tells stories of spontaneous mystical experiences. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe sits down with three veteran friends for a special Veterans Day episode. They discuss the difficulties of military life, drug use, and how psychedelics have helped them transition back into civilian life. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle briefly check in from Miami to reflect on the Wonderland and Meet Delic conferences they just attended. They also discuss Compass Pathways' recent research outcomes. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview famed anthropologist and author (most notably of The Cosmic Serpent), Jeremy Narby. He discusses anthropology in the Amazon and ayahuasca: the entourage effect, vine-only, DMT, and more.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Rachel Yehuda: neuroscientist, researcher, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She discusses research trials and the future of neuroscience. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Adam Strauss: writer, performer, and comedian. Strauss discusses OCD and how he's learned to manage his with psilocybin, which he documents in his one-man show, "The Mushroom Cure."  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss their conflicts with what to do about the recent accusations of abuse against two prominent figures in this space by friend of the show, Will Hall.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe sits down with chemist, filmmaker, and science journalist Hamilton Morris. They discuss his time at Vice, PCP, “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia,” 5-MeO-DMT, and working with perceived enemies for the greater good.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe sits down with entrepreneur, veteran of the cannabis industry, and CEO at Microdose; Patrick Moher, who discusses their massive psychedelic expo, November 8-9 in Miami: Wonderland. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Rebecca Kronman, LCSW: therapist, writer, and founder of Plant Parenthood. They discuss psychedelics and pregnancy; affinity groups; justice disparity; and how to disclose drug use to your kids.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle interviews integration specialist and legal psychedelic guide, Liam Farquhar. They discuss trauma, somatics, IFS, consciousness, breathwork, and the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, which is a bit of an overview of our new course, Kyle interviews anthropologist, author, ethnomycologist, and co-designer of said course, "Psychedelics: Past, Present, and Future": Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss recent decriminalization news in Seattle and Santa Cruz, the debates on how to handle mescaline-containing cacti, Hamilton Morris, prohibition, and the Dark Web.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica Cadoch, MA: Medical Anthropologist and Research Manager at Maya PBC. She talks about 12-step programs and psychedelics, drug exceptionalism, and cooperation between non- and for-profits. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle Buller discusses Hulu’s show, Nine Perfect Strangers with previous guest, Dr. Ido Cohen. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews teacher, coach, facilitator, and podcaster, Gibrán Rivera. They talk about the importance and benefits of group process, the spectrum of healing, and the poles of masculinity and femininity.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and tackle a question we are often asked at Psychedelics Today: "How do I get involved in the psychedelic field?"   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle celebrate 9/20 by talking with friend, writer, and Editor in Chief of the blog, Michelle Janikian. She talks about rituals, reconnection to family, and her book, Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle are joined by Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, Jesse Gould. They discuss veterans, PTSD, Afghanistan, SB519, Measure 109, and the importance of context.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews psychiatrist, co-founder/CEO of Brooklyn Minds, and co-host of the Clubhouse show, New Frontiers: Carlene MacMillan, M.D. They discuss Spravato, insurance, and the importance of infrastructure.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down for a discussion spanning spiritual emergence, the transpersonal, and a simple but huge question around psychedelics and self-work: What exactly is healing? www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Tiago Reis Marques: Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, lecturer, and CEO of Pasithea; a biotech company developing new drugs, repurposing old ones, and offering at-home ketamine infusions. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle reflect on the birth of Solidarity Fridays, discuss SB-519, possession limits, and Decriminalize Nature, analyze religion, and dig into the scalability of drugs vs. its effect on the environment.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Michelle and Kyle interview PhD candidate and return guest, Benjamin Mudge (PTSF59), who talks about the challenges and possible paths forward to creating an ayahuasca protocol for people with bipolar disorder.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle respond to a barrage of negative comments from Decriminalize Nature and some of their supporters from a recent Instagram post promoting PTSF74 with Ismail L. Ali from MAPS. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Devon Christie and Will Siu, MD, DPhil, co-investigators on a study investigating MDMA-assisted therapy for fibromyalgia. They talk the mind-body connection, fascia, somatics, and PTSD.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle talk about the origins of Psychedelics Today, breathwork, transpersonal psychology, reincarnation, healing as a side effect of exploration, archetypal astrology, and more! www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle and Michelle interview Manesh Girn: Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience. They discuss neuroplasticity and how psychedelics affect the neurocognitive processes behind thought, flexibility, and creativity.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle are joined by lawyer and lead Policy Council at MAPS, Ismail L. Ali, who digs into SB-519 in great depth: how MAPS has been involved, why the bill has changed, and more!   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Michelle and Joe interview Robin Divine: writer and creator of Black People Trip: an online community with a mission to raise awareness and create safe spaces for Black women interested in psychedelics.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss Michael Pollan's books, Numinus, opium, The Psychae Institute, sexual ethics within the facilitator-experiencer relationship, and our mistrust of big pharma.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews author and assistant professor in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Matthew Segall. They discuss consciousness, philosophy, and capitalism.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and David discuss depth psychology, James Hillman, the idea of attempting to measure soul with science, the reach of the DEA, Soul Quest, psilocybin, lawmaking progress, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews psychedelic-focused freelance writer Jasmine Virdi, who has written for PT and Chacruna. They talk about peyote conservation, 5-MeO-DMT, Covid, environmental impact, neurodivergence, and more.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and David review SB-519 again, discuss a study that measured increased well-being and the difficulty of how to define that, and talk about the importance of embracing the weird.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Daniel Moler: creator of the Psychonaut Presents comic series, which delves into his experiences with ayahuasca and San Pedro. He discusses shamanism, the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, and more!   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Michelle, Kyle, and David are joined by Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, Manesh Girn, to talk about neuroplasticity, Michael Pollan's recent op-ed, Senate Bill 519, DMT, and more!   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews psychologist and adjunct professor at Capella University, Dr. Sean Hinton, about problems with current research, Timothy Leary, and how we integrate drugs into society outside the medical model. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Friday episode, Joe, Michelle, Kyle, and newest PT team member David Drapkin talk about a recent psilocybin for depression study, the DEA fighting the Right to Try Act, patents, IP, peyote, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews former Navy SEAL turned actor and TV host, Joel Lambert. He talks about the toll 10 years as a Navy SEAL took on his brain and tells the story of what brought him back: ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this week's Solidarity Friday episode, Joe, Michelle, and Kyle read some email, talk about the importance of critiquing, give several legalization updates (yay Mexico and CT), and discuss inclusivity in therapy and research. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, released on Stan Grof's 90th birthday, Joe interviews Kristina & Jonas of the Psychedelic Literacy Fund, a donor-advised fund that finances the translation of classic psychedelic books into different languages. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews psychiatric nurse practitioner Matt Ball about different frameworks for viewing dissociation, schizophrenia, and suicidal ideation: What can we learn from the need to be in these extreme states? www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Michelle interviews Joe and Kyle about our famous "Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Therapists" course, and they discuss a trial on nitrous oxide as a treatment for depression.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Hadas Alterman, Serena Wu, and Adriana Kertzer of Plant Medicine Law Group, a cannabis and psychedelic-minded law firm. They discuss their paths to each other and psychedelics, religion, and more. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Michelle, and Kyle talk about the first woman to take acid, Senate Bill 519, a new all-drug decriminalization bill, drug testing, and the dangers of losing Indigenous language. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews licensed counselor specializing in somatics and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, Pierre Bouchard. They dig deep into somatics, the polyvagal theory, and how trauma affects the nervous system. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Michelle, and Kyle discuss how the media keeps using “legalized” instead of “decriminalized,” Washington’s Joints For Jabs program, and a man who may have eaten 40,000 ecstasy tablets.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews author, psychedelic facilitator, and renowned British occultist, Julian Vayne. He talks prohibition, magic, and legality, and tells his story of being banned from the Oxford Psychedelic Society.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Michelle, and Kyle discuss California’s SB519 passing the senate, the government opening up cannabis access for researchers, and zombified, sex-crazed cicadas that produce psilocybin.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Amber and Marcus Capone, co-founders of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), a charity that provides foundational healing grants to help veterans heal with ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Michelle, and Kyle are joined by author and holotropic breathwork facilitator, Renn Butler. They talk about archetypal astrology, the concept of the inner healer, and some news too.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Michelle and Kyle interview legendary psychedelic researcher, Robin Carhart-Harris. They talk about brain imaging, entropy, trauma, HPPD, plasticity vs. canalization, concretization, germ theory, DMT, and more!   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Michelle and Kyle interview Elan Hagens and Rebecca Martinez, Health Equity subcommittee members for Oregon’s Measure 109 and co-founders of podcast/media site, Fruiting Bodies Collective.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview mushroom enthusiast Mark Haberstroh, who talks about realizing his spiritual path and what he's learned from working at more psychedelic retreat centers than anyone Joe knows.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Michelle, Kyle, and Joe are joined by Benjamin Mudge. Mudge is bipolar and has used ayahuasca to keep himself off pharmaceutical drugs, and he thinks others can safely follow his lead.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Doctors Fernando Espi Forcen and Franklin King of MGH’s Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics about the center’s roots, their goals, and their thoughts on the future of psychiatry.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Michelle, Kyle, and Joe discuss Maine’s proposal for legal psilocybin therapy, MAPS’ Phase 3 MDMA trial, therapy, money, and a recent "100 Most Influential People in Psychedelics" list.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews author of "Don’t Think About Death: A Memoir on Mortality,” Gary Laderman, about expanding the scope of what we view as “religious,” and how religion affects our views on sex, death, and drugs.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe talk about new compounds, new legalization bills in Texas and Louisiana, Leonard Pickard, Alzheimer’s disease, the tragedy of the commons, and the importance of fringe cases.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe talk about new compounds, new legalization bills in Texas and Louisiana, Leonard Pickard, Alzheimer’s disease, the tragedy of the commons, and the importance of fringe cases.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe is joined by Tyler Chandler and Nick Meyers a year after they released their very powerful documentary, "Dosed.” They talk about its creation and response, iboga, the drug war, and the opioid crisis.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Kyle, and Michelle are joined by Tim Cools of Psychedelicexperience.net. They talk about 5-MeO-DMT and how even medical journals can put a spin on their published studies.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Michelle and Joe interview Ralph Blumenthal, author of "The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack,” about Mack's work and its relation to psychedelics (beyond being trippy).   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Kyle, and Michelle discuss recent legalization wins, psilocybin and creativity, ceremonial ayahuasca use and group benefit, and the CIA, astral projection, and the missing page 25.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Richie Ogulnick, a facilitator/guide who has been helping clients through ibogaine experiences for 27 years. They talk about his practice, different methodologies, intentions, and why iboga works.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe, Kyle, and Michelle discuss California’s statewide decriminalization effort, patents, provider information theft, and how psychedelic companies can be ethical in a capitalistic world.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview clinical psychologist and author, Kile Ortigo, about trauma, healthcare burnout, Jung, mythology in movies, and ways different therapeutic modalities can better handle integration.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe interviews microdose mentor, entrepreneur, author, and retreat leader, Laura Dawn. They talk about creativity and how psychedelics can foster creative thinking and problem-solving.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews 4-time guest Dena Justice, who is using this episode to come out of the psychedelic closet in a big way, discussing the lessons learned about safety from years of powerful psychedelic experiences.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle, Joe, and Michelle discuss Carl Hart, the drug war and truth, another study showcasing the placebo effect, mushrooms, and if scientists will be able to predict psychedelic outcomes.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview author of Drug Use for Grownups, Dr. Carl Hart. They talk about the drug war, coming out of the closet, drug exceptionalism, responsible drug use, and fighting inaccuracies with logic.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle, Joe, and Michelle discuss the problems with psychedelics being touted as “miracle cures,” and Tim Ferriss and David Bronner's concerns over Compass Pathways' recent patent-filing.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Leo Russell, Monique Bridges, Malika Lamont, Tatiana, and Solana Booth of the Entheo Society of Washington, a 501c3 organization and sister agency to Decriminalize Nature Seattle.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle, Joe, and Michelle are joined by Balázs Szigeti and David Erritzoe, who both worked on last week’s much-discussed trial on microdosing that validated the power of the placebo effect.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews somatic salvia guide and creator of the salvia pipe, Christopher Solomon. They talk about the many unique things salvia can bring to experiencers if it's approached with mindfulness and respect.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle, Joe, and Michelle discuss using MDMA for alcoholism, a microdosing study proving the placebo effect, ways to make therapy cheaper, and if a Shaman is really necessary for ceremonies.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews founder and CEO of MindMed, JR Rahn. They discuss decriminalization, the DEA, ADHD, Xanax, and MindMed’s goals: developing a trip-neutralizing drug and studying microdosing LSD for adult ADHD.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle, Joe, and Michelle discuss Norway's plan to decriminalize personal drug use, lucid dreaming, therapists embracing the mystical, and Tim Ferriss’ plea for more ethical drug exploration.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle interviews clinical psychologist and author of The Psychedelics Integration Handbook, Dr. Ryan Westrum, about intuition, trust, and self-work in today's Covid climate of solitude.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe are joined by author, Michelle Janikian. They discuss covid, ketamine, DMT for stroke patients, a psilocybin lab in Jamaica, and question if drug laws violate human rights.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Thoracic surgeon and author of The Art of Human Care, Dr. Hassan Tetteh, about his near-death experience, transcendental meditation, Death Over Dinner, finding purpose, and the power of listening.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe discuss the drug war, psychedelic exceptionalism, and patent law in relation to Compass Pathways trying to patent commonalities in psilocybin-assisted therapy like holding hands.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Vancouver-based serial entrepreneur and founder and CEO of NeonMind Biosciences, Penny White. She talks about taking NeonMind public and their current project: using psilocybin to combat obesity.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe cover recent news, talk about several upcoming PT classes and events, and discuss the ethics of ayahuasca centers continuing to hold large group sessions during the pandemic.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview researcher and professor at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Matthew Johnson. They talk about the definition of consciousness and the use of religious/spiritual frameworks in psychedelic sessions.      www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe interviews Vermont-based filmmaker Colin Thompson about his newest "'Superbad' on mushrooms" movie, “Light Years:” a tribute to a fallen friend in which he played nearly every part.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Director of ecological think tank The Institute of Ecotechnics, and publisher and CEO of Synergetic Press, Deborah Snyder. They discuss agriculture, Richard Evans Schultes, and Ralph Metzner.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe discuss Eternal September, what happens when cannabis gets legalized, the term “plant medicine,” and what could happen to you if you inject psilocybin tea into your blood.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Anne Wagner: Toronto-based clinical psychologist, founder of Remedy, and lead investigator on MAPS' trial of cognitive processing therapy + MDMA for PTSD.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe discuss the protest at The US Capitol, how psychedelics can lead to an openness to conspiracy theories, and where we’re headed in the realms of technology, knowledge, and truth.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle interviews Veronika Gold and Harvey Schwartz, co-therapists, trainers, and founders of Polaris Insight Center. They also work as investigators in MAPS’ Phase 3 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy clinical trials.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe interviews founder and CEO of Wavepaths, Mendel Kaelen, about the psychedelic power of musical experiences, and what Wavepaths is creating with sensory-immersive psychedelic environments.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe interviews founder and CEO of Wavepaths, Mendel Kaelen, about the psychedelic power of musical experiences, and what Wavepaths is creating with sensory-immersive psychedelic environments.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe talk about spirituality and spiritual development, intention-setting, religion, hypnosis and false memories, therapists imposing their own frameworks on clients, and shamanism.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews author of The Concussion Repair Manual, Dr. Dan Engle. They talk about concussions and TBIs, the safety and efficacy of psilocybin and CBD, and the brain’s ability to heal through various methods.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In today’s Christmas episode of Solidarity Friday, Kyle and Joe take a break from the news and instead sit down with Jonas Di Gregorio and Kristina Soriano of the Psychedelic Literacy Fund, a donor-advised fund working to raise money and co-finance the translation and publication of the most important books on psychedelic therapy into a variety of different languages.  Their first project is both volumes of Stan Grof's The Way of the Psychonaut, which they hope to have translated into German, French, and Italian by July (for Grof's 90th birthday), and they have started a list of future projects, with Christopher Bache's LSD and the Mind of The Universe likely next. They talk about early interactions with Rick Doblin, why they went with a donor-advised fund rather than a crowdfunding model, the synchronicities they saw at early steps in their path, what Grof's work has meant to them, and a possible future goal of setting up a Grof museum in Prague. Kyle and Joe also share stories of their interactions with Grof and how his work (and how little he was being discussed) led to the beginnings of Psychedelics Today 4 years ago.  If you're feeling some holiday generosity and want to help more people gain the knowledge Grof has brought to so many, please visit Psychedelicliteracy.org and make a donation (or volunteer translation services or suggest future projects). Lastly, if you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas from Psychedelics Today! Notable Quotes “We have an inherently global mission. We’re an Italian and a Philippino living in America, trying to translate the work of a Czech psychiatrist.” -Kristina “For me, it’s his capacity to really connect different fields, from quantum physics to psychiatry, [to the] history of religion- it’s really remarkable. The depth of his knowledge is so wide, and I think it can speak to so many people coming from different fields. I remember as a teenager, sharing the content of the books by Grof with friends that were studying physics and friends who were studying philosophy and friends who were studying psychology, and all of them could find something they could really appreciate.” -Jonas “A book can be a harm reduction tool. ...Just having a book at the right time can really help you integrate a difficult experience and change the course of your life. Definitely, this has been the case for me. I didn’t know anyone in my community at the time that could really guide me, and these books played that role.” -Jonas “Especially now, there’s a lot of conversation about diversity- how to increase diversity in the psychedelic community. Maybe the way to do that is literally to speak their language.” -Jonas “I think the mental health crisis isn’t language-specific. I think it happens everywhere.” -Kristina Links Psychedelicliteracy.org Rsfsocialfinance.org The Secret Chief Revealed Paperback, by Myron J. Stolaroff LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious, by Stanislav Grof A Course in Miracles: Foundation for Inner Peace The Six Pathways of Destiny, by Ralph Metzner Psychedelics Today: Susan Hess Logeais Thewayofthepsychonaut.com Oregonlive.com: One of the architects of Oregon’s bid to legalize psychedelic mushrooms, Sheri Eckert, has died Support the show! Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews "Car Bomb"- the 9-year NHL veteran, 2-time Stanley Cup winner (as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks), founder of The Chapter Five Foundation (an organization helping athletes transition into post-sports life), and advocate for the healing power of psilocybin, Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo tells the story of his struggles and depression brought on from post-hockey life transition, 7 diagnosed concussions, and the death of his good friend and fellow player, Steve Montador, who struggled with similar issues before his sudden death in 2015. He talks about the stress of pro sports and the cult-like, team-first attitude in hockey, the hazing athletes experience coming up, the causes and effects of yelling coaches and a "be better" attitude, and how his post-hockey work and speaking out has ostracized him from the community while many people are reaching out to him for help behind the scenes.  His first hero dose of psilocybin forever changed his life, but it wasn't just psilocybin- he's done a lot in the 5 years since that first ceremony, from neurofeedback, acupuncture, deprivation tanks, and using a gyrostim, to regularly microdosing, taking medicinal mushrooms like lion's mane and reishi, meditating, starting a CBD and supplements company, and growing huge crops of cannabis. He talks about how this has all helped improve his life and his relationships with his family, and what he hopes to do with his Chapter Five Foundation and beyond- researching more into what worked for him and developing a protocol/regiment to help people affected by concussions, post-concussive syndrome, TBIs, CTE, or just those struggling with what to do after sports. Notable Quotes “I’m an advocate for everything, for all tiers. I’m an advocate for the Decrim Nature [model] because it’s a lower-tier model to get people this medicine, and then I’m an advocate for the clinical model that people are pushing forward in Oregon, and I’m an advocate for these big pharma/biotech companies coming out and researching. ...You really have to make sure that we’re doing it the right way, and I think a lot of the companies out there are, so I think there’s such an opportunity at the ground floor right now to really get in, and if you have something that’s proven, that’s worked (like we do), then I really, really just feel so passionately about furthering that type of research, to again, get millions of people this type of treatment and this type of option.” “It’s still kind of unbelievable when I begin to talk about it, kind of what I’ve set in motion, but I believe in it so much and I’m still really in awe of what this medicine has done for me. We have one life to live. How do I help the most people that I can?” “I just had to adjust my whole perspective and thinking and how I spoke to myself, changing the negative motivation to positive. But it’s constant work, because I’m just so used to being yelled at and then [being negative towards myself]. It’s definitely one of the biggest shifts that I’ve had, and I had that shift- that was at 2 and a half months after that big ceremony. That’s where I knew- that’s what really convinced me, and I’ll never forget this: I was driving out to my plants and they were about, I don’t know, 3 feet tall, and we were about 2 and a half months in, and I was like, ‘Wow Dan, really good job.’ I had this voice say that and I was like, ‘What the hell was that? Where did that come from?’ I’ve never done that, ever, and I was like ‘Ohhh man, something happened. Something shifted.’” Links Danielcarcillo.com Chapter5foundation.com Madeplanthealth.com (his CBD and supplement company) Twitter Instagram Psymposia.com: Chicago could become largest city to Decriminalize Entheogenic Plants Yahoo Sports: NHL pins Steve Montador's fatal brain injuries on his ‘own lack of due care’ US Patent 6630507: The US Government's Cannabis Patent Parkinsonsnewstoday.com: Silo Pharma Plans Phase 2B Trial Testing Low-dose Psychedelics in Parkinson’s Gyrostim.com Del Jolly’s Psychedelics Today episode (lots of concussion and TBI talk) About Daniel Carcillo Daniel Carcillo is a two time Stanley Cup Champion and played 9 seasons in the National Hockey League. Daniel experienced emotional, sexual and physical trauma within hockey's culture and battled mental health and addiction issues during and post career. When he retired in 2015, after sustaining 7 concussions and due to Post Concussion Syndrome, he founded Chapter 5 Foundation, a charitable organization that helps athletes transition into life after the game. Daniel struggled with PCS symptoms like light sensitivity, slurred speech, insomnia, headaches and head pressure, impulse control issues, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and traditional treatments did not work. Daniel brought forth the Decriminalize Nature resolution to the city of Chicago, sits on the Decriminalize Nature National Advisory Board & the board of the Heroic Hearts Project, a registered 501(c)(3) non profit that connects military veterans struggling with mental trauma to ayahuasca therapy retreats. Daniel has recently founded Made Therapeutics, a life sciences company that is researching loading and maintenance doses of psilocybin to treat traumatic brain injury, Post Concussion Syndrome, migraines and TBI related anxiety, depression and PTSD. Daniel and Made Therapeutics will be working towards validating the first novel care option for TBI survivors through Health Canada (IMPD) and FDA (IND) clinical trials, with Pre-IMPD & Pre-IND meetings set to establish a pathway forward to fast track status for traumatic brain injury. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe talk about what they've been up to in the last few weeks: doing drugs! Kyle first tells us about his recent experiments with revisiting salvia (which is legal in his state) and how different the experiences were from his young-and-dumb experiments as a teenager- how smaller doses in more ceremonial settings with years of experience in breathwork-inspired non-ordinary states of consciousness helped him see salvia differently. He talks about feeling like he just met the spirit of salvia, and the first message was to "respect the plants." He may be seeing her again. And Joe talks in-depth about his experience last Friday with his first intermuscular ketamine injection- the setting, the music (Sigur Rós- good call, Joe), the dose and timing, and what he heard and felt (and didn't) in his ultimately anxiety-relieving, body-dissolving time in an empty void. Like Kyle, he's now even more open to and supportive of ketamine after the experience. And they also talk about a new ibogaine analog that was recently created called tabernanthalog (or TBG), of which a single injection helped against heroin use relapse in mice for 14 days and doesn't stimulate the brain's reward centers. And they talk about the good that could come from the drug-designing technique used to create it, called function-oriented synthesis.  Notable Quotes “Some people tell me they like 1.2 mg/kg. Some people even like to go as high as 2. I think 2 mg/kg is essentially like, they could harvest all your organs and you wouldn’t notice one bit. Based on how high and dissociated I was, they probably could have done it to me- if they made it quick, like 5 minutes. I probably would have been fine.” -Joe “The way I always framed it before going in was: this is an experience of consciousness without identity, without ego, without anything, really. And I didn’t really feel like there was anything there that was me. The idea of 'Joe' felt like a weird thing, a weird silly thing. There was just, like, I and ego and one consciousness, so it wasn’t like a Hindu, bliss consciousness thing; it was like me, as an entity, experiencing… something. Like empty void.” -Joe “This experience was really just fascinating, like how rapidly my consciousness changed. It wasn’t a hurried, frenetic thing like DMT. It was like, “Oh, nope. You’re just here. You’re chilling. You’re not going anywhere.” -Joe “The MAPs protocol is going to be very expensive. Psychedelic Therapy is already very expensive. So, if we could have a drug that would be safe for somebody to take at home, alone, I think of course we should do that. Not everything is cured through the psychedelic experience. Though a lot of things can be, it’s not the case that everything needs to be.” -Joe Links Sagewisdom.org (Dan Siebert’s site) Wikipedia: Legal status of Salvia divinorum in the United States Youtube: Twig Harper: Has anyone enjoyed smoking Salvia? Salviahealings.com (Christopher Solomon’s site) Psychedelics Today: Dr. Peter Addy- Salvia: Research and Therapeutic Use Naloxone info Ketamine Bladder Syndrome info Sigur Rós on Spotify (this guy thinks this is their best album) Sciencemag.org: Chemists re-engineer a psychedelic to treat depression and addiction in rodents Nature.com: A non-hallucinogenic psychedelic analogue with therapeutic potential Support the show! Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Thomas of Clarity Psychiatry in Boulder, Colorado. Thomas first discusses what he initially looks for in patients (low-lying fruit like a vitamin D deficiency or poor diet) and what he recommends for boosting immunity and improving overall health, then this becomes a bit of an "everything you ever wanted to know about ketamine and ketamine-assisted therapy" podcast. He talks about the range in treatment methods across conventional models and what you could expect to experience in relation to dose, experience, and price, and how he likes to use ketamine in his practice. And he talks about the dependence that can come from more conventional "get dripped" methods, the variation of doses and subsequent effects on most people vs. more sensitive people, ways to calibrate a patient to give them the best (and safest) possible experience, the missed opportunities of models that don't spend as much time on the experience and integration, why he believes so strongly in the efficacy and safety of ketamine (especially when compared to other psychedelics), and why how he'd like to see breathwork be used more in conjunction with both psychedelic and traditional therapies. Notable Quotes “In the worldview of the way I was trained, the whole point of ketamine therapy is not to get somebody hooked on ketamine for the rest of their life. It’s to give them enough corrective expanded experiences of healing and of their own inherent wholeness that they don’t need the ketamine- that whatever was off-balance is coming right.” “I’d like to maybe reframe the word ‘dissociative.’ With ketamine, chemically, in the ketamine state, we are becoming less and less in tune with outside sensory input. We are dissociating with ourselves as a body, temporarily, to some degree. And we are associating with ourselves as something other than body. And there’s some real- I’m just going to go ahead and use the word- there’s some real magic in that possibly. There’s some real healing potential.” “One of the final common pathways, shall we say, of any medicine or technique that can induce a non-ordinary state is temporarily softening the ruminative negative self-narrative that’s so characteristic of human suffering and mental illness. And how you achieve that state, in some ways, is potentially not even that important. ...Holotropic breathwork, or what I call journey breathwork, in any of its forms, absolutely can soften that egoic function and give people access to the parts of themselves that are bigger than that negative self-narrative, and just to bask in the juiciness of what’s possible when that happens. ...And I think from a pragmatic standpoint, if we were to use breathwork as [an] interim integration tool between sessions, could we get away with maybe slightly decreasing the frequency of the more expensive psychedelic sessions? Might there be societal value in that while still retaining the efficacy and the self-learning and the insights and all the good stuff that goes along with that?” Links Claritypsychiatry.com About Dr. Thomas Dr. Thomas graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.  He completed his medical school training at Emory University School of Medicine. He then went on to complete his post graduate psychiatric residency training at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Kyle and Joe sit down and discuss several topics in the news.  First, they congratulate co-founder of Psymposia, President of Adelia, and friend of Psychedelics Today (and first podcast guest) Brett Greene, on Adelia being acquired by CYBIN, for the equivalent of about $15.75 million USD (!!). And they talk about Silo Pharma announcing an upcoming Phase 2B trial testing low-dose psilocybin and LSD on the effects of neurogenesis on patients with Parkinson's disease and how we often forget that psychedelics can help with physical ailments (and not just depression and anxiety), 17 healthcare professionals at TheraPsil being allowed to take psilocybin as part of a training program and the need for therapists and sitters working with psychedelics to have psychedelic experiences themselves before working with others, and rock art evidence of datura being ingested at Pinwheel Cave in California. And they also discuss a very important article about how to keep the psychedelic renaissance from going off the rails. With so much excitement surrounding psychedelics and so many underground groups and professional organizations doing so much without any centralized control, it's too easy for people to drain their bank accounts, jump ahead of science, and overcommit to an idea, forgetting the very real risks of these substances and everything surrounding them. And if we go too far, it just raises the risk of those in power shutting it all down. Notable Quotes “There’s a lot of nervousness around training, I think. Like, what constitutes good training? Not only is a ton of education, but it’s kind of a ton of time. The same way psychoanalysts have to go through psychoanalysis themselves, and therapists have to do therapy themselves, why is it not the case that psychedelic people need to do the same?” -Joe “I think we need to be having some of these honest conversations even if it goes against our mission here at times of wanting to help get these substances legalized, decriminalized, whatever that track is. And [talking about] the promise of it, sometimes maybe we do get idealistic and say ‘This is going to revolutionize and change the world!’ but I also have to think back to some of my past experiences and be like, ‘Do I want to go through that again? I don’t think so.’ I mean, it pushed me out on the other side and I think made me a stronger person to some degree, but going through what I went through in those early years, it was pretty terrifying.” -Kyle “Education and caution, I think is the point here, moving forward, and to be really honest with yourself too, especially if you’re in a place [where you’re] educating folks about psychedelics. How can you listen to other people’s stories and hear that maybe they’re not always light and magic- that people do experience a lot of fallout from it at times and things can get worse?” -Kyle  Links Businesswire.com: CYBIN Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Adelia Therapeutics as Part of its Commitment to Strategic Growth Brett Greene on Psychedelics Today (our first podcast!) Parkinsonsnewstoday.com: Silo Pharma Plans Phase 2B Trial Testing Low-dose Psychedelics in Parkinson’s Therapsil.ca: 17 Canadian Healthcare Professionals Approved to Use Psilocybin for Professional Training Researchgate.net: Psychedelics in Psychiatry– Keeping the Renaissance From Going Off the Rails Snopes.com: Death of Diane Linkletter Drugged: The Science and Culture Behind Psychotropic Drugs, by Richard J. Miller Pnas.org: Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site Support the show! Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews Ph.D., Professor at the University of Maryland focusing on economics and global business studies, Advisory Board Member of the Usona Institute and Synthesis Institute, and co-founder of the Transformative Capital Institute, Bennet Zelner. Zelner discusses the problems with our current economic, healthcare, therapeutic, and community paradigms- that our prevailing model is one of hyper-individualistic, drug-first action, compounded by a crisis of connection (the epidemic of loneliness we're experiencing), a crisis of extraction (giant corporations replacing local businesses with the bulk of profit being sent outside the community), and a crisis of depletion (decisions about community resources being made by those outside the community). And he talks about how his Transformative Capital Institute aims to facilitate many small changes to lead to large paradigm shifts, centered on his pollination approach- recognizing and encouraging the intrinsic interdependence between individual and community well-being. He talks about the various projects the Transformative Capital Institute is working on, the way change happens and the complications of creating new paradigms from flawed ones, and how the pollination approach relates to psychedelics: using the newfound window of openness people experience after an experience to connect them with their community systems and surrounding environment- to help heal a person while revitalizing currently-broken systems at the same time. Notable Quotes “The pollination approach is rooted in a core, ecological principle, which is that the health of a system and of the elements in a system depends on the continual renewal and recirculation of resources within that system, and that’s the complete opposite of what we have right now.”“What you’re not seeing is the reduction in subsequent local economic activity that’s going to occur as a result of the few bucks you just saved at Walmart. One of the other projects that I’m working on with a few other folks attempts to quantify that so that people can see what the effects are of spending their money locally vs. spending it at outposts of giant corporations. And I think if we can make that information accessible and comprehensible to people, then we can change behavior without even having to build in some kind of strong form incentive.” “We’ve been taught by every institution in our society from the time that we are born that we’re not enough, that there’s not enough to go around, and in order to get ahead, we basically need to win at the expense of someone else, who loses. Even once we recognize how fallacious that is intellectually, there’s still a lot of work to be done to eliminate the deep, cognitive imprints in which that type of thinking is enshrined. ...I think that psychedelics-- as I said, they’re tools of personal transformation, so they can help people heal from trauma, etc. But I think they can also help people move into new paradigm ways of thinking and behaving.” “In terms of shifting to a new paradigm in the healthcare system, I think the key shift needs to be one from a system that is focused on managing disease or managing disease symptoms (which is what we currently have) ...toward a system that’s focused on producing well-being. And I think psychedelics have a big role to play in that type of system.” Links MAPS.org: “The Pollination Approach to Delivering Psychedelic-Assisted Mental Healthcare,” by Bennet A. Zelner About Bennet Zelner     Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, after a short and much-needed break, Kyle and Joe return, but don't really touch on any news. This time, they have a very open conversation largely focused on philosophy and capitalism. They dive into a lot of philosophical questions: are we reducing the mystical to the medical? Do we understand enough about spirit and somatic energies to measure them? How much are therapists and sitters interpreting mystical experience and assigning meaning to it for others vs. teaching people how to interpret it themselves? What makes a God? Is commodifying the sacred bad? And what makes something sacred other than it being significant? And the classic: What is good?  They also touch on Harvard School of World Religions' year-long series on psychedelics and the future of religion, the Divine Command Theory, James Kent's DoseNation podcast series, Charles Eisenstein and the concept of deflationary money, the billionaire pledge, triple bottom line thinking and other ways to incentivize employees to make businesses closer to co-ops, and why not all capitalism is bad. Lastly, Joe highly recommends Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring's book, CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, which touches on MKUltra, the Phoenix Program, how the government used Charles Manson, and how the drug war was a logical consequence of the paranoia of the U.S.S.R. and communism toppling the USA and capitalism. Notable Quotes “Coming from the somatic world, our bodies- I think, sometimes we dismiss that and maybe might call that a little ‘woo woo,’ but how is your body an actual instrument that can help you understand maybe what’s going on? It’s firing a bunch of signals all the time, right? Information is just coming in and we have to try to make sense of it. Is it an appropriate instrument to try to learn how to discern the information that’s coming in? Could we finely tune that?” -Kyle “It’s helpful to have diagnostic categories, but I think we’re taking the diagnostic categories a little too seriously and making them a little too real. A diagnostic category is not as real as a glass of water in your hand. One’s real concrete, one’s real abstract. Both are helpful at times. Both could be harmful, depending on what you do with the glass.” -Joe“A lot of folks want to just use psychedelics and escape the world, like the ‘drop out’ thing. Like, ‘I’m just going to be with the spirit world.’ But it’s like, what good is you being with the spirit world if you’re not having any impact on the world world?” -Joe “Being hubristic enough to say that ‘I have an answer’- that’s where I see the problem. Being willing to engage in conversation with people with a lot more experience with this kind of thing is probably where it’s at. Like, ok, let’s talk to 4-5 economists and see what their opinion is. Maybe talk to some professional ethicists to see what their opinion is. I don’t think anybody is going to have the answer, but by hearing all of those perspectives, we can learn more.” -Joe Links Center for the Study of World Religions: Medicalizing Mysticism: Religion in Contemporary Psychedelic Trials (youtube) Divine Command Theory Psymposia.com: “Lucy In The Sky With Nazis: Psychedelics and the Right Wing” by Brian Pace, PhD Sage Journals: Increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarian political views after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression James Kent’s DoseNation podcast The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, by Thomas S. Szasz The Giving Pledge turns 10: These billionaires pledged to give away half their wealth, but they soon ran into a problem CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring Support the show! Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews writer, director, and producer of the recent documentary, "The Way of the Psychonaut: Stanislav Grof's Journey of Consciousness," Susan Hess Logeais.  The film, which we streamed and presented a panel for back in October, was co-produced by Stan Grof himself, and tells of his journey from his youth in Nazi-occupied Prague to Esalen to today, with much of Logeais and her theory-affirming life story mixed in. It features interviews with many big names, including Fritjof Capra and Rupert Sheldrake, and full-length interviews can now be found on the film's website; 2 of which are conversations between Grof and legends we've lost recently: Ralph Metzner and Michael Harner. It is Joe's favorite film on Grof and his work. Logeais talks about making the movie and meeting such big names in the field, wonders how differently children might grow up if quantum physics and a respectful agreement with nature were taught in school, discusses cesarian births and the differences they could create in fear or stress response in comparison to kids born traditionally, and talks about the power of breathwork and its enormous influence on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Notable Quotes “When I met Stan and heard him speak and heard what he spoke about- tantric science, mythology, Eastern spiritual traditions, even quantum physics, Shamanic journeywork- there were so many things that he spoke about that I had explored on my own before I met him. And then in the course of making the movie, I realized that he had introduced many of those concepts during his 14 years at Esalen. And so I was resonating with him on a level-- it’s like he was impacting my life before I met him.” On using MDMA with psychedelics: “Perhaps as an introduction to a psychedelic experience, especially for people who are older, it might not be a bad idea. I know the anxiety that I had occasionally when something was going really fast and very deep. But I agree with you in that the depth and that anxiety passes, and it’s in the learning to get past that anxiety that we develop capacity for reflection and to move away from reactivity. So I think maybe for the first trip, just to say, ‘Ok, this is what you’re in for, and next time we’re not going to do this.’” “I just want to say how valuable I think Stan’s contribution is, and how proud I am, or how, I guess, grateful I am to have worked with him in the creation of this film. And I’m so glad that you enjoyed it because I wanted to take his theories, his discoveries, his contributions, and make them accessible and interesting so that people could watch it and come away with an understanding that would hopefully inspire them to then go and do the deep work. And I hope people come to the website and visit the live stream archive page so that they can gain a deeper understanding of all these amazing concepts that Stan participated in sharing during his time at Esalen and his ITA conferences.”  Links Susanhesslogeais.com Thewayofthepsychonaut.com The Way of the Psychonaut facebook Blackfoot Physics: A Journey Into the Native American Worldview, by F. David Peat Stangrof.com Grof-legacy-training.com Holotropic.com: Grof Transpersonal Training About Susan Hess Logeais Susan holds a demonstrated history of working in the entertainment industry. She is skilled in Music Videos, Film, Documentaries, Commercials, and Theatre. She demonstrates strong entrepreneurship professional with a Interdisciplinary Degree focused in Transformational Entertainment and Human Consciousness from Marylhurst University. She is an actress and producer, known for Gone (2012), Not Dead Yet (2009) and The Way of the Psychonaut: Stanislav Grof's Journey of Consciousness (2020). Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, the typical Solidarity Fridays format is switched up yet again, this time with Joe interviewing author of best-selling book, The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name, and recent Joe Rogan Experience guest, Brian Muraresku. Because where do you go after Joe Rogan? Psychedelics Today, of course.  Muraresku discusses how his fascination with Latin and Greek and the 1978 book, The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries (by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl A. P. Ruck) and its proposal of a psychedelic sacrament of sorts being imbibed at the Rites of Eleusis led him to spend about 12 years searching for evidence to prove it. From the idea of "graveyard beer," to Alcibiades and the profanation of mysteries, to wine parties to interact with the dead called refrigeriums, Muraresku dives deep into his findings: that the wine they drank was, at the least, spiked with herbs and spices to create something very different and likely hallucinogenic, that participants were seeking immortality, a euphoric ecstasy, and communion with both God and the dead, that both the Dionysian Gospel and Christianity are heavily related to the Rites of Eleusis, and that these ceremonies don't appear to have been isolated to Eleusis- that people took what they learned and practiced elsewhere, in what Denise Demetriou refers to as "open-access sanctuaries." Notable Quotes “Some of the legacies of this civilization, from democracy and the arts and sciences to literature and philosophy and the very concept of a university- all these inheritances are the things that we associate with the very literate Greeks. And there stands Euelisis at the center of it all. ...And they [the Rites] were seen as so important, so central, so integral to life at the time, that even Cicero, a Roman in the first century B.C.- he referred to Euelisis as ‘the most exceptional and divine thing that Athens ever produced.’ So it wasn’t democracy, the arts, sciences, etc. It was Eleusis.” “They saw something. The thinking for a long time was that maybe it was a theatrical performance- maybe there was something happening in this temple that has been lost to time. And then that book I mentioned in 1978, The Road to Eleusis, was saying as long as we’re talking about a vision, why can’t it be something that was produced internally? Why couldn’t it be one of these great epiphanic psychedelic visions? And so, as a hypothesis, it makes sense just based on the way people talked about this experience. It was a once in a lifetime experience that essentially erased the fear of death and made these initiates immortals. And weirdly, which is why I picked this up in the first place, it’s very, very similar to the testimony that comes from the volunteers in the Johns Hopkins experiments with psilocybin. It’s again, a once in a lifetime single dose of psilocybin [that] seems to result in these profound, mystical transformations in people; including atheists, who will describe it as among the most meaningful experiences of their lives.” “I think that there was a historical Jesus, and I think that we have these relatively conflicting accounts of what he was and what the message was in the canonical gospels that have come down to us. But we have these other gospels and this Gnostic literature that didn’t make it in The Bible, and the gospel of Mary Magdalene. And what comes across to me, time and again, are people trying to find ecstasy, people looking for communion with Jesus. And again, you don’t have to look off into all this esoteric stuff just to focus on the very simple proposition that the Eucharist is an immortality potion, plain and simple.” Links TheImmortalityKey.com The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl A. P. Ruck Wikipedia.org: Diagoras of Melos (additional Alcibiades/“profanation the mysteries” info R. Gordon Wasson’s 1957 Life magazine article The Dionysian Gospel: The Fourth Gospel and Euripides, by Dennis R. MacDonald Youtube: Joe Rogan Experience #1543 - Brian Muraresku & Graham Hancock Youtube: His recent appearance on CNN The Immortality Key on Audible About Brian Muraresku Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, the typical Solidarity Fridays format is switched up again, this time with Joe interviewing podcast host and psychiatrist specializing in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, Craig Heacock.  Will Hall's 2 recent SF episodes spurred a lot of conversation, and led to Heacock reaching out to Psychedelics Today to counter some of Hall's points, and stand up a bit on behalf of psychiatry. He feels that while psychiatry isn't perfect, saying to replace it isn't helpful, and doesn't feel that anyone in psychiatry is saying a pill will fix anything, but rather, that if psychedelics can help people get in touch with buried trauma (something that typically takes a lot of time and relationship/trust-building and often still doesn't work), then shouldn't we not only be treating them like medicine, but also learning as much as we possibly can about them?  He points out some of the most obvious flaws with our model of psychiatry (and how we deal with mental health in general), discusses the barriers stopping physicians from learning more about ketamine, looks at the "spiritual emergency vs. psychotic break" argument from a different perspective, talks about what he sees in his practice and how much ketamine has helped his clients, and really brings home one of Will Hall's main points from a different perspective- while Hall talked about how science isn't always the answer because of how much nuance there is from person to person, he points out the amount of nuance in how mental health physicians treat clients, how clients arrived at their mental state in the first place, and how differently they respond, both with or without psychedelics.   Whether you felt Will Hall brought a lot of interesting ideas to the table or hated those episodes, this is the yin to those episodes' yang. Notable Quotes “I think a lot of psychiatrists are just trying to keep their head above water, which, I think, they would much more enjoyably keep their head above water if they would use ketamine in their practices.” “We may never understand the mind-brain connection fully, but don’t we want to try?” “We’re finding with ayahuasca work (a lot of psychedelic work) that some people are going to these sessions and their conscious brain is saying ‘oh yea, there’s no trauma,’ and we’re finding out that there’s some serious trauma that’s just underneath the surface. And again, if we don’t know that, how can we get to the roots of anything? ...Almost like we use a CT scan to see what’s happening in your innermost self, it’d be interesting to think of using psychedelics as sort of a psychological diagnostic tool to say: 'Is there trauma in there?'”“When Will is saying, ‘Why are we trying to address trauma with a pill?’ I don’t think any of us are. I don’t think anybody on the MAPS study or I don’t know, people in the psilocybin studies- I really don’t think anybody is thinking, 'Ooo we’re going to fix PTSD with psilocybin!' or 'We’re going to fix trauma with this 150 mg MDMA capsule!’ Nobody’s thinking that. What we’re thinking is: this is a catalyst, [and] resources are limited. ...We need to get in there quickly and get working on this, and that’s what’s so exciting to me about psychedelics coming online with mental health, is that we can get down to business quickly and not have to spend so much time trying to get past these defenses.” “Capitalism is messy and psychiatry is messy and psychedelics are messy and people are messy, and isn’t that ok? Can’t we just accept that and not default to this sort of pan-negativism and finger-pointing and blaming? Because, again, we’re all on the same team. We want the same thing. We want people to thrive and we want to dial down psychological despair as much as we can.” Links Craigheacockmd.com Back From the Abyss podcast Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews Psychedelics Today's first 3-time guest, Dena Justice of the Ecstatic Collective.  They discuss the ins and outs of something we're all too familiar with: anxiety. They talk about how Western society's lack of community and focus on doing things yourself (and not asking for help) mixed with a weird pride in being overworked and stressed has created a world where we all deal with daily anxiety, and deal with it differently. She first became addicted to exercise, but realized that learning to slow down, ignoring FOMO and embracing JOMO (the joy of missing out), having fewer goals in favor of more accomplishment, embracing play as a way of finding flow state, celebrating accomplishments instead of failures, and tuning her frequency towards happiness has helped her change her life drastically for the better. She talks about more ways to combat anxiety, and her new program where you can sign up for these kinds of tips and tricks to be emailed to you on a regular basis (sign up here). She is also offering a valuable discounted bundle of courses in partnership with Psychedelics Today, which includes 2 Ecstatic Collective courses and 2 Psychedelics Today courses. Notable Quotes “The best thing you can do is learn to be uncomfortable.” “Talking about playful things is just tapping into the inner child inside of us, giving ourselves permission to play. Go to the playground. Ignore the sign that says ‘this playspace is designated for 12-year-olds and under.’ F that! Your tax dollars paid for that playground. Go play on that playground!” “Look at all these non-ordinary states of consciousness and how they tie in here- meditation, breathwork, exercise, early childhood (because that’s pure receptivity), psychedelics, every single orgasm. ...Every single one of these things is putting us in flow state. It’s bringing us to the present moment, where anxiety cannot exist because we’re in the present. Anxiety is fear of the future, depression is being caught up on the past. ...but when we’re in the present, all of that goes away.”  “Email is a tool for efficiency, not necessarily effectiveness. What’s effective? Real communication. I think a lot of anxiety comes from the lack of true communication these days. ...7% of what our communication is is the actual words we say to each other. 55% is our physiology and 38% is our tonality. That means we’re losing 93% of our communication when we put it in an email or a text message or on social media.” Links Ecstaticcollective.com Sign up for anxiety-reduction emails Her last appearance on Psychedelics Today Her appearance before that Kompan playground equipment Marco Polo app About Dena Justice As a master manifester, Dena has created a beautiful life for herself. She been financially responsible since age 15 including putting herself through college, two masters degrees and purchasing her own home in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has made over $1M in her life through a fulfilling career as a facilitator, educator, trainer, mentor and coach working with thousands of people across the country. She loved her career, yet hit a point where she felt empty. Near the top of her career ladder, she was a classic case of a high performer and leader hitting burnout. She chose a powerful pivot out of her J-O-B and into her own business. Now, she helps other high performers who have hit burnout and are scared to admit they’ve hit a plateau or a wall. She helps them get the eff out of their own way and move to the next level to increase their impact so they feel fulfilled and inspired again, as well as helping them create more wealth and the relationships they want in their lives. She helps people experience new levels of success, increase/improve focus and performance, abolish FOMO, evolve communication skills, develop transformational leadership skills, create amazing relationships, increase financial abundance and live life on their own terms. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle review all of the big wins from the U.S. election, from Oregon decriminalizing drug possession and legalizing psilocybin therapy, to 4 states legalizing cannabis use for adults, to the most surprising (in terms of how far this movement has come), Washington D.C. decriminalizing plant medicines with an overwhelming 76% of voters in favor. And they talk about the other side of this good- how Oregon memes show just how little the majority of people understand, how there are still huge issues with stigma, drug exceptionalism, and labeling, how liability and the rules of healthcare get in the way of compassion and humane treatment, and how those same issues will unfortunately extend into psychedelics. They also do a brief deep dive into breathwork- its history, its various versions, its building blocks (accelerated breathing, evocative music, focused bodywork, group process, and safety), and the risks and likely loss in benefit in attempting to do this kind of work online. And, lastly, exciting news: the next round of the live, 8-week (CE-approved) version of  Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Therapists will be starting up on January 7th, so sign up now! Notable Quotes “I remember just watching all of this stuff come in on election night and just thinking, ‘Wow, it feels like plants have really won the election here.’ ...All of the initiatives that were up there passed during this election cycle, which is pretty phenomenal and a huge kind of shift.” -Kyle “These different institutions have different rules, different liabilities. Like, a VA doc is probably going to be a lot more protected than a private practice doc, but the VA doc is going to be on a lot tighter regulations on what they can do, just based on the healthcare system they’re in. It’s a complicated deal. I don’t envy doctors for having to be in that situation. It’s really not an easy job. And I know they’re doing the best they can; it’s just, you know, their rules get in the way of their compassion and interest in healing people sometimes.” -Joe “I had and still have a ferocious case of ADD that’s never been diagnosed. I’ve been extraordinarily productive if I ever needed to use something like Adderall. It works great. But there’s so much stigma around saying something like that in the psychedelic world. We’re often a little too judgy, is kind of my position. ...There’s cases when it’s appropriate, there’s cases when it’s not appropriate, and as long as there’s informed consent and decent education, it should be up to the individuals, and we should stay the fuck out of people’s business.” -Joe On breathwork: “It’s my favorite. It’s something I’ve been doing for so long that it’s my most comfortable, somehow least scary method of going inside and doing inner work, because I know I have this safe cultural container- a safe container with people I trust and love, and it’s always helpful and amazing. Even if I don’t get the experience I want, just being there in community is still medicine enough.” -Joe Links Psychedelics Today: Recapping the Biggest Wins in Drug Laws and Policies in the 2020 U.S. Elections Psychedelics Today: Tom and Sheri Eckert - Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative Psychedelics Today: What is Transpersonal Breathwork? Firesideproject.org: Psychedelic Peer Support Line Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews Ph.D., Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and author specializing in the history of psychedelics and their relation to the medical industry, Erika Dyck. Dyck talks about her interest in Canadian history and specifically Saskatchewan, which was the first jurisdiction in North America to elect a socialist government. She talks about how it was clear in the early days of governmental support that they were reaching out to people with bold ideas, leading to Humphry Osmand coming there in 1951 to commence research that he felt was being stifled in London. They talk extensively about the work of Osmand and Abram Hoffer, early experiments with giving staff in mental hospitals LSD to encourage empathy toward patients, a hospital architect taking LSD and learning that tiled, checkerboard-esque floors may be a challenge to patients with depth perception issues, a “Hollywood hospital” where wealthy film stars were flown to deal with addiction largely in secret, the concept of having patients write out an autobiography before a medicine session in order to reflect back on their life afterward, Osmond's participation in a peyote ceremony and his subsequent report, why the Timothy Leary model of dropping out of the scientific/academic world isn't helpful, why time passed and changed public opinion have led to old research coming to light, and why it's more important to talk to people who aren't sold on psychedelics yet instead of those who are already bought in and live in our psychedelic bubble. Notable Quotes “Even people like Humphry Osmond or Abram Hoffer who were on the frontlines of that psychedelic heyday in the 1950s- they were quite careful (and obviously they were sort of practiced at this), but they were quite careful about how I might characterize their work with psychedelics, and they insisted that what they were doing was not unethical, they did not have money from the C.I.A., they had lots of checks and balances, and they were clearly responding to that very heavy reputation and characterization of psychedelics. And I reflect on that every once in a while, and wonder, ‘what would they would say today?’” On Osmond and peyote: “It was the question of whether or not these chemicals and these rituals using chemicals should be allowed more broadly. And I think that the federal government in Canada was thinking that, again, this white-coated British guy would walk in and behave like the colonialist that they expected him to be, and come out and say ‘these are rotten ceremonies,’ but that was absolutely not who Humphry Osmond was. He participated fully. He chewed the buttons, he threw up, he participated in the feast afterwards, he participated in the drumming circle. ...So Osmond then made a statement (and he’s published about this in a variety of different places) saying this was an absolutely beautiful ceremony, it was absolutely sacred, it should be protected, it should be promoted, [and] people should be given access to peyote so that they continue this sacred ceremony. And the Canadian government was not impressed with this reaction.” “Our governments are addicted to the war on drugs.” “I think that part of what the psychedelic world needs to do, in my humble opinion, is to reach out and seek these kinds of bridges and these alliances, because I think that there’s a risk that we can just convince ourselves that psychedelics are good and that it won’t actually break through the psychedelic bubble, if you will, to convince regulators that in fact, there is real merit here. There’s still a sense that-- even just saying LSD- I gave a presentation last week to a group of retired physicians and these are people with medical training and who’ve spent their careers doing medical education and medical work, clinical work. And they’re like ‘oh, but LSD, that’s the one that fries your brain, right?’ I mean, these were disproven studies in the 70s, and yet it’s very interesting that that characterization is so strong.” Links Twitter Chacruna.net: Women in psychedelics Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic, by Mike Jay The Seasteading Institute About Erika Dyck Erika Dyck is a professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan. Her work focuses on 20th century medical history, especially the history of psychedelics, psychiatry, eugenics and population control. Her books include Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus (2008); Facing Eugenics: Reproduction, Sterilization, and the Politics of Choice (2013); Managing Madness: Weyburn Mental Hospital and the Transformation of Psychiatric Care in Canada(2017); and she is editor of A Culture’s Catalyst: Historical Encounters with Peyote and the Native American Church in Canada (2016) and co-editor of Psychedelic Prophets: The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond (2018). She is a guest editor at the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. You can email her at [email protected].  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle continue their conversation from last week with Will Hall: therapist, host of the Madness Radio podcast, author of Outside Mental Health: Voices and Visions of Madness, and previous psychiatric patient diagnosed with schizophrenia. This week, Hall compares how the medical industry treats those seeking therapy and growth vs. how they treat the homeless and victims of sexual abuse, how the framework for mental disorders disrespects the individual, neoliberalism and why capitalism and the free market shouldn’t be the answer for everything, Grof's focus on etiology and why his model of spiritual emergence is problematic, the future of psychedelic advertising in a world where anything that can be sold will be sold, and the 3 biggest factors towards successful therapy. And he focuses a lot on what we should be doing: creating and promoting individualized medicines and healing techniques over mass-produced Band-aid medicine, not reducing a difficult psychedelic experience to biology and instead focusing on getting to the root of what is causing the issue and working through it, not solely researching the effects of drugs, and most importantly, researching how people have bettered themselves without drugs- if the long-lasting effects of psychedelics and integration work are the catalyst for change, how can we get to those effects and integrations without the drug? Notable Quotes “Drugs are drugs. I don’t believe in psychedelic exceptionalism. I don’t believe in psychiatric drug exceptionalism. Drugs are drugs. There’s no exceptionalism for drugs. If they change your consciousness, they’re getting you high in one way or another, and that is what is either beneficial or nonbeneficial to you, based on your experience.” “The people who are having successful treatment with MDMA psychotherapy- they aren’t just reporting ‘oh, my depression is down;’ they’re reporting all these wonderful benefits of MDMA. Why should we wait until you have a diagnosis of PTSD to give access to MDMA [to someone] if they want to experience those benefits as well? The people who are having the experiences of psychedelics are not having the experiences of disease-treatment, they’re having the experiences of psychedelics, which can be, for many people, very positive. So why are we gate-keeping the access? And if we don’t gate-keep the access, then we have to admit that, actually, it’s not a disease treatment; it’s actually something that many people find beneficial and some people don’t.” “What is the commitment? Is the commitment to get psychedelic drugs accessible at all costs? And we’re going to lie, cheat, and steal our way to get there? Or is the commitment to trust that truth is the way? And if we just stick with the truth, that is how we change society?” “I think you’re onto it. I mean, this is the key thing- psychedelics, in the best of contexts, is the pathway towards that. So why not study that? Why not research that? Why not invest the resources to exploring how we can create contexts for that which you’ve just described- create more spaces in society for successful encounters and engagements with openness, deeper relatedness, developing more trust, learning to communicate better, learning to form better community bonds, learning to develop our loyalties for each other, overcome our traumas together, tell our stories, overcome our shame, find ways that we can accept each other and support each other? That’s what we should be researching. That’s what we should be investigating, not psychedelic treatments that might have the effect of this, because this is what we’re really after.” Links Willhall.net Madness Radio Outsidementalhealth.com (info on his book, Outside Mental Health: Voices and Visions of Madness) The Heart and Soul of Change Project Dreamshadow.com: Holotropic Breathwork, Personal Development, and Transpersonal Education About Will Hall Will is a counselor and facilitator working with individuals, couples, families and groups via phone and web video (Zoom). He has taught and consulted on mental health, trauma, psychosis, medications, domestic violence, conflict resolution, and organizational development in more than 30 countries, and has been widely featured in the media for his advocacy efforts around mental health care. His work and learning arose from his experiences of recovery from madness, and today he is passionate about new visions of mind and what it means to be human. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews MD, attorney, host of the Plant Medicine podcast, and founder of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, Dr. Lynn Marie Morski. She talks about her time working for the United States Department of Veteran Affairs and how her frustrations with not being able to recommend medicines she knew would help people led to her creating the Plant Medicine podcast, and how realizing that the podcast wasn't reaching enough doctors led to her creating the Psychedelic Medicine Association. She discusses their goal: to bring organizations, corporate entities, lawyers, and practitioners/therapists (really anyone in the medical field responsible for the wellbeing of another) together through forums and newsletters to bridge the enormous gap between those on the cutting edge of new medicines and modalities of healing and the more traditional doctors who don't know nearly enough about this emerging world. She talks about her podcast and dedicating 4 full episodes to each drug, common misconceptions about doctors and healthcare, what it's like to be both a doctor and a lawyer, doctors who judge patients for using cannabis and the disservice that is, the complications of what comes after the FDA approves a drug, what’s necessary for getting psychedelics more into mainstream culture, and the silver lining that could come from COVID and COVID-related trauma. Notable Quotes “It should not be weighing job security vs. saving veterans’ lives, but that’s really the position a lot of us are put in, and I couldn’t take that anymore, and so I left the VA and made it my mission to undo the years of silence by speaking out a whole lot about it.” “FDA approval, for example, of MDMA or psilocybin, is just step 1. What do you do when you’ve got a medicine now approved that doctors are afraid to recommend or prescribe because it came out of nowhere? They’re like, ‘Whoa, psychedelics were Schedule I and extremely dangerous and ‘Don’t do drugs!’ and now I’m supposed to be giving it to a patient?’ That is a barrier.” “We’ve known about the 22 veteran suicides, and somehow, still, things haven’t gotten done in mental health. Maybe because, again, that’s ‘other.’ We have this whole issue with others, right? ‘That’s happening to these other people over here.’ The pandemic is one of the first things in... ever that has happened to everybody. It’s not ‘Oh, only the poor get this.’ Nope. Poor and rich. Tom Hanks got it right off the bat. Everybody’s getting it. Prime Ministers get it. And a lot of people are suffering the same mental health issues from the quarantine and so, it’s no longer where we can say ‘Oh, mental health struggles are for others.’ This has hit everybody. ...The suicide rate is rising for everybody. Mental health issues are rising for everybody. Is this the tipping point where the mental health system looks around and says ‘Ok, our tools aren’t sufficient. Can we start looking at these other modalities, including psychedelics, because we’ve got a second epidemic on our hands here?’” “It should be absolutely crucial for anybody on the front lines of patient care to know at least the basics of these medicines. We’re not trying to get doctors to all want to do psychedelic medicine at all. That’s not our goal. If people learn about it and get excited and want to get trained and do that? Fantastic. But we just want a basic level of knowledge, and like you said, if just 20% of doctors knew, that’d be great. And then those doctors can talk to their colleagues in other areas. But that’s essentially the way that we’re impressing it on people: ‘This is coming. You, as a professional responsible for other people’s health need to educate yourself on this.’” Links Psychedelicmedicineassociation.org Psychedelic Medicine Association twitter Plantmedicine.org Plant Medicine Podcast: Antidepressants and Psychedelics with Clinical Pharmacist Ben Malcolm, PharmD Plant Medicine Podcast: Microdosing Q&A with James Fadiman Plant Medicine instagram Psychedelics Today: Spiritual Emergence or Psychosis course North Star Ethics Pledge The Conscious Fund Plant Parenthood podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski About Dr. Lynn Marie Morski Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle switch things up and take a break from news stories. Instead, they interview therapist, host of the Madness Radio podcast, author of Outside Mental Health: Voices and Visions of Madness, and previous psychiatric patient diagnosed with schizophrenia, Will Hall. Hall says a lot that will challenge your ideas about the power of psychedelics and the progress of psychedelic medicine. From the idea of either/or thinking creating a legal/illegal paradigm, to the basic limitations of science, to the the near religious worship of neuroscience, to William James' idea of "medical materialism" and reducing the complexities of the human mind to simple biology, he points out the various flaws in psychedelic medicine and how psychedelic crusaders have ignored placebo results and focused on the power of a drug or the numbers behind a study over the power of therapy, the benefits of community and the mystery of consciousness and its differentiation from science.  Notable Quotes “If you end war-on-drugs prohibition in a context of heavily corrupted science, pharmaceutical company corruption, people that don’t have access to basic healthcare, they don’t have the basic context to be able to make smart choices, and you combine that with the profit motive in neoliberalism, then you’re going to have to really be very careful about how you do it, or else you’re going to have some very negative consequences. And this is a problem with any legalization.” “We haven’t really had enough of a nuanced conversation about the war on drugs issue, because again, there has been such a strong-- I want to call it zealotry- this is an incredibly dedicated group of people who have been doing this for 30, 40, 50 years to get psychedelics into the hands of as many people as possible because they took LSD, they saw God, it saved their marriage, it completely revolutionized their trauma history- they’re true believers. And they’ve been pushing and pushing and pushing, but unfortunately, that doesn’t make for good public policy or good science if you’re just on a crusade. And I think that’s the big part of the problem that we’re facing right now.” “Consciousness is like gravity. Consciousness is actually intrinsic to reality. Everything has consciousness. The more complicated the part of reality is (like, the human brain is very complicated), the more rich and complex consciousness becomes, and you get this self-awareness kind of thing. But the idea that consciousness is somehow located in the physiology of the brain and therefore ‘we’re going to study the physiology of the brain to explain consciousness’ is completely a leap of logic that has driven neuroscience for the last 40, 50 years since the real takeoff, and it’s been driven by pharma profits.”  “You can create all kinds of things just through suggestion, just through expectation, just through placebo, and yet in the psychedelic science research, all that’s kind of put aside and they’re playing the same neuroscience game of thinking that we are pursuing and understanding of the biology of consciousness, which we’re not. And of course, it’s a gold rush.” “We’re trying to describe this incredibly rich mysterious thing- human consciousness. Nobody even knows how to define it. The people who have been studying it for decades can’t even settle on a definition. You settle on a definition of gravity. You can settle on a definition of chemical reactions, because that’s the nature of that kind of science, but this is a field of science- psychology, which is so mysterious and so complicated, they can’t even agree on what it is that they’re studying. And now we’ve gone from this model that’s basically a steam engine model- there’s chemicals that are going through and they’re connecting and they’re flowing in different places. And that’s sort of antiquated, so now we have a computer model, which is about circuitry, networks, connectivity, pathways, and it’s just another cartoonish metaphor for something that we fundamentally don’t understand.” “The fact that the marvel and the awe of what human consciousness is, what the human experience is, what the mystery is, that is so awakened for many people when we have a psychedelic experience- your mind is blown by how incredible, awesome, beautiful the mystery is, and then to take that and then go into graduate school and cut up mice and have this cartoonish, mechanistic version of what that consciousness is, seems to me like a real betrayal of what I think is the best of the psychedelic experience.  “Under capitalism, under for-profit healthcare system, under corporate-driven science, science has become a politicized and profit-driven racket. All of those researchers are playing a game of ‘How do we get press releases that get media hits and clicks that’s going to help our grant possibilities?” and it always comes with ‘Well, we have this promising new discovery- the default mode network is a promising new discovery. We need more research about this.’ And what we need to do is we need to really really rethink our entire orientation to science in a capitalist society.”  “I think that once MDMA becomes available and more widespread, we’re going to see the efficacy go down. It’s not going to help everybody. It’s going to be another thing that some people try and some people, it helps them, but it didn’t really quite do it and then they have to kind of go back and they do more and then they lose the magic of the MDMA and then we’re back on the treadmill. We went from antidepressants to MDMA, and then what’s the next drug? There’s no drug solution to these problems, folks. We have to change our society. ...Until we actually look at social changes, we’re not ever really going to solve these so-called mental health problems. But that’s not the kind of thing you want to talk about at a MAPS-sponsored conference, because it’s a buzzkill. It just bums everybody out. People want to have their careers, they want to have their focus, their advocacy, their crusade, their excitement, and their community of other people who are excited.” “I’m not sure that psychedelics should even be in the realm of medicine or science because of the way in which our society has so limited and made narrow those endeavors- the idea that medicine is separate from spirituality or that science is about reproducible results when the whole universe is based on uniqueness and novelty and the unexpected and synchronicity, I think that trying to squeeze them into those frameworks is not going to work.” Links Willhall.net Madness Radio Outsidementalhealth.com (info on his book, Outside Mental Health: Voices and Visions of Madness) The Freedom Center Mcgill.ca: The placebo effect and psychedelic drugs: tripping on nothing? Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics    

Joe interviews Ryan and Rory of Cultivating Connections, a nonprofit and podcast dedicated to fostering deeper connection through intentioned rituals. They discuss ayahuasca, embracing fear, and the power of eye-gazing.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss recent studies on salvia and LSD, intergenerational trauma, the idea of "group soul,” the lymphatic system and the brain, concussions, caesarian sections, QAnon, 9/11 and what truth really is for people.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

Kyle interviews Doctor of Psychology and former Buddhist monk, Dr. Michael Sapiro. They talk about his recent travel pilgrimage, the importance of self-focus, tools for healing and growth, and how to make the mystical ordinary.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle discuss CNN’s recent report on Brian Muraresku's book, The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name, and talk about accountability in the psychedelic space.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe interviews psychiatrist and DO, Dr. Matt Brown. They talk about osteopathic medicine, how energy works within the body, the Integratron, LSD and the Mind of the Universe, Stan Grof, and why people should read more sci-fi.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss several news items, touching on Mark Zuckerberg, Oregon’s Measures 109/110, THC and the 5-HTA receptor, Sansero Life Sciences, MindMed, Field Trip Health, COVID-related city changes, and the placebo effect.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Zoe Helene, founder of Cosmic Sister. They cover a wide range of topics including colonization, coevolution/coextinction, the Mycenean, Minoan, and Greek civilizations, and Black Lives Matter.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss the effectiveness of group therapy in psilocybin sessions, AI therapy, Decriminalize Nature opposing Oregon Psilocybin Service measure 109, and Dr. Bronner pulling funding from national DN initiatives.     www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Del Jolly, co-founder and Director of psychedelic research nonprofit Unlimited Sciences. They talk about Charlotte’s Web, Cannabis Moms, The Realm of Caring, athletes and concussions, and psilocybin.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss items in the news, including Ann Arbor, Michigan voting to decriminalize entheogenic plants, the formation of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, Compass Pathways going live on the stock market, and more.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe interviews Vanessa LeMaistre: motivational speaker, author, minister, and healer. She discusses her path to shamanism, ayahuasca, entities, Michael Harner, Voodoo, and being a multi-raced woman in the psychedelic sphere. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

Joe and Kyle discuss items in the news, including Compass Pathways, Peter Thiel, UC Berkeley launching a new center for psychedelic science and education, Dr. Bronner’s “Heal Soul” campaign, and cannabis-assisted psychotherapy.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Ash, Netherlands-based psychedelic entrepreneur behind Synergy Trading, Cerebra Nootropics, the Shifty Perspective podcast, and the world's first legal lysergamide microdosing product, Micro1p.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss corporate news, including HAVN Lifescience, Synthesis, AWAKN Life Sciences, and Field Trip Psychedelics’ new “Trip" app. They also cover neural plasticity, Rick Strassman, DMT, and the dangers of isolation.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Wade Davis: anthropologist, ethnobotanist, star of El Sendero de la Anaconda, and author of "Serpent and the Rainbow" and "Magdalena: River of Dreams: A Story of Colombia," which comes out 9/15.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss recent news items, including a new LSD microdose study on acute pain, Compass Pathways filing an application for a NASDAQ listing, and Mind Medicine Australia attempting to de-schedule psilocybin and MDMA.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle interview Sara Reed, MS, LMFT, and Director of Psychedelic Services at the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in CT, about her ketamine-assisted therapy practice, working with Dr. Monica Williams and MAPS, and more.       www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss recent items in the news, including MAPS’ Capstone Campaign, MindMed’s upcoming candy flipping phase 1 trial, and Oregon’s upcoming psilocybin ballot measure. They then have a larger discussion about lineage.   www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. LaMisha Hill, licensed Counseling Psychologist and Director of Multicultural Affairs for the Office of Diversity and Outreach at UCSF. They talk about the effects of race and gender in the psychedelic world.  www.psychedelicstoday.com

Joe and Kyle discuss recent items in the news, including the passing of Tav Sparks and Jordi Riba, the Netflix docuseries “Unwell,” and Bright Minds Bioscience’s recent claims that they are shortening trip times to 60-90 minutes.    www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Joe interviews Jerry and Julie Brown. Jerry (Ph.D.) is an author and activist, who served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami for 42 years. Julie (M.A.) is an author and integrative psychotherapist, who worked with cancer patients with a focus on guided imagery. Together, they are co-authors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity.   They talk about their blogpost on Psychedelics Today and inspiring studies: Walter Pahnke’s original psilocybin study at Marsh Chapel and Roland Griffiths’ recent studies at Johns Hopkins and the amazing results at each, Robin Carhart-Harris’ MRI analysis, and some of Julie’s successes using guided imagery to empower 3 cancer clients to heal after conventional cancer treatment was ineffective. They talk about guided imagery and the body’s ability to heal itself, how mystical states actually help heal people, how disease starts in the mind, Ancient Greece’s psychedelic Rites of Eleusis, and their own personal life-changing psychedelic experiences related to Johns Hopkins’ 5 common elements of mystical experience. And they talk about their most popular book, The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, which highlights images of mushrooms and psychedelic art found throughout Christian history (all the way back to Gnostic Gospels), and their possible relationship to the birth of Christianity and the story of Jesus.  Notable Quotes “The questions are: Can psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy be used not only to alleviate the psychological anxiety (as we saw at Johns Hopkins) and the depression, but can it also be used to facilitate the physiological healing in cancer patients, as Julie has done through facilitating mystical experiences? That’s a big question. The second one is: in time, are we going to see what today, is long-term costly, clinical psychotherapy of a variety of different modalities, eventually be enhanced by short-term, much more affordable psychedelic psychotherapy?” -Jerry Brown “In astrophysics, dark matter, which they say makes up most of the universe- it can not be directly detected or seen. It can only be implied through the gravitational effects that it causes. So, in psychology, mystical experience cannot be easily accessed, but it can be reliably created both through psychedelics, and as Julie’s work has shown, through guided imagery. In other words, hidden from ordinary consciousness, mystical experience manifests from the dark matter of the mind to facilitate healing.” -Jerry Brown  “F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, said there’s no second acts in American lives, but fortunately, psychedelics is having its second act, and I think if we do it right this time, we can really integrate it into our culture, both in a therapeutic setting, and [also in settings] modeled after the Greek Eleusinian mysteries, where healthy people can go to explore psychedelics for personal growth and for spirituality and creativity.” -Jerry Brown Links Psychedelics Today blog: Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided-Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients Website: psychedelicgospels.com Psychedelic Gospels Facebook The Psychedelic Gospels: Evidence of Entheogens in Christian Art presentation on Youtube Email About Jerry and Julie Brown Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an anthropologist, author, and activist. From 1972 to 2014, he served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where he taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.” Julie M. Brown, M.A., LMHC, is an integrative psychotherapist, who works with cancer patients. They are coauthors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, 2016; “Entheogens in Christian Art: Wasson, Allegro and the Psychedelic Gospels,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2019; and “Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients,” Psychedelics Today, May 28, 2020. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle talk about recent items in the news and dive deep into Stan Grof's work, different types of therapy, and the way touch comes into play in the therapeutic world.  They first discuss Wisconsin-based non-profit medical research institution, The Usona Institute, and their recently published new method for synthesizing psilocybin, and how great this is for the community. There is a danger to locking away ideas, and new methods of synthesis could lead to monopolization of the market, but publishing their findings means this can be available to all.  They then talk about re-reading Grof and the concept of the body's inner radar bringing forth what the inner healer needs to work on, and the idea that hyperventilation could be the body trying to heal itself. This leads to discussion of Kyle's time at a Soteria-inspired house in Burlington and their method of simply sitting with people and being there through difficult times. They then discuss different types of therapy, from how traditional talk therapy seems to be more of an art form rather than a measurable methodology, to Grof's Fusion Therapy (which is a type of therapy involving touch that may be over the line by today's standards), to new sex therapies that are starting to make headway. The main threads through this discussion are touch: when can touch be used safely, the dangers of touch being perceived as sexual, and the importance of communication and boundary-setting before sessions, and distraction vs. work: when is a participant wanting to talk about things during a session part of the work and important to respect, and when is it simply a distraction and a way to avoid the work? Lastly, they remind us that seats are still on sale for the 2 new rounds of (now CE-approved) Navigating Psychedelics (beginning on September 17th), "Psychedelics and the Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia" is on sale, and there is a new class developed with Johanna Hilla-Maria Sopanen called "Imagination as Revelation," focusing on Jungian psychology and how it can be applied to understanding psychedelic experience. Notable quotes “A corporation finding a new synthesis and being able to patent that and then kind of locking it away and saying ‘It stays within our corporation and we’re the only ones that can produce this in this way’ doesn’t mean that other people can’t find other ways.” -Kyle “In holotropic breathwork, Stan [Grof] talks about how if someone doesn’t land by the end of the workshop and get somewhat settled and resolved, a traditional psychiatrist might say ‘ok yes, this is a psychotic break.' And what do we do? You do your normal interventions. So, optimal for the breathwork and psychedelic world would be to have a place where folks could go and be for days to months to settle and kind of reorganize. That’s the model of spiritual emergence, I think, that Stan talks about. You have to have really careful discussions and criteria for: psychotic break? Or possible spiritual emergence? Or, what’s the real difference?” -Joe  “I definitely saw some magic, by just being with people, not trying to really change their experience.” -Kyle “I think delaying is really undervalued. You want to do just the right thing at just the right time. Well, what if you do the wrong thing? Why not wait, so you don’t do the wrong thing?” -Joe Links Usona Institute Publishes Breakthrough Development in Scalable Psilocybin Synthesis Direct Phosphorylation of Psilocin Enables Optimized cGMP Kilogram-Scale Manufacture of Psilocybin (scientific breakdown) Psychedelics Today: "Spiritual Emergence or Psychosis" Webinar Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews Court Wing: early adopter of kettlebell training, earner of a 3rd degree black belt in Ki-Aikido, first certified CrossFit instructor for the NYC Metro area, first certified Z-Health instructor in New York, and former co-founder of CrossFit NYC; one of the world's largest CrossFit gyms.  Wing was a recent participant of a psilocybin trial in NYC, studying the effects of psilocybin on (mostly treatment-resistant) major depressive disorder. He talks about his struggles with depression and how reading studies about changes in neuroplasticity and neurogenesis made him wonder if his depression could be alleviated, the measures taken and process surrounding the trials, the concerns over receiving a placebo or the psilocybin not working, and post-trial; the amazing transformation he's gone through and the power of his experience, psilocybin, and intention-setting.  They talk a lot about pain and the ways pain is related to the mind: the concept that depression may be a nociceptive pain, how common back pain may often be somatosensory pain based on emotional trauma creating a neurological link (similar to Grof's COEX system), and the Ki-Aikido phrase: "Your mind is the body made subtle. The body is unrefined mind." How much of pain is emotional, and how much is the body trying to communicate to the mind that a change needs to be made? Notable Quotes “I can see, going in now, the difference that intention makes in what you’re seeking from the session. It’s just astonishing that it’s responsive to intent. ...It’s so mindblowing because you’re not just taking this passively.” “The contrast from before to after made me want to go back and upgrade my scores in those depression assessments because I had no idea how bad it was until it was gone. And it was in less than 8 hours. ...We did a little intention-setting ceremony, and I did a little Shinto type of prayer thing- [an] incantation that I’ve always done since I left Aikido, and they gave it to me and put in this chalice, and I looked down at it, and honestly, I was praying to God or my higher power or the universe (however you want to phrase it). I looked at it and said, ‘I really hope that’s you.’ And it was.” “I had been in recovery from a profound drinking problem for over 17 years, so there’d been significant hesitation on my part to do this, because there’s a lot of cautioning within that framework- you know: ‘there’s no such thing as a chemical solution to a spiritual problem.’ But, what do you do when the chemistry brings you a spiritual experience?” “A false picture has been painted of what’s possible here. And when it’s only seen in a recreational context where they use some slightly marginalized, perverse catchphrase like ‘hippies’ or ‘dirty hippies’ or something like that, and use that as a way to blame and shame people for seeking relief, and even worse- to claim that the results they’re bringing back are invalid, I think that’s a crime. I honestly do. If I can bring any of my previous experience and reputation to weigh on the scale of the good that can be caused from this, I’m happy to do it.” Links courtwing.com About Court Wing Court Wing has been a professional in the performance and rehab space for the last 30 years. Coming from a performing arts background, Court served as a live-in apprentice to the US Chief Instructor for Ki-Aikido for five years, going on to win the gold medal for the International Competitors Division in Japan in 2000 and achieving the rank of 3rd degree black belt. After a 14 year career in martial arts, he returned to Acting, getting his BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at Purchase College. At the same time, he was simultaneously pursuing three leading-edge performance certifications. First as an RKC/Strong First kettlebell instructor, eventually going on to be ranked a "Top 10 Instructor" and assisting a closed-course certification of SEAL Team 6 at Virginia Beach. Next he became the first certified CrossFit trainer in NYC, becoming the former co-founder of CrossFit NYC in '04, New York's largest and oldest CF gym. His final certification was as a Z-Health Master Trainer, using the latest interventions in applied neuro-physiology for remarkable improvements in pain, performance, and rehabilitation. He has also served as the principal designer for the UN's Close Protection fitness assessment and preparation program, and has been featured in the New York Time’s Sunday Routine, Men's Fitness, and USA Today. Please visit him online at https://courtwing.com Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe interviews Court Wing: early adopter of kettlebell training, earner of a 3rd degree black belt in Ki-Aikido, first certified CrossFit instructor for the NYC Metro area, first certified Z-Health instructor in New York, and Former co-founder of CrossFit NYC; one of the world's largest CrossFit gyms.  Wing was a recent participant of a psilocybin trial in NYC, studying the effects of psilocybin on (mostly treatment-resistant) major depressive disorder. He talks about his struggles with depression and how reading studies about changes in neuroplasticity and neurogenesis made him wonder if his depression could be alleviated, the measures taken and process surrounding the trials, the concerns over receiving a placebo or the psilocybin not working, and post-trial; the amazing transformation he's gone through and the power of his experience, psilocybin, and intention-setting.  They talk a lot about pain and the ways pain is related to the mind: the concept that depression may be a nociceptive pain, how common back pain may often be somatosensory pain based on emotional trauma creating a neurological link (similar to Grof's COEX system), and the Ki-Aikido phrase: "Your mind is the body made subtle. The body is unrefined mind." How much of pain is emotional, and how much is the body trying to communicate to the mind that a change needs to be made? Notable Quotes “I can see, going in now, the difference that intention makes in what you’re seeking from the session. It’s just astonishing that it’s responsive to intent. ...It’s so mindblowing because you’re not just taking this passively.” “The contrast from before to after made me want to go back and upgrade my scores in those depression assessments because I had no idea how bad it was until it was gone. And it was in less than 8 hours. ...We did a little intention-setting ceremony, and I did a little Shinto type of prayer thing- [an] incantation that I’ve always done since I left Aikido, and they gave it to me and put in this chalice, and I looked down at it, and honestly, I was praying to God or my higher power or the universe (however you want to phrase it). I looked at it and said, ‘I really hope that’s you.’ And it was.” “I had been in recovery from a profound drinking problem for over 17 years, so there’d been significant hesitation on my part to do this, because there’s a lot of cautioning within that framework- you know: ‘there’s no such thing as a chemical solution to a spiritual problem.’ But, what do you do when the chemistry brings you a spiritual experience?” “A false picture has been painted of what’s possible here. And when it’s only seen in a recreational context where they use some slightly marginalized, perverse catchphrase like ‘hippies’ or ‘dirty hippies’ or something like that, and use that as a way to blame and shame people for seeking relief, and even worse- to claim that the results they’re bringing back are invalid, I think that’s a crime. I honestly do. If I can bring any of my previous experience and reputation to weigh on the scale of the good that can be caused from this, I’m happy to do it.” Links courtwing.com About Court Wing Court Wing has been a professional in the performance and rehab space for the last 30 years. Coming from a performing arts background, Court served as a live-in apprentice to the US Chief Instructor for Ki-Aikido for five years, going on to win the gold medal for the International Competitors Division in Japan in 2000 and achieving the rank of 3rd degree black belt. After a 14 year career in martial arts, he returned to Acting, getting his BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at Purchase College. At the same time, he was simultaneously pursuing three leading-edge performance certifications. First as an RKC/Strong First kettlebell instructor, eventually going on to be ranked a "Top 10 Instructor" and assisting a closed-course certification of SEAL Team 6 at Virginia Beach. Next he became the first certified CrossFit trainer in NYC, becoming the former co-founder of CrossFit NYC in '04, New York's largest and oldest CF gym. His final certification was as a Z-Health Master Trainer, using the latest interventions in applied neuro-physiology for remarkable improvements in pain, performance, and rehabilitation. He has also served as the principal designer for the UN's Close Protection fitness assessment and preparation program, and has been featured in the New York Time’s Sunday Routine, Men's Fitness, and USA Today. Please visit him online at https://courtwing.com Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews Court Wing: early adopter of kettlebell training, earner of a 3rd degree black belt in Ki-Aikido, first certified CrossFit instructor for the NYC Metro area, first certified Z-Health instructor in New York, and co-founder & co-owner of CrossFit NYC; one of the world's largest CrossFit gyms.  Wing was a recent participant of a psilocybin trial in NYC, studying the effects of psilocybin on (mostly treatment-resistant) major depressive disorder. He talks about his struggles with depression and how reading studies about changes in neuroplasticity and neurogenesis made him wonder if his depression could be alleviated, the measures taken and process surrounding the trials, the concerns over receiving a placebo or the psilocybin not working, and post-trial; the amazing transformation he's gone through and the power of his experience, psilocybin, and intention-setting.  They talk a lot about pain and the ways pain is related to the mind: the concept that depression may be a nociceptive pain, how common back pain may often be somatosensory pain based on emotional trauma creating a neurological link (similar to Grof's COEX system), and the Ki-Aikido phrase: "Your mind is the body made subtle. The body is unrefined mind." How much of pain is emotional, and how much is the body trying to communicate to the mind that a change needs to be made? Notable Quotes “I can see, going in now, the difference that intention makes in what you’re seeking from the session. It’s just astonishing that it’s responsive to intent. ...It’s so mindblowing because you’re not just taking this passively.” “The contrast from before to after made me want to go back and upgrade my scores in those depression assessments because I had no idea how bad it was until it was gone. And it was in less than 8 hours. ...We did a little intention-setting ceremony, and I did a little Shinto type of prayer thing- [an] incantation that I’ve always done since I left Aikido, and they gave it to me and put in this chalice, and I looked down at it, and honestly, I was praying to God or my higher power or the universe (however you want to phrase it). I looked at it and said, ‘I really hope that’s you.’ And it was.” “I had been in recovery from a profound drinking problem for over 17 years, so there’d been significant hesitation on my part to do this, because there’s a lot of cautioning within that framework- you know: ‘there’s no such thing as a chemical solution to a spiritual problem.’ But, what do you do when the chemistry brings you a spiritual experience?” “A false picture has been painted of what’s possible here. And when it’s only seen in a recreational context where they use some slightly marginalized, perverse catchphrase like ‘hippies’ or ‘dirty hippies’ or something like that, and use that as a way to blame and shame people for seeking relief, and even worse- to claim that the results they’re bringing back are invalid, I think that’s a crime. I honestly do. If I can bring any of my previous experience and reputation to weigh on the scale of the good that can be caused from this, I’m happy to do it.” Links courtwing.com About Court Wing Court Wing has been a professional in the performance and rehab space for the last 30 years. Coming from a performing arts background, Court served as a live-in apprentice to the US Chief Instructor for Ki-Aikido for five years, going on to win the gold medal for the International Competitors Division in Japan in 2000 and achieving the rank of 3rd degree black belt. After a 14 year career in martial arts, he returned to Acting, getting his BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at Purchase College. At the same time, he was simultaneously pursuing three leading-edge performance certifications. First as an RKC/Strong First kettlebell instructor, eventually going on to be ranked a "Top 10 Instructor" and assisting a closed-course certification of SEAL Team 6 at Virginia Beach. Next he became the first certified CrossFit trainer in NYC, becoming the former co-founder of CrossFit NYC in '04, New York's largest and oldest CF gym. His final certification was as a Z-Health Master Trainer, using the latest interventions in applied neuro-physiology for remarkable improvements in pain, performance, and rehabilitation. He has also served as the principal designer for the UN's Close Protection fitness assessment and preparation program, and has been featured in the New York Time’s Sunday Routine, Men's Fitness, and USA Today. Please visit him online at https://courtwing.com Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews Court Wing: early adopter of kettlebell training, earner of a 3rd degree black belt in Ki-Aikido, first certified CrossFit instructor for the NYC Metro area, first certified Z-Health instructor in New York, and co-founder & co-owner of CrossFit NYC; one of the world's largest CrossFit gyms.  Wing was a recent participant of a psilocybin trial in NYC, studying the effects of psilocybin on (mostly treatment-resistant) major depressive disorder. He talks about his struggles with depression and how reading studies about changes in neuroplasticity and neurogenesis made him wonder if his depression could be alleviated, the measures taken and process surrounding the trials, the concerns over receiving a placebo or the psilocybin not working, and post-trial; the amazing transformation he's gone through and the power of his experience, psilocybin, and intention-setting.  They talk a lot about pain and the ways pain is related to the mind: the concept that depression may be a nociceptive pain, how common back pain may often be somatosensory pain based on emotional trauma creating a neurological link (similar to Grof's COEX system), and the Ki-Aikido phrase: "Your mind is the body made subtle. The body is unrefined mind." How much of pain is emotional, and how much is the body trying to communicate to the mind that a change needs to be made? Notable Quotes “I can see, going in now, the difference that intention makes in what you’re seeking from the session. It’s just astonishing that it’s responsive to intent. ...It’s so mindblowing because you’re not just taking this passively.” “The contrast from before to after made me want to go back and upgrade my scores in those depression assessments because I had no idea how bad it was until it was gone. And it was in less than 8 hours. ...We did a little intention-setting ceremony, and I did a little Shinto type of prayer thing- [an] incantation that I’ve always done since I left Aikido, and they gave it to me and put in this chalice, and I looked down at it, and honestly, I was praying to God or my higher power or the universe (however you want to phrase it). I looked at it and said, ‘I really hope that’s you.’ And it was.” “I had been in recovery from a profound drinking problem for over 17 years, so there’d been significant hesitation on my part to do this, because there’s a lot of cautioning within that framework- you know: ‘there’s no such thing as a chemical solution to a spiritual problem.’ But, what do you do when the chemistry brings you a spiritual experience?” “A false picture has been painted of what’s possible here. And when it’s only seen in a recreational context where they use some slightly marginalized, perverse catchphrase like ‘hippies’ or ‘dirty hippies’ or something like that, and use that as a way to blame and shame people for seeking relief, and even worse- to claim that the results they’re bringing back are invalid, I think that’s a crime. I honestly do. If I can bring any of my previous experience and reputation to weigh on the scale of the good that can be caused from this, I’m happy to do it.” Links courtwing.com About Court Wing Court Wing has been training clients and students in fitness and the martial arts for 30 years.  He began his CrossFit training with Nick Nibbler & Dave Werner of CrossFit North in Seattle, the world's first CrossFit affiliate, in late Winter '03 while on a break from the renowned Acting Conservatory at Purchase College in New York, one of the top three Acting Programs in the US. He returned to train with them that summer and earned his CrossFit Level 1 trainer certificate in July '04 (first certification outside of CFHQ), becoming the NYC Metro area's first certified CrossFit instructor. He began doing workouts in the Central Park that Fall and is the Co-Founder & Co-Owner of CrossFit NYC, the world's largest affiliate, as well as New York's oldest & largest. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and talk about recent items in the news, and dive deep into analyzing 2 articles that are very critical of MAPS' involvement with the police, military, and government.  They first discuss Canada-based nonprofit TheraPsil's recent win of four people with incurable cancer being granted the ability to use psilocybin for end-of-life therapy, and how this framework could be copied and used in the US through the Right-to-try act, signed into law in 2018.   They then discuss Dimitri Mugianis's recent article in Salon, which highlighted the long history of psychedelics being used in negative ways, from Vikings presumably using some sort of mushroom to get to a pillaging, "Berserker warrior" mindstate, to the 11th century Nizari Isma'ili State, which reportedly used hashish as a tool for motivation and control, to MKUltra and experiments on Whitey Bulger, to the most recent death of Elijah McLain from a large forced injection of ketamine. And they discuss David Nickles's article in Psymposia, which poses that since MAPS is working to provide treatment to police and soldiers with PTSD, they are essentially in bed with the enemy, and only promoting organizations that create more violence, division, trauma, and PTSD, while treating the perpetrators instead of the victims.  Both articles are critical of MAPS but neglect to see the importance of diplomacy and working to see eye to eye with people in disagreement for the greater good- that yes, these tools can be used against people, but can also be used by people, with immense benefits. Joe reads a comment sent in by listener Danny McCraken, pointing out that "as the saying goes, ‘only Siths deal in absolutes.’" This leads to more discussion: when and how should ketamine be used for submission? Why do healthy, trained cops need to even get to that point? How much of this is just governments trying to make the costs of war cheaper? Why don't more people see things from all sides? Lastly, they remind us that on September 17th, 2 new rounds of (now CE-approved) Navigating Psychedelics will be starting up, and there is a new class for sale developed with Johanna Hilla-Maria Sopanen called "Imagination as Revelation," which focuses on Jungian psychology and how it can be applied to understanding psychedelic experience.   Notable quotes “I remember when we chatted with Dr. Katherine MacLean way, way back when we first got it rolling. Something that she said- ‘it’s almost like a birthright for us to try to prepare for death. And do we have to wait to have some sort of end-of-life illness, or can we start trying to prepare a little bit earlier?’ Just really awesome to see that these 4 patients will be able to have an experience and maybe discover things about themselves during their last time here. So congrats TheraPsil for making that work for these folks.” -Kyle “From the anarchist perspective, this just helps governments, which are typically organizations that have monopolies on power (what anarchists are against, primarily). So any kind of government that’s using tools against people is bad, and these are tools that are being used against people. They’re also being used for people. It’s this weird dichotomy of: these things have such huge healing benefit for so many different types of people, and they can also be used to support things that are against people, like any tool. Like a knife or a gun- it can be used to save a life or take a life.” -Joe  “Is this what we want? Last episode, we talked a lot about decriminalization vs. legalization, and we didn’t really talk about how that contrasts with medicalization. Do we really want these powerful people in groups telling you when you can and cannot take these things? I think the answer is no. We don’t want that. We want autonomy. We want cognitive liberty. We want to not go to jail for this stuff. We want safe access.” -Joe “Essentially, the critique is that MAPS is supporting cops (PTSD) and soldiers (PTSD), and as a result, MAPS is supporting violent organizations that are causing more PTSD, and treating the perpetrators vs. treating the victims. I understand why they would write this article, but I think it’s not done in good taste. I think it’s not necessarily aware of the broader implications of these things coming to market and being prescribable and healing a lot of people. But it is helpful in that it says, ‘Look, cops are doing bad stuff. Military has done bad stuff. Should we be supporting it?’ ...How do we balance those two things? ...I think MAPS is almost at the finish line, so I’m going to cheerlead for MAPS to finish [and] cross the line with MDMA, even though they’re kind of pandering to the militarized people who have a monopoly on violence, both inside and outside of the country.” -Joe Links 4 Palliative Canadians approved for end of life psilocybin therapy BP will slash oil production by 40% and pour billions into green energy Salon: How psychedelic drugs are used as a tool of state violence Psymposia: We Need to Talk About MAPS Supporting The Police, The Military, and Violent White Supremacism Psychedelics Today- Imagination as Revelation: The Psychedelic Experience in the Light of Jungian Psychology   Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics    

In today's episode, Joe speaks with spiritual coach, author, and creator of the upcoming High Together app, John Selby. Selby's most recent book is titled Cannabis for Couples: Enhance Intimacy and Elevate Your Relationship. Selby talks about how he got to where he is today, from signing up for a hypnosis research center at Princeton that turned out to be a secret government NIH psychedelic research center studying if psychedelic states could be induced through hypnosis, to working on the first quantitative EG study of heavy LSD users to determine if it caused permanent damage (that was marred with corrupted data and later found out to have been an MKUltra mind manipulation project), to becoming excommunicated by the Presbyterian church for teaching his youth group yoga and Buddhist meditation, to becoming a therapist, spiritual counselor and author, to his time at Microsoft and Plantronics leading to him wanting to create an app for improving cannabis use. His High Together app (which should be available soon) works in conjunction with his latest book to help cannabis users focus their attention, augment consciousness, and in the case of couples, improve their relationships. Through short guided sessions, statements of intent, and a strong emphasis on breathwork, his goal is to help regular users aim their attention towards more rewarding ventures, and help new users get through their first cannabis experiences safely and enjoyably (some estimate that 10 million boomer couples will try cannabis for the first time within the next 2-3 years). Notable Quotes On leaving Plantronics: “Right when it was time to do the funding and to launch this as their first software product in your headphones, two people on the board- these two old guys- Presbyterian guys- they decided that I was some sort of subterfuge revolutionary trying to undermine American capitalism. And I had to say, ‘I think you’ve got that just about right.’”  On his High Together App: “It’s everything that I’ve found, as a therapist and spiritual guide, that’s really, really effective for helping people to focus their attention in directions that augment higher consciousness. We can either get stoned, or we can get high, and people don’t realize that really, they have the choice.” “Most of the people, they really need help in the basics. It’s very scary for most people. If you’re 60 years old and you’ve never basically let go of control of your ego, it’s like ‘WHOA!’ I’m there to help people make it safely and enjoyably through that first 10 minutes, when you actually have the muse of marijuana come in and say ‘Okay, here we go! Let go- there’s nothing you can do about this, so enjoy the ride.’” “There’s a pretty sober sense of responsibility that we really have a world civilization that can really self destruct if we don’t wake up and act. I think that cannabis and psychedelics are powerful medicines to help us in that direction.” Links Website: mindfullyhigh.com Cannabis for Couples: Enhance Intimacy and Elevate Your Relationship About John Selby John is both a fiction and non-fiction author with over thirty published self-help/meditation books plus eleven feature screenplays and half a dozen novels and 40 published folk-jazz songs. John's most recent book is titled Cannabis for Couples: Enhance Intimacy and Elevate Your Relationship. Over the years he has been a cognitive therapist and spiritual counselor, and conducted NIH brain-research studies examining the inner mechanics of mindfulness meditation. John has taught creative writing and publishing strategies, coached authors in book-project development, and ghostwritten over a dozen books for aspiring authors on a wide variety of themes and genres. He now continues with this satisfying work, while also developing a new app-driven approach to mindfulness training and personality growth. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down to discuss recent topics in the news and analyze the ongoing debate of decriminalization vs. legalization.  They first discuss the story of LSD chemist William Leonard Pickard, who was released from prison on July 27th due mostly to his age, health status and risk for contracting Covid-19, and while it's great that he's out, how it changes nothing about the conspiracy surrounding his arrest ("Halperngate") and the very questionable DEA claims of LSD availability decreasing by 95% after his imprisonment.  They then talk about Denver mushroom grower Kole Milner, who is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and all the complications surrounding state or city legality vs. federal legality, and how anyone in this space should be extremely careful about what personal information they share publicly, regardless of any perceived legal safety.  This leads to a long discussion about decriminalization vs. legalization: the need for more conversation, what the model might look like for the US, what we can learn from Portugal, how Covid-related economic issues might influence things, the "my drug is better than your drug" issue with advertising, the problem with D.A.R.E.'s "scare you straight" model and the need for truth instead of manipulation, and how advertising and corporate profit incentives may come into play- does legality mean that companies will try to convince more people to use these powerful medicines irresponsibly? Notable quotes “It’s a false dichotomy to just say ‘decriminalization vs. legalization.’ As we say, decriminalization doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It can mean something for a municipality or a county or a state but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the case for the feds. And as soon as you’re crossing state lines, that’s when they can be really into it. But realistically, the DEA seems to have plenty of power to do whatever they want.” -Joe “I remember a few years ago, I started making this comment: ‘Oh cool, so you want it to stay illegal so you can have your heady, farm-to-table LSD. Cute, but that’s not really how it works and there’s plenty of people getting hurt as a result of not having these controls in place.’ ...It just takes a couple high schoolers whipping up a shitty lab, or non-safety-oriented people just trying to make a quick buck to get a few people hurt. I want to be a libertarian, but I don’t necessarily trust people’s motives enough to fully be a libertarian. I feel like there needs to be incentive structures in place and regulation in place for a lot of things.” -Joe “I remember them threatening us: ‘If you do this, we will come and arrest you.’ Like, whoa... What if you had somebody that was like, “Hey, psilocybin mushrooms- these were originally used in ceremonial contexts, they had these kinds of safety mechanisms built in place, and this is what’s going on, here are the risks and dangers, this is why you would want to do it in a situation like this, people are using it to find spiritual growth…” And I don’t know, is that more enticing to people? Like, “Oh. I’m really curious!” But at least when they would practice, hopefully, they’d be like, “Oh yea, remember, they told us to do it in this context” instead of being like “This is an illegal thing, we’re going to get arrested so let’s hide and do it in secrecy and not tell anybody about it because the police chief is going to kick down my door and arrest me and tell me I’m a bad person.” -Kyle “Let’s just be fact-based. Like, ‘Ok, here are the laws, here’s where it comes from, here’s the history, here are the pluses and minuses, and here are the legal consequences at this point in time.’ I would just like the facts, you know? I don’t need to be manipulated. Because that’s all I felt it was- a manipulation of the truth and a manipulation of us. This is not science-based policy, and I think a lot of us now want science-based policy.” -Joe Links Breaking: LSD Chemist William Leonard Pickard to be Released From Prison Lucid News: LSD Chemist And Psychedelic Icon William Leonard Pickard To Be Released From Prison Erowid character vault on William Leonard Pickard Erowid's article on Halperngate LSD Use Up 56% Since 2015, According To Study by University of Cincinnati Man Accused of Selling Mushrooms Faces Up to Twenty Years Al Jazeera youtube stream: Are magic mushrooms going mainstream? Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's episode, Kyle interviews Lauren Taus: yoga instructor with 20 years of experience, host of the Inbodied Life podcast, and psychotherapist specializing in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.  Taus talks about growing tired of more traditional therapy and cognitive loops so many people find themselves in through cognitive behavioral therapy leading to her taking a break from therapy altogether, trying psychedelics with her brother, learning of psychedelics being used therapeutically, and coming out of the psychedelic closet to her father (who now works with her).  She speaks about her practice, and the process and importance of building up therapeutic relationships first before introducing any psychedelics.   She discusses how Covid-19, cannabis legalization and the way our culture is set up are all exacerbating mental health issues and the challenges of fighting through that while trying to better partner with disadvantaged communities, the frustrations around the illegality of certain medicines, the power of ketamine, the concept of spiritual bypassing, what she's doing differently during this disconnected time, harm reduction around psychedelics without a therapist nearby, mindfulness, and the importance of touch and dancing. Notable Quotes “Healing happens in relationship, and it happens in relationship with self too. I believe that so many people (and I certainly have been one of them) are walking warzones. The violence that happens inside of an individual heart and mind is far more outrageous than what you’d read in the news, and what you read in the news is a lot. ...With my work, I want to know you, I want to feel you, I want you to feel safe, I want you to feel love, I want you to feel unconditional regard and care. And that doesn’t happen overnight, and that doesn’t happen when you take a pill.” “When I think about what’s happening with cannabis now, there’s essentially white cartels, and there’s cannabis stores on every block of Venice Beach, and people making lots and lots of money on weed. And then there’s so many black and brown people in prison for smoking a joint. And so the inequity there- what kind of reparations can we do? I like to say you can’t bypass the 'fuck you' on your way to forgiveness. And love is big enough to hold the anger and the rage, and there’s appropriate righteous anger that’s due.” “People are struggling to be with what is- to welcome the wildlife that courses through their veins, to sit still with their fear and their sadness, and even their joy. I have so many people who try to crush their joy and celebration because they’re afraid of losing it. And they will- it’s going to shift. But can we be in the big wideness of what it is to be human? And in our inability to do so, we create all these different unique and not-so-unique misguided defense mechanisms. All these mechanisms for evasion- flight strategies. They can look like work, they can look like sex and food and drugs and alcohol and running or even meditation. The intention is what informs it a lot- what are you doing? Are you looking to go in, or are you looking to leave?” “Do your work and remember to play along the way. Joy is an act of resistance.” Links Inbodiedlife.com Instagram Inbodied Life podcast, featuring Kyle About Lauren Taus Lauren Taus graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College at Columbia University in 2004 with a BA in Religion before continuing on to NYU for her Masters in Social Work. Lauren is licensed as a clinical therapist in both New York and California with a specialty in addiction and trauma treatment. As a clinician, Lauren integrates alternative modalities of treatment into her work. She trained with David Emerson under the supervision of Bessel van der Kolk at The Trauma Institute in Boston in trauma sensitive yoga, and she’s trained by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) for MDMA assisted psychotherapy for complex PTSD. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and discuss two news stories emerging from Portland, Oregon- first, paramilitary-like federal agents showing up in unmarked cars and arresting protestors, and second, the beating and pepper-spraying of one of those protestors, Christopher David.  They look at these events from multiple perspectives- what fears are driving the opinions of people who are against these protests? Why does there always seem to be money when it comes to military expenses, but never any money when it comes to the wellbeing of people? How many police officers fully stand behind what they're doing, and how many are simply following orders or deeming certain evils necessary solely to earn their federal pension?  They analyze systems and better ways forward, like considering a bottom-up approach vs. the standard top-down approach or Ken Wilbur's framework of transcending an old system while including all the lessons from it. They also discuss decriminalization vs. legalization and the importance of regulation, and the massive scale of concepts and systems, like how MKUltra needs to be included when discussing the history of psychology. They also discuss telehealth and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and the complications surrounding it right now, from both therapists and clients not wanting to be in an office to the concerns of self-administration at home, to the benefits of self-exploration for those who do feel comfortable and safe engaging on their own. And lastly, they talk about their upcoming Navigating Psychedelics class, which is selling fast and will never be cheaper than it is now. Notable quotes “This is illegal, and people seem to forget that it’s illegal. Even if it’s decriminalized in a locality, doesn’t mean the feds can’t come in and shut you down. And that’s why they call me the party pooper.” -Joe “How many people get into higher systems and institutions with really good intentions [of] wanting to make change, and thinking... “I’m going to change it from the top down.” ...What would a ‘bottom-up’ approach be, and how could we give power back to communities to start to create their own change, instead of thinking that we need to change it from these hierarchical systems? I always come back to Bucky Fuller’s quote about just creating a different system- you don’t change a system by trying to change it, you make a new system that’s obsolete to that old way of being. ...I’m thinking also too, from the somatic lens in therapy- approaching it more cognitively, intellectually- this whole top-down brain approach vs. a body-oriented approach and working with the trauma, working with the body and thinking about, ok, what’s the body? It’s people, it’s communities. How do we start to work that way?” -Kyle “I just prefer to see government funds spent on stuff like the green new deal to save us from climate change. Or health care for all- those kinds of things. Why spend to put people in jail, when we could have, just like with cannabis, taxable revenue. I don’t want to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Just because it’s not equitable, I don’t think that totally excludes the thing. I’d just like to see less people going to jail, less people being harmed by black market drugs, and more clean appropriate drugs available to the people who want them.” -Joe “How do we have the money to send these paramilitary agents in but you didn’t have the money to produce personal protection equipment for hospitals? What’s going on here?” -Kyle Links U.S. Homeland Security confirms three units sent paramilitary officers to Portland Navy veteran beaten and pepper-sprayed by federal agents at protest in Portland Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Kyle speaks with Imperial College London research assistant and past guest, Dr. Malin Vedøy Uthaug, who just earned her doctorate and published her dissertation on Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT research. Uthaug discusses how she started working in this field, why Prague is a good place for research, what past research has led to today, how certain factors could predict whether someone would have a more challenging or more mystical experience, how these experiences can treat people with PTSD differently, what dissociation actually means, the differences between vaporized 5-MeO-DMT and intramuscular 5-MeO-DMT injections and how injections typically lead towards better trauma resolution over the "too much too soon" effects of vaporization. They also talk about reactivation (re-experiencing parts of the 5-MeO-DMT experience at a later time) and why it might happen, how it is different from LSD flashbacks, and how expectations, the experience, and the facilitator all come into play.  They discuss her research and dissertation, which consisted of 2 studies on ayahuasca and 3 on 5-MeO-DMT, focusing on if participants saw improvement in convergent thinking and mental health variables (depression, anxiety and stress), and how her placebo-controlled study revealed that those who received the placebo still saw a marked improvement. This leads to a conclusion that often, context may play a larger role than the medicine- feeling safe and being heard in a ceremonial, community-based setting may be the biggest factor towards healing.  Notable Quotes “Once you make the unconscious conscious, then you can learn from it, and [it’s not] so much about resisting anymore. Carl Jung says, ‘what you resist persists,’ and what I think is happening, especially with PTSD, is that you’re kind of just holding this ball underwater and it’s not allowed to float to the surface.” “You need to feel safe, you need to experience being heard and seen. Psychedelics do help us remember things that we have repressed, but obviously, [they] also make us very vulnerable and things might come up. And having somebody witness that and validate those feelings that are expressed and shown can be incredibly healing for people.” “What we can learn is to learn to sit with difficult emotions and to not push them aside. ...I learned that there is comfort in the discomfort. I learned that you can basically figure out so many things about yourself if you just sit with yourself for a moment and you stay in that uncomfortable silence.” Links The Exploration of Naturalistically used Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT: by Malin Vedøy Uthaug (dissertation) Imperial College London- Centre for Psychedelic Research Her past Psychedelics Today appearance, 3/21/2018 Save a Toad, Exploit a Chemist t-shirt About Dr. Malin Vedøy Uthaug Malin completed her PhD at the department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, at the faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. As part of her PhD, she investigated the short-term and long-term effects of Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT in naturalistic settings, while simultaneously initiating several other studies on the psychedelic substance Mescaline and the breathing practice known as Holotropic Breathwork (HB). Malin is currently working as a Postdoctoral researcher at The Centre for Psychedelic Research, at Imperial College London, led by Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris. Here she is investigating the effects of 5-MeO-DMT on mental health related variables, brain activity and consciousness together with Dr. Christopher Timmermann. Besides being a researcher, Malin is also an editor for the ‘Journal of Psychedelics Studies’, a board member of the American podcast-show known as Psychedelics Today, and the co-founder of the Norwegian Association for Psychedelic Science (Norsk Forening for Psykedelisk Vitenskap [NFPV]) whose main aim is to educate the general public as well as researchers, and mental health practitioners in Norway about psychedelics. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. The Exploration of Naturalistically used Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT: by Malin Vedøy Uthaug (dissertation)  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and talk about various topics in the news and dive deep into somatic psychology.  They first discuss Canadian mushroom life sciences company Cybin Corp's recent collaboration with drug delivery company IntelGenx to create an orally dissolvable film to administer psilocybin in controlled doses. This feels to them like the early days in the expansion of cannabis offerings, and how, for people with difficulty swallowing or pill-phobia, this may be the best option for psilocybin.  Next, they talk about a recent study of 65 U.S. Special Operations Forces veterans who took Ibogaine on day 1 and 5-MeO-DMT on day 3 (with surrounding processing and integration time) and the amazing results, including most participants rating their psychedelic experiences as one of the top five most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Joe brings up a seldom-asked question on whether non-combat veterans should be differentiated from combat veterans in these studies and therapies.  The last article they look at highlights a study where physicians used a new selective‐dose cannabis inhaler to administer microdoses of THC (either .5mg or 1mg) to patients with great results in decreasing pain without affecting cognitive performance. They talk about their experiences with low dose edibles and how they've seen great benefits from tiny amounts.  They then discuss many aspects of Kyle's area of expertise (and often not mentioned in-depth on this podcast), Somatic psychology. They talk about how breathwork and a session with a physical therapist led Kyle to this practice, the concept of character armoring, William Reich's idea of neurosis being represented throughout the entire organism, how the western mind focuses on the material body, trying to fix things, and technique, how the smallest muscle quivering during a breathwork session can show where work needs to be done, and the difficulty people have in discussing the body- how it's almost a secret language only learned through experience or their therapist's suggestive questions on whether they're feeling a certain emotion or even seeing a color. Notable quotes “Thinking about my early years exploring psychedelics, I was so focused on the mind- the experience was outside of me, the knowledge and the wisdom was in the numinous. And that’s where I was going to find all the answers. ...It wasn’t until I had my first breathwork experience, where it was such a somatic experience- where I was feeling the experience in my body vs. externalizing my experience outside of my body and viewing it more as this thing of novelty- of something I’ve never experienced before. Actually having that experience and feeling it within myself, [I realized] I have felt this before, and it’s inside of me.” -Kyle “[Bodywork] just reveals how much is not immediately available in the day-to-day consciousness. There’s so much happening- so much stored in our body that we just don’t even really have a handle on it. ...My favorite line (which, I’m starting to feel like I’m cheating) is: “Mind is, at the very least, diffused throughout the body.” -Joe “As a culture, we’re so body-oriented at times, right? We think about diet, exercise, yoga has turned more into more of an exercise than a lifestyle or practice. ...We’re so focused more on the physical, material body than the emotional body, and that’s something that’s really hard to tap into.” -Kyle “Try not to set out with some of these goals that ‘we need to change this.’ What does it feel like to just maybe feel some of these things?” -Kyle Links Psychedelics For Seniors: A New Sublingual Option Psychedelic Treatment for Trauma-Related Psychological and Cognitive Impairment Among US Special Operations Forces Veterans The pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of a novel selective‐dose cannabis inhaler in patients with chronic pain: A randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial   Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics    

In today’s episode, Joe interviews Author Mike Crowley to talk about his book, Secret Drugs of Buddhism.    

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and talk about various topics in the news. They first discuss Rise Wellness (a company focused on teaching people how to microdose psilocybin)'s recent merger with CannaGlobal and Sansero Life Sciences to become CannaGlobal Wellness, and why many smaller companies are merging, and why Canada may be a hot new destination point for these companies. Joe suggests a new idea of helping people microdose through the use of a transdermal patch.  They talk about psychology today and the idea of no theory being complete without including all perspectives (including psychedelic perspectives), the concept of re-phrasing “what’s wrong with you?” to “what has happened to you?”, a recent student’s theory that schizophrenia may actually be a protection mechanism, Amsterdam-based psilocybin-retreat company Synthesis’ recent $2.75 million funding towards developing an end-to-end professional wellness & therapy platform, and what that means to the community- are these companies focusing on the drug as the crux, or the full therapy picture? Lastly, they talk about the death of Elijah McClain from a 500-milligram injection of ketamine, using thoughts from past guest and regular administrator of ketamine to patients, Dr. Alex Belser. They talk about how ketamine can be necessary, but how it has unfortunately been used as a weapon for chemical restraint against people of color, which brings about larger questions on whether people should be allowed to hurt themselves or not- what role do physicians, therapists and police officers ultimately have in people’s freedom to do what they want with their bodies?  And just as a reminder, Psychedelics Today is currently offering a course developed by Kyle and Dr. Ido Cohen called Psychedelics and The Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia. And the next round of Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Therapists will be starting in September, with a new self-paced option.  Notable Quotes On William James: “As soon as he found out about other states of consciousness other than the normal waking state, he’s saying that no theory for how the world works is complete unless we include all perspectives. So, like, what is the American constitution when you’re on nitrous or on LSD? What is appropriate political idealogy, given all of these things? Essentially, he’s saying that we’re going to keep developing new tools to understand the universe, and every time we have one of these new tools, it kind of expands the scope of what we need in our theories for how the world works. ...Psychedelic states, shamanic states- how do we include that into our worldview to have a complete scientific framework? I think it’s just a never-ending process, and a fun one.” -Joe “Even the people that I’ve worked with [who] are really really struggling, and I’ve seen medication work really well for them at times, I always come back to: ‘what has this person been through? Do they actually have this thing that science and probably psychiatry would label as a disease?’ ...Some of the trauma stuff that’s coming out, the neuroscience, some of the somatics- it’s all kind of merging. And with the help of psychedelics, I’m feeling more optimistic that maybe the field will go into more of a growth, healing-oriented route vs. this pathology [of] ‘sick.’” -Kyle “With these clinics that are popping up- are you exclusively focusing on the psychedelic experience, or are you trying to focus on the therapeutic relationship, the rapport, the container, the trust that’s developed over time, and really developing that relationship with the client? There’s tons of research that suggests that a therapeutic relationship is the one factor in getting better in therapy. So, as money is coming into this space and more of these clinics are popping up, are you creating a center around therapy, and really thinking about how to bring wellness and work with people in this space, or are just focusing it exclusively on the substance, thinking that’s the change?” -Kyle Links CannaGlobal, Sansero Life Sciences and Rise Wellness Merge Synthesis Raises US$2.75M to Develop End-to-End Professional Platform for Psychedelic Wellness & Therapy Alex Belser's thoughts on ketamine as a chemical restraint Is Ketamine the new police weapon against black lives? Psychedelics and The Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's episode, Joe interviews Jesse Gould, founder and president of the Heroic Hearts Project, a nonprofit organization that connects military veterans to ayahuasca retreats, and Keith Abraham, head of the newly created Heroic Hearts UK branch. They discuss the similarities of their military pasts and post-combat struggles, and how they both took part in ayahuasca ceremonies at Peru's La Medicina, where they eventually met. They note the need to create the UK branch came from the realization that UK vets simply weren't getting as much attention as those in the US. They talk about the unlikely allyship of Crispin Blunt, member of Parliament and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentory Group for Drug Policy Reform, the consideration of using psilocybin in future work as a less intense ayahuasca alternative, current microbiome studies and the excitement around new data vs. the "death by survey" complications when working with people in need, and how helpful a military mindset can be in these situations. They share some success stories but talk about how far we need to go in helping veterans come back to society, and how much we'd benefit from a more ceremonial acceptance of the passage from one way of life to another. The corporate 9-5 world can be tough for anyone, but ultimately, finding a purpose and connecting to a community is what's most important toward these veterans reintegrating back to their "pre-army" lives. Notable Quotes “Ayahuasca changed everything. I came out of that jungle a very different person. I wouldn’t say that I had a 400% healing experience, but I had that massive, massive, massive catalyst where I knew that my life had to change. And it has. And from there, in the year since, when I got myself together, I started realizing, ‘you know what? I’m in a good place. How can I introduce UK veterans to the experience that I’ve had, because I see that as vitally important?’ And then I was introduced to Jesse, and it turned out that the organization that I thought I wanted to create had already been created perfectly.” -Keith Abraham “My sons actually in the same unit as I was (in the parachute regiment.) When I left the parachute regiment and went for my ayahuasca experience in Peru, I then came back, and my son was looking at me like, “wait, you’re a grizzly old war veteran, and now you’re talking about, like ‘everything is connected, and love and peace and harmony’ um... this is… strange.’’ He’s gotten really used to it now, but yea, it’s wonderful that these plant medicines can do these things for us. [We have] such strong minds and characters, and this ingrained training as well, but it can be overwhelmed in a good way.” -Keith Abraham “One of the things we teach through Heroic Hearts, especially in the integration process, is: it’s fine to maintain your warrior- that warrior spirit, that warrior soul. But now you need to learn to use that energy and use that strength towards other means. You might be done with the fighting for now, but that doesn’t mean you’re set out to pasture and done with society. There’s a lot of different ways you can use that energy. ...How can you continue to be a warrior, just on a different trajectory?” -Jesse Gould Links Heroic Hearts Project Website Heroic Hearts Project UK Website Heroic Hearts Facebook group Heroic Hearts Twitter Heroic Hearts Instagram La Medicina Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook  or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. About Jesse Gould Jesse Gould is Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans. After being deployed in Afghanistan three times, he founded the Heroic Hearts Project in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. The Heroic Hearts Project has raised over $150,000 in scholarships from donors including Dr. Bronner’s and partnered with the world’s leading ayahuasca treatment centers, as well as sponsoring psychiatric applications with the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Georgia. Jesse helps shape treatment programs and spreads awareness of plant medicine as a therapeutic method. He has spoken globally about psychedelics and mental health, and received accolades including being recognized as one of the Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2020 by Cause Artist. Driven by a mission to help military veterans struggling with mental trauma, he is best known for his own inspiring battle with PTSD and his recovery through ayahuasca therapy. Jesse’s work can be seen and heard at NY Times, Breaking Convention, San Francisco Psychedelic Liberty Summit, People of Purchase, The Freq, Psychedelics Today Podcast, Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, Cause Artist, WAMU 88.5 and The GrowthOp. About Keith Abraham Keith Abraham served 9 years as a member of The Parachute Regiment, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout the latter years of his military service and during this time working for an investment bank, Keith began experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety and depression. After exhausting the majority of services and options offered by the NHS and military charities without much success, Keith realized a new approach was needed. His profound experiences with ayahuasca and psilocybin convinced him of the vital role plant medicines have to offer those suffering from PTSD, brain injuries and mental ill-health.  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and talk about various topics in the news. They first discuss the duality of how Covid-19 affects different people, and how much of a privilege it is to be able to reconnect with family in new ways and use this time to grow spiritually while so many are out of work and struggling to get by.  They discuss a recent tweet from @Shroomstreet concerning psychedelic stocks and the money being invested in this emerging market, and concerns that some of these unknown companies could be fake or following the “exit scam” model of holding onto investor money and then closing up shop. How many of these companies are in it for the right reasons, and what does this all mean on a grand scale? They talk about recent reports of psychedelic retreats in excess of $10,000 and the various aspects surrounding these prices, from the cost of education and the need for physicians and therapists to make a living while helping others, to the idea of “pay what you can” and taking a hit financially if it means helping the local community or those really in need without the finances to be able to participate in these retreats. Is pastoral counseling or group therapy the best way to help the most people?  And lastly, they talk about Oregon’s progress in getting legal psilocybin therapy on the ballot in November and the benefits of legality, most importantly towards the ability to report abusive sitters under a framework that would completely remove them from this field. Notable quotes “The Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm is just so focused on the how- on the mechanics of ‘how does a psychedelic work? Oh, ok, it can treat this. How does it treat this?’ vs. thinking about the idea of final cause and thinking about the why- why do these things exist? What is its purpose, and what is the potential implication here, on a bigger level, than just thinking about this how and thinking ‘this thing does this thing and that’s all we’re really worried about,’ not thinking about that overarching why- like, what is the purpose here?” -Kyle “I think everybody really should be able to access healing eventually. I think people shouldn’t be starving to death either, but people are still starving to death. I remember Kwasi (Adusei, in Solidarity Fridays week 10) at one point was like, ‘should we bring psychedelics to minority communities for healing?’ Well, why not bring regular mental health services first? Let’s start with clean water, as opposed to ‘let’s give them a road that they didn’t want.’ What’s the cheapest, lowest-hanging fruit that’s going to give the best reward?” -Joe “Education programs probably would be really helpful. And I think that’s how we fit in. It’s a philosophy thing that could be helpful for both recreationalists and people providing therapeutic experiences, and the experiencers themselves too. It helps to have some education before you go to see God.” -Joe “I think states should be experimenting with different ways of going forward. Yes, I want everything to be decriminalized- I want everything to be legal, really- personally. I don’t think therapeutic use should be the only use-case. But it’s certainly a lot better than what we’ve got now.” -Joe Links Shroomstreet's tweet: Why do you think Psychedelic stocks continue to bleed? Regulated psychedelic mushrooms are one step closer to being on the ballet in Oregon in November Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe speaks with Peter Hendricks, Ph.D. and Associate Professor at the University of Alabama, currently involved in researching the effects of psilocybin on people dealing with cocaine-related substance use disorder.  He discusses the details of the pilot trial (following the Johns Hopkins model, with music created by Bill Richards), some early findings and speculations, what music might work best for these sessions, how excited he is to bring these findings to the criminal justice system, and how religion and tribalism come into play when looking at what people get out of these psychedelic experiences. Hendricks points out that while psilocybin is currently being researched as a treatment for tobacco use (by Matthew Johnson at Johns Hopkins) and alcohol use (by Michael Bogenschutz at NYU), this is the first large study with cocaine and could lead to the first medication for major stimulants. And while there have been many studies on psilocybin in general, they’ve rarely been focused on the people he’s working with, who are often poorer, less educated, often out of work, and usually struggling more than those typically involved in these studies. They also talk about what research of the past has given us data-wise, and how inspirational it has been to the work being done today.  Notable Quotes “The participants in our trial- they haven’t read Michael Pollan’s book or others. They’re not in the know. I’ll have to explain to them what the drug is, and the common reaction is, ‘uhh, so you’re going to help me stop getting high by getting me high?’ and I’ll try to explain how the drug might differ from others, from more addictive drugs like cocaine. And as we know, it’s an ineffable experience- it’s a difficult experience to put to words…. I’m honored and I have admiration for our participants because they have the courage to dive into this study conducted at a University by people they’ve never met. It can be a very frightening experience and they say, ‘you know what, I’ve tried everything. At this point, I’m desperate, let’s give it a try.’ I probably couldn’t overstate how much courage it takes for them to do what they do. I don’t know that I could do it myself.”  “I think for most of the world’s fates, the tenants are that we’re all in this together, and we’re bound by love. And that really might be the message that most people get from psychedelics, but similar to religion, sometimes that message is perverted a bit and what you take from it is, ‘my in-group is what’s most important and I’m going to act to preserve my own tribe, even if it means treating others in an awful, inhumane way…’ Sometimes experiences that are really meant to foster a connection with everybody can go haywire and we have to be aware of that” “One criticism of some of the studies conducted so far has been, how do we know that psilocybin might have these effects on a sample that isn’t all college-educated or doctorates or who are Professors at Universities who make more than 100,000 dollars per year and live comfortably? How do we know that this experience would have any meaning to somebody who’s making less than 10,000 per year, who has a fifth-grade education, who’s unemployed and homeless? I think in large part, this study might answer that question. If we find an effect, then we can say it appears to also have an effect among those who look different and whose life circumstances are much different than some of the earlier participants.” Links Twitter Heffter Research Institute Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics About Peter Hendricks PhD Dr. Hendricks received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of South Florida and completed a post-doctoral Fellowship in Drug Abuse Treatment and Services Research at the University of California, San Francisco. His research centers on the development of novel and potentially more effective treatments for substance dependence, with specific areas of focus on tobacco, cocaine, and polysubstance dependence in vulnerable populations.

In today’s Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down to talk about topics in the news including Mindmed’s phase one research into DMT, the intricacies of intravenous or infusion-pump administration, the potential clinical application of DMT, and whether or not mainstream science is ready to handle some transpersonal phenomena like entity encounters that sometimes occur during DMT experiences. They also discuss the projections for the psychedelic drug market and the intentions of the companies entering this space, and a recent tweet from the Drug Policy Alliance discussing how the war on drugs is a tool of racial oppression.  They dive deep into the war on drugs and racial oppression by discussing how sentencing for crack-cocaine is much harsher than cocaine (while basically the same drug), how NYC’s “stop-and-frisk” program was essentially put in place to put people in jail for cannabis possession, and how Breonna Taylor never would have died if police weren’t looking for drugs. They discuss the tragedy of Elijah McClain and what purpose a lot of police activity really serves, while looking at the “protect ourselves first” fraternity mentality that a lot of these power organizations have and how difficult it can be for a good person to become a whistleblower in those situations.  They also talk about revisiting philosophy through Lenny Gibson and how beneficial it has been to explore that world as more mature people and see connections to psychology, as well as learning the limitations of scientific explanations when dealing with deep, transpersonal experiences.Lastly, they mention their excitement in participating in the re-scheduled Philosophy of Psychedelics conference coming up next year in England. Notable quotes “I stopped doing research on near-death experiences at some point, where I was just like, ‘I’m sick of reading about [how] these are just physiological reflexes and responses within the brain, maybe the lack of oxygen, or all the different neurochemistry that’s going on within the brain at the time of dying…’ There’s something so interesting about that experience, that no matter how much mechanistic information I have, there’s still something there that eats at me… kind of like this lore… the lore of beauty and life kind of unfolding. It’s oriented towards growth and beauty, and I guess that’s what some of these experiences have really taught me- and it is that lore to grow, evolve, and move towards something. And I think when I try to put some sort of biological explanation to it, it almost halts that and says ‘that experience doesn’t really mean that much.’” -Kyle “Science has limited capacity to help people with meaning-making.” -Joe “Do we have enough spiritual literacy? Do we have an inclusive enough cosmology to handle all of these cases? ...Are psychologists willing to call in an exorcist of some kind? Or some sort of priest [who] can handle this kind of thing? …I tend to think shareholders might be a little creeped out if publicly traded companies are talking about spirits and entities. Are we ready for that?” -Joe “What does it mean that you have to put somebody in prison for 10 years for a non-violent offense, as a cop? Like, you pulled someone over, you found some drugs in their car, and now they go to prison. And their life is essentially ruined. And you made the decision to become a police officer and uphold laws. Like, can you sit with that and be ok with that, as an individual? Why do you think drugs are so bad that locking another person up in a cage for years and years and years is ok? …[They say], ’because they have meth or fentanyl, they are the most dangerous people out there!’ What about the rapists and murderers? What about drunk drivers that could kill 20 kids in one night? Why are you spending time on drug offenses when there are rapists out there? There are tons of untested rape kids at all these police departments across the country.”- Joe Links NeonMind Files Patent Application for Therapeutic Use of DMT Philosophy of Psychedelics conference MindMed investigating potential benefits of DMT in upcoming Phase 1 clinical trial collaboration Psychedelic Drugs Market Projected to Reach $6.85 Billion by 2027 Drug Policy Alliance's tweet about the drug war Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies Jon Krakauer's "Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town" 2 Million People Want Justice For Elijah McClain And His Story Is Gut-Wrenching Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In this episode, Joe speaks with award-winning musician, producer, transpersonal guide, shamanic practitioner, and certified graduate of Grof Transpersonal Training, Byron Metcalf.  They discuss Metcalf’s path from being a Nashville-based studio musician (who played on Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”) to a “midlife correction” of taking a class with Stan Grof and Jacquelyn Small leading to him discovering holotropic breathwork: a whole new world he had never seen before that perfectly suited his musical mind.  They discuss how Metcalf works with music- from recording and producing to making mixes for sessions, how different types of music work better for different types of sessions, and how important it is to think about the flow of a mix and the transitions and mixing between songs in how it relates to the journey of the people listening- when does up-tempo music work best in comparison to more heart-centered, emotional music? When is more shamanic, percussion-based music more appropriate? He also talks about the effect of people’s projections in these sessions and a funny story of when he thought he heard Christmas music during a session, using Spotify for session music, streaming vs. downloading, 320kbps vs. 24-bit recordings, creating music sober vs. under the influence, the effectiveness of binaural beats, and co-creating retreats with clients to fit their custom personal and musical needs.   Notable Quotes “It just… changed my life. I mean, literally, just like, ‘what is this? How is this even possible to just do some deep breathing and listen to this incredible music?’ ...What it reminded me of was a psychedelic experience. And so I immediately saw the potential in it… And of course… how that model uses music was kind of just a perfect fit for me.” “You’re doing your own work. The best healers or the best facilitators, therapists, whatever- are the ones who really have done their own work, and in fact, I don’t trust anyone [who] hasn’t.” “I was really fortunate that Stan would enlist me to do music sometimes at these bigger events- the Insight and Opening where Stan and Jack Kornfield would combine the holotropic breathwork with Vipassana meditation for a week. And it was groups of 200, and so you got 100 people breathing at one time and it’s [a] pretty fantastic energy field as you could imagine. And just seeing- observing what happens for people and to people and through people, still- when I think about it and start describing some of the things that I’ve witnessed and observed and experienced, it almost sounds like [I’m] making this stuff up… It’s like trying to explain a psychedelic experience to someone that’s never had it before… There’s no way you can really convey that. So it has to be experienced.”  “There’s something higher, bigger- that’s at work here that we want to make contact with and surrender to. So that’s the goal. And sometimes if people are projecting on the music, not liking the music- sometimes changing it would be good. Other times, not. Because maybe it is bringing up a great piece for them. And [they say] “I don’t like this! I don’t like this!” Of course that’s projecting onto the music. What’s going on underneath that?” Links http://byronmetcalf.com/ http://holoshamanicstrategies.org/ http://byronmetcalf.bandcamp.com/ Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics  

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and talk about topics in the news including what psychedelic companies owe to the community (both indigenous people and the underground psychedelic world), psilocybin-like drug alternatives for treating depression and the many reasons newer companies are trying to remove the psychedelic part of the medicine, and Dennis McKenna’s recent appointing to New Wave Holdings’ psychedelic research advisory board and what that says about the current climate of corporations moving into this space. They discuss the dangers of “sponsored content”-like corporate messages, the malleability of laws and power of lobbyists and interest groups, and how manipulation is faster and quieter than ever before, while many big decisions are being made by people crippled from decades of unseen cultural baggage. And why are companies trying to remove the psychedelic side of medicine? Is it solely for profit, or could it be because there are so many in need that streamlining the process or using these medicines differently than we’re used to in this space would be beneficial to the most people? Lastly, they talk about the importance of making the right connections and having the right arguments and really asking yourself what you’re trying to do when engaging with those who disagree with you- are you just trying to be right, or are you trying to make a change? Additionally, Joe shares an important harm reduction story and tip, and gives the news that Psychedelics Today recently surpassed 1 million downloads. Thank you for the support! Quotes “Is the only box you can fit in, like ‘I want a career, a home and a family’? And everything else doesn’t matter? Is that it? I think it’s more complicated than that. We’re not just atomic units, like nuclear families. We’re far more interconnected than that, and it’s kind of irresponsible to ignore that.” -Joe “Big businesses end up creating these systems that we all seem to rely on over time and to some extent, I think we appreciate the convenience. If that crumbled, what would our life look like? Could we tolerate living more locally, doing things on a much smaller scale? ...What would that look like in a world where the government didn’t give huge bailouts to these big companies? Our world would drastically change, and could we shift?” -Kyle “Maybe a thing to just keep in the back of our minds when we’re hearing all this stuff about new pharma companies is that pharma is not guaranteed money for these people. Pharma is still a gamble. Unless they really nail it, they could go bankrupt in a couple years, or just have earnings way lower than they hoped for. So it’s big money, it’s big bets, and they’re betting on big returns, so they kind of have to go out on a limb and stay stuff like this. But the fact that Forbes put that out- that psilocybin could be toxic- seems irresponsible to me… To me, this kind of looks like sponsored content. Or it’s just like, ‘how do we get these corporations to talk to us and be comfortable, so we have to promise fluff.’ Or, is this organized propaganda?” -Joe “Some of the people in this space are just getting so nasty that a lot of people are just saying, ‘nah, I’m out, later. I’ll go watch Seinfeld reruns for the next couple years while this shit plays out.’ Are you moving allies away, or are you bringing allies closer to you? Think about that. You want more allies. What’s the best tool? Sweetness. Anger, bitterness, spite- those are things that make people want to go away from you. How effective do you want to be, why do you want to be effective, and what tools are you willing to employ to be effective?” -Joe  Links What Do Psychedelic Medicine Companies Owe to the Community? 2nd Gen Psychedelic Drugs For Depression Can Be Safer For Older Adults New Wave Holdings Corp Appoints Dr. Dennis McKenna to Psychedelic Research Advisory Board Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics    

In this episode, Joe Interviews Dosed filmmakers Tyler Chandler and Nick Meyers, as well as the subject of their documentary, Adrianne.  Show Notes Nick and Tyler tell the story of how they went from really knowing very little about the psychedelic healing movement to becoming advocates solely from a panicked call from Adrianne. Adrianne speaks of her journey from opiate addiction and severe depression to trying mushrooms and eventually learning she needed Iboga and a community around her to really fight her way out of a life she no longer wanted to live. They touch on the costs of Iboga compared to other rehabilitation methods, the often glazed-over dangers of Iboga, the effectiveness of psilocybin against opioid withdrawal, anxiety in the western world, holotropic breathwork as a safer method towards healing, the power of the Pixar movie, Inside Out, and why it would be beneficial for young viewers to watch Dosed. Resources www.dosedmovie.com Notable Quotes “I have gotten sober and detoxed many, many, many times and not stayed sober, so obviously while the physical withdrawals are completely excruciating and definitely a big barrier to getting sober, there’s really something more to recovery than that, and that’s that kind of spiritual experience or awakening. And the psychedelic component is really important to that and I feel like that’s what’s contributed to me... not only getting sober but staying sober.” -Adrianne “The real problem is that… people are forced to make these decisions and take these risks because something that has been known for 40 years to have this wonderful effect on opioid addicts is somehow something that nobody knows about and isn’t legalized.” -Nick Meyers “No matter how you choose to recover or what you do to get sober and stay sober, having a community around you and staying connected with people is so, so important.” -Adrianne “I definitely had a lot of discomfort just learning to… be still or be with myself and not have an escape. That’s part of recovery and it’s very uncomfortable. It takes time to get used to that. I was always used to having some kind of coping mechanism that took me out of myself, that just helped me not feel uncomfortable or whatever negative feeling I was feeling. So that’s always a challenge and there’s no shortcuts to that- you do have to just learn to be in your body and feel feelings, which I did not like very much. But, you know, it gets easier over time.” -Adrianne “Everybody is so scared of just saying... ‘this is something that teens should do’ because nobody wants to have anything bad happen and then have it get traced back to them. But look at the realities of what teens are going through with... the rampant alcohol and other drugs, and… vaping and smoking and all the other vices- prescription medications, everything that’s available. And there’s like, no guidance, no supervision a lot of the time… What we’re doing right now isn’t working. Can I dare say it? It would be better if there were rites of passage with psychedelics in controlled settings with proper set, setting and dose with young people, because it really helps you recontextualize and reframe things in your mind.” -Nick Meyers About Dosed After many years of prescription medications failed her, a suicidal woman turns to underground healers to try and overcome her depression, anxiety, and opioid addiction with illegal psychedelic medicine such as magic mushrooms and iboga. Adrianne’s first dose of psilocybin mushrooms catapulted her into an unexpected world of healing where plant medicines are redefining our understanding of mental health and addiction.   Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community.

In today's Solidarity Fridays episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and discuss topics in the media including the usefulness of brain activity scans and the idea that “brain does not equal mind,” how language can shift the social narrative to or away from stigma when describing substance use, and psilocybin testing in mice and when we might see psilocybin start being prescribed. They spend a lot of time on the questions everyone is asking right now- what changes can we make that will help the most people and give the oppressed what they need? What tangible changes do the oppressed actually want? What should the role of police look like, either compared to or in conjunction with social work or therapy? They look at these questions with hope, but through a realistic lens- disasters, illness and even global warming always affects the poor and oppressed more than those in power. And historically, people have always shown a natural tendency to want to hold others down. What is the real purpose behind what those in power do (for example, outlawing encrypted texting or arresting someone for doing drugs)? Are they trying to encourage only specific conversations they’re comfortable with?  Quotes So what really can we do, and what specifically can those with white privilege do? The answer there is to find where your voice is most effective, and to have those tough conversations. “Find those inarguable points. Don’t let the media steer your narrative. Major media outlets want you to talk about certain things. Don’t do that. Find out what you think is most important and most helpful to discuss with the people you’re around. Where do you have the most influence?” -Joe  “How can we... shift the narrative there to help people heal instead of… putting them in this lifelong box of ‘you’ll never heal from this because you have this disorder and this disease’? I’m always on the side of healing [rather] than trying to completely pathologize experiences.” -Kyle “It sounds nice to say that we want to eliminate violence, we want to eliminate racism, we want to eliminate rape- all these really bad things. But how long have those things been with us? At least 14,000 years, I think. What’s it going to really take to totally reprogram the human genome- the human mind- to transition to this ideal? Is it possible? I don’t know... I want to see these police held accountable, I want to see… criminals in the government go to jail. But it’s kind of the nature of these institutions. They have this monopoly on violence that was granted to them a long time ago, and there’s no real recourse. They’ve got way bigger budgets than any of us as individuals or gangs have, much more training, much better gear… I don’t totally see a great path out.” -Joe Links Studies of Brain Activity Aren't as Useful as Scientists Thought Language Matters in the Recovery Movement Interview: Adam Halberstadt, UC San Diego Protests Drive DC Psychedelics Decriminalization Signatures As Activists Launch Major Mailer Campaign Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics    

In this episode, Joe speaks with Mark Plotkin, Ph.D., author of The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know, and President and co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT). Plotkin talks about studying under Richard Evans Schultes (“the father of ethnobotany”), biocultural conservation (the main point of the ACT), Covid-19 and the possibilities for cures in the Amazon, how ayahuasca news can always be viewed as both good and bad, how indigenous people often know much more about their environment and plant medicines than we realize, and how not all ayahuasca is created equal. They mostly talk about the purpose of the ACT- using ethnographic mapping to help indigenous people take control of and protect their own land from their government and mining or logging interests, all while trying to bring a focus on respecting and protecting the environment, culture, and traditions encompassing the Amazon and its many people. “The race is on. Protect the forests, protect the shamans, protect the frogs, protect the plants, protect the fungi, and let’s learn what these people know before that knowledge disappears because the knowledge is disappearing much faster than the forest itself.” Resources: www.markplotkin.com www.amazonteam.org www.psychedelicexperience.net (essentially a Yelp! for the psychedelic world) Notable Quotes: On the ACT: “When we set up the Amazon Conservation team about 25 years ago, the idea was that you had groups like the World Wildlife Fund (where I had been working) that was focused on protecting rainforests, and you had groups like Cultural Survival that was focused on protecting indigenous culture, but they really didn’t talk to each other. And so we wanted to help create a discipline now known as Biocultural Conservation because those of us who work with indigenous cultures (whether it’s in the far north of Canada or it’s in the Amazon) know that there is an inextricable link between traditional shamanic cultures and their environment. And nobody was addressing that.” “There’s a great saying… that the rainforest holds answers to questions we haven’t even asked. So who knows if the answer to Covid-19 or SARs or the next virus which is coming at some point is in the Amazon, and the answer is- nobody knows, and nobody’s really looking for it. So why not protect this treasure, steward it better, look for these answers, and keep the earth a rich and wonderful place?” “The medical office of the future, if we get it right, is going to have a physician... a nutritionist... a pet therapist... a music therapist... a dietitian... a shaman... a massage therapist. Because there’s no one person and one way that’s going to embody all aspects of healing at the same time.” “We all go to the grocery [store and ask]: ‘I want to buy organic stuff.’ How come nobody ever asks where the ayahuasca comes from? Is it harvested sustainably? Was it grown organically? You know how many times I’ve been asked that question? Never. If we’re having raised consciousness, why the hell aren’t we asking these questions? So my challenge to all of our like-minded colleagues is: Let’s make sure we’re getting this from a sustainable source. Let’s make sure it’s being replanted when it’s harvested. Let’s make sure it’s benefiting tribal communities or peasant communities that are respectful of nature and shamanic processes and things like that because I don’t understand why anybody would go to the grocery store and want to get organic grapes but will buy ayahuasca off the internet without knowing where it came from.” “The shamans often say everything is connected, which sounds sort of trite- this “butterfly effect.” But here’s proof of that. This whole terrible pandemic is due to our lack of respect for nature.” “It’s not nice to screw mother nature either, because, you know, mother nature always wins. And thinking that we can get away with this and make a few bucks or eat a few weird dishes and not pay the ultimate price is foolish… It’s us [who are] following our nests... abusing indigenous cultures... abusing forests… and mother nature is ultimately going to have her revenge.” About Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D. Dr. Mark Plotkin is a renowned ethnobotanist who has studied traditional indigenous plant use with elder shamans (traditional healers) of Central and South America for much of the past 30 years. As an ethnobotanist—a scientist who studies how, and why, societies have come to use plants for different purposes—Dr. Plotkin carried out the majority of his research with the Trio Indians of southern Suriname, a small rainforest country in northeastern South America, but has also worked with elder shamans from Mexico to Brazil. Dr. Plotkin has a long history of work with other organizations to promote conservation and awareness of our natural world, having served as Research Associate in Ethnobotanical Conservation at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University; Director of Plant Conservation at the World Wildlife Fund; Vice President of Conservation International; and Research Associate at the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Plotkin is now President and Board member of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), a nonprofit organization he co-founded with his fellow conservationist and wife, Liliana Madrigal in 1996, now enjoying over 20 years of successes dedicated to protecting the biological and cultural diversity of the Amazon. ACT has been a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Roll of Honour since 2002, and was recognized as using “Best Practices Using Indigenous Knowledge” by UNESCO, the United Nation’s cultural organization.  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays Episode, Kyle and Joe interview Kwasi Adusei, Nurse Practitioner, and board member of Psychedelics Today. In the show, they talk about the root of protesting, privilege, the country’s leadership, the importance of this conversation and ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Show Notes About Kwasi It's difficult for all groups of people to talk about, not everybody is coming from the same place on this topic Kwasi says it's wonderful to see so many people rising up to fight against injustice These things have been happening for a long time, and it speaks to the history in America Kwasi grew up in The Bronx, and it wasn't uncommon to hear about deaths, gun violence, etc Kwasi went to receive his Doctorate, but reflects on his time in middle school and barely graduating It wasn't because of him and his willingness to learn, it was because of his environment The high school he went to is now shut down because of the low graduation rates The Perfect Storm Kyle says he wonders why this time in particular, why this is impacting the nation and the world more than anything else going on Kwasi sees it as a two part thing, it's a snowball effect, the anger around these instances continue to grow The other part of it, has a lot to do with the Coronavirus, people are losing their jobs, having trouble paying rent, feeding their family, etc They are losing their outlets to grieve, and they go through it for weeks Then something like this happens and it results in rage  Making the Right Statement It's important to look to the family of George Floyd, they are angry at the violence coming out of the protests Some people believe that the anger that people are showing when damaging property, is causing the same anger when lives are lost But some people are capitalizing on chaos, burning buildings and bringing destruction, and it takes away from the message of changing the systemic issues, it perpetuates it It brings the spotlight to those who are inviting hate by graffiti-ing, lighting buildings on fire, ec The conversation needs to prove that protests are making a statement  Poor Leadership We have a President that is enforcing law and order to remove peaceful protesters in a violent way The leadership we have is very important, how crisis is approached is really important “How [as a leader] do you calm the nerves of people, while getting to the root of the problem?” - Kwasi We have a lot of people that support Drumpf, and he doesn't do the best job at leading and supporting the country in a respectful way, especially in these times Joe mentioned videos out there of undercover cops breaking windows that are ‘bait’ to bring in stronger forces to shut down the protests “We should all be asking ourselves, if I care about the messaging, how do I use my sphere of influence to change things?” - Kwasi There are so many roots to this problem How much are we using to fund the police force versus funding education, community services, public health?  How to Support  Joe says this platform (Psychedelics Today) is to create a space for people to give back, have an impact, share stories and support movements like this Kwasi says to look locally to give your time, money and support He says look to get involved in local elections, making a small difference in your local community, makes a difference on the larger scale when multiplied Stay informed for yourself and share that information with everyone else People are thinking heavily right now “where are my tax dollars being spent?” Instead of extra funding to the local police force, you can vote for that increase to go toward something else like education  Having the Conversation Our voice is our vote Many people who listen to the Psychedelics Today podcast are probably privileged The psychedelic movement is (and if not, should be) connected to so many other movements like BLM Psychedelics Today is mainly about social justice, changing the narrative on drug policy, the drug war, psychedelic exceptionalism and access Kwasi says that for those who have acknowledged their privilege, not to just keep themselves in the pillar of ‘because I support the psychedelic movement and its connected to the BLM movement, I've done enough’ He encourages becoming an ally of the BLM movement, as well as any other movement Privilege Being a spiritual and privileged person, you have even more time to sit and process and think about all of this, especially when it's not affecting you It’s difficult to analyze one’s own privilege Kwasi says he went on a medical mission to Ghana, where he was born Going back and seeing what the lifestyle was like there, it shifted a lot in him to understand his own privilege He had the privilege of coming to America, receiving an education, etc Because of his education, he is asking himself how to give back Making Change through Action If you're going to voice your support, that voice needs follow up with actions Actions like donating to groups, educating yourself on local authority measures, voting, etc Sometimes an organization's agenda isn't always aligned with what the people want Kwasi says that he had a few people randomly venmo him money and it offended him He doesn't want money, he wants change to be made in other ways He says for those looking to help, ask first and see what ways those who have been oppressed want to see the change and be supported “We can all be change makers, and all make a change in this world” - Kwasi Final Thoughts Kwasi wants to bring mental health into communities of people of color He says email him at [email protected] Resources to Support Reading list Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Marie Brown: Inspired by Octavia Butler's explorations of our human relationship to change, Emergent Strategy is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help designed to shape the futures we want to live. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein: Analysis of laws that have maintained and further facilitated racial segregation and inequity Between the World and Me by Ta-nehisi Coates: The biggest concerns of racist American history reframed through personal stories of racial awakening in a letter to his son. Viewing list 13th: An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality. I Am Not Your Negro: Explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. Ways to take action; Donate to victim funds Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: These funds will also go towards the funeral and burial costs along with the counseling and legal expenses for his loved ones. A portion will go towards the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund. Ways to take action; Donate to organizations The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: the NAACP Legal Defense works on advancing the goals of racial justice and equality by protecting those that are most vulnerable in society. Their work includes court cases that work for a fairer justice system, increasing graduation rates among African American students, protecting voters across the nation, and decreasing disproportionate incarceration and sentencing rates. Communities United Against Police Brutality: The Minneapolis organization was created “to deal with police brutality on an ongoing basis.” More information can be found here. Campaign Zero: The organization uses data to inform policy solutions that aim to ends police brutality. Their vision is to create a better world by “limiting police interventions, improving community interactions, and ensuring accountability.” About Kwasi Adusei Kwasi dedicates his work in the psychedelic movement to altering the stigma in mainstream channels by promoting the science, the healing potential of psychedelics, and civic engagement. Kwasi is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and graduated from the University at Buffalo. He is the founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York and project manager for Psychonauts of the World, an initiative to share meaningful psychedelic stories, with the ultimate goal of publishing them in a book as an avenue to raise money for psychedelic research. He is also one of the administrators for the Global Psychedelic Network, a conglomerate of psychedelic groups and individuals from around the world. Born in Ghana and raised in the Bronx, New York, Kwasi hopes to bring psychedelic therapy to communities of color.   Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe speaks with Jacob Curtis a photojournalist at Denver7, a Denver-based ABC affiliate.  Curtis covered Alaska’s marijuana legalization in 2014, and as a photojournalist living in Denver, has been at the forefront of the Decriminalize Denver movement, even providing some of the first broadcasted footage of a local mushroom grow.  Curtis speaks about attending Psychedelic Club meetings and meeting James Casey, wanting to be the person to bring this story to the mainstream, and how these meetings and growing interest from the community were ultimately the incubators for the Decriminalize Denver, and later, Decriminalize Nature and #thankyouplantmedicine movements.  They also discuss the National Psychedelic Club (of which Joe reveals he is now on the Board of Directors), Edward Snowden and the dangers of speaking with the media, and advice for how to protect one’s identity, the Telluride Mushroom Festival and documentaries like “Dosed,” the Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel, new startups in the field like MindMed, the Denver Mushroom Cooperative, MkUltra experiments in Denver, the importance of the #thankyouplantmedicine hashtag, and ultimately, how much Covid-19 has impacted the speed of progress in bringing legalization to the mainstream.  Resources:  www.facebook.com/somasagas   Notable quotes On James Casey: “He was an awesome subject to sort of wrap the story around, and he was the perfect poster child because he had all the right ingredients- he was a veteran, really well-spoken, and just pretty straight-laced.” (9:41) “It is interesting to watch, how the media sort of responds and works with stories that are on the fringes and then move slowly towards the mainstream.  It’s one of those things about our culture- it bends and shifts.  The times change and what was radical 10 years ago is normal now.” (13:51) “We’ve had so many huge events that have taken place in our lifetimes that this kind of seems trivial… it’s not the highest priority anymore after we had the 2000 election, September 11th, the Iraq war.  Those things [psychedelics] aren’t as high on the list of things that we are supposed to be worried about anymore.” (14:45) “I don’t think that we’re going to shy away from talking about psychedelics after a catastrophic virus collapses the world economy.  It’ll be an easy topic.” (15:57) On #thankyouplantmedicine: “I don’t think there was necessarily a hashtag for drug policy reform that has been a conscious effort like that before, so it definitely gained some attention... If anything, it brought people together.  If it didn’t get this big media splash, it definitely helped grow the network.” (53:09) About Jacob Jacob is a photojournalist at Denver7, a Denver-based ABC affiliate.  He has been at the forefront of the Decriminalize Denver movement, even providing some of the first broadcasted footage of a local mushroom grow. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s Episode, Kyle and Joe sit down to talk about Grof Legacy Training, Peyote scarcity, a DMT survey on entities, and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Grof Legacy Training Its based on Stanislav Grof’s research into psychedelic therapy, holotropic breathwork, transpersonal psychology, and spiritual emergencies Dr. Stanislov Grof and his wife just launched this program It’s not just about breathwork His involvement in the Grof transpersonal training program dropped off in the last few years He wasn't allowed to teach breathwork in the GTT model, there wasn't any growth in the company, so a lot of people like Grof left and started their own thing Kyle says this is pretty common with trademarks and protocols Joe says he's very excited about it Kyle says Stan’s work is very important and a lot of the reason Psychedelics Today came to be  Peyote Native American Churches don't have as much access as they need to properly grow Peyote Perhaps, in countries where Peyote isn't illegal, there should be growing of Peyote Native American’s are in a bad spot due to colonialism As insiders, we need to talk about how to use less Peyote “Pick one, plant two” should be the mindset Kyle says, “how do we just respect these sacred medicines?” DMT Survey  Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects 2,561 individuals (mean age 32 years; 77% male) completed an online survey about their single most memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine Senses involved were visual and extra-sensory The most common descriptive labels for the entity were being, guide, spirit, alien and helper 41% of respondents reported fear More than half of those who identify as Atheist before, no longer identified with Atheism after the experience Out of any other method, DMT seems to occasion the most entities  

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Erik Davis, Author of High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. In the show they cover topics on La Chorrera, uncertainty, synchronicities and more.

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s Episode, Kyle and Joe interview Dave McGaughey, Founding Partner of NorthStar. In the show, they talk about NorthStar, Ethics, and the story, “We Will Call It Pala”.  

In today’s episode, Joe and Kyle sit down with Dr. Mike Hart. In the show they talk about Cannabis and Ketamine used as medicine. 3 Key Points: The main uses for Cannabis are for chronic pain and mental health. CBD is really good for people with inflammation. When it comes to any psychedelic/plant medicine therapy, it's all about agency. The power lies within the individual, the therapy and the drug are just tools to help the person obtain the power to heal themselves. Ketamine is a useful treatment for depression. It's instant, a patient can take it and it's effective right away, where typical antidepressants may take 4-6 weeks to kick in. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Dr. Mike Hart He attended Med school on Saba Island Then he came to Ontario where he did his residency 8 months after practicing he started prescribing cannabis He got into cannabis because it's a great alternative to opioids and pain pills, etc. Cannabis The main uses for Cannabis are for chronic pain and mental health CBD is really good for people with inflammation CBD is good for anything with -itis like arthritis, etc THC is found to be much better than CBD for things like sciatica and nerve pain Kyle mentions that when he takes CBD he has flashbacks of ayahuasca dreams/experiences CBD is not psychoactive in that it doesn't get you high Kyle says that people can have spiritual experiences just by breathing, so the CBD is just another vehicle that helps Adding a small amount of THC to CBD isn't going to potentiate it, but there may be an entourage effect that can be a further benefit to a patient Don't use more than 2.5mg of THC with CBD if you don't want psychoactive effects Mike says that some people use CBD isolate, and that's great, but like an egg, it's best not to eat just the egg whites, it's best to eat the whole egg to get all of the benefits So just like eating the whole egg, the best way to get all the benefits of cannabis is to use/consume the whole plant There are definitely situations where using the whole plant is best, and other situations where isolation is best Cannabis and Therapy Anxiety can be treated very well with exposure therapy Exposure therapy is exposing something you're afraid of, and exposing it over and over until its not an anxiety anymore CBD can decrease learned fear PTSD is a learned fear “The people who end up doing the most in life, are the people who have had the most trauma. We need to tell people that their trauma does not define them.” - Mike It's all about personal agency It's not about the drug, its you It's not about therapy, its you The power is in you, its just learning how to harness and use that power Mike says your relationships, your job, and your health are the three most important things to master Going without something makes you more grateful for that thing Ketamine Mike has been prescribing Ketamine for just over a year now It is helpful for mental health and chronic pain Ketamine is really useful for treatment resistant depression He prescribes Ketamine orally He advises his patients to take it in the morning as soon as they wake up on an empty stomach If it is taken that way, they get a psychoactive effect, and he thinks that it is the most effective way Its instant, a patient can take it, and its effective right away, where typical antidepressants may take 4-6 weeks to kick in Links Website Instagram Twitter About Dr. Mike Hart Michael Hart, MD is the medical director and founder at Readytogo Clinic in London, Ontario. Readytogo Clinic focuses on cannabinoid medicine, but also offers family medicine services, IV vitamin therapy and specialized hormone testing. Dr. Hart is a recognized speaker on the topic of cannabis. He has spoken at CME events throughout Ontario, multiple cannabis conferences and has been featured on a variety of cannabis websites. In March of 2017, Dr. Hart released a free Ebook with his co-author Jeremy Kossen. Dr. Hart has seen first hand how the opioid epidemic is affecting our population and wanted to take action by finding a solution. Dr. Hart believes that cannabis is an excellent alternative to opioids and has seen excellent results in his practice. Dr. Hart emphasizes lifestyle changes in his medical practice and follows a low carb diet himself. Dr. Hart actively trains MMA at Adrenaline Training center and follows a comprehensive strength and conditioning program. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s Episode, Kyle and Joe sit down to talk about therapists being unprepared to talk to people taking psychedelics, the drug war and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes MAPS Press Release PRESS RELEASE: Interim Analysis Shows At Least 90% Chance of Statistically Significant Difference in PTSD Symptoms after MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy MAPS hired a third party to work through their data set and they may be getting FDA approval Therapists Are Unprepared to Talk to People About Taking Psychedelics Should there be some sort of body regulating therapist training in integration? Should there be a standardized training? There are going to be good therapists that care, and go out of their way and get the training, and there will be bad therapists, that do harm It's a long and difficult topic Should people be going to jail for being bad therapists? Looking at breathwork, there are training groups, but there isn't one large, overarching group that governs all trainings “Are we acting with integrity if we aren't bringing the utmost safety to the table?” - Joe Group Setting Impact How is COVID going to impact psychedelic tourism? In breathwork, people are potentially coughing, crying, and in general just doing heavy breathing, COVID is super contagious About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview Eamon Armstrong, host of the Podcast, Life is a Festival. In the show, they talk about Eamon’s Iboga experience, the festival culture, rites of passage, ethics and more. 3 Key Points: Eamon Armstrong is the host of Life is a Festival, a podcast promoting a lifestyle of adventure and personal development through the lens of festival culture. Maya is an intelligence platform for psychedelic therapists to manage their clients and their protocols.  Rites of Passage can look different for everybody, they can look like going to Africa to be initiated in an Ibogaine ceremony, to attending Burning Man.  Show Notes About Eamon Eamon is the host of the Podcast, Life is a Festival It's not about festivals, it's about how to make life like a festival Eamon is very passionate about mental wellness After graduating college, he felt very lost He was throwing mushroom tea parties, making electronic music with his friends The key to throwing a mushroom tea party is to have people drink less mushrooms than they think that they're drinking, everyone just thinks they are tripping harder than they were He went to Burning Man in 2010 He started working in social media for Burning Man’s off playa events Psychedelics and harm reduction became core to their editorial voice He worked closely with Psychedelic Peer Support, Zendo, Kosmicare, etc Ibogaine Experience Eamon attended an Iboga retreat in Gabon, Africa, and he says it was more about the retreat than the Iboga He was in the chamber for 5 days, and he was alone in it This retreat was in the Bwiti religion He really went there for a full sledgehammer experience He felt he had some addicted aspects that were hindering his sexual experiences Iboga goes to the root of the trauma and shows you where the addictive pattern of behavior is Iboga has a long integration period Iboga is a root, and he consumed it in a form of a tangled nest He felt very blasted open from the experience Iboga took him directly to his anger “We have in our modern Western Culture, a lot of lost, young people” - Eamon “The value of a rite of passage, is that you are confronted with certain things that you can't get to on your own” - Eamon The fact that you can die in an Iboga experience, is part of the initiation Rites of Passage Burning Man isn't a rite of passage, but it can be used as a rite of passage Burning Man is a temporary experience in civic living, it is not orchestrated by elders There is a growing topic on psychedelic parenting, and taking psychedelics with children Maya Maya is designed in partnership with psychedelic practitioners & ceremony leaders Maya is an intelligence platform for psychedelic therapists to manage their clients and their protocols Ethics in psychedelics are so important right now This does not replace the therapist, it's everything the therapist needs to support their clients in healing “The ecosystem itself will thrive when we are all working in service to each other” - Eamon “If you want to be a part of the cool kids, and the cool kids are doing it ethically, then you have to do it ethically” - Eamon Final Thoughts The soul is the most beautiful thing “Psychedelics as medicine, treat society, beyond individuals” - Eamon Links Eamon Armstrong Website Life is a Festival Facebook Group Maya Maya Health Facebook Page Psychedelic Therapy Podcast Psychedelic Therapy Podcast by Maya Facebook Group About Eamon Armstrong Eamon Armstrong is the creator and host of Life is a Festival, promoting a lifestyle of adventure and personal development through the lens of festival culture. He is the former Creative Director and public face of Chip Conley’s industry-leading online festival guide and community Fest300, where he was a global community builder. Eamon’s belief in the transformational power of psychedelics led him to take part in a traditional Bwiti initiation in Gabon, and to become a trained Sitter with MAP’s Zendo Project. Eamon is a passionate advocate for mature masculinity and offers public talks and workshops from mythopoetic men's work to stand-up comedy on integrating masculinity. Headshot Photo Credit: GBK Photos    Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s Episode, Kyle and Joe sit down with Brett Greene, who was the very first guest on Psychedelics Today four years ago. In response to last week’s episode on the Corporadelic topic, Brett comes on the show to talk about companies and drug discovery. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Brett Greene Brett Greene was the very first guest on Psychedelics Today four years ago Brett and Kyle originally met at the Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics conference in New York City in 2013. He works at The Center for Drug Discovery Drug Development At his new company, they are making drugs from tryptamines that are more predictable His team has not only done this countless of times with the FDA, they have also done it with psychedelics Ethics The psychedelic movement doesn't own psychedelics, they don't own molecules, but they do own their history “We should get away from the right and wrongness of the mechanics, and get into the right and wrongness of the ethics” - Brett “Patents are the language of invention” - Brett “An ethical charter is one that covers cognitive liberty, business ethics, and responsibility and accountability for patient safety” - Brett What are the minimal acceptable requirements when doing this work? Final Thoughts We need to be kind with each other We need to balance truth with kindness and compassion For those interested in a work postiton email [email protected]  About Brett Greene Brett works in research administration under Alexandros Makriyannis, one of the world's top cannabinoid researchers. His job consists of a multitude of functions, ranging from administrative support for a team of 15+ grant submitting scientists to lab equipment and lab management, and diverse recruitment for NIH grants. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Joe interviews Tom and Sheri Eckert, organizers of the Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative. The IP 34 is the bill that would legalize psilocybin therapy. 3 Key Points: IP 34 asks the Oregon Health Authority to create a licensing system that will create a regulated program where Oregonians suffering from depression, anxiety, trauma and other challenges can see a licensed and trained facilitator to receive supervised psilocybin therapy. IP 34 was written by licensed therapists in Oregon along with the country’s leading advocates in the field. It is supported by healthcare professionals, treatment providers, veterans’ groups and community leaders across the state. There has been a multitude of studies from leading medical research institutions such as Johns Hopkins, UCLA, and NYU showing that psilocybin therapy works. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Tom and Sheri began their interest in psilocybin research about 5 years ago when they read an article in The New Yorker by Michal Pollan They realized how powerful psilocybin was for clinical work They are both therapists, and were inspired to find out if there was a way to create a modality that allowed them to provide psilocybin therapy to help their clients Psilocybin Assisted Psychotherapy Psychotherapy is supposed to be experiential, the breakthrough is where the change happens Sheri says that psilocybin therapy gets all parts of the brain in communication together “The more intense the mystical experience the more clinical outcomes that are achieved” - Tom Ballot Initiative They started in 2015 They wanted the breakthrough studies and the research proving low risks to work for them The psychedelic community was very helpful They went through rotations with the way the initiative was written They like the therapy model, its safe, careful and mindful Clause Joe asks about a Supremacy Clause, where the state supersedes local districts This initiative does not get in the way of any other initiative There are angles on all different types of drug policy reform There is nothing in the IP34 that blocks any other initiative like decriminalization We are all a part of the big picture, we all need to work together GMP Psilocybin They wanted to keep this in the frame of non-commercialization Their goal with this is not about money, it’s really about the healing “We are trying to move forward a healing modality to help people, we are trying to legalize psilocybin assisted psychotherapy” - Tom There is a part in the initiative that says measures will have to be taken to make sure the psilocybin is ‘food grade’ standard or in general just clean and safe Oregonians to Sign the Petition Download the petition, sign it, and mail it in Final Thoughts Sheri says that the team behind the initiative is inspired by what is happening globally around psilocybin and research They are right at the end of their signatures, but they need help to reach the goal “We've got to see the bigger picture here, and get behind it.” - Tom Links Website About Tom and Sheri Eckert As husband-and-wife founders of the Oregon Psilocybin Society (OPS) and authors of the Psilocybin Service Initiative (PSI), Tom and Sheri Eckert have set in motion a historic campaign to legalize Psilocybin Services, also known as Psilocybin Assisted Therapy, in their home state of Oregon. A growing number of Oregonians are getting behind the idea, largely in response to the latest science. The Eckerts, with a growing army of volunteers, are spreading a truth held increasingly self-evident: that the psilocybin experience, when facilitated under safe and supportive conditions, can be a life-changing gift.In addition to their activism, the Eckert’s own and operate “Innerwork” – a private psychotherapy practice serving the Portland metro area. Included in their catalog of services is their groundbreaking “Better Man” program, which is shown to neutralize intimate partner and family violence. Sheri has been awarded a Cosmic Sister Women of the Psychedelic Renaissance in support of her presentation at the Spirit Plant Medicine conference. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s Episode with Kyle and Joe, they talk mostly about Corpora-delic, companies and wealthy individuals investing in the psychedelic industry. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Psychedelics Company Orthogonal Thinker Closes $6M Seed Round The company is valued at 111 million The CEO, Jason Hobson says, “The current health pandemic has resulted in a societal shift in the way we think about our health and the importance of access to treatment, both physical health and mental health. Ei.Ventures believes this is the right time to lean into mental health issues such as mood disorders and addiction, and eventual access to therapeutic treatments from innovations in botanical compounds that have been around for thousands of years.” Joe and Kyle say that there is so much money coming in, and it worries the psychedelic community because they aren't used to seeing capitalism Joe says that he hopes that some patents don't equate to ruining access Thiel Backs Psychedelic-Drug Startup in Latest Funding Round “Are these companies going to bully the smaller organizations out of existence so that diversity doesn't really exist in the way we think it should?” - Joe Medical is a great model, but it should be reduced to that only Kyle says the sacred-ness feels like it may be taken away, and big companies just look at it as a commodity Medical Researchers Worry Silicon Valley Could Screw Up Psychedelics "Not everyone sees this opportunity for entrepreneurship as a good thing. For researchers looking into the efficacy of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes, these substances are far more than a market opportunity—they’re potentially life-saving medications. And after decades of prohibition, psychedelics are just barely gaining mainstream acceptance.’ - from the article People are bold enough to stand up to companies they don't agree with It's no joke how much money was spent on making Tim Leary look bad DARPA Wants Benefits of Psychedelics but Without Hallucinations The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching a new drug program for treating soldiers with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and drug addiction, and it is drawing inspiration from psychedelic research. Kyle mentions that this is tricky, its both a biochemical and experiential thing Will eliminating the hallucinations ruin the experience? Joe says that there are some people that are so unstable that a psychedelic experience can be really a lot Joe also says that there arent alot of drugs that their use needs to be supervised (medically) and psychedelics are some of them How Climate Justice Could End the Drug War Joe recorded with Erica Darragh from Sunrise Movement Their talk was about how climate justice could end the drug war They talked about more equitable ways of including people of less power, influence or privilege into the world of psychedelics The more ahead we are of the government, the more likely we are to influence policy, Joe says it's best to just stay informed A North Star for the Emerging Psychedelics Industry If we aren't coming from psychedelic values when bringing these substances into the mainstream, then what are we doing? What are psychedelic values? Valuing the planet, valuing your place in the planet, a sense of connection, cooperation vs. competition, how do we honor a lineage or where these medicines come from? these could be some psychedelic values Following the permaculture principles and applying them to life is a great tool for systems thinking About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Joe interviews Amanda Feilding, Founder and Director of The Beckley Foundation. In the show, they cover topics on psychedelic research, policy work, regulation, and the benefits of psychedelics in a time of crisis. 3 Key Points: The Beckley Foundation pioneers psychedelic research to drive evidence-based drug policy reform, founded and directed by Amanda Feilding as a UK-based think-tank and NGO. There is some interesting research happening around LSD expanding the neuroplasticity of the mind and increasing neurogenesis. We are in the midst of a mental health crisis, especially in the West, and psychedelics may be helpful in improving mental health. Show Notes The Beckley Foundation Amanda says she felt alone for a long time, they were taking a scientific approach, and it was much too serious for the underground The Beckley Foundation is doing policy work, medical work, scientific work, etc Amanda has a passion for science, but felt a social responsibility to do the policy work It's a very destructive work with ‘drugs’, because they are all under the same umbrella, but we psychedelic enthusiasts know, that psychedelics are beneficial and different than other drugs Joe mentions he always thought how crazy LSD sentencing is, in some places it is longer than murder charges “The ego is really a mirror of the government, and it can be much too restrictive and damaging” - Amanda LSD LSD increases cognitive function by expanding the networks of integrative centers in the brain Amanda thinks that LSD is better at increasing cognition than mushrooms She says they are doing exciting work with LSD and how it expands neuroplasticity of the mind, and how it increases neurogenesis She thinks we haven't really even scratched the surface of exploring the benefits of these compounds Joe says he is hearing about a lot of athletes using LSD as a performance enhancing drug Neuroplasticity is like when the brain becomes hot metal and it can adapt and change Crisis We have a horrible mental health crisis in the west, 1 in 3 teenage girls are depressed Out of all death causes in the US, air pollution is one of the largest “Our society needs a paradigm shift” - Amanda Amanda says that she doesn't believe that all people need to take psychedelics, but that they can be very beneficial Regulation Joe says he would love to see regulation everywhere The cause of most drug harms are prohibition Portugal and Switzerland are great models for boosting public service Recognizing the potential benefits helps (starting with medical but not stopping there) Final Thoughts We are all moving in the right direction The spreading of knowledge and education is the right path The intuitive gains are the main benefits of these altered states of consciousness Links The Beckley Foundation About Amanda Fielding Amanda Feilding has been called the ‘hidden hand’ behind the renaissance of psychedelic science, and her contribution to global drug policy reform has also been pivotal and widely acknowledged. Amanda was first introduced to LSD in the mid-1960s, at the height of the first wave of scientific research into psychedelics. Impressed by its capacity to initiate mystical states of consciousness and heighten creativity, she quickly recognised its transformative and therapeutic power. Inspired by her experiences, she began studying the mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelic substances and dedicated herself to exploring ways of harnessing their potential to cure sickness and enhance wellbeing. In 1996, Amanda set up The Foundation to Further Consciousness, changing its name to the Beckley Foundation in 1998.   Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In today’s Solidarity Fridays Episode with Kyle and Joe, they talk about current topics in the news including MindMed, psilocybin synthesis, treating climate grief with psychedelics, psychedelic decriminalization and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes MindMed Psychedelic Pharmaceutical Company MindMed Develops LSD Neutralizer Technology To Shorten and Stop LSD Trips MindMed is a psychedelic Pharmaceutical company that is exploring LSD and patenting anything they find during the research Joe comments and says that organizations like Zendo are able to do optimal work and we don't necessarily need a Pharma company to help in recreational/festival settings But in a clinical setting, this is more necessary “Are these big companies coming into the space as allies are not?” - Joe Joe says he thinks they are part of the ecosystem, for better or worse Joe says, imagine if drugs were legal, they would be so much safer Kyle questions what legalization would look like not in a capitalistic market Scientists Turn Yeast into Psychedelic Psilocybin Factories There is a lot of reason why people choose not to play in commodified markets “How do we know what is true? How do we know what is helpful for us?” - Joe Joe says lets not have a quick easy answer "It's infeasible and way too expensive to extract psilocybin from magic mushrooms and the best chemical synthesis methods require expensive and difficult-to-source starting substrates” - a quote from the article Can Psychedelics Treat Climate Grief? 20 years is when it's going to be really bad for climate change It's been more prominent, people getting therapy for trauma of what's happening in nature The question of a conference that Joe and Kyle attended was, “Can extraordinary experiences help save us from planetary, ecological collapse?” We are able to make people feel more connected to ecological systems with psychedelics We have to be able to feel the grief, but we have to be able to act Are we stewards of the earth, or do we want to work pointless jobs and be a part of consumerism? D.C. Would Vote To Decriminalize Psychedelics, Poll Shows If COVID wasn't a thing currently, it looks like decrim would happen in the belly of the beast, in D.C. Despite the public health crisis, its looks like citizens want to reassess entheogenic use “When there is hardship, creativity seems to spike” - Joe Joe says to check out the microdose VR by Android Jones About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle interviews Melissa Stangl and Daniel Cleland, Co-founders of Soltara Healing Center. They talk about integration, Shipibo healing lineage, accessibility of psychedelics, and psychedelic tourism.  3 Key Points: Soltara is a Healing Center dedicated toward  integration as well as practicing and preserving the Shipibo tradition of Ayahusca healing.  It doesn't make sense to take nature based traditions and turn it into instant gratification and business. The further you get from tradition, the less beneficial it may be. Tourism for Ayahuasca can bring both harm and benefits to the local community. Reinforcing the heritage, paying the healers very well and giving back to the forests in terms of sustainability are all ways that Soltara is using Ayahuasca tourism to help the local communities. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Melissa Melissa originally comes from the STEM field She was working in corporate America and was in search for a deeper meaning She met Dan and after joining one of his initial ayahuasca journeys into Peru, it changed her mindset about healing Dan looked for someone to help him after starting up his first ayahuasca center in Peru, and so she dropped everything and moved to the jungle to make it happen After witnessing the healing potential working within the Shipibo tradition, and the need for integration within the community, she later founded Soltara with Dan in Costa Rica About Daniel Daniel grew up in a small town in Canada He followed the typical life trajectory, go to school, go to college, get a job, etc He didn't have big ambitions at the time, very in line with the middle class area that he grew up in After entering the work-force, he was in un-ambitious jobs He thought “are there just 30 years of doing this until this is over?” He felt a strong pull towards South America He was very close to nature in his upbringing He got a job leading tours He had a personal crisis that led him to do some soul searching Within the span of a few years, the trajectory pushed him to build his own healing center in Peru Pillars of Soltara They feel very strongly about having the Shipibo healers lead the ceremony, and everything that they (Mel, Dan and the team) do is to help honor the tradition They focus a lot on integration For the Shipibo culture, their life is integraton, but for a lot of people that are coming from the Western world and other places, that is not the case They started collaborating with clinical psychologists to help create a program that puts the retreat at the start of the program, the work comes after Soltara includes a workbook for integration afterward Our transition times in modern life are shamed, getting your period, having a mid life crisis, having a psychedelic experience, but these experiences can be very sacred “Connecting to the sacredness of life is so healing and so needed for modern-day society” - Melissa Container for Safety and Integration The sensationalism is more around the experience itself People think that you just go in and have the experience and then your life is changed forever and that is not the case A place where people not only can find who they are, but then be who they are in that container, and meet people and create community, is so powerful Kyle said when he attended his retreat there, he can't shake how safe he felt He said it really stood out to him, for someone who is looking at integration and so involved in this field “I would like to bring people to this tradition in a way that is accessible, and I think that starts with safety” - Melissa Corporadelic There are new products, treatment centers, etc The further away you get from tradition, the less beneficial it may be Dan says it doesn't make sense to take nature based traditions for instant gratification, monopoly, and business The ceremony is the healing part, the ayahuasca allows one to connect with the plants, and that it is just the songs in ceremony that really create the healing Melissa says she understands that the science is helping the movement, but she is so afraid that big corporations will just run with this and ruin tradition around it Kyle says during his experience at Soltara, he just felt flooded with gratitude to experience the medicine healing in nature and in the Shipibo culture, where it is natural Ayahuasca Tourism Tourism for Ayahuasca causes harm but also brings benefits to the community too Dan says they are expanding the work, they are not taking away from the traditions It takes a certain capacity to travel to the jungle, speak the language, figure out where to go, how to get there, and how to receive healing is not typically possible for the vast majority of people The Shipibo is receiving really good pay doing this work, which isn't typically possible for the indigenous people This is also reinforcing the heritage, encouraging the children to continue the traditional path Now it’s not only a cultural heritage, it's also a way to make a living for the community members You don't cut down trees to grow ayahuasca, you grow ayahuasca among the trees, so it's protecting the jungle In recent years there has been more information and collective awareness to ask the hard questions, Bia Labate has been on the forefront of this, asking the indigenous leaders the important questions of how to keep Ayahuasca tourism sustainable, beneficial and protected Sustainability They just completed a fundraiser for the Amazon They have been collaborating with Amazon Watch, and they raised over $10,000 They are working to plant new Ayahuasca, not to harvest but just to put back into the jungle Final Thoughts Melissa suggest listeners to watch Reconnect, a movie about a man’s journey to Soltara Links Soltara Website About Melissa Stangl After taking a leap of faith in September 2015 to step out of Corporate America and into the Amazon jungle, Melissa has since used her background in engineering, science, and management to help advance the plant medicine and psychedelic movements – first by helping run a top-rated ayahuasca center in Peru as Operations Manager, and then as Director of Business Development – and now as Founding Partner and COO for Soltara. She is passionate about using her technical, managerial, and problem-solving skills to help bridge the gap between the Western world and the incredible healing potential of plant medicines and holistic health. Melissa is honored to be a part of this project and working with such a high-quality team that understands the importance and sacredness of this work. Her ethos is one of authenticity, professionalism, respect for tradition, transparency, and high-quality service. These mutual tenets are the team’s vision for Soltara as a whole, and she is grateful to take part in creating a space that is a strong conduit for healing, sustainability, and knowledge, empowering each guest to become global beacons for positive change. About Daniel Cleland Daniel Cleland is the Founding Partner/Chairman and CEO of Soltara Healing Center. He is an international entrepreneur, traveller, and author of the book, Pulse of the Jungle: Ayahuasca, Adventures and Social Enterprise in the Amazon. Originating in Walkerton, Ontario, he has spent over a decade globe-trotting and hosting group tours all over Latin America and in the deepest parts of the Amazon to work with traditional indigenous medicine practices. After completing his Master’s of Intercultural and International Communication, Daniel founded the company Pulse Tours, a company operating in Peru which became one of the highest rated shamanic retreat centers in the world before he sold it completely in 2017. He believes in supporting sustainability initiatives around the world, such as a free solar power installation that he spearheaded for an entire village in the Amazon in 2017, and the work being done by Amazon Rainforest Conservancy, a Canadian NGO wherein Daniel sits as a member of the advisory board. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In today’s Solidarity Fridays Episode with Kyle and Joe, they talk about the Shadow Panel, embracing the weird in psychedelia, what is real, re-examining ‘normal’, and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Shadow Panel Topics in the Panel include Ayahuasca retreat centers Maximization culture to use psychedelics for optimization Ketamine therapy and shadow as aspects of character The collective shadow and astrology and much more! Erik Davis Joe and Erik just had a call and they talked about his book High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies (The MIT Press) It is a study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson It's a really nice survey of the weird “Are you acknowledging what you're getting by believing something is true? It's a part of your analysis” Joe says if you're into the weird stuff in psychedelics, this book is for you. If you are only into the clinical stuff, then this is good for you. Kyle says sometimes we don't give enough credit to the weirdness in the psychedelic space Corporadelic is a means of spiritual bypassing The weirdness is core to what the psychedelic experience is What is Real? Psyche means more than just mind When its mind, body, spirit, breath, it seems more accurate It is worth reading Alfred Whitehead and James Fadiman, Philosophy is important We are trying to understand and have helpful language around the psychedelic experience “There are no whole truths, there are only half truths” Kyle said that at the core of our being, how do we know what is true and real? At the fundamental truth of what real is, Kyle says that sitting in the CAT scan machine and being on the brink of death, that's the only place where truth sits for him Psychedelic Liberty Summit Saturday and Sunday April 25th and 26th Receive a discount here This is a psychedelic conference that turned virtual due to COVID-19 Group Work Breathwork, retreat centers, etc are at an undetermined standstill because we don't know how this is going to plan out The Navigating Psychedelics Today Online class has students learn the information first and then come together to talk about it There are so many means of transmission Kyle mentions he read something about COVID being transmitted on the soles of shoes We will probably need additional shelter in place measures all the way until 2022 We are almost hitting 9/11 death toll numbers on a daily basis Re-examining Normal Do we want to go back to the way things were? Or do we want to take this weird/uncertain time and do something with it? The worst of climate change is only a mere 20 years out It's easy to have emotional heartbreak when ecological destruction happens Eco-psychology is a huge field Mind Medicine Australia Australians crippled by anxiety from the coronavirus crisis 'should be treated with MDMA and magic mushrooms', charity claims Final Thoughts Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Therapists, May co-hort is SOLD OUT The wait list for the next co-hort can be found here    Psychedelics and the Shadow: A Series Exploring the Shadow Side of Psychedelia Enroll Today! About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday    

In this episode, Joe interviews Michelle Janikian, Author of Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion. In the show, they talk about Michelle’s book, the need to speak about the unspoken, and how psychedelic experiences differ for everyone. 3 Key Points: Michelle Janikian is Author of the book, Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion, an easy-to-use guide to understanding magic mushrooms, from tips and trips to microdosing and psychedelic therapy. Psychedelics can help people, but they don't solve all problems. Doing the homework after an experience is so important. The psychedelic subculture has a lot of repressed stuff going on like sexual abuse. We need to speak about the things that aren't necessarily good for the movement, we need to talk about all of it.  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Michelle Michelle was originally a cannabis journalist Then she was a staff writer for Herb She then started writing her own book, Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion So much has been happening with mushrooms lately, and Michelle thought we really needed a resource on how to use mushrooms safely Ulysses Press did a few Cannabis books Michelle was approached by them, they wanted to do a mushroom guide She first took mushrooms when she was 17 She took them for fun, but had so many deep and meaningful experiences too Michelle believes there are multiple right ways to use psilocybin, either therapeutically, ceremonially, recreationally, etc. "As long as you're being safe with your surroundings, and with yourself, anyway is the right way (except for the fact that they are still illegal)" - Michelle In places where mushrooms are decriminalized, she mentions it totally changes your comfort level and experience when you're not so afraid to have them on you Retreat Michelle just volunteered as a trip sitter at a week long women's retreat in Mexico at  Luz Eterna Retreats She says she doesn't have all the answers, but the group environment can be really great for some, and not good at all for others She suggests, “do what feels right for you” Routes of Administration There isn't one ideal form of administration across all drugs Joe says one route of administration may be good for one person, and not for another You can powder the mushrooms and put them into capsules, put them on food, eat them plain, make a tea out of them, etc Michelle says she has a great recipe in her book for mushroom tea to prevent nausea Different for Everyone Michelle felt a calling to write the book because she says many other books and publications were coming out, and she didn't want some people to feel upset when psychedelics didn't just ‘heal them’ She says psychedelics help her, but they don't solve all of her problems Doing the homework after an experience is so important The Unspoken She says she feels uninspired to write about the ‘black and white’, the same old, stereotypical narrative She wants to write about the grey, the unexpected, the in-between Michelle asks how do we talk about the things that aren't right for the movement? Like the sexual abuse that happens in this space This psychedelic subculture has a lot of repressed stuff going on, and how do we talk about it? We need to keep learning in this field to keep improving, it is dense and detailed Michelle leaves us with a final thought, “read more books written by women!” Links Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion: An Informative, Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Magic Mushrooms―From Tips and Trips to Microdosing and Psychedelic Therapy Website About Michelle Janikian Michelle Janikian is the author of Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion, the down-to-earth guide that details how to use magic mushrooms “like an adult.” As a journalist, she got her start writing about cannabis for publications like High Times, Rolling Stone and Herb. Now, she writes a column for Playboy on all things drug related and also contributes regularly to DoubleBlind Mag, MERRY JANE, Psychedelic’s Today and others. She’s passionate about the healing potential of psychedelic plants and substances, especially psilocybin and cannabis, and the legalization and de- stigmatization of all drugs. Michelle studied writing and psychology at Sarah Lawrence College before traveling extensively in Latin America and eventually settling down in southern Mexico. Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Michelle ventures back to the States a few times a year to give talks and workshops on safe mushroom use and other cannabis and psychedelic related topics.  Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s episode with Kyle and Joe, they cover current events on psychedelics for treatment of COVID-19 trauma, an article on single dose psilocybin effects, psychedelic investments, self care and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes A Single High Dose of Psilocybin Alters Brain Function Up to One Month Later It was a small study of only 12 people The article states, the researchers found that self-reported emotional distress was reduced one week after psilocybin administration, but returned to baseline levels at one month after psilocybin administration Doctor Calls for "Temporary Approval" of Psychedelics to Treat COVID-19 Trauma There were a few doctors and people that didn't understand the value of psychedelics being used as psychiatric tools Kyle thinks especially of all of the first-responders that are working non stop, without a break, for weeks on end, witnessing tons of people dying daily, and then trying to come back and process this The mental health, long term of these people is going to be so impacted Then we have to think about the people that can't come together for a funeral after they lose someone This pandemic is going to be traumatizing for people Joe says this looks like a global ego death, all of the systems that we have had before are not adequate The Spanish flu of 1918 was only a few years away from the Great Depression We know that traumas influence health and behaviors, but we have tools and technologies to get ahead of this, from an epigenetic standpoint Psychedelic Investments Kyle and Joe talk for a while about psychedelics and money and research and funding It's a tricky thing, because we want there to be funding to make this accessible, but we want people to invest with integrity and to not start a monopoly on the funding Joe says we (as a company) have been approached by investors, but we have been hesitant to stay with our vision, keep our integrity and stay on track with our mission Self Care Kyle says stay in the present moment, limit news consumption (watch it maybe once a day to know what's going on, but then put the phone down and not drown in it) It's helpful to develop more of a spiritual practice in this time (yoga, meditation) Self care is going to look different for everybody Joe says ‘Maslow it’, get good sleep, drink good water, satisfy basic needs, those are first step during this time Kyle says that he uses movement, somatic work, breathing into places in the body that are tense, etc Kyle says that those who are doing a lot of online work, take time to move and stretch This is a time to do a lot of work we have put off, but at the same time, its okay to give our bodies a break, take time to rest, get outside, find movement, etc It's important not to take on too much or do too many things Psychedelics and the Shadow: A Series Exploring the Shadow Side of Psychedelia Enroll Today! About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Joe invites previous guest, Dena Justice back on the show to continue the conversation on Neuro Linguistic Programming and non-ordinary states of consciousness. 3 Key Points: 93% of what we do on a day to day basis, is unconscious. If we can figure out how to work with that 93%, then we can really do some important things. A lot of times we aren't happy with our behavior, first we have to distinguish between cause and effect. With effect, you blame other people, but when you're a cause in your life, you're taking responsibility for what's happening. Creating new habits is hard at the conscious level, because it requires conscious thought. NLP focuses on the unconscious. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Last Episode 93% of what we do on a day to day basis, is unconscious If we can figure out how to work with that 93%, then we can really do some important things Communicating with the unconscious mind is kind of how we communicate with ourselves The previous episode was called Neuro Linguistic Programming and Non-ordinary states of consciousness NLP is all about our nervous system and what is coming in with our 5 senses, then the linguistic part is all about how we communicate what is happening in the body NLP basically creates all of our behavior The more we are able to understand how our unconscious mind works, the better we are able to get the outcomes we actually want Outcomes A lot of times we aren't happy with our behavior First we have to distinguish between cause and effect When you're at effect, you blame other people, but when you're a cause in your life, you're taking responsibility for what's happening “When we can help people be more at cause, they get those desired outcomes, and people start to get to where they want to go in life” - Dena Perception is Projection Whatever you're believing that which is outside of yourself, it's actually a reflection of you Dena said that she won't go to fitness classes simply because of the language they use Altering your state through movement makes a person very vulnerable and the language can be very suggestive What are we subjecting ourselves to everyday? When we sit down to watch TV or movies, we are in a trance-like state Dena suggests being very careful to be aware of what we let in Getting rid of barriers and obstacles to get where you want in life is the goal for NLP Prepping the Unconscious Mind Going to the gym is a habit so many people want to have and don't Creating new habits is hard at the conscious level, because it requires conscious thought When we try to make decisions at the conscious level, it gets really difficult “All learnings and behaviors, happen at the unconscious level” - Dena “How many times did you have to tie your shoes consciously, before you tied your shoes, unconsciously?” - Dena Most people don't have good language running in the background, and that is a big reason why people are stuck in poor behaviors Prime Directives of the Unconscious Mind We create gestalts of emotions and experiences A gestalt looks like a pearl necklace, and they are all related to each other All of our experiences of our emotions (ex. anger) all get hooked together like a necklace It's a way that our mind organizes the information When we learn to re-frame intentionally, we can take it as a tool into non-ordinary states of consciousness Re-framing In psychedelic experiences, we are re-framing the conscious mind, we shake loose of our gestalts “We need to learn new tools in order to directly communicate with the unconscious mind” - Dena When we can get to the ‘aha’ moment, we can create change more quickly Limiting beliefs and negative emotions get in the way Getting rid of limiting beliefs causes massive aligned action which leads to massive life change Tools Our unconscious mind loves following instructions We tell the mind so many don'ts, ‘don't cross the street, don't walk on the grass, etc We need to tell the mind exactly what to do People are really clear about what they don't want, but they aren't always clear on what they do want 7% of what we are saying are just words, the other 93% is is how we say it, our emotions, our infections, are body positions, etc Joe mentions somatic techniques, but that only goes so far, NLP takes it home We learn language, but we don't learn to be effective communicators Workshop Joe, Kyle and Dena are talking about doing a 5-day breathwork and NLP workshop in Sonoma, CA Breathwork is such an amazing tool for non-ordinary state of consciousness Until more news is released about the retreat/workshop, Dena invites listeners to take her course over at her website, Ecstatic Collective Sign up at psychedelicstoday.com/NLP to be notified of the future workshop Links Website About Dena Justice As a master manifester, Dena has created a beautiful life for herself. She been financially responsible since age 15 including putting herself through college, two masters degrees and purchasing her own home in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has made over $1M in her life through a fulfilling career as a facilitator, educator, trainer, mentor and coach working with thousands of people across the country. She loved her career, yet hit a point where she felt empty. Near the top of her career ladder, she was a classic case of a high performer and leader hitting burnout. She chose a powerful pivot out of her J-O-B and into her own business. Now, she helps other high performers who have hit burnout and are scared to admit they’ve hit a plateau or a wall. She helps them get the eff out of their own way and move to the next level to increase their impact so they feel fulfilled and inspired again, as well as helping them create more wealth and the relationships they want in their lives. She helps people experience new levels of success, increase/improve focus and performance, abolish FOMO, evolve communication skills, develop transformational leadership skills, create amazing relationships, increase financial abundance and live life on their own terms. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In today’s Solidarity Friday’s episode with Kyle and Joe, they cover current events on COVID-19, social media narratives, a new world, psycho-pharma, psychedelic VICE articles, movies about acid and more. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Coronavirus Joe and his girlfriend are recovering from being sick, potentially coronavirus (they weren't allowed to be tested without being hospitalized) Joe said he was really sick in a new and novel way Kyle is located in New Jersey (currently around 19,000 cases, close to 250 deaths) He has a weak immune system, so he is trying to be super careful by staying isolated (he hasn't left the house in weeks besides to go on a walk outside) Joe says this whole thing is really going to impact humanity and life on earth The ecosystem of commerce is fragile and this is a strong way of showing it Kyle says that Drumpf estimated 250,000 deaths in the US Joe says we are going to get through this, and life will go on, but what will that look like? How can the conscious show up as leaders? When we are in a fear state, we don't make rational decisions Narratives Kyle says all of the psychedelic people that he is connected to on social media are posting so much on 5G right now There are dual narratives, like people dying, but also a lot of info on conspiracies What do we pay attention to, and what is really happening? Joe said that he played in the conspiracy, occult area for a while, and he couldn't find any solid ground In times like this, the conspiracy media ramps up, because people are afraid, and that impairs cognition There is a lot of media saying that COVID-19 is a biological weapon There is a lot of unknowns, and how do we not panic? Processing All of This We were not evolved for this moment Now, how do we evolve to handle this stuff? How do we build resilience? As ecosystems collapse, some organisms start to mingle with other organisms and then viruses like this can come up, and will pop up more in the future We are in a spiritual emergence-y right now, we need to bring up our shadow and do the work What can I actually do in my life right now? Instead of worrying about everything A New World 90% of products in the consumer economy right now are completely non-essential We are on a finite planet with finite resources don't mesh with infinite growth Hopefully this is the emergency that we need to re-imagine the future There is a role that the psychedelic community plays in this The psychedelic culture is familiar with sitting with shadow, doing the inner work, and taking a creative approach at alternative systems and reimagining the future Kyle says this feels psychedelic, having new ideas about what the future could look like, what we can offer the future A lot of the things that we wish for are starting to unfold, in some sense, the collective has been wishing for the things that are happening When we take substances, we are upgrading our operating system Psycho-Pharma MindMed (Mind Medicine) call themselves a leading neuro-pharma company for psychedelic inspired medicines Right now they are working on a compound, essentially an iboga-like drug There is a lot of suffering happening in the world, and whatever tools that can help with the suffering will do There is a roller coaster of the psychedelic experience If every experience was just rainbows and happiness, it would just devalue the human experience Vice Researchers got people to hallucinate from fake psychedelics Kyle says think about it, that sitting in a chair for a few hours with music can easily induce a psychedelic experience Joe says “the experience is within you, the drug is a key to help unlock that” Shadow Panel Kyle is co-hosting a Shadow Panel with Ido Cohen and takes on a Jung approach to process the shadow They host interviews with doctors and other speakers on the topic They explore a lot of somatics in the shadow It is a donation based course right now, potentially paid in the future Final Thoughts Joe says we are heavily impacted by COVID-19, a ton of breathwork events all had to be cancelled But we have a ton of online courses and resources available, from integration books, to online guided therapist and clinician courses, to psychedelic online courses, coaching, and more Joe said he had a fun conversation with a film producer (Malibu Road) on the acid scene in the 70’s The film cant be streamed yet, but the trailer is out About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dylan Beynon, founder of Mindbloom, NYC based mental health and wellbeing platform. In the show they talk about how Mindbloom differs from other centers, paving the way for accessibility and affordability. 3 Key Points: Mindbloom is a next-generation mental health platform, catered to accessibility and affordability. They use ketamine tablets, different from lozenges and any other method. The tablets are held in the mouth and then spit out to avoid entering the liver, causing a sedation-like experience. Mindbloom differentiates themselves from other psychedelic therapy options by using a patient-choice model, to keep it affordable for those who need it. They offer the 4-week therapy model and give patients the option to choose ‘add-ons’ like extra integration.  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Dylan Dylan is not a clinician or a doctor, he is an entrepreneur and a psychedelic medicine and therapeutic ketamine patient These medicines have been transformative in his life and he wants to bring their benefits to the public He grew up in a family that suffered greatly from mental illness He lost his mother to addiction He discovered positive psychology When learning about the science of happiness, he realized that he wasn't happy He was in business school and wanted to be a banker and make a ton of money He soon realized that money doesn't buy happiness, and he thought maybe everything he was doing was a lie He was self medicating with psychedelics About 5 years ago he heard about psychedelic therapy About 18 months ago he started working with a clinician doing ketamine therapy He saw that when it's done in a therapeutic context, it can have a profound effect for people to get the most out of it “Recreational vs therapeutic use is a false dichotomy” - Dylan Mindbloom The goal is to build the next-generation mental health platform Right now they are doing Ketamine therapy They are trying to make it accessible by making it affordable They are trying to bring an elevated client experience, which they do with the space and software Software Background Voters Friend - a platform to help inform voters on the candidates, to increase access to democracy Mighty - increasing access to social justice Mindbloom - increase access to psychedelic medicines Differentiation The protocols that Mindbloom are using are capped They are increasing access to the medicines, making it affordable They keep it at $150-$250 a session, where at most Ketamine Therapy centers, it can range from $1000-$2000 a session Dylan says he makes this possible by bringing in technology and software tools to make the sessions for efficient and effective They use patient choice care, where the patient can use their best judgement on how in depth they want their treatment They can ‘add on’ extra integration time onto the therapy session, or choose not to This keeps the price down and accessible for each individual patient if need be Mindbloom is a 4 session program, usually 1-2 months They use the platform to have the client practice using the information in the weeks between each session, so they can practice integration even when not with a therapist or in session The Program The clinician prescribes a 4 week Ketamine Therapy session for anxiety and depression The clinician will schedule a video interview to learn their symptoms Then they will meet in person and build an integration program if needed Its $1000 for the 4 session program and $600 for the renewal program They use Ketamine tablets (similar to lozenges but faster acting) They're not swallowing it, they spit it out after If they swallow it, it breaks down in the liver into nor-ketaine, and that produces a sedative effect After they spit it out, there is about an hour of music with no vocals After the session, they move to an integration room where they are journaling The protocols at Mindbloom were based on the MAPS protocol They don't have a clinician in the room during the experience, only for after the experience Dylan is looking to expand to other locations A lot of people request couples or group therapies, so they will be taking that into consideration when building new locations Final Thoughts The more people who are thinking critically about this and putting their intentions into making this more accessible the better There needs to be more gentle conversation around psychedelics and therapy, especially around the people that are still so unaware about this field We should bring sacredness, specialness, and care to the conversation with those who might still be afraid about it Links Website About Dylan Beynon Dylan is the Founder & CEO of Mindbloom, an NYC-based mental health and wellbeing startup helping people expand their human potential with clinician-prescribed, guided psychedelic medicine experiences. There, he is partnering with clinicians, technologists, researchers, and patients to increase access to science-backed treatments, starting by reducing the cost of ketamine therapy for depression and anxiety by over 65%. Dylan is a 10-year psychedelic medicine patient and 3-time tech entrepreneur with both $100M+ in funding and an exit in his prior startups, which were focused on increasing access to justice and democracy. Dylan graduated from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dr. Ryan Westrum, Psychedelic Integration Therapist. In the show, they talk about topics and teachings from Ryan’s book, The Psychedelic Integration Handbook. 3 Key Points: The Psychedelics Integration Handbook is designed to bring psychedelic experiences into the flow of your life and maximize their potential for helping you create the life you want to live. There is an important part in distinguishing integration from aftercare. Aftercare can look as simple as taking care of your body, getting good rest, eating well. You can't integrate without taking care of yourself first. One of the pillars of integration is PREP (purpose, reflecting on experiences, expectations, potential). Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Ryan Ryan is a Clinical Psychologist in the Minneapolis area He has been a licensed Marriage Therapist for 15 years He works in the realms of psychedelics and sexuality He has a 14 year old daughter, and likes to take a psychedelic approach to parenting He holds healing circles with mothers and fathers and their child(ren) Psycho-ed and harm reduction are his focus with families This is a group of people that need an honest conversation At a young age he was into Stan Grof and Jungian literature and psychedelic experiences His graduate program was focused on non-ordinary states of consciousness Kyle mentions a good book, The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise “As a western civilization, we have really minimized the opportunity for growth, the expansion of consciousness, and to be ourselves.” - Ryan These experiences are powerful, and to come back to a culture that does not support it, is hard The goal is being conscious with your confidence of why you're doing this work About the Book The Psychedelics Integration Handbook is designed to bring psychedelic experiences into the flow of your life and maximize their potential for helping you create the life you want to live This is not a book with black and white answers but an offering to individual people who want to explore all the possibilities for being alive and seeking wholeness. The Psychedelics Integration Handbook contains historical perspective, maps of consciousness, approaches for integrating body-mind-spirit, and practical suggestions for all stages of psychedelic exploration. The Psychedelics Integration Handbook The book was written for people to make it their own Its broken into 3 parts, educational, a ‘your turn’ section, and then integration Its about having a compartment, and then playing within the compartment Everyone has unique nuances, integration looks different to everyone Integration practices don't matter if they don't personally mean something to you Integration The question to help determine the integration needs is, "What does the individual lead with?" It's the mind, body, emotion in the spirit altogether Immediately after a psychedelic experience, some want to talk about it, others embody it Do they lead with thoughts or emotions? There is a part in the book: The difference between integration and aftercare How do we distinguish between self care and integration? Is my body rested? Am I comfortable? Are my needs taken care of? Aftercare is grounding “If you're not taking care of your body, you won't be able to integrate” - Ryan It might not be as complex as it needs to be, its as simple as taking care of yourself An important part of aftercare, is asking yourself when it is okay to practice again Ryan was mentored by James Fadiman, and he believed in taking big doses every 6 months One of the pillars is PREP (purpose, reflecting on experiences, expectations, potential) Ryan says he is not the gatekeeper Controlling willpower is a huge step in integration Some people want to just take psychedelics, but not write, or do yoga, or do any other mindful activity Safety Dose, set and setting are the obvious It's like a goldrush, some just want to jump in blindly You have to understand what safety means to you Ryan thinks we aren't talking enough about the recreational use He is excited about all of the conversation on therapeutic use, but he thinks we are ignoring recreational use He wants to see ritual and reverence in the recreational community Preparation is so important Kyle says that a lot of times after an experience he has all of these ideas for how to live his life, and he tries to practice them, but sometimes he finds himself slipping into old patterns of behavior Ryan says he believes there is still movement and progress, be gentle with yourself Links Healing Souls LLC Psychedelic Integration About Ryan Dr. Ryan Westrum, PhD, LMFT, is an internationally recognized psychedelic integration expert. For more than 15 years, his primary focus has been working with individuals and groups facilitating experiential therapy and integrating psychedelic journeys into healing and personal transformation. Ryan speaks on a myriad of topics and leads experiential groups, like dreamwork integration therapy and psychedelic integration groups.       Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle interviews Jessica DiRuzza, Psychotherapist, Astrologer and Teacher. In the show they talk about how astrology can be used as a tool and framework for navigating and understanding psychedelic experiences. 3 Key Points: Astrology can be used as an integrative tool for psychedelic and other exceptional experiences. The planets are emitting some type of force that are letting us behave a certain way. Astrology is the one thing we have agreed upon across millennia and era. A Saturn Return transit can be a difficult but transformative time in one's life. This transit happens around age 28-31. During this time, we face crises in our life as we take on greater responsibility. It can feel like death and a rebirth. It can correlate to Grof's Perinatal Birth Matrix II (“No Exit” and "Cosmic Engulfment").  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Jessica She is a Psychotherapist She teaches and practices Astrology She uses Astrology to help put meaning and understanding to what happens in visionary states She received her bachelors at CIIS and studied and taught with Stan Grof and Richard Tarnes in the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness Program Since the 70’s, Stan Grof was following his transits and all the transits of his clients Richard Tarnas and Stan Grof studied astrology as a diagnostic tool for those who would do psychedelics They studied transit astrology By looking at these transits, what they found were archetypal similarities “Our solar system is an extension of our ecosystem here on earth.” - Jessica\ “For millennia, the one thing that human beings have agreed upon across cultures and eras, are the meaning of the planets” - Jessica Astrology is the original science Free Will vs. Determinism The planets are emitting some type of force that are letting us behave a certain way They are reflective, what is happening in the sky is indicative of what's happening here Astrology is like a clock, a clock does not make it be a certain time, it just helps us tell the time Interest in Astrology Psychedelics brought Jessica to Astrology Jessica went to her first Burning Man at 20 years old She received an astrology reading there and said it broke her open She went to CA to see the reader that gave her the initial reading She did a high dose LSD session She re-lived her birth experience, and gave birth to her new self The person who gave her the reading was teaching with Stan Grof and Richard Tarnas at CIIS She dropped out of college and moved to attend CIIS She was in a Uranus conjunct Ascendant transit Through these experiences she uprooted her entire life Astrology Lingo Sun represents our sense of self, our identity in the world, egoic consciousness Moon represents our relational matrix, our early childhood experiences, our emotions and experiences, and a deep sense of belonging Rising represents who we are from moment to moment, how we initially meet existence Zodiac means belt of life Each aspect carries a different quality Conjunct means new moon, representing a new beginning A full moon represents when the sun is opposite than the moon, a blossoming or fruition.  Astrology is a language, the language of the stars There are so many ways to speak this language, and so many schools of thought What really matters is the cosmology that goes behind the description “Both astrology and psychedelics are a tools for self reflection, that hopefully we are using to become more kind and more caring” - Jessica “Astrology provides a world view or a cosmology to hold what happens in those visionary states, it's a grounding place to integrate and make meaning of what's happening” - Jessica Saturn Return Saturn return happens from age 28-31 During our Saturn Return, we face crises in our life and take on greater responsibility It can feel like a death, but also like a birth “The greater the death, the greater the rebirth” - Jessica The 4 bpms correspond to the four outer planets It's not just in entheogenic spaces that this is applicable “Working with the resistance consciously, actually helps us move into what the divine or the universe wants us to step into our life, karmically, what we are here to do” - Jessica Astrology and Psychedelics Kyle asks about using astrology to pick a time of when to do psychedelics Jessica responds saying that if you have a strong calling to do so for healing and balance, and you have all the components for proper integration, then it's a good time Then, astrology can be used to help find themes and help dissect the experience Your Saturn transits contain a difference component in each person The sense of responsibility grows in you “My deepest calling in this life is to bring Astrology and Psychology together in one unified field” - Jessica Final Thoughts Jessica is so proud of the honest integrity that people are bringing to this work She send best wishes in the great reckoning, and the great becoming Links Website About Jessica Jessica is a licensed psychotherapist, astrologer, and teacher. Her life is guided by a passion for engaging with people, understanding relationships, and staying connected to the larger world around us. This passion and curiosity led her into the healing profession as a counselor in 2007. For over a decade she has worked collaboratively with individuals, couples, and groups on their transformative journeys. Helping people on their path of exploration and healing is the privilege of a lifetime. Jessica received her Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She completed her undergraduate degree at California Institute of Integral Studies, where she studied and taught archetypal astrology and transpersonal psychology. Her greatest joy is working in sacred and revolutionary ways with people in psychotherapy, teaching, and astrological consultations. She also shares her work through podcasts and writing on her site. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Rob Heffernan, an independent researcher and activist. In the show, they talk about churches, Ayahuasca, accessibility and the Psychedelic Liberty Summit by the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. Rob is also part of Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants.  The Council for the Protection of Sacred plants is "an initiative of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines that endeavors to advocate for the legality of sacred plant medicines among indigenous peoples and non-indigenous communities, encourage legal harm reduction practices that protect those who use them, educate about conservation of plant species, document relevant legal and social issues, and consult on legal cases including possible litigation. "  3 Key Points: The Psychedelic Liberty Summit is a gathering on legal, cultural, and political issues around the emerging psychedelic renaissance. Accessibility is not just about whether or not people can afford psychedelic therapy, people cant even afford regular therapy, the whole healthcare model is an issue. A lot of churches get a bad name, but really most churches are built around community. Psychedelics can help revitalize churches. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes   About Rob Rob is a member of the Chacruna Council for protection of sacred plants He is an integrative sound and music practitioner He is involved in the Santo Daime He has been drinking Ayahuasca for over 20 years He began to ponder and ask a lot of questions about involvement with medicine communities Psychedelic Liberty Summit Rob will be hosting a talk on religious exemptions and more There will be speakers of all different initiatives, from decriminalization to indigenous relations There are a lot of investors interested in the psilocybin market The issue is complex because there is this ongoing cultural history of the US and other countries exploiting those cultures and removing resources (oil, medicines, etc) Ayahuasca The first time Rob drank Ayahuasca was back in 2000, where there weren't Ayahuasca retreats going on then People who lived in the area were not familiar with Ayahuasca use People started coming from around the world to use Ayahuasca There are feedback loops between the cities and the forests People typically think integration is what happens afterwards, but really it is also the sacrifice from the start, the preparation, such as a dieta We need to honor what we have learned from the indigenous, and give back Traditional dietas don't involve actually drinking the Ayahuasca, the culture has come a long way Accessibility While these medicines are relatively safe, you can get in trouble using these substances recreationally, there is a role for the therapeutic support It's not just about whether or not people can afford psychedelic therapy, people cant even afford regular therapy, the whole healthcare model is an issue Santo Daime It was founded in the 1930’s in Brazil The reason that the Santo Daime looks more white in the USA is due to the segregation There are all sorts of ways that the Santo Daime may look When Rob first got involved in drinking Ayahuasca, he wasn't sure that he wanted to get involved in the Santo Daime, but he said the container was so strong There are hymns sung, and it's very structured It allows you to really go deep Sometimes it can look like drumming, dancing, and fire, but there is also a style of sitting in silence There is a profound ethical foundation which is really important All of the elements make for a really important container In the traditional form, you do not touch anyone, unless there is a certain circumstance, and a prior consensual agreement, and waivers signed, etc There have been issues of sexual abuse in the psychedelic realm, the Santo Daime takes many precautions against this Churches There are legal churches in the US through the Daime and the UDV (União do Vegetal) The Daime has 5 churches that are explicitly legal The government has decided not to pursue or prosecute Ayahuasca for those other churches From Shock to Awe Someone tragically died at the Soul Quest Church, but it wasn't related to ayahuasca There are a lot of people that claim to be a part of a Native American church that are not A lot of people reach out to Chacruna on how to become a part of the Native American Church to hold ceremonies, and it's not easy, you almost have to already be a part of it, instead of just joining Some people don't like the word church, but it originates from the words ‘congregation’ and ‘assembly’ “The problem is the controlled substances act, that these things are illegal in the first place” - Rob "The experience in all those settings is about community. The goal isn't to have spiritual experiences, its to have a spiritual life” - Rob Psychedelics and entheogens could be central to creating a new hub It is possible to create psychedelic churches outside of the Santo Daime The Ayahuasca tradition really uses the potential of group process “How individual is the psychedelic experience, where you need some one-on-one work?” - Kyle Psychedelic Liberty Summit April 25-26 in San Francisco Discount Code: PsychedelicsToday for 10% off at checkout Links Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicine Psychedelic Liberty Summit    About Rob Heffernan Rob Heffernan has been involved in the Peruvian curandero tradition and the Santo Daime for the last 16 years. He was a member and chairman of the North American Santo Daime Legal Committee for a number of years. He has been engaged in independent research and active in ad hoc groups promoting legal clarity and ethical integrity in the Ayahuasca Community. He is also a certified Integrative Sound and Music Practitioner; Shamanic Breath Work Facilitator; and a long time student and practitioner of Buddhist Dhamma. He has a BA in Communications and Social Studies from Fordham University, and works in the AV/IT communication industry. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday  

In this episode, Joe interviews Clinical Psychologist, Alicia Danforth. In the show, they cover topics including how to get involved in the space, consent, research, MDMA, Autism and more. 3 Key Points: Alicia Danforth is a Clinical Psychologist who will be having a talk on Ethical Challenges in Psychedelic Medicine at the ICPR Conference in the Netherlands, April 2020. There is a possibility for MDMA to have a non-responder effect. No one has done research dedicated to why some people don't react at all to MDMA. Psychedelic science is very hard to talk about. We have the language of science that studies the psychopharmacological effects of drugs but no language that holds the effects of an altered state of consciousness yet. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Alicia Her path to her current place is such a random road that led her to where she is She was going to burning man and getting into harm reduction when she realized the untapped value of psychedelics, its where her interest began She began volunteering, doing administrative work for a doctor She was offered to be a study coordinator She got introduced to the power of psilocybin as a medicine, for dying cancer patients The patients had a prognosis from 6 months to a year To see how this state of consciousness helped people transition to the end of life so smoothly, that is what inspired her 5 months after she started working on the study, she got a cancer diagnosis Getting Involved in the Space Alicia would always get people approaching her about how to get in the field and she tells them “what field?” Her Power Point making skills, are what technically got her involved in this field “You never know what skill may be needed in this field” - Alicia Alicia encourages people to look into their own collection of skills, and dig deep into that, find your niche, and then use that to contribute to the movement Clinical therapists and psychologists are not the only people in this field We need accountants, marketers, etc Consent People start to get really religious around this field Joe mentions a story where someone performed non-consensual reiki Current Research She is currently looking at why psychedelics appeal to people who typically like to abuse power She did a talk at burning man about ‘coming down from the psychedelic power trip’ She tries to cite as many references and research as possible Her talk at ICPR is going to be the very professional, version of that talk Why are individuals who seek to abuse these tools so irresistibly drawn to psychedelics? “If someone gets abused, and people say don't come out about it because it's not good for the movement, then what kind of movement is that?” - Joe Empathogens MDMA is known as an Empathogen Can empathogens help people who are not empathetic, become empathetic? Cohen’s D is the measure of effect size Big pharma uses this all the time, to determine the effects of one drug compared to another The Cohen’s D is how large that difference is Non-response MDMA There is a known, non-responder effect with MDMA There was a few double-blind sessions, where the patient received MDMA, and they didn't react, their vitals didn't change At the end,  it was revealed that they truly received MDMA, and then even to be sure, they would do a blood test, and it showed up in the blood No one has done research dedicated to why some people don't react at all to MDMA It's probably common, that for people who are relying on MDMA to work as their last resort option and try it and not feel anything at all, to end their life afterward Media and Support It's the most difficult thing in dealing with the media When you are entirely dependent on funding, if you don't talk about what you're doing, then you can't get funding at all There is a crisis in science on the replicability on these studies Joe says its cool to have these studies replicated outside of the US “Psychedelic science is very hard to talk about due to the subjective nature of the psychedelic experience. We have the language of science that studies the psychopharmacological effects of drugs. There is no language that holds the effects of an altered state of consciousness yet.” - Alicia The rapport that the patient and facilitator have, and the effect of that relationship, is a variable Links Website About Alicia Danforth Alicia received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto in 2013. Since 2006, she has worked in clinical research at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on clinical studies for adults with anxiety related to advanced-stage cancer and with autistic adults who experience social anxiety. She is currently a lead clinician and supervisor for a clinical trial at UCSF for psychological distress in long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS. She is also certified in Trauma-Focused CBT and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy.   Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview Mike Margolies of Psychedelic Seminars. In the show, they cover topics including guests and conversations from the Psychedelic Seminars, the decriminalization of all drugs, and the importance of allowing psychedelic use to be a part of training therapists for psychedelic therapy. 3 Key Points: Psychedelic Seminars is an educational conversation series deepening awareness of the benefits, risks, and complexities of psychedelics. There are large topics of decriminalizing psilocybin or the movements for ‘decriminalize nature’, but the conversation on decriminalization of all drugs is rare, which is what's really important. Some companies (MAPS for example) allow the option to use MDMA as a part of their therapist training program while other companies who are training therapists for psilocybin therapy, don't have the option to use it. This leaves the question, "Should the psychedelic experience be part of the psychedelic therapy training?"  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Mike Mike used to work as a chemical engineer in corporate America, and then he did Ayahuasca When he returned, he thought to himself about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life He took a look at the pulse of the country and looked at what it needed There wasn't anyone organized locally in Baltimore, so he started Psychedelic Seminars Now he is living in the Bay Area, doing events locally He has been interviewing people and putting the videos out globally Psychedelic Seminars They will be having some Indigenous people at the seminar It's hard to get Indigenous people to seminars and conferences, because, what's in it for them? The goal is to ramp up the project and do a seminar every month, where it usually takes place every few months They are doing it all in a home, privately The whole project is donation dependent, they are doing it all for free You can support the mission here After Michael Pollan, they did one with Jim Fadiman He did another with Ayelet Waldman The talks were on microdosing and the unknowns of microdosing Just because there is no real harms taking a large dose of LSD, doesn't mean there aren't any harms taking a low (micro) dose of LSD frequently Mike thinks that the term Jim Fadiman uses is its ‘sub-perceptual’, in that you have a noticeable effect on the mood, but no other way of noticing it Decriminalization Drug Policy tends to stay in the realm of psychedelics only There are large topics of decriminalizing psilocybin or the movements for ‘decriminalize nature’, but no one likes to talk about the decriminalization of all drugs, which is what's really important Poppy is not considered in decriminalize nature, which is selective nature decriminalization It's not a real decriminalization, it's just a low priority for law enforcement He’s been asking in his conversations, opinions on decriminalizing all drugs Different drugs have different risk profiles “Just because you're not using criminal justice as your mechanism for reducing risks of drugs, doesn't mean you do nothing. The last thing we want to do is add criminalization to those who are already suffering, this is why we should decriminalize all drugs” - Mike Laws should be written in terms of what are you not allowed to do, not what you're allowed to do He is allowed to walk down the sidewalk, but not punch someone he walks past, but the law shouldn't be to get a license for walking down the street so long as you don't punch someone The communities that are marginalized continue to be marginalized by the drug war Psychedelic Therapy and Experience with Use With MAPS, there is an option to do MDMA as a part of the training With psilocybin, at least with Compass Pathways, there is not an option to use psilocybin. Mike says that's a huge issue When you scale treatment, there is the risk of losing the quality of care “We aren't going to solve the problems of our future by mass distributing psychedelics” - Mike The fact that we have such mass amounts of widespread depression, means that we have a deeply ingrained systemic issue at hand Psychedelics treat the symptoms, but we still need to fix the underlying cause “If you are distributing psychedelics, but still exacerbating the same underlying issues, you now have the problem and solution in the same hefty package” - Mike “Psychedelic experience is intrinsically something spiritual. How can you guide someone in spiritual practice if you haven't experienced it yourself?” - Mike “Inducing a state intentionally, and guiding someone through a process, its completely unethical to guide someone through a spiritual process that you haven't been through yourself.” - Mike New Economy Burning man is not a barter economy, it's a gift economy, where things are given without an expectation of receiving something in return We are far from that economy What if we had a world where instead of trying to extract value, we were trying to create value? Links Psychedelic Seminars Website Psychedelic Seminars Patreon About Mike Margolies Since 2015, Mark has worked full-time in the psychedelic community, starting and contributing to a number of projects as an event and media producer, connector, and advisor. He is the Founder of Psychedelic Seminars, an educational conversation series deepening awareness of the benefits, risks, and complexities of psychedelics. On the PsychSems stage, he has interviewed a range of leaders including bestselling author Michael Pollan, Dr. James Fadiman and Ayelet Waldman on microdosing, and therapeutic ketamine expert Dr. Raquel Bennett. He started the project in 2015 after returning to his home city of Baltimore to build community for open and honest conversations about psychedelics. The project now operates primarily out of the San Francisco Bay Area and livestreams globally. Through his psychedelic community work in Baltimore, he seeded the Baltimore Psychedelic Society. He has sparked and mentored similar Psychedelic Societies around the world from Washington DC to San Francisco to Portugal. He helped start the Global Psychedelic Network to connect them. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this Episode, Kyle sits down with Elizabeth Nielson and Ingmar Gorman, Co-founders of Fluence, Training in Psychedelic Integration. They are both therapists on the MAPS clinical trial for MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD. 3 Key Points: Elizabeth and Ingmar are co-founders of Fluence, an online Psychedelic Integration Training program. If psychedelic treatments become available more widely, the fear is that therapists won't be as educated on how to handle their patient interactions based on the behavior of each psychedelic. Psychedelic Integration Therapy Training is so important. There are 3 phases to the MDMA for PTSD clinical trial. Phase 1 would be pre-clinical data about the chemistry of a drug, Phase 2 is where you begin to test your treatment in a patient population, and Phase 3 is where you get the data to demonstrate that the treatment is superior to a placebo and other treatments in general. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Ingmar Ingmar is a previous guest of the show He is a private Investigator for the MAPS MDMA trial He is a therapist and the Co-founder of Fluence About Elizabeth Elizabeth is a Clinical Psychologist She has a long history in working with clinical trials as a therapist She is part of the psychedelic education and continuing care program She does a lot of supervision and training for therapists The Trial The approval of expanded access by the FDA includes 50 people in total They are near the end of MAP 1 (out of MAP 1 and MAP 2) When they transition into MAP 2, it will be a little more refined MAP 2 is different participants than MAP 1 There are 3 phases Phase 1 would be pre-clinical data about chemistry of a drug and how it metabolises, if its poisonous, etc Phase 2 is where you begin to test your treatment in a patient population Phase 3 is where you get the data to demonstrate that the treatment is superior to a placebo and other treatments in general They are done as a double-blind trial, both the therapist and patient don't know if the patient is receiving the treatment or now Take-aways There is a lot of information that has to be shared effectively The therapists are very much in the lives of the participants on top of just the MDMA Instead of learning from the trials of what to do on a practical level, its about inspiring them to bring this as an actual treatment for people The multiple ways that PTSD can manifest and look like, and the may ways that MDMA can look like when administered, have some commonalities The deepening, the broadening, the way they communicate, can all be the same Ingmar holds the belief in the inner healing intelligence of all people One of the first things he does when he begins with a new patient, he says that this is something he really believes in, and his role as a therapist to help them in their own healing process and mechanism What Elizabeth wanted to learn, know and practice while she was going through school, isn't what she she thought it was until she found it She says this work really requires them to trust people's minds and experiences There is something that they tell their patients, “Don't get ahead of the medicine” - Elizabeth There is an interesting paradox between not knowing and following intuition, to having an actual method and following that There is a sweet spot between following a script to following your intuition as a therapist You want to trust that inner healer process of the patient, but also need to know when to intervene (usually from a safety standpoint) Fluence 3 days after Horizons, Elizabeth was at home with a cold, and talked to Ingmar that morning curious for a name for the project Fluence means, magical or mystical power or source of power It can also refer to the density of particles of energy They teach about harm reduction and integration with their patients in their practice They aren't teaching protocols in the workshops, they just think the harm reduction is important The last part of integration is mindfulness Ingmar’s biggest influence are his clients and patients, he is so inspired by them A large piece of the motivation for creating Fluence is from patients just looking for someone to talk about their experience with The Why A mother whose teenage daughter with depression, reached out to Ingmar with trouble trying to treat her depression The family decided it would be a good idea to use Ketamine therapy, which was successful She was doing so well, so well that she then went to a therapist to integrate it The therapist that she went to then instead of responding positively, decided to fire the teen for further therapy, and report the parents to child care services for providing ketamine therapy Ingmar says their position is not that everyone needs psychedelic integration therapy, its specifically for those that don't feel supported by family or community, and it gives them a professional service as an option "Psychedelics are not 10 years of change in one night, they are 10 years of insight in one night. integration is so important." - Elizabeth The goal is to support people in making a change that feels safe and right for them If the treatments become available more widely, the fear is that therapists won't be as educated on how to handle their patient interactions based on the behavior of each psychedelic Mental health practitioners can be a great source for working through those experiences Menla Training Menla Training They could really take their time with the process and training The trainings that they had gone to has made their own Fluence courses better In 2019 they had 5 of the trainings for clinicians, and the trainings will be better and better as they go Ketamine Infusion Therapy The experience is not dose dependent The purpose of the workshop is to educate both therapists and doctors about what can happen in psychotherapy Links Fluence Psychedelics 101 and 102 Workshop at ICPR 2020 About Elizabeth Dr. Elizabeth Nielson is a co-founder of Fluence and a psychologist with a focus on developing psychedelic medicines as empirically supported treatments for PTSD, substance use problems, and mood disorders. Dr. Nielson is a therapist on FDA approved clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder, MDMA-assisted treatment PTSD, and psilocybin-assisted treatment of treatment resistant depression. Through Fluence, she provides continuing education and training programs for therapists who wish to engage in integration of psychedelic experiences in clinical settings. Her program of research includes qualitative and mixed-methods projects designed to further understand the phenomenology and mechanisms of change in psychedelic-assisted therapy, including the experiences of trial participants and of the therapists themselves. Having completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at NYU, she has published and presented on topics of psychedelic therapist training, therapists’ personal experience with psychedelics, and including psychedelic integration in group and individual psychotherapy. About Ingmar Dr. Ingmar Gorman is a co-founder of Fluence and a psychologist who specializes in assisting populations who have a relationship with psychedelics. He is the site co-principal investigator and therapist on a Phase 3 clinical trial studying MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Gorman is a board member of Horizons Media, Inc., a not for-profit educational charity and organizer of the Horizons Conference: Perspectives on Psychedelics. After completing his NIH postdoctoral fellowship at New York University, Dr. Gorman stepped down as director of the Psychedelic Education and Continuing Care Program to focus his efforts on Fluence and the training of future therapists. Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Joe interviews Jon S. on his experience in the psilocybin-assisted trials for alcohol dependency at NYU. In the show, they dive into Jon’s background and how psilocybin assisted therapy helped him out of his alcohol dependence and into a new life. 3 Key Points: Jon participated in the NYU Double-Blind Trial of Psilocybin-Assisted Treatment of Alcohol Dependence. The study was double-blind. In each session, he didn't know if he was going to receive psilocybin or Benadryl.  The sessions helped him so much with this dependence on alcohol, he believes he is a better father, husband, and human overall. He hasn't had a drink in 5 months (or a desire to).  Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Jon He is based in New York Jon is the father of 2 kids He spent a lot of his life DJing, so he has spent a lot of time around alcohol He found out about a psychedelic therapy study at NYU from someone at a Holotropic Breathwork Retreat The study took place in New York City He had always wanted to explore the psychedelic side of things He read Michael Pollan’s book and it said in the book that the Holotropic Breathwork community would be a great group to help find a guide The Trial In his assessment, he found out truly how much he was drinking He would crack a beer before even playing with his kids He was into craft beer and at 8% a beer, his 3 beers were more like 5 He was asked to not have his sessions recorded so he could be as open as he could be The session was very focused on curbing drinking His wife knew he was going down the path of psychedelic healing “I'm not doing this to have a good time, I'm doing this to be a better person” - Jon His trial was double-blind He was never told when he was receiving the psilocybin at each session He was told that he was either going to get 1 or 3 doses in the trial The First Session The first session with the eye shades on (on psilocybin), was very visual In that first session he kept seeing this pirate ship underwater His sons would say “come on daddy, lets play on the pirate ship” He would go to the pirate ship with his sons and then say “I need to go back down and do some work”, and he would swim back into the depths He came home that day, and his youngest son greeted him at the door, and said let's play power rangers, I'll be the red power ranger and you be the pirate It hit him in a float tank session, the message of that session was to play with his sons more He had a moment in his first session of rebirth Integration There is a 2 hour integration session the very next day He didn't think it was going to be as important as it turned out to be He had the choice to keep it at the same dose or up it He upped the dose to 40mg instead of 25mg He was told his second session wouldn't be anything like his first The medicine was so intense the second time, he couldn't even remember the music In his second session, he saw a body being chopped up (realizing it was his body) He realized that he was one with the universe, love is the only thing that matters He wanted to be a part of everything He was compensated about $100 per session "When the university gives you financial compensation, you buy everyone in the ice cream shop ice cream" - Jon Jon says he has a new baseline for anxiety He never thought he had anxiety, but after his sessions, he found that he is way less anxious than he was, even though he really wasn't He didn't have a desire to drink, he hasn't had a drink in 5 months He has never felt better or happier He's a much better dad, and husband Life After the Experience He is re-reading Aldous Huxley and is finding a whole new meaning to it all He is spending more time with his family and being present with the He spends a ton of time with his kids now Stuff that used to worry him, doesn't worry him anymore His experience was everything he hoped for and more He genuinely believes, that whatever he got out of a session, is what he needed Final Thoughts He is talking to the Decrim Nature in NY He appreciates the platform (Psychedelics Today) for the space to talk about his experience He appreciates everyone at NYU for the work they are doing  Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Joe interviews Joost Breeksema from the Netherlands to talk about the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. In the show they cover topics on ICPR 2020, and the importance of accessibility. 3 Key Points: The Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research takes place April 24-26, 2020 in the Netherlands. It's important to acknowledge the indigenous, ethical, and political dimensions to psychedelic use at conferences. Although this conference will be catered toward mainstream science and research, personal experiences and stories are important too. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Joost Joost is a part of the OPEN Foundation ICPR is a huge conference Nobody before was doing research on psychedelics in the Netherlands William James work sparked Joost’s interest in psychedelics ICPR Starting with the OPEN Foundation, the conference has been very scientific It is interdisciplinary, but also taken very seriously This field is so broad, you could really never get bored Wade Davis, Alicia Danforth, Matt Johnson and more will be speaking at the conference There will be over 80 speakers Joost expects it to be a pretty international conference, half local, and half from abroad Psychiatrists are usually short on time, and they like things compressed more It's really easy and cheap to grow psilocybin as mushrooms or truffles Even in Mexico, they need to use GMP Psilocybin Accessibility “If this is going to be the treatment, how are we going to help people afford it?” - Joe There is some tricky stuff happening, companies trying to patent different parts of psilocybin to use it for therapeutic use Ketamine has been off patent for years, but you can develop a new route of administration, patent that, and make a ton of money Spravato is making it to the UK Conference Themes Joost is both excited and scared that they are bringing indigenous practitioners to the conference It's important to acknowledge the indigenous, ethical, and political dimensions to psychedelic use Talking about concepts and approaches to healing is going to be an important aspect The goal would be to do research with the indigenous communities to be able to address the needs of psychedelic use There are also a few neuroimaging people coming For mainstream scientists, the conference has to be as close to a scientific conference as possible, they may be turned off to the cultural aspects of psychedelics It's the conservative nature of psychedelia Joost also says that although the scientific research is important, it is really cool to hear the personal experiences Joe brings up a previous episode of a therapist and patient from the MDMA trials Stories are much more convincing than just data People’s experience with psychedelics may be completely different from each other It's important to share the bad stories with the good stories If we don't share the stories and data and research, then we can never learn Joe hopes that there will be a growth of citizen science in the near future Links ICPR About Joost Joost Breeksema is a part of the OPEN Foundation, which from it came the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. His current research focuses on the experiences of patients that are undergoing therapy assisted by psychedelic substances. His aim is to better understand psychological mechanisms of action/change, to tease out salient themes, and finally to learn about what works and what does not work in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Kyle invites a guest interviewer, Hallie Rose of the Thought Room Podcast, to interview him on his recent experience at Soltara. In the show, they talk about Soltara, Kyle’s experience with the plant medicine, and important topics like privilege.  3 Key Points: Eastern attendees have a different integration need than Western attendees. In the West, attendees come back to more hustle and bustle, more time is needed for integration. Soltara does a really good job at providing that time for integration.   With Psilocybin and other psychedelics, there is this one big door, you eat the mushrooms and open the door and get to experience it heavily. With Ayahuasca, there is a smaller doorway to penetrate through, you have to create a relationship with the medicine first. If the people that really need the help can't even afford it, then how do we have mass healing? Peer support movements are a way forward in this issue. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Hallie Hallie interviewed Kyle after his first 4 experiences with Ayahuasca Kyle's episode on The Thought Room Podcast about his Near Death Experience The Thought Room Podcast was inspired by Hallie’s first Ayahuasca experience She had typically pushed away anything psychedelic in nature, even alcohol before coming to Soltara as a guest “A lot of the paradigms I had been working with were flipped upside down on their head” - Hallie The message that really spoke to her was to create a podcast 2 ceremonies later she had some things come up about family and career, and again, the message ‘podcast’ came up again When she went over her integration notes from her experience at Soltara, she kept coming back to the podcast thing She describes her journal entry message as a black hole, a void She felt like she was in rooms, some were bright and rainbow-y, and others were dark and lonely The rooms were rooms for thoughts, thought rooms She owns the start up company Lunar Wild Soltara Hallie mentions that she was blown away by the amount of effort that it takes to uphold a medicine center like Soltara Kyle says right from the start from arrival to the location, he was greeted with such warmth and it reminded him of his breathwork background The ground rules that they laid down right at the start made him feel so safe She said it's amazing to see the amount of healing that happens in that space “When it comes to your own medicine work, your own journey work, only you know what's right for you” - Hallie Hallie is part of a mastermind group through Aubrey Marcus, the CEO of Onnit She is connected to a bunch of people as a part of this group She was introduced to Dan Cleland, a co-founder of Soltara, who invited her to come down Yes they had the traditional Shipibo aspects, but they also did a fantastic job of adding in the Western concepts to cater to the western needs Hallie mentions that coming from the West, we have the need to integrate the experience in a different way than those coming from the East, and Soltara does a really good job with that kind of integration The First Session Kyle said the tea was actually tasty You drink a lot of it where you override the system to where the body wants to purge Kyle drank 5 cups of the tea over all the nights The purging is to clear the system out of toxins and clean it out energetically Soltara built in pre-ceremony sessions like yoga or meditation to help ease into the actual sessions Kyle said that the Ayahuasca experience was familiar Everything felt very green behind his eyes There was a serpent weaving in and out of his DNA The experience felt so healing Kyle didn't purge (vomit) but did do a little crying He said he did not experience much anxiety The serpent was healing him and stitching parts of himself back together “There is something intelligent here working on very subtle levels” - Kyle The next two ceremonies were very gentle, some crying, going through family dynamics, but always in the background, there was that same serpent Kyle said the first 3 sessions felt really easy, compared to previous experiences with psychedelics The spirit said to him “oh you think this was going to be easy, that you would just drink this and that I would show you all this stuff. Well we have to get to know each other first” With Psilocybin, there is this one big door, you eat the mushrooms and open the door and get to experience it heavily, with Ayahuasca, there is a smaller doorway to penetrate through, you have to create a relationship with the medicine first Final Ceremony It was during the full moon in Cancer and lunar eclipse, the energy was already intense For the 4th ceremony, Kyle was already feeling high energy, and did not want to go too strong, so he started with ¾ of a cup Kyle felt like he was sober, the medicine told him to ask for a second dose The facilitator gave Kyle ¼ of a cup more That ¼ of a cup really blasted him off After the singing, he laid down and that's when things took off All of a sudden, he saw himself back in the CAT scan machine (referring back to his NDE as a teen) He always tells the story as blissful and beautiful, but this time was so different He saw himself back in the CAT scan machine as a child, and was terrified, and he began shaking He felt this pain in his pelvic area as he felt during his NDE He was shivering and so cold, it brought him right back into that state He was re-experiencing the fear in a new way during the ceremony He went into his body and felt the scar tissue and felt that shake and stretch and kind of brought in some healing there After his actual surgery/NDE, as he was healing he was always really afraid to move in certain ways in the fear that movement would re-open some of the healing wounds He got a clear way of looking at how the body holds trauma, especially after surgery That trauma is tied to the way we hold ourselves, the way we walk and talk and in so many ways This ceremony helped Kyle view somatic body work in such a new light The ceremony was not scary, he allowed his body to process the fear, but not attach to the fear and become fearful Yoga can also bring that out, stillness and vulnerability can bring up some body trauma and put you into that fight or flight response Even when you think you're done processing something, there are always more layers to dig into and see something differently to bring more clarity Preparation Hallie said what she is learning with this medicine, is that she doesn't need to make anything happen, she needs to just let it happen That feeling of relaxing things is scary because it means giving up control It's a practice and its a lot easier said than done The most important part is the set (mindset), because the set is you “Having your set figured out, when the going gets tough, you're safe still” - Hallie Kyle said that Aya always told him to wait, he didn't need to jump into trying it right away, he waited over 10 years to process his NDE trauma Hallie says it's just like marriage, you can get married easily, but it's not always going to work out if you don't have the tools and the skill sets to maintain it Ayahuasca is similar in needing the right tools and time to do it right The dieta and the prep itself is so hard People are turned off by the idea of doing something disciplined These experiences can be so much different when we go through the process of giving something up It's not to punish ourselves, it's to heal ourselves “There is a whole other side of us, that opens up when we cut out some of the things that numb us” - Hallie The dieta strips away the illusions, the plant medicines help us remember who we are Hopi Creation Story The great creator said “I have a gift for the human beings, but I need to hide it somewhere until they are ready to find it” It is “the gift of the knowing that they can create anything, they can create their own reality” The creator asked the earth where he should hide it The eagle said he will bring it to the moon The fish said he will bring it to the bottom of the sea The buffalo said he will bring it to the edge of the plains The creator said no to all of them, they will find it there So the great grandmother who lives in the breast of the earth said, put it inside of them And the creator said “it is done” It brought Kyle back to his fourth ceremony, the Ayahuasca was a reminder that everything he needed was already inside of him Privilege It's hard to tell people of their only legal options for healing, which most of them are leaving the country, which is not an option for some people We are all worthy of finding relief of our suffering through psychedelics Is therapy only going to be for the rich and elite? There are so many people who really need it Yes, you can grow mushrooms, but then you're at risk of the law The system is so complex and we need a more humane way of moving forward in this field and offer experiences like this to the people that need it Therapy is a privilege Most people that need therapy are in survival mode that don't have the privilege of access to therapy Peer support movements are a way forward in this issue If the people that really need the help can't even afford it, then how do we have mass healing? There are great healers out there that never became healers because they didn't have the privilege to Kyle says he escaped a lot of suicidal ideation after his near death experience, it took a lot of time to call earth his home “Just to wake up and be a part of this, even that is magical in itself” - Kyle “The stars come out every night, and we watch television” - Hallie Authentic Self Hallie has recently had her 12th Ayahuasca experience “I am no longer breathing, I am being breathed” - Hallie “Hatred does not exist, it is only a resistance to love” - Hallie Even being hard on ourselves is only a resistance to loving ourselves Its love with nowhere to go People that have a lot of self hatred toward their bodies or themselves, the medicine always comes back to the self, it teaches people to love and take care of themselves “You really can't love anything outside of yourself until you love yourself” - Hallie Kyle says that the people who he looks up to (ex, Stan Grof), what if they never showed up for themselfves? What if they never stood up for what they believe in? Links $200 off coupon code for Soltara: THOUGHTROOM Soltara Healing Center Hallie's Instagram Thought Room Podcast    About Hallie Hallie Rose is an author, speaker, educator, and relationship coach from New York City. She is the host of The Thought Room Podcast and also the founder & CEO of the company Lunar Wild which aims to reclaim the sacred feminine and address a modern need for a Rite of Passage into womanhood. The Thought Room is a combination of edge-of-your-seat storytelling and groundbreaking interviews with celebrated thought-leaders from around the world. The show covers a breadth of topics including psychology, spirituality, sex & relationships, psychedelic science & plant medicine, bio-hacking, fitness, nutrition, alternative health, business & entrepreneurship, mindfulness, yoga, and meditation. 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This disclaimer was originally posted in our episode, Treating Social Anxiety in Adults with Autism with MDMA and LSD – Voices in the Dark, and it feels important to post it on this episode as well.  Caution/Disclaimer A few important notes. This is an episode of an individual experimenting with powerful drugs to see if he can get any sort of relief from autism. In this case, it appears to have been successful. That said, this came with a substantial amount of risks, and people need to be aware. Please read the below bullets so you understand.  Autism is not what is treated. The thing being treated would be a symptom like social anxiety. "The field of autism science includes a long and shameful history of quack treatments and parents taking desperate and harmful measures to “fix” their children. Autism is a spectrum of congenital and neurocognitive variants, and there are no published research data in support of any compound that can influence its course." Alicia Danforth, PhD Please do not administer these drugs to children with autism. It would be highly unethical to do so.  There are only two researchers investigating where MDMA and autism meet - Alicia Danforth PhD and Dr. Charlie Grob. A scientific paper will likely be available on this in the next few months. Expect to see more here.  These drugs have not been shown to cure or treat autism, but in some cases, just like with neuro-typical individuals, some have seen meaningful changes.  Even if changes are noticed the person is still autistic no matter how many high doses of psychedelics they take. Obtaining pure drugs is very difficult if not impossible in black markets. Verifying purity will require the resources of mass spectrometry from organizations offering these services like Energy Control or Ecstasy Data Providing unsafe, dirty or compromised drugs to people can cause serious harm or death. If you are planning to use MDMA to alleviate some suffering on your own, please wait or don't. Do substantial research and have skilled people available to help.  Thanks to Alicia Danforth for helping us understand the nuance's in this area. ..autism is a genetically determined cognitive variant. It's pervasive, and it affects the whole person, not just the brain. No chemical compound has been shown to treat, cure, or alter the course of autism. However, for some people, substances like MDMA can help them manage symptoms such as anxiety, social anxiety, and trauma effects. - Alicia Danforth, Ph.D In this episode, Joe sits down with Aaron Orsini, Author of Autism on Acid. In this powerful episode, Aaron shares his moving story on how LSD gave him life-saving relief from his struggles with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 3 Key Points: Aaron spent the first 20+ years of his life suffering from the struggles of Autism Spectrum Disorder. He changed his life in an unexpected way through the use of LSD. LSD gave Aaron the emotional installation of perception to see the stimuli in life that he had been blind from because of his disorder. Aaron is the author of the book, Autism on Acid, a self told story on his autistic perceptions before, during and after his LSD experience. He goes into great depth on his experience in the show. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Aaron A large part of his psychedelic journey stems from his Autism His diagnosis didn't affect him in school so much as it affected him in his adult years with socialization His childhood friends were more based on similar shared activities When he was thrusted into more social situations, he had more issues with non-repetitive and non-scheduled socialization He was anxious in the idea that he would go into avoidance, he wasn't very afraid, just more confused Most of his knowledge was based on repetition and memorization, it was harder to navigate new or unique social scenarios Social vertigo is how he described his experience His doctor told him to read some books, and he felt like he was reading a journal on his own life Daniel Tammet - Born on a Blue Day Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant A Transition Point Aaron left his job A relationship he was in ended A friend of his was killed by a drunk driver He was in a dark place, and he wanted to retreat He didn't know what he needed, he just wanted to leave He got a backpack and a bike and headed west toward California He had an opportunity to try LSD He thought it was going to be an escape, and it ended up being the most involved experience of his life He sat on a tree stump in a wooded area, finally noticing everything that had been there his whole life that he hadn't seen before He saw the beauty in literally being alive He sat there and cried for an hour or two, it was a lot Aaron eventually got up, and started walking and saw some people walking and he had an urge to say hello, so he did, and they said “hello, how are you” back He describes it as a sensation of a child riding a bike for the first time Them saying “hello, how are you” to him, was the first time he experienced someone saying hello to him and him feeling it It was like a def person getting a cochlear implant and hearing for the first time It kick started his exploration of the world around him Integration His LSD experience was about 6 years ago, and he didn't know much about LSD at the time He didn't know what to do with his experience In the beginning, he felt as if he would go into it, see everything very clearly, and then back out of it again, and things felt more muted and ‘blurry’ “I was utilizing LSD, not for a sub-perceptive, metabolic effect, I was going for a supra-perceptive effect” - Aaron Aaron was taking at or slightly above the threshold dose amount (20-50micrograms) For someone who already had sensitivity issues, it was very apparent when he would take ‘too much’ In no way is he advocating someone to repeat what he has done, he wants it more to spark interest in researchers to find more data on this in the hopes to find relief for others Emotional Installation “LSD has helped me understand myself and embrace that” - Aaron Aaron said he's willing to take a risk to not be anonymous, because it's not some simple thing, it's so important, it's the most important thing to him He gets emails all the time saying the same thing has happened to them, but they want to stay anonymous Aaron says it has changed his relationships with his loved ones, the fact that he has this new depth of feeling has changed his relationships dramatically The main treatments for kids with autism was to help the caretaker, to help the child not fidget when they sleep Aaron says he needed to fidget, he needed to squirm around “If you can't hear, and someone is telling you over and over again ‘listen, listen, listen’, how are you going to begin to listen? That’s the void that LSD filled.” - Aaron He fell in love with parts of himself that he didn't get a chance to before Every other form of therapy was coming from the outside and telling him what to feel, LSD was the only therapy that came from the inside He mentions a quote from a documentary on someone who used truffles to help them, “Truffles installed emotionality in me” Hope for Research There were studies done with LSD on autistic children in hospital settings before the drug prohibition The results showed the kids changing so fast and so effectively It's a difficult topic, ASD research in general is heavily funded by the government Autism aside, the older you are in life, the more surprised you are when that veil is lifted for a moment The risk that he is taking is nothing compared to the significance of what good this has a chance of bringing It's not a desired risk to come out as an Autistic person, and especially as one who has taken controlled substances to heal from it Links Autism on Acid: How LSD Helped Me Bridge The ASD-Neurotypical Divide   Website  Email: [email protected] About Aaron Orsini Aaron Paul Orsini is a writer, public speaker, and survivor of a decades-long battle with clinical depression resulting from social isolation, mental rumination, and hypo-sensitivity issues common in autistic individuals. When Aaron was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of 23, he took comfort in receiving a diagnosis but remained deeply depressed as a result of seeing himself as broken and blind; someone who just couldn’t and wouldn’t “get it”. But then came his first experience with LSD, during which he became intuitively aware of the very stimuli he’d been incapable of perceiving throughout his life. Thanks to LSD---and a yet-to-be-fully-understood combination of chemically-induced synesthesia and associated fluctuations in intrinsic functional connectivity within the salience and default mode networks, Aaron can now perceive critical social cues embedded in facial expressions, speaking tones, and body language, which in turn means he feels fully connected to the human experience, and fully capable of navigating the social and emotional landscapes of life. 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In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview previous guest of the show, Daniel Greig. In the show, he goes in depth into the meaning of enlightenment and previews the new book he is writing with Dr. John Vervaeke, The Cognitive Continuum. 3 Key Points: Insight, flow and mystical experiences are all facets of working toward enlightenment. Enlightenment is really a fundamental grip on reality. It's about maintaining a relationship with the transcendent, it's not about just constantly escaping this body life. The mystical experience is a glimpse at consciousness. The most important part of having a mystical (psychedelic) experience is coming back into our bodies and developing better relationships with ourselves, others and the world. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes The Cognitive Continuum There will be a crowdfunding campaign launched for the book The book will be a combination of art and science He is writing it with Dr. John Vervaeke Youtube - Awakening for the Meaning Crisis The core of cognitive continuum is insight There is also the flow state There are also mystical states Insight, flow and mystical experiences all have something to do with enlightenment If we can train people on how to access this cognitive continuum, they can become enlightened Enlightenment It is important to see the truth “How can we take our natural ability to attach to things, and learn to step back and care about the greater good?” - Daniel Cognitive flexibility is important to understand the needs of the greater collective "Enlightenment means to apprehend truth and act in relation to truth” - Daniel Mind does not equal brain Gut Feeling EGG - electro gastro grams There is a singular resting state network between the brain and the stomach You're never really able to access this network, but when we have ‘gut feelings’ it's typically coming from neurons in your stomach Being grounded in those sensations of the stomach is a huge part of problem solving and guidance in truths We need to get back to ‘feeling’ something as actually meaning something Mystical Experience Enlightenment is really a fundamental grip on reality It's about maintaining a relationship with the transcendent, it's not about just constantly escaping this body life Daniel uses a lot of Roberto Unger’s theories in his new book There is the absolute reality and illusory reality The mystical experience is a glimpse at consciousness The most important part of having a mystical experience is the coming back into our bodies, having better relationships with ourselves and others Psychedelics don't do anything by just sitting there, they take a perceiver to matter and make a difference It's the person, the body, that really holds the power to embodiment Psychedelics and Enlightenment People say that psychedelics are a shortcut to enlightenment Daniel says that psychedelics can help take people out of depression style states A mystical experience can help you, but you're going to hit a plateau if you don't integrate and interpret these experiences For those practicing a lot of psychedelic work, they should balance with body work like yoga There needs to be a balance in all practices in order to keep escalating toward enlightenment Links Website  About Daniel Greig Daniel is an educator, organizer and artist living in Toronto. He studied Cognitive Science and Philosophy at the University of Toronto, specializing in wisdom, consciousness, and spiritual belief and experience. In 2015, he founded the Mapping the Mind conference that occurs annually in Toronto, which raises much needed funds for psychedelic research. Daniel regularly host lectures and workshops, on topics in cognitive science. He is currently writing a book with Dr. John Vervaeke on the science of enlightenment, which will be published in 2020. When not contemplating the realm of the intellect, Daniel delves in the sonic perturbations of music, writing and producing progressive metal. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview Chris Bache, author of LSD and the Mind of the Universe. Chris went through 73 high dose LSD sessions and talks about his experience in the show. 3 Key Points: Chris went through 73 high dose LSD sessions, but he says that pushing the edge of high dose and high frequency use brought on increasingly intense difficulties. He does not recommend high dose sessions like he did. The mind of the universe is where someone goes when one completely dissolves. In the show, they discuss psychedelic therapy and the debate on whether or not therapists should have to have psychedelic experience to do the therapy. Chris believes that the level of experience a therapist has had will impact the type of support they will be able to give. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Psychedelic Interest It was at the time Chris had just finished grad school and was looking where to take his research as a university professor He was introduced to the work of Stan Grof, and his book Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research (Condor Books) He was the professor of Religious Studies, sticking to his traditional life He knew there would come a time for him to share his experiences with a larger audience Chris says he's always been locked into his body and his physical experience He had no background in psychedelic states of consciousness Protocol He said you're always working with a sitter and same context/setting As the dosage increased, he began creating a more intense music playlist Chris thinks music is very important for psychedelic sessions Chris does not recommend working with high doses “When you're working with opening consciousness that radically, music has a tremendous effect, it has an amplifying effect by 5 or 10x than doing it without music” - Chris Chris said he has experienced all the common layers of the psychedelic unconscious that's talked about Consciousness Levels Chris experienced 4 different death/rebirths Chris differentiated 5 levels of the universe The first is at the personal mind, where an ego death happens The second takes places at the collective mind, about species The third level is an archetypal mind, the high subtle mind, moving beyond the species existence The fourth level is causal mind, causal oneness, profound states of non-dual reality The last is Diamond Luminosity, its absolute clarity, pureness Psychedelic Therapy Chris says that there is a certain level of support that one needs to truly let go of themselves and let go to the experience He says that he thinks the level of experience will impact the type of support a therapist will be able to give Subtle Level The mind of the universe is where someone goes when one completely dissolves Pushing the edge of high dose, high frequency use brought on increasingly intense difficulties Chris says he was very secret about his psychedelic use, his students didn't know about it But he said after he had gone deep and touched these different levels of consciousness, his students became alive The deeper he went in his own work, the more it touched the students at a deeper level Potency Chris thinks that LSD is a little cleaner than other psychedelics His basic sense is that psilocybin tends to be less evocative, disruptive Ayahuasca is more disruptive in opening up to deeper levels LSD is the most disruptive in opening people up to really deep levels of consciousness With LSD is was less about his personal experience, and more about the collective unconscious experience Realizations With one of his experiences, he had seen everything in his whole life all at once He then entered into archetypal experiences, the platonic domain beyond the time-space reality The beings he ‘met’ were as large as universes, responsible for creating time and space He went into ‘deep time’, different magnitudes of time experiences in a broader frame of reference (where we are in the history of time, what our future looks like) He reached that diamond luminosity level only 4 times out of all of his LSD sessions “If we keep this up, sooner or later, the totality of this consciousness is going to wake up” - Chris “We are moving toward a collective wake up, it's not a personal experience, it's a collective experience. An evolution of our species.” -Chris If Chris has one tip, is to let go of our fear of death, when we die, we go back home After so many sessions, and not taking the time to stop to integrate, after years, his body was screaming for community, and he felt this deep existential sadness and felt as if he was just waiting to die It took 10 years to integrate his deep exploration, and to finally feel okay and comfortable again in his body suit and in this life The universe is an infinite ocean of possibilities, we will never reach the end “The collective psyche is being cosmically stimulated by the trauma that we are entering into” -Chris Links Articles  LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven Chrisbache.com - future website   About Chris Christopher M. Bache is professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University where he taught for 33 years. He is also adjunct faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. An award-winning teacher, Chris’ work explores the philosophical implications of non-ordinary states of consciousness, especially psychedelic states. Chris has written three books translated into six languages: Lifecycles - a study of reincarnation in light of contemporary consciousness research; Dark Night, Early Dawn - a pioneering work in psychedelic philosophy and collective consciousness; and The Living Classroom, an exploration of teaching and collective fields of consciousness. His new book is Diamonds from Heaven ~ LSD and the Mind of the Universe (2019). Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Addy, Licensed Mental Health Counselor out of Washington. In the show, they talk about the research and therapeutic use of Salvia. 3 Key Points: Salvinorin A is the active molecule that causes the psychedelic experiential reports, although there are at least a dozen unique compounds in the Salvia plant. In a recreational setting, Salvia is usually smoked, but in the Mazatec culture, they do not smoke it, they use a sublingual method. The clinical applications of Salvia are tricky right now. It's not easy to get funding for psychedelic research. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Peter Peter helped found the Yale Psychedelic Speaker Series The main goal was to normalize talking about psychedelic research as research Peter joined the pharmacology lab for his post doctoral research on Salvia The team was mainly studying THC but were also studying Ketamine He wanted to bring in MDMA and Psilocybin research Peter attended The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology As a psychologist, Peter focused heavily on feedback and experience Transpersonal Psychology It all started when Peter stumbled across a dusty book in the library as a Freshman, States of Consciousness by Charles Tart The book talked a lot about meditation Joe says he has been practicing non-drug transpersonal states (breathwork) for years You can have a psychedelic experience without drugs, and you can also take psychedelics and not have the psychedelic experience at all, it's not about the drug “Everyone has an innate desire towards transcending who they are, moving towards wholeness, and personal and societal transformation” - Peter “If I'm kind, then people around me are more likely to be kind, it's about the transformation of groups and societies than about having a cool trick” - Peter Salvia “Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy is proven to do a lot of really good things, but it's not the only way and it's not necessarily the right way. There are wrong ways to do it, but not one culture owns this experience.” - Peter "Having a healthy critique of science in the modern world is helpful because its a series of provisional truths, it's a good tool to get closer to objective reality, but its not perfect, it's all we have so far" - Joe Peter says that art is an amazing tool as well Verbal language is limiting, he has seen images that can convey an experience way better than words can Salvinorin A is the active molecule that causes the psychedelic experiential reports There are at least a dozen unique compounds in the Salvia plant There was going to be a bill to make Salvia illegal in 2008 or 2009 Now it's just illegal for minors Salvia Study Peter recruited 30 people who had all used psychedelics He used a controlled set, setting and intention He used either a Salvia extract or just the unadulterated leaf No one in the real world is using Salvinorin A, they are smoking the leaf or using extracts of the leaf The participants smoked it when they desired, Peter was not enforcing the smoking It was a very relaxed setting Once the participants smoked, they then had an experience for 10 minutes, and then he came together with them and just listened to their experience 2 people got up and moved, the rest just sat there in the experience Interoception (the inner feelings of your body) is the internal form of proprioception (the feeling of your body in space) Every time you smoke something it is going to hit you quickly and be over quickly By the time you realize what's going on in a Salvia experience, you're already on your way out In the Mazatec culture, they do not smoke it, they use a sublingual method Advice The clinical applications of Salvia are tricky right now It's not easy to get funding for psychedelic research Peter says if you do get funding, attach it to something else MDMA research didn't just begin to ‘see what it could help’, PTSD sucks, and there isn't a whole lot that works to treat it, but MDMA does and it just happens to be a type of psychedelic Links Website About Peter Peter is both a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon. He earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Sofia University in 2011, including certification in biofeedback and Process Oriented Psychodrama. There, he studied non-ordinary states of consciousness, holistic and all-encompassing views of a person, and ways that these experiences can transform a person and society. Peter then engaged in post-degree specialty training at Danville State Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine, and the Connecticut Mental Health Center. As faculty at Yale University he engaged in research and training. Some of his clinical training is in mindfulness-based therapies, Motivational Interviewing, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He also discovered a passion for data management and security which he brings with him to his online therapy practice. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In today’s episode, Joe visits Naropa in Boulder, CO to sit down with Rafael Lancelotta and Alan Kooi Davis. Alan is a Clinical Psychology Professor at Ohio State and Rafael is a legal Psychedelic Therapist operating out of Innate Path in Colorado. 3 Key Points: Facilitation is a huge problem in the 5-MEO-DMT space. Some people take it without the intention of working on it afterward, they are commonly given too much, and also in a poor context. This recipe of poor facilitation and guidance leads to a lot of challenging experiences and a lot of integration work. The feeling of oneness typically arises when taking 5-MEO-DMT. It can be great for some, but for others, it can be extremely overwhelming and harmful when not provided the correct intention, context and tools to work through it. Privilege is a huge issue in the psychedelic space. The goal in this space is to make everyone’s voice heard, not just those of privilege. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Rafael Rafael studied Mental Health Counseling at the University of Wyoming He is currently at Innate Path in Lakewood, CO doing Ketamine and Cannabis assisted Psychotherapy Alan Alan is on the Faculty at John’s Hopkins He is a Clinical Psychologist He is currently doing clinical research on psychoactive substances 5-MEO-DMT It is a psychoactive substance that comes from the Sonoran Desert Toad It's a fast acting and powerful psychedelic substance that is challenging to predict Some have amazing, beautiful and transcendent experiences, but it also has the ability to bring up challenging and dark things to deal with It isn't as visual as other psychedelics, it has to deal a lot more with consciousness itself “It may feel like being shot right into the center of love, or the center of the universe” - Alan DMT can be more visual, while 5-MEO-DMT can be more spiritual, not that they can’t dip into each other 5-MEO-DMT Harms Alan did a talk on 5-MEO-DMT at Horizons There are a lot of harms when using 5-MEO-DMT Both Alan and Rafael have been contacted numerous times about looking for facilitators or about trying to integrate massive and difficult experiences An ego death, in the right context, can be transformative, but in the wrong context, can be extremely harmful. The facilitators are the problem If the facilitators are delivering the medicine in a shamanic practice, and the people using it are coming from a Western mindset, then with goals misaligned, there can be some major issues People have these grand, god-like experiences when using psychedelics, then feel like they need to become shamans and facilitate these experiences for others and have literally no clue or education on how to properly care for these people using the Toad Joe says facilitators commonly overdose their users because the toad venom is hard to predict potency Alan says that the fear response needs to be initiated when extracting the venom from the toad He thinks it can come up as a huge problem when using 5-MEO-DMT from a fear-stricken animal Alan says there is a lot of reports of feeling abducted by aliens, and it could be related to the fear response from the toad being hunted for its venom It's a similar concept to the traumatization of any other animal by the way it is killed and then eating the meat of that traumatized animal On average, there is roughly 10-20% of 5-MEO-DMT in the venom Oneness When someone becomes ‘one’ with everything, it takes a lot of detailed integration When someone becomes ‘one’ with everything, that would also mean that they experience the suffering of everything around them When the rational mind comes back online, if the person does not decide to take action, it can be seriously overwhelming to feel that oneness Integration has part to do with the experience but then the other part is everything before it, our family, relationships, job, our personality, etc. “Yeah its cool that we are one with the universe, but so is everything else” - Rafael Power and Privilege Privilege means having a voice, but it also means position in society, gender, race etc In psychedelics, for so long, it has been so hard to find a voice But with this psychedelic renaissance, it has become so much easier to speak up about psychedelic use, research, etc The people within the scientific community get put on a pedestal to speak about psychedelic research Alan says his goal as someone in the middle of the research role, is to create community, to bring every voice to be heard Being connected to psychedelics in anyway, used to mean prosecution There are still imbalances that need to be looked at The psychedelic renaissance is a chance to look at systemic issues We need to determine what our personal values are, and values of the whole community, and whether or not they are aligned Final Thoughts Alan says his goal is to continue having a voice and allowing others’ voices to be heard in this space Rafael says his goal is to make this therapy more available to those who can benefit from it and not just for the privileged Links Source Research Foundation 5 MEO DMT Forum About Rafael Lancelotta Rafael is a graduate from the University of Wyoming in Mental Health Counseling. He has worked as a wilderness therapy guide with adolescents and young adults experiencing a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges. He has also worked as a counselor at the Behavioral Health Services unit of a psychiatric hospital treating severe and persistent mental illness and medically supervised drug and alcohol detox. He has worked on several research projects studying the epidemiology of 5-MeO-DMT use in the global population and is also the administrator of 5meodmt.org, an online forum dedicated to hosting community discussions on harm reduction, integration, and safe practices around 5-MeO-DMT use. He is interested in the use of psychedelics paired with therapy for increased resiliency, mental health, and openness. He believes that the counseling relationship is essential to deepen, enhance, and actualize the benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy. He is passionate about finding ways to make psychedelic-assisted therapies available to all those who may benefit from it as well as helping to raise awareness as to responsible clinical applications of psychedelics/entheogens. About Alan Kooi Davis Dr. Alan K Davis is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at The Ohio State University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Psychedelic Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Davis’s clinical experience includes working with people diagnosed with trauma-based psychological problems such as addiction, PTSD, depression, and anxiety. His clinical expertise includes providing evidenced-based treatments such as motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. Consistent with his clinical interests, his research interests and expertise focus on contributing to the knowledge of and ability to help those suffering with substance use and mental health problems, understanding how to improve clinical outcomes through examining new treatments, and developing ways to conceptualize substance use and mental health problems through a strengths-based approach. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In today’s episode, Joe interviews Mike Jay, Author of the book, Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic. In the show they discuss Mescaline’s origins and the history of Peyote use. 3 Key Points: Mike Jay is a Cultural Historian and Author whose topics include science, medicine, drugs, madness, literature and radical politics. Mike’s recent book, Mescaline, is a definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to western modernity. Over time, Peyote has been used by spiritual seekers, by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, artists exploring the creative process, and by psychiatrists. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Mike Mike Jay is a freelance writer, an author and cultural historian Mike has been interested in Mescaline for a really long time Indigenous Use James Mooney is a crucial figure in the transition from indigenous use of peyote to the more current applications The New Deal made religions respected, protected under the First Amendment for freedom of worship History There is a ton of literature before the 60’s on psychedelic use It was obvious that if people were interested in psychoactive drugs, they would take it themselves Back then, science was much more proactive than it is today, but it is becoming more popular again Peyote Experience It's hard to find an ethical source of Peyote Mike says its unpleasant but warm and tingly and euphoric By 1970, Mescaline was this legendary substance, but it was hard to find on the streets unless you knew an underground chemist On the Erowid site, they have a bulletin that the DEA created about all of the street drug seizures He wrote a book 20 years ago called Emperors of Dreams 2CB is not as intense as Mescaline Mescaline is a phenethylamine It does not cross the blood brain barrier as easily. So you need to take more of it It is a body and mind drug Indigenous Use The Comanches were in a reservation in the Wichita mountains He was notified by the Comanches on some history He went to meet with them, and they told him stories on the history Peyote use originated inside of a Tipi “The way that we see psychedelics in modern Western culture, is not the only way of thinking about it:” - Mike Native American Church There is an interesting thing that happened between Mexican/South American Shamanic practice and Native American Church In the ceremony, the facilitator is made to not ask like a priest, everyone is their own priest It is a healing modality for everybody The very first peyote experiences in the west encouraged artists to make art Salvador Dali was apparently anti-drug use The surrealist movement had a number of rules Huichol art is a very psychedelic inspired art The plant Peyote is so fast growing, in some places it is growing naturally San Pedro is way more sustainable than Peyote There is a lot of demand for Peyote currently Joe says he thinks that Peyote is not scheduled in Canada Accounts The western story is full of first-person experiencesIts based on the personal experiences and visions In the indigenous accounts, there are very little stories on experience or personal matters, its more recording on the collective experience Links Website Twitter About Mike Mike Jay is a leading specialist in the study of drugs across history and cultures. The author of Artificial Paradises, Emperors of Dreams, and The Atmosphere of Heaven, his critical writing on drugs has appeared in many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The International Journal of Drug Policy. He sits on the editorial board of the addiction journal Drugs and Alcohol Today and on the board of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation. He lives in England. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Joe interviews Dena Justice from the Ecstatic Collective. Dena and Joe talk about Neuro Linguistic Programming and how it is beneficial to use with non-ordinary states of consciousness. 3 Key Points: NLP is Neuro Linguistic Programming. Dena Justice is a Lifestyle Design Strategist that uses NLP to help people create their dream, ecstatic life. 93% of communication happens at the subconscious level. NLP training focuses on how we use communication tools to help people in non-ordinary states of consciousness. Perception is Projection. Our belief of someone else, is a projection of ourselves onto them. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Dena Dena grew up with NLP in her life NLP is Neuro Linguistic Programming “You get to create your reality, what are you choosing consciously?” - Dena She became impacted by Tony Robbin’s events, and decided to teach NLP NLP is about language and communication and things that are happening subconsciously 93% of communication happens at the unconscious level Neuro Linguistic Programming Perception is projection “If I have a belief about someone else, that is my projection of myself onto them” - Dena The big no-no in NLP is to say things like don't or not Say it the way you intend it What messages do you want to enforce when in an altered state? You want it to be positive “What is someone creating in their reality based on their unconscious communication?” - Dena It's important to take NLP and combine it with non-ordinary states because they are more powerful together than the sum of them separately The ‘aha’ moment happens because we have neural networks in every single cell in our body Resistance is always a sign of a breakthrough Virginia Satir  is known for translating people’s representational systems In the Hierarchy of Ideas, Virginia was all about ‘chunking down’ When someone says “I'm upset” then you ask “how specifically?” On the opposing side, Milton Erickson focuses on abstraction, chunking higher to get to trance Dena uses the Milton model of hypnosis to bring people into trance states NLP Training Dena offers NLP training that focuses on how we use communication tools to help people in non-ordinary states of consciousness It's so important to understand the 93% of communication that is happening at an unconscious level Timeline therapy is a process that utilizes the unconscious mind to get rid of negative emotions such as anger, sadness and guilt Every part of her training concludes with NLP coaching The Milton model and hypnosis is really beneficial when focusing on its delivery specifically Hypnosis is important because its using everyday words but with intention and volition to put people into a trance state We reduce resistance in communication when we move up in abstraction Links Website About Dena Justice As a master manifester, Dena has created a beautiful life for herself. She been financially responsible since age 15 including putting herself through college, two masters degrees and purchasing her own home in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has made over $1M in her life through a fulfilling career as a facilitator, educator, trainer, mentor and coach working with thousands of people across the country. She loved her career, yet hit a point where she felt empty. Near the top of her career ladder, she was a classic case of a high performer and leader hitting burnout. She chose a powerful pivot out of her J-O-B and into her own business. Now, she helps other high performers who have hit burnout and are scared to admit they’ve hit a plateau or a wall. She helps them get the eff out of their own way and move to the next level to increase their impact so they feel fulfilled and inspired again, as well as helping them create more wealth and the relationships they want in their lives. She helps people experience new levels of success, increase/improve focus and performance, abolish FOMO, evolve communication skills, develop transformational leadership skills, create amazing relationships, increase financial abundance and live life on their own terms. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Raquel Bennett to recap on the KRIYA Conference. Kyle attended the conference, which is to bring people together with dedication to understanding the better use of Ketamine. 3 Key Points: The more recent KRIYA Conference was the last of its kind. The goal is to make information on ketamine more accessible to more people in the future. At KRIYA Institute, they believe that there is not one right way to use ketamine, different patients are best served by different treatment strategies. Intramuscular ketamine is usually 93% bioavailable, while nasal and lozenge based ketamine is usually only 40% bioavailable. The less variability the better when working with a powerful medicine for therapy. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes KRIYA KRIYA is an international conference focused on ketamine and its therapeutic potential The goal of KRIYA is to get people of all different ketamine backgrounds in the same room Different people benefit from different things, and different doses and methods matter There is a symbiotic relationship between therapeutic and spiritual practice of ketamine She wanted to create a place where researchers and clinicians could come together This last conference was the last one The conference is CME accredited, which means physicians can get units for their education Raquel picks people from different backgrounds, therapists who use low dose ketamine for therapy, to those who do full blown spiritual work with ketamine Ketamine is a relational medicine - which is about having a relationship with the substance Ketamine Therapy Ketamine Therapy Lessons Wisdom Teaching A Loving Relationship The Medicine The medicine is adjunct to the entire process, it's not just about the ketamine, it's about the relationships, the wisdom teaching, etc. And each are powerful on their own, and even more powerful when all combined When people are using ketamine in absence from the other components, people are not getting the full effect that they could “Ketamine when done correctly, when administered in the right setting, with the correct support, enhances resilience.” - Raquel Therapy is an important mechanism to teach coping skills needed in psychotherapy Highlights of KRIYA When Raquel first started running this conference in 2015, the clinicians were afraid to even come, they were afraid to talk about Ketamine This past year, there were hundreds of applicants and so much excitement around talking about ketamine In 2014, a whole bunch of psychiatrists stood up and said they have been using ketamine for their patients and it worked A doctor talked about combining meditation with ketamine to heal substance use disorder When ketamine is offered in a structured context, its highly beneficial Another doctor talked about using ketamine to treat those who are acutely suicidal People who are severely psychiatrically distressed benefit from ketamine treatment Another doctor talked about combining ketamine with EMDR to treat patients with PTSD Bioavailability Raquel says she prefers intramuscular ketamine over lozenges It's the cheapest way of doing it Its super precise, you have a great control of the bioavailability of the ketamine to the patient With IM, 93% is bioavailable With nasal and lozenge ketamine, usually 40% makes it to the patient's brain, which is a huge range of variability when working with a powerful medicine Progression Clinicians are on the fence for prescribing for at home use A doctor talked about 4 different tiers of ketamine experiences related to dosage Other doctors talked about measurement tools of pre and post experience ways to take data when administering ketamine to patients There is a lot of ketamine use outside of the medical context The field is stuck in the question “Should ketamine be allowed to be used by people who aren't psychiatrically fragile?” Everything good that is going to come out of ketamine usage and assisted therapy, will come It's a slow process, but it is all moving forward Final Thoughts Raquel encourages people to are interested with using ketamine in therapy to get together regionally and learn from each other She is thinking about creating a video series, as well as a retreat for ketamine providers The KRIYA Conference is over, but the KRIYA Institute isn't going anywhere She is looking at ways to get the information out faster and to more people, than to limit it just to conference attendees Links Website About Raquel Bennett Dr. Bennett is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology (PSB 94022544), working under the supervision of Dr. Bravo. Dr. Bennett primarily works with people who are experiencing severe depression, who are on the bipolar spectrum, or who are contemplating suicide. She has been studying the therapeutic properties of ketamine since she first encountered it in 2002. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Bennett’s practice has evolved to include consultation services for medical professionals who wish to add ketamine services to their offices. She also lectures frequently about therapeutic ketamine. Dr. Bennett is the Founder of KRIYA Institute and the Organizer of the KRIYA Conferences. Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for a discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday

In today’s episode, Joe sits down with Andy Frasco, a touring rock musician with the band, Andy Frasco and the UN. In the show, they cover what is it like to be a touring rock musician with drugs so available and how to live more healthfully in the space. 3 Key Points: Andy Frasco is a talented, touring music artist a part of the band, Andy Frasco and the UN, as well as a podcast show host. Andy uses psychedelics to help cope with the anxiety that the rock star lifestyle brings. Psychedelics open us up to the possibility that everything we know is wrong. Finding truth and clarity for some people is hard, and people resort to alcohol and other harmful behaviors to suppress the painful reality we live in. Cocaine and uppers only keep a rock star up for so long. It keeps you awake for the partying, but it suppresses all the stresses of the lifestyle. Psychedelics and meditation can help with the balance needed in a stressful, lifestyle of traveling and fame. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Intro Joe attended a bunch of his live shows and was able to catch up with Andy in his hotel room while he was in town Life is tough for a traveling entertainer, so the healthier they are, the better they are to perform for their audience Andy Frasco’s World Saving Podcast Micro-dosing Microdosing is typically 6 weeks on, two weeks off, dosing every 3 days 1/10-3/10ths of a gram (of mushrooms) is the typical microdose Once you feel it, it's more of a macro-dose Paul Stamets has made mushrooms popular Mushroom Evolution Mushrooms did not leave a mark on bone structure, so it's hard to tell if they actually made a difference in human evolution Drugs have been around for a long time, and people in the past have definitely used them There are studies of mushrooms helping to grow nerve cells and brain neurons back We are only 50-100 years in on science “(Psychedelics) open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.” -Terence McKenna Joe says he's been to a therapist a bunch of times, and he says he has enjoyed it Joe’s main form of therapy has been Breathwork His most intense experiences have been just as powerful as his Ayahuasca experience About Andy Andy says he is open about taking psychedelics, he takes mushrooms, he doesn't really use cocaine He says he feels more anxious when he isn't taking them than when he is He says he gets really anxious on weed now as he gets older Psychedelics show us a lot of truths “We are all trying to figure out life, it's hard. Psychedelics help us create a better relationship with our mind.” - Andy Andy says he has been anxious his whole life He has had very scary panic attacks He became addicted to sex as a crutch for his anxiety He woke up one day, and sex didn't give him the thrill anymore Andy started in the music industry because rock stars get the chicks Teen years are just about being super insecure about everything Shame is a huge influence on our relationships with other people “The majority of effects from drug use for people are good.” - a quote from Carl Hart, a Psychology Professor who studies drug use Andy's first psychedelic experience was an 8th of mushrooms at 18 years old Rock Star Lifestyle Andy says he used to be really into coke because he just had to stay up for the shows But he says he doesn't take anything anymore that feels like speed He was coping his exhaustion with drugs and alcohol “When you're in a band you're the party for one day of the year in that city.” - Andy Life for a rock star can't just be the 2 hour show, the trick is figuring out how to be mindful for the other 14 hours of the day after the party The lifestyle is really hard, its very common to use drugs, sex and alcohol to suppress it Humans were not designed for this Andy has begun using transcendental meditation to help with this lifestyle He also mentions having his first DMT experience recently Links Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free trail at Audible About Andy Frasco Andy Frasco, a Los Angeles, CA native singer, songwriter, band maestro, entrepreneur, party starter and everyday hustler, tours with his band, “The U.N.” The music has elements of Soul, Funk, Rock and Roots and the shows have been described as orchestrated chaos, an overall great time. Frasco average 200+ dates a year, touring the country dozens of times, creating a loyal following everywhere he goes.

In this episode, Kyle and Joe sit down to cover questions from listeners of the show. They discuss topics that include psychedelic use for exorcisms, cluster headaches, athletic performance, processing grief and more. 3 Key Points: There are a few examples where psychedelics are used to increase athletic performance. Psychedelics can also be used to help realign those who are using sports as a form of distraction from internalized issues. When eliminating variables for psilocybin consistency in mushrooms for therapeutic use, freeze drying helps. But there are so many variables in mushrooms versus synthesized psilocybin. When addressing the sustainability of the Toad, according to the data, there isn't a real difference between 5-MEO-DMT from a toad and synthesized 5-MEO-DMT Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Kratom Warning Joe brings up an issue that was brought up to him by a physician from the Wholeness Center, Dr. Craig Heacock, out of Fort Collins, CO Dr. Heacock warns about Kratom It is safer than opioids, but it can be physically addictive and getting off of it can be horrible Kratom withdrawal closely imitates opioid withdrawal The receptor site activity is the same as opioid pills Using Psychedelics for an Exorcism Kyle thinks of shamanic uses for plant medicines, and with the idea of purging and spiritual emergence, working in non-ordinary states can exacerbate these states and maybe help with this kind of work Joe and Kyle go into writings from Stan Grof, explaining the physical appearance of those going through LSD psychotherapy or breathwork, and how it assimilates to an ‘exorcism’ of releasing the bad The purging during a psychedelic experience may feel evil, or alien Joe and Kyle say, do not perform an exorcism, leave it to the trained people Treating Cluster Headaches with Psychedelics Cluster Busters is an organization for the research on cluster headaches LSD works for some as well as oxygen treatments work for others We know a lot more about migraines than cluster headaches The migraine is where neurons in the brain start misfiring and create a firing storm How can Psilocybin Mushrooms be Standardized in Production for Therapeutic Use? Joe says the practical solution is to have a really large amount of psilocybe cubensis, all blended up, and then split in even doses There are potency differences between species, strains, etc There are so many variances with mushrooms versus synthetic psilocybin Freeze drying also promotes close to 0% loss of psilocybin when drying mushrooms Psychedelics and Athletic Performance There may be psychological blocks that are getting in the way of a person reaching the peak performance of their genome It could be trauma, or psychological blocks Athletic performance could be a distraction from what you're really here to do Athletes have a lot of dysfunctional behavior Psychedelics may show us our bad behavior and help us align Kyle says he had this passion to snowboard and dedicate his life to snowboarding, and then he received a message in journeywork that told him snowboarding is simply a hobby and he needs to focus his life on other things “Sports are a great way to cover up our emotions” - Joe Kyle mentions tow other episodes that cover similar topics Ben Eddy Shane Lemaster How to get the Ball Rolling on Psychedelic Liberty Start a club Joe says he’s been incubating a Psychedelic Club in Phoenix Clubs are great for harm reduction Is There a Humane or Conservative Way to Harvest the Toad Without Disrupting its Habitat? Joe says yes, roadkill, pick them up off the road If you touch a living one, there is a chance you'll be doing harm Even touching the toad can transmit harmful fungus to them According to the data, there isn't a real difference between 5-MEO-DMT from a toad and synthesized 5-MEO-DMT How Psychedelics Might help with Processing Grief Kyle says when he thinks about grief, he thinks about trauma Psychedelics may be really beneficial when treating trauma Kyle says he loves breathwork, because it creates the container to process things and even just simply cry Kyle recommends a really great book on grieving, The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise by Martin Prechtel Our culture does not contain grief very well A lot of people internalize it instead of breaking down and letting it go Links Use code PSYTODAY at Onnit for discount on all products except fitness equipment Get a 30 day free trail at Audible About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Jac Harrison, a grammy nominated music producer. Kyle and Jac talk about music as therapy, how DMT mimics the near death experience, and how Jac produces music based on frequencies of mystical experiences. 3 Key Points: Jac shares his story about his near death experience, and how DMT has been a therapeutic option for him to cope with his crippling anxiety and PTSD. Jac is a music producer, who uses frequencies from mystical experiences to produce music. His music helps people with addiction, sleep issues, anxiety, and more. Music is not an FDA approved medicine, but if there is music that tricks your mind into thinking you have taken a medicine, then it should be an option for those suffering. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Jac In 2008, Jac was newly married with a baby on the way He needed a new job, and accepted one with Whole Foods Magazine Around 2011, the owner of the company became ill, and gave his company to his daughter, who was awful Jac said that he knew something had to change He started his music career, went under a lot of stress, and went through a divorce Everything started to go okay with his music career, money was pouring in His first album was Musicians Collection Project He had a ton of anxiety after the divorce, and had high blood pressure He took some cold medicine, on top of his blood pressure medicine, totally forgot about it, then decided to have a glass of wine with a friend The next thing he knew, he was in an ambulance getting his chest pounded on They told him he was in and out all night, and practically died After this near death experience, he felt amazing! But the feeling of greatness only lasted about 3 weeks, and then his anxiety came back, and it was crippling A Synchronistic Event Jac says he doesn't believe in magic or witchcraft or any woo woo For his 39th birthday, he was working a trade show He ran around his hotel in Las Vegas, screaming that he felt he was going to die He didn't know how, but he could feel it Everyone thought he was crazy Moments later, was the shooting right outside of his hotel It was the Las Vegas shooting He does believe in coincidence He had this overwhelming feeling that something bad was going to happen, it was his intuition Understanding the Experience After trying to figure out what this all meant, he took a 2000mg bar of chocolate to blast off, trying to relive his near death experience He said, there was a lot of frequency, and as a musician, he felt like he could mimic it His first album, and first song on the album, Relief, was about his experience when he died His music is found at MindToyBox Each song he did after that, catalogs the DMT experience he had “An old projector TV, I had one for a while, it was great. The light came on and told me I needed to change the bulb. I changed the bulb and saw in a new and clear way forever. That's what DMT is like.” - Jac Kyle says that when he attended COSM for the DMT Spirit Molecule release party, Rick Strassman was there and said that the idea that DMT comes out of the pineal gland is just a hypothesis, and people took it and ran with it as truth Frequency for Healing After he smoked DMT, he heard this humming, and so he started humming and recording it as a frequency for the album He took opium, and then figured out the frequency that substance performs at He wrote music, based on the mathematical equation on how opium works and releases He says it has helped others detox off of opium Jac cant take mushrooms because he is allergic, so he takes DMT Jac worked with a man who had gone through a ton of trauma, he had gone through combat He kept reliving his combat trauma when he would try to go asleep He smoked DMT, and really relived the experience, and was able to let go of it after that “Your mind is a bitch.” - Jac “If you can lock onto a memory, and dissociate it with something, and re-associate it with something else, Every time you can go back to that memory,you can relive it in a way that it's tolerable, and get over it.” - Jac Jac says without this, he would not be able to function, and he would be institutionalized Jac’s music is Alex Grey’s form of art creation It is made to go with journeywork experiences It is supposed to mimic taking a pill, so you don't need to take the actual pill It is supposed to guide people when taking different psychedelics His tracks match the frequency of specific psychedelics Malta Hypogeum The Malta Hypogeum, the oracle chamber, is a cave with naturally occurring frequencies Raymond Reif is an underestimated person in history He beat cancer using frequencies in the 30’s and 40’s “If we're not going to someone to get drugs for something that we need drugs for, and solving our problems using plant based medicines, music therapy, and frequencies, we are much better off.” - Jac Jac came across psychedelics when trying to treat crippling anxiety Kyle is the first person he has told this NDE story to Alzheimers is not a neurological problem, it's a perception problem Psychedelic medicine should be used for research to treat cognitive health problems, PTSD, alzheimers, etc “If the earth gives us something for our body, we should be able to take that at the same time we are able to take modern medicine.” - Jac Jac says that he started doing this type of work as more of an Atheist, and after the psychedelic experiences, he says he has become more spiritual Intuition Jac says that his intuition and discernment came after his near death experience Kyle says that this happens after mystical experiences, we become more in tune with what is going on around us “I believe that we have something in us, that is triggered, when we have a fear of death.” - Jac Final thoughts Jac recommends Relief as the first track for listeners He extends himself to people who are heavily anxious, have severe PTSD, or depressed, to come to him, and he will make music for them He said that this is not medicine, but if there is music that tricks your mind into thinking you have taken a medicine, then it should be an option for those suffering Links Website About Jac Harrison Having spent most of his adolescent life medicated to treat ADD/ADHD, Jac developed a dependency on the medications and could not function without them. When he stopped using them, his anxiety was so bad that he was diagnosed with PTSD in 2009; so he took his love for music with his understanding of mathematics and developed music to help himself get off all the medication. Mind Toy Box is the result of his work.

In this episode, Kyle and Joe sit down to explore psychedelic integration. They cover different frameworks, resources and benefits of integration and coaching services. 3 Key Points: Integration is commonly confused as post-session only, but it includes pre-session, self care, and really begins at the point you decide to engage in self-work. It is important to remember the GPA framework when determining where you are at in the integration process, G - grounding, P - processing, A - action. Psychedelics Today offers many resources to assist with the integration process; Navigating Psychedelics Online Course (and Live Course), Coaching and Integration Calls, and books, Trip Journal and Integration Workbook. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Updates Kyle will be attending the ACISTE Conference this November He is speaking and doing a breakout session with Michelle Hobart Kyle is going to present on using technology for support with spiritual emergence Kyle and Joe will not be offering any major workshops until spring. They will be attending a conference in Exeter UK - Psychedelics and Philosophy Psychedelic Integration Kyle says his near death experience shows up in his life everyday Integration is not only post session, it is also pre-session Integration, at its root means bringing parts together into wholeness Joe says you don't need support to do integration, although it is helpful Kyle's analogy of a psychedelic experience as a big hallway with a lot of doors, and a ton of magical stuff, even scary monsters, are coming through the doors and wandering through the halls The goal is to realize and say “this is a part of me” and learn to be okay with all of the stuff in the hall Self care works until it doesn't, and that is when integration comes in Integration Framework Kyle uses a framework and asks, what is your GPA? G - grounding, post session, how are we getting re-connected to ourselves? P - processing, once energy feels stable and centered, how can we process the material? It could mean journaling, therapy, body or somatic work, breathwork, yoga, etc. A - action, moving it forward, breaking the leanings down into goals of things to work on Kyle says that these things do not need to be done in order necessarily, but its a good framework to check in after an experience and see where you're at Joe reminds listeners of 'pre-hab', that preparation can make a world of a difference and weigh a lot more than post work in a lot of cases “Life is integration, call your mom, pay your rent.” - Joe Joe mentions the quote that “the opposite of addiction is connection” Climate change can bring up a lot of existential dread, the connection piece, and other topics can be addressed with psychedelic integration Resources The Psychedelics Today, Navigating Psychedelics Course is a great way to learn more about integration We offer two books, the Trip Journal and the Integration Workbook We also offer Psychedelic Integration coaching calls and services You don't need an integration coach all the time, but for someone to just be there helps If you have a retreat planned, integration and coaching can really help mitigate the risks Integration within the psychedelic community is somewhat understood Kyle says he gets tons of emails asking for medicine sessions Psychedelic Integration and coaching services do not include medicine or guiding or providing of medicine, its simply pre and post session guidance Psychedelics Today does not suggest underground or illegal psychedelic sessions/therapy and makes a significant effort to be ignorant of underground work, there are legal options to choose from Links Psychedelics Today About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

In this episode, Joe and Kyle sit down to cover highlights from the Horizons Conference. In the show, they discuss the presentations and topics they heard at the conference. 3 Key Points: Joe and Kyle attended Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics Conference in NYC, it is a forum that examines the role of psychedelic drugs and plant medicines in science, medicine, culture and spirituality. Carl Hart gave a compelling talk; Dispelling the Lies that the Psychedelic Community believes about Drugs. Greater than 80% of the effects of drugs used are positive. Another popular topic was on the economics around psychedelics, and discussion on companies trying to monopolize on psychedelics. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Horizons Kyle mentions he loves to attend because it's a great social event to connect with others interested or involved in the psychedelic field Kyle says the videos of the talks from the conference will be released soon They presented neuro-imaging data 5-MEO-DMT Dr. Alan Davis did a talk on 5-MEO-DMT and its challenges People have a hard time letting go into the experience because its so fast and overwhelming He talked about a term, reactivation, similar to flashbacks that happen between 1-2 weeks after the experience People were reporting it as positive experiences, 80% of people enjoyed the reactivations He did say that there were some bad players in the 5-MEO-DMT space There is no control in the dosing in underground facilitation A lot of people eyeball their dosage in 5-MEO-DMT Joe suggests to buy a milligram scale Carl Hart Carl Hart did a talk; Dispelling the Lies that the Psychedelic Community believes about drugs Greater than 80% of the effects of drugs used are positive PCP is a psychedelic drug, but the psychedelic community chooses not to own it Ketamine was derived from PCP Hamilton Morris said that no drug is bad, it comes down to the dose and how its being used Poison can be a medicine, and medicine can be a poison, it all depends on dose No drug should be illegal, drug scheduling should just go away Some states are starting to ban private prisons Joe says the drug war is the war on race, the war on class, etc Joe suggests looking up the Portugal drug law; less overdoses, less HIV, less incarceration, etc Kyle mentions that in some cultures they would drink alcohol to get into a trance state and dance around all night and then chill for 3 days afterward because they would all be recovering from the hangover Talks and Topics Shelby and Madison, co founders from Doubleblind Magazine did a talk Fiona Misham did a talk on the use of psychedelics for festivals and fun She talked about having on-site drug testing facilities and how they heighten safety In 2018 in Europe the MDMA contents were tested at 168milligrams 1 in 5 substances are mis-sold 1 in 20 MDMA samples were long lasting N-ethylpentylone, a drug that keeps you up for 3 days straight There was also an Economics panel Kyle says it was a heavy and hot debate There was a lot of conversation on companies making money on psychedelics There was worry from some on Compass Pathways monopolizing on psychedelics Kyle says big and fast growth can be dangerous for mental health It's possible that these companies will just push for results to pay off the investment than to really take the time to have slow meaningful sessions and include the therapeutic model When therapists have more congruence with their client, they get better results Links Website About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

In this episode, Joe interviews Cody Swift from the Riverstyx Foundation. In the show, they talk about Peyote and the troubles for Native Americans and their church not having access and preservation of Peyote. 3 Key Points: RiverStyx is a small family foundation that funds projects that demonstrate the potential for healing and beauty. RiverStyx has funded the preservation of land to protect the sacred Peyote plant. The Portugal Model shows that decriminalization works. Portugal faced unprecedented overdoses and drug abuse, typically with heroine, and when they turned to decriminalization and treatment, overdoses and incarceration dropped significantly to almost none. The Native American churches have held onto their ceremonial practices very tightly, and they struggle to find legal and sustainable access to Peyote, their sacred plant medicine. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Cody and RiverStyx Foundation RiverStyx is a small family foundation Cody’s grandfather was the CEO of UPS, and before his grandmother passed, she put a large share of the stock into a small family foundation Cody and his father took their quarter of the Foundation and created RiverStyx “How do you use a million and a half dollars a year for remarkable good?” - Cody He fell into philanthropy along with the burden/blessing of making decisions to change the world with a lot of money He started LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) It is a program that aims to help those struggling with addiction rather than punishing them with prison time The Portugal Model In the early 2000’s, Eric Schlosser’s book, Reefer Madness Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market eluded to Portugal having decriminalized all drugs Portugal faced unprecedented overdoses and drug abuse, typically with heroine They realized that they couldn't arrest their country out of the drug addiction problem, so they turned to decriminalization and treatment They de-stigmatized treatment and drug users didn't have to feel ashamed and use drugs in the shadows This lowered HIV rates to almost nothing It was highly successful “Not everyone needs drugs, but not everyone should be at risk to go to jail if they get caught with them.” - Joe Joe encourages psychedelically inclined folks to look deeper into harm reduction and drug decriminalization “Let's provide these people safe access to a clean supply where they can stabilize again” - Cody Joe mentions a book by Jeremy Narby, Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge The drug war is causing danger to the plants Cody says, if cane syrup was made illegal because it is killing people, we wouldn’t ban the growth of corn, because it is sacred and used for so many other things “Jail is one of the biggest problems for mushroom users” - Joe Joe mentions that he was a little frustrated that Michael Pollan was able to take mushrooms and not go to jail, but the average person could go to jail Cody says that he highly respects Michael Pollan and what he has done for the psychedelic revolution, and that he thinks that Pollan wouldn't want anyone to go to jail for this People like Michael Pollan and Tim Ferriss have done a tremendous job securing funding for Psychedelic Research Peyote Native American people had always been close to Cody’s heart As a philanthropist, he didn't know where to begin There is a myriad of problems facing Native American communities About 5 years ago, it just came into consciousness He got connected to Sandor of the Native American church He learned about ceremony and it became absolutely clear that he had to be a part of it It was an unclear path on how to support the community in the beginning, there was no 501C-3, there were no other philanthropists, the community is so large “How to support them in the continuance and empowerment of their using of a highly potent and healing substance to treat communities that have suffered so much, that was the key question” - Cody Looking at the threat and endangerment of the Peyote plant was the most important part of securing the preservation of this sacred plant Synthetic Mescaline is difficult to access and expensive Ceremony It's hard to track the ancient original threats to the traditions The Native American churches have held onto the ceremonial practices very tightly It's important that white people don't just come in and tweak the ceremony The average life expectancy for Native Americans is only in their 50s They have gone through so much suffering, and they are very awake, sensitive people that are holding this culture and practice close to them Alcoholism is one of the largest problems in Native American communities, and Peyote has shown to be a highly tangible benefit and cure for alcoholism Preservation It has taken over 4 years to begin building these alliances Riverstyx and Bronners have been the only sources of funding, they need more Through this, they purchased 605 acres of land for peyote preservation in Texas 600 acres may not solve the Peyote crisis, but it is a start and has opened the doors to connect with other farmers that has now led to 12,000 acres dedicated to peyote preservation This is to return sovereignty and control to the Native After the land was purchased, they had a pilgrimage with the Navajo Peyote is God to them, it's their connection to the spiritual realm Native Americans have resisted acculturation and stuck to their ways, that is their strength Links Email: [email protected] Website About RiverStyx RiverStyx Foundation attempts to lessen human suffering caused by misguided social policy and stigma, while advocating enhanced opportunities for healing, growth, and transformation in such areas as drug policy, criminal justice, and end-of-life care. The Riverstyx Foundation believes in the human potential for healing, growth, and transformation. The Riverstyx Foundation works to provide a bridge to the relinquished parts of ourselves, our society, and our ecology, to ease those fears and prejudices by funding projects that demonstrate the potential for healing and beauty, when life is embraced in its fullest expression.

In this episode, Joe sits down with Jordan and Lou from Mycology Now, a company that makes and sells spore syringes for microscopy use. In the show, they talk about the start of Mycology Now, the culture change caused by psychedelics, and personal stories on how psychedelics changed their lives. 3 Key Points: Mycology Now is a company that produces premium spores for microscopy use. The goal is to spread knowledge about mycology, one spore at a time. We are living in an age of information that has never been experienced before, people have the tools to break the stigma on their own just by educating themselves. Psychedelics are becoming a culture change agent, more and more people are becoming accepting of psychedelics, and psychedelics are helping people come together to create positive change. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Mycology Now Jordan and Lou are co-owners and creators of Mycology Now The company runs out of Florida Mycology Now is a company that sells spores for microscopy They have two locations in Denver The mission of the company is to spread spores and knowledge Lou shares how his interest in mycology began He says it began with his struggle with depression and suicidal tendencies Psilocybin had ended up being the only thing that helped with the struggle, the depression was completely erased Jordan shares his story His mother was in a relationship when he was about 10 years old with an abusive man This man abused narcotics, opioids He was abusive mentally, physically and emotionally He grew up being convinced that he wasn't worthy of love, and he blamed himself About 2 years ago, he discovered mushrooms, and was able to go into the painful parts of his childhood and forgive himself and heal from his trauma “Although negative things did happen to me, and to my family, I was not the cause of it, and I should not have to carry that around with me.” - Jordan He wants to do everything in his power to bring that to the rest of the world Shattering the Stigma One thing that they have noticed about the younger generation is that they are way more open and have way more acceptance of psychedelics and an interest in self care and mental health “We are living in an age of information that has never been experienced before, people have the tools to break the stigma on their own just by educating themselves.” - Jordan Joe mentions that in Colorado, psychedelics are a bit normalized to have conversation about In Florida, the median age is 55, so there is more of a challenge because people that age grew up in the taboo time of psychedelics The start of Mycology Now It organically grew into a website Lou says it was an entity that grew on its own Joe predicts that in 2020, we are about to see the Psilocybin movement really take off Joe brings up the Paul Stamets Stack, which is Cubensis, Lions Mane and Niacin There are testimonials about auditory changes that you can measure, you can increase your ability to hear frequencies They bring up an example of a deaf man being able to hear the waves of the ocean for the first time after practicing the Stamet’s stack Psychedelics as a Culture Change agent Some people say its the worst time in history, and other people say this is the best time in history There is a hunger of more digestible ways of receiving information Psychedelics can help us understand the impermanence of things Lou brings up that Paul Staments and Dennis McKenna were the catalysts to his understanding of mycology Jordan says that his inspiration and influence came from people at music festivals People are very open and authentic when on psychedelics Meeting real people with real lives who had profound change in their lives because of psychedelics are his major sources of inspiration Psilocybin for Cancer and Depression Lou’s sister was diagnosed with Metastatic breast cancer with a double mastectomy and was diagnosed with depression afterward After talking about the health benefits, she took psilocybin, and laid down and disconnected with her body Afterward, she was able to come out of it and talk about her ease with death The experience felt like death itself, and having felt what death might feel like, she no longer experiences depression about her cancer Final Fun Fact Johns Hopkins psilocybin study on smoking cessation 80% of people were abstinent from smoking cigarettes on a 6 month followup Those people smoked an average of 19 cigarettes per day for an average of 31 years of their life Links Website Instagram About Mycology Now Mycology Now is a humble small business dedicated to spreading awareness. They are a company that makes and sells spore syringes for microscopy use. Their Mushroom Spore prints and syringes speak for themselves; always having a heavy spore count.

In this episode, Kyle joins in conversation with Dr. Daniela Peluso, Cultural Anthropologist and Associate Director at Chacruna. In the show, they discuss guidelines for the awareness of against sexual abuse in Ayahuasca ceremony. 3 Key Points: Ayahuasca settings bring together shamans and participants, and with the increasing occurrence of such encounters, there is an alarming rate of incidences where shamans make sexual advances toward participants during or following ceremonies. Ayahuasca is a commonly used substance for seducing participants looking for healing, whom then return from their retreats needing additional healing from sexual abuse. This guideline reviews some of the key behaviors to look out for and ways to prepare before attending an Ayahuasca retreat to avoid and protect oneself against sexual abuse. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics                                        Show Notes Daniela Daniela has a PhD in Anthropology She was living with Indinenous people in Amazonia She conducted field work in the Amazonian regions of Peru over the last two decades, particularly Ese Eja She is on the board of Directors at Chacruna's Institute for sexual abuse She wrote an article on Ayahuasca and was noticed Guidelines There was an initiative that made a guideline for doing Ayahuasca but it was held back because there are so many different ways ceremony can be performed and it wasn't accurate Drinking with friends is wise Drinking with experienced women or a couple is another wise move Abuse mainly happens to women but it does happen to men as well There is a higher chance for a person to speak up when they have someone they know and trust there with them Ayahuasca tourism is why sexual abuse is such a problem When someone doesn't know that touch is out of the norm in ceremony, they might accept it because they were never informed that it's wrong They may think that being touched sexually is just a part of the ceremony, and it's not AyaAdvisors and Tripadvisor are both decent resources for reviews on Ayahuasca centers/ceremonial retreats Unless something goes terribly wrong, you will usually get good reviews Places also change over time It's not necessary for healers to touch intimate parts of your body or any area to which you do not consent  There are forms of healing where the body is touched, so it's important for the person to make known what is okay and not okay from the start Curaciones, Sopladas and Limpiezas do not require you to remove your clothes  If a shaman removes clothing, that may be a warning sign because that is not a part of tradition Look out for warning signs that a healers intentions with you might be sexual When healers start to talk about how they aren't married or that they can give you ‘special treatment’ or that sexual or ‘love magic’ is necessary for healing, that is a warning sign Use common sense and draw the line immediately if anything sexual comes up Sexual Intercourse between healer and patient during ceremonies or directly after the ceremony is not acceptable in Ayahuasca tradition Sexual intercourse with a healer does not give you special power or energy Consider cultural differences and local behavioral norms when interacting with native healers, letting go of ethnocentrism                                                                      Having an understanding of what is culturally normal is important Consider cultural differences and local clothing customs Protect your personal space, physically and spiritually Each person has a right to know their body and know what feels right and wrong to them No means no Be wary if healers offer psychoactive substances other than those used during ceremonies He is a Shaman, not a Saint!                                                                                                        There is a lot more “I am a Shaman” these days, where it used to be more of “I am not a Shaman” Ayahuasca tourism definitely romanticized what being a Shaman really is If violation occurs, get support People should speak up as quickly as they are able to, vocally or physically “There is no need to suffer in silence” - Daniela Beware of what might appear to be consensual sex It has a lot to do with having the same form of communication, trust, and power dynamics Beware of getting romantically involved If you are aware of or witness sexual abuse, speak up Final Thoughts “Individuals have to accept that Ayahuasca has become a business and an industry as much as it is a spiritual practice, and that it includes the trappings of capitalism like exploitation and inequality.” - Daniela Links Website Chacruna.net Email: [email protected] About Daniela Peluso, PhD Daniela Peluso is a cultural anthropologist whose current research focuses on indigenous Amazonian communities. She has worked over the last two decades in Lowland South America, mostly with communities in in the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon. She is actively involved in various local efforts on issues relating to health, gender, indigenous urbanization and land-rights and works in close collaboration with indigenous and local organizations as reflected in her publications. She also specializes on the anthropology of finance. She received her PhD in 2003 from Columbia University and is a senior lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Kent. She is an Associate Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and on the board of the Society of Lowland South America (SALSA) and People and Plants International (PPI).

In this episode, Kyle interviews Laura Northrup, Marriage and Relationship Somatic Psychotherapist and creator of the podcast, Inside Eyes; an audio series about people using psychedelics to heal from sexual trauma. www.psychedelicstoday.com

In this episode, Kyle and Joe interview Ben Sessa, a Consultant Psychiatrist. Ben comes on the show to talk about preliminary results from the first ever, MDMA assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD). 3 Key Points: Ben Sessa plays a role in leading the current MDMA assisted therapy study for alcohol use disorder, and shares preliminary results. In the current stage, out of the first 12 patients, 2 have turned back to drinking, 5 have stayed completely dry and another 5 who have had a drink or two but have not relapsed back to their typical levels of consumption. Most people with a long term substance addiction have a history of trauma. MDMA can help people feel safe, in order to work through and heal trauma. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes Preliminary Results They had 13 people in the study, and they took data on 4 people The first caveat in these results is that there was no blinding and no placebo in this study There is no way to tell that it was solely the drug that resulted in the effects In terms of tolerability, everyone preferred it to other treatment, there were no bad reactions to the MDMA, there were no negative reactions, it was a total success in terms of tolerability In the current stage, out of the first 12 patients, 2 have turned back to drinking, 5 have stayed completely dry and another 5 who have had a drink or two but have not relapsed back to their typical levels of consumption They did a similar study previous to this one except without the MDMA and they had 11 patients, 9 of them went back to their full level of consumption They chose alcohol use disorder because it's so difficult to treat All patients are recruits from local drug and alcohol services Ben picks them up after they have detoxed, after they have been cured of the physical dependence, but when they have yet to be cured of the psychological dependence They receive 2 dosing days within their 8 week therapy (usually weeks 3 and 6) They do 125mg and then half that size dose 2 hours later, which sustains the high Ben mentions that recruitment is difficult, a lot of people have a drinking problem, but they can't have patients that are depressed, suicidal, pregnant, epileptic, etc. Future for the Study Up until next March, they are continuing to take in new patients for the study to have more data The next step is to have a randomized control study This current study is sponsored by Imperial College of London It's not a MAPS sponsored study, it's the first non MAPS, MDMA study The main papers, with all the data are over a year and a half away from publishing Addiction and Trauma “MDMA addiction is as rare as a hen with teeth.” - Ben “Most people with a long term substance addiction have a history of trauma.” - Ben Trauma and PTSD is highly treatment resistant There are certain drugs that inhibit fear response, such as alcohol, heroin, etc They make you forget the pain but you can't work with them and do therapy with them, with MDMA you can MDMA can help people feel safe, in order to work through and heal trauma “We are all the products of our attachment relationships.” - Ben Breaking Convention This past year was the 5th one There were 1300 attendees from all over the world What's wonderful about Breaking Convention is how multidisciplinary it is There's the guy in the gray suit in one room talking about high level neuroscience and a hippie with dreads in the other room talking about the spirits that live in the Salvia leaves Ben says they work really hard to make that balance work There's a lot of debate and conflict in the psychedelic movement right now, Breaking Convention is very important for creating space for this debate Looking ahead Ben is looking into opening a clinic He mentions academia is not his area of study, he is a clinician, but this research is an excuse to treat patients Links Breaking Convention About Ben Sessa Ben Sessa is a consultant psychiatrist in adult addictions, working part-time at Addaction in Weston-Super-Mare and is senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is currently taking time off clinical medical practice to study towards a PhD in MDMA Psychotherapy. He has specialist training as a child and adolescent psychiatrist and is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa’s joint interests in psychotherapy, pharmacology and trauma have lead him towards researching the subject of drug-assisted psychotherapy using psychedelic adjuncts. He is the author of two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015) and is currently conducting research with Imperial College London and Cardiff universities studying the potential role for MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use. He is a co-founder and director of the UK’s Breaking Convention conference.

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Rachel Anderson and James Franzo, founders of the EDELIC Center for Ethnobotanicals. In the show, they talk about the benefits of creating a healing practice using botanicals such as Kratom and the need to decriminalize all plants. 3 Key Points: EDELIC is a non-profit in Eugene, Oregon that began as a public lending library that has grown to a community of information, events, and conservatory of psychoactive botanicals. Kratom can sometimes get a bad rep, commonly thought of as an opioid. But Kratom is not an opioid, it just affects the opioid receptors in the brain, respiration never changes, and it's actually in the same category as the coffee family, so it gives a boost of energy. There is not an economic incentive that puts the botanical research on the same level as synthetic research.  At EDELIC, the goal is to create scientific evidence that validates citizen-led research, authentic scientific information, and create a scientifically valid, open science and praxis oriented, non-commodified access pathway, to and from the direct human & botanicals/fungi relationship while protecting the bounty emerging from therein. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics   Show Notes EDELIC EDELIC is a non-profit in Eugene Oregon that has been operating for 4 years They started as a public lending library They put on a weekly discussion group and host events What started as a library, grew to a conservatory to protect plants, and now includes research Conservatory They have 15-16 psychoactive species, such as Salvia, Kratom, San-Pedro, etc. Volunteers are able to help out in the garden They are interested in growing the conservatory to have different climates that cater to each individual plant Events They have done both a CBD event and Kratom event, and have brought the plants from the conservatory The events that they have been holding are based on community desire for more information on those plants Kratom Kratom has the potential to prevent deaths in the opioid crisis with less initial stigma than ibogaine, psilocybin, etc The symptoms of withdrawal from Kratom are similar to withdrawal from coffee Kratom is a plant and the benefits can be harnessed along with a practice when habits are formed, a person doesn't need to have a dependency on the Kratom Kyle mentions that creating a practice is a foreign concept to some people, they think their healing comes solely from the substance and not the practice The best way to take it is in tea form, and let all the intelligence centers of the body take the medicine in James says he hears news and TED Talks on Kratom tinctures and extracts, and he thinks that leans Kratom toward that abusive behavior again Using it continuously and re-upping on the go makes it less of a practice “In all cases, were encouraging folks to focus on the whole botanical, letting the intelligence of the body to form the relationship with the plant will keep you safer than going in the other direction” - James The goal is to use the Kratom to take away the pain to a point where the individual has more energy and to say, “what can I do to improve my health in this moment?” That may look less like taking 100% of the pain away and taking it away just enough to have the energy to create a practice of healing without the reliance on another substance Its generally safe, it has a predictable response in individuals, and it is legal Kratom is not an opioid, it just effects the opioid receptors in the brain, respiration never changes, and its in the same category as the coffee family, so it gives a boost of energy “Botanicals, integration practice, and realizing our internal intelligence centers can really influence and inform our decision making process” - James Kratom can be tested, and there are industry standards similar to how cannabis is tested Kratom is highly unregulated and you are taking a risk when not testing it for quality Decriminalize Nature In 1994, the World Trade Organization introduced this piece of legislation that says in US Patent Law, minor scientific alterations to natural botanical plants can be patented Patent law protects scientific adaptations to botanicals, and therefore, the US claimed that third world countries owe us royalties for agricultural products In Canada, they said to patent an indigenous plant is to steal from the third world country, and i n that case, the US owes other countries over 300 million and in pharmaceuticals, billions That is why in the US, there is an urge to make money on synthetic versions of these plants There is not an economic incentive that puts the botanical research on the same level as the synthetic research The WTO does not recognize technology or innovations by farmers, artisans or grassroots innovators that happen in a grassroots setup There are churches that are recognized at the federal level, they cant conduct research, but they have access to provide these plants "We are hoping to create scientific evidence that validates citizen-led research, authentic scientific information, and create a scientifically valid, open science and praxis oriented, non-commodified access pathway, to and from the direct human & botanicals/fungi relationship while protecting the bounty emerging from therein. – James Rachel notes that all funding so far has been from volunteers and donors “I am strongly for decriminalizing nature, it protects the indigenous, it protects nature, there is no reason someone should be criminalized for using plants” - Rachel There is a unique interplay between the laws at the local, state and federal level Final Thoughts There is a need for people to come together, a need to not feel alone, a need to share If anyone is interested in starting a non-profit, Rachel and James are willing to help Links Website Email: [email protected] About Rachel Anderson Rachel’s focus is on somatic therapies and the healthy integration of plant practices. She has successfully fund-raised, planned and organized public events, hosted intentional integration practices with ethnobotanicals, created artwork, designed integration journals, met with the 4J school board to discuss drug awareness education in classrooms. Rachel brings power, stability, and genuine strength and determination to ECfES and acts as an original steward for the original ECfES vision. About James Franzo A 20-year journey of self-education (using what has now become a large part of the lending library we operate) inspired James to launch ECFES. Additionally, gaining experience working in the field of chemical dependency treatment and social services contributed further to his disenfranchisement with current policy and treatment modalities, and attracted him further to evidence-based approaches to drug policy reform and the mental health field in general. Specifically, potent ethnobotanical plants and mind/body methodologies for integrating them. James is also an honorably discharged military veteran, who served for six years. James has been the website content developer @ ECFES, library archivist, team builder, and steward of the original vision for ECFES, an ethnobotanical/psychedelic/entheogenic healing center under one roof.

In this episode, Joe interviews Tep, a chemical engineer and educated, psychedelic enthusiast. They dive into rich conversation regarding drug use education and creating a cohesive meaning among recreational, medical and therapeutic substance use. 3 Key Points: There is a disconnect between drug education and drug use. There are a lot of people who use drugs, but not a lot of people who are educated on how to use them. There is a huge advantage of isolating the property of the drug when using them for therapy. For example, using isolated psilocybin vs mushrooms. Learning on site at festivals and music events may not be super successful, drug education and harm reduction may look more like preparation. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About Tep Tep listens to all sorts of music, whether that's rave style with lights, or jam bands, or a music festival with camping, or even rap and jazz There is a whole spectrum of drug use in the music environment She points out that some people are very mindful of what and how much they are taking, and other people are just taking anything they can find, and sometimes a lot or too much She started to talk to people at festivals and realized that people really didn't know about the benefits and power of psychedelics There definitely is a place for harm reduction education at festivals Drug Use Assistance Groups Joe brings up the Zendo project and other initiatives that help people who are having a difficult drug experience to walk them out of it Some festival ‘families’ go around and have missions to hydrate people or make sure people are having a good time They aren't staff or paid to do it or anything but they do it for the good of the whole Vision Learning on site may not be super successful, most festival goers have an agenda for adventure and music and not for learning at a booth or speaker Drug education and harm reduction may look more like preparation Tep mentions Diplo doesn't allow any drug use at his shows, alcohol is the only allowed substance Tep thinks that he probably doesn't know that alcohol is far worse than psychedelics and other drugs Theraputic Use When someone goes and has a vacation, they have certain chemicals released in their mind, it is still therapeutic, even if it's not a psychedelic experience “Not only can psychedelics be fun, they can also be therapeutic.” - Tep Tep started going to camping style festivals and started hanging out with a crowd of people 10 years older than her, where their drug use was mature and mindful and safe Then when she would hang around her younger friend group again, she realized how unsafe and unmindful their drug use was It led her to be more active in wanting to educate everyone on how to use drugs properly Exotic Compounds Shulgin's magical half dozen includes 2CB, 2CT2, and others Tep mentions preference of truffles over mushrooms Her and Joe bring up the decrease in potency of most drugs with exposure to moisture and time and other variables Compound Isolation There is a huge advantage of isolating the property of the drug when using them for therapy For example, using isolated psilocybin vs mushrooms The therapy is just as important as the substance There is a way to find information in this community without getting a degree in it About Tep Tep is a chemical engineer who had an interest in modern psychedelic research. She is passionate about the EDM and music culture and finding new ways to educate drug users on harm reduction and drug use education.

In this unique episode, Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-H joins together in conversation with Dr. Andrew Gallimore, Author of Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game. In the show, these two Englishmen discuss Peter's critique of Dr. Gallimore's recent book. 3 Key Points: Dr. Andrew Gallimore’s recent book, Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game, explains how DMT provides the secret to the very structure of our reality. Based on a recently published review of Andrew’s book, Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-H sifts through and confronts Andrew’s idea that DMT allows one access to, and existence in a hyperspatial world. They discuss Peter’s critique, covering topics on information, consciousness, dimensions, dreams and theory. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook Show Notes Peter’s review on Alien Information Theory Peter mentions 3 ‘problems’ The first problem is a critique on what information is The second point regards consciousness The third point talks about dimensions and theories Information The first problem Peter states says that the originality of the work pushes the ideas further toward art and further away from truth Andrew says he is a fan of making things a work of art, and he says at the start of the book that it isn't something scientific In philosophy it's called speculative metaphysics “It's cliche isn't it, that science fiction eventually becomes science fact.” - Peter Minkowski Space Time, the theory that Einstein supports, HG Wells wrote about a half a century before Minkowski wrote about it Peter says that a person could be defined by a set of numbers, weight, height, age, etc. Andrew says that the information is the electron, and how it interacts with other information How do we know that there is not more to anything than that which we can know about it? How matter creates/is mind is a mystery Consciousness Peter asks, ‘does information at a high level produce subjectivity?’ Andrew says consciousness is fundamental Panpsychism holds a distinction between an aggregate and a hold-on Andrew says that integrated information is consciousness Information doesn't emerge from consciousness, information actually is consciousness Andrew says that he is an idealist, he thinks that the world is structured Peter says that information always has to be about something Andrew disagrees and says that information is substantiated You could say, the fundamental digits of our reality are ran by an ‘alien computer’, the physics completely different than our understanding of reality Andrew says that the absolute self is not only aware of itself, its aware that it is aware of itself He also says that these ideas are all musings, all things he has thought about as possibilities Peter asks Andrew if he thinks brains are required for consciousness Andrew says, consciousness is not a property of matter, it is an organization of things Dimensions and Theories Andrew says we don't need senses to experience other worlds The DMT experience is not mind dependent, it shows another reality When you're dreaming, it's independent of the sensory experience, but its not entirely independent of the waking world “The dream state is informed by the waking state.” - Andrew Peter asks, ‘If the brain creates dreams, why does the brain not create the DMT world?’ “We know how the brain learns to construct worlds, but we don't know how the brain learns to construct DMT worlds.” - Andrew When looking at a machine elf, is he equally as able to deny his consciousness as we are able to? Final Thoughts Peter concludes that Andrew is a Realist/Panthiest Peter and Andrew think that they don't disagree with each other, but Peter believes Andrew would have to go into extremely deep detail on all of his points in his book, and the book is thick enough as it is Peter agrees Andrew’s book is a great narrative for mapping the DMT space Andrew likes to think of it as computational idealism Links Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game Peter's Review About Dr. Andrew Gallimore Dr. Andrew Gallimore is a computational neurobiologist, pharmacologist, chemist, and writer who has been interested in the neural basis of psychedelic drug action for many years and is the author of a number of articles and research papers on the powerful psychedelic drug, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as well as the book Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game (April 2019). He recently collaborated with DMT pioneer Dr. Rick Strassman, author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, to develop a pharmacokinetic model of DMT as the basis of a target-controlled intravenous infusion protocol for extended journeys in DMT space. His current interests focus on DMT as a tool for gating access to extradimensional realities and how this can be understood in terms of the neuroscience of information. He currently lives and works in Japan. About Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-H Dr Peter Sjöstedt-H is an Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind and a metaphysician who specializes in the thought of Whitehead and Nietzsche, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of sentience. Following his degree in Continental Philosophy at the University of Warwick, he became a Philosophy lecturer in London for six years and has now passed his PhD (on ‘Pansentient Monism’, examined by Galen Strawson and Joel Krueger) at the University of Exeter, where he also teaches philosophy modules and writing skills. He is now to become a postdoc fellow of the university. Peter is the author of Noumenautics , the TEDx Talker on ‘psychedelics and consciousness‘, and he is  inspiration to the inhuman philosopher Marvel Superhero, Karnak.

In this episode, Joe and Kyle sit down to have a conversation about the 39th Annual Telluride Mushroom Festival, Healing the Mind, Healing the Planet. Joe attended the conference and heard from many amazing speakers. 3 Key Points: Joe attended The 39th Annual Telluride Mushroom Festival last weekend, a festival and conference that celebrates all things fungal and brings together a cohort of enthusiasts, experts, and scientists. There was a lot of talk on the topic of microdosing. Opinions ranged from the feeling that there isn't enough valid data to prove that microdosing is effective, to some testimony on how microdosing has helped relieve cluster headaches or help with traumatic brain injuries. There was some exciting news on innovative ways that mushrooms can be used medically to help fight disease or agriculturally to fight insects without using pesticides. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes The Telluride Mushroom Festival took place August 14th - 18th This festival is is a placeholder Psychedelic conference In the mycology world, the psychedelic topic isn't typically included in events Attendees and Talks Brick Bunyard, who runs psychedelic magazine Tradd Cotter of Mushroom Mountain, an excitable mycologist Larry Evans of Blue Portal Teresa Egbert of Herbal Visionz, a Psychedelic enthusiast Peter Hendrix and Sara Lappan spoke on a study for using psychedelics to curb cocaine use David Nichols, chemist, was pretty optimistic about where the psychedelic movement is heading He gave a super scientific talk around receptor sites and LSD Music and Psychedelics Joe says that there is a long history of music and psychedelics Kyle mentions a podcast he listened to about someone bringing in their own music for a Ketamine therapy session Psychedelic Therapy There was someone at the conference that said psychedelic therapists should have psychedelic experiences and should be open about it It was an interesting conversation at the conference Joe says, “you don't need PTSD to treat someone with PTSD, it's not the most important factor. The most important factor is safety.” Scientist Conference Joe mentions a conference coming up in the fall in New Orleans that is a Scientist only conference If a scientist has published serious, quantitative data they are invited It'll be the first gathering of its kind where there is finally enough data Microdosing David Nichols shared his opinion on microdosing, that there isn't real data on it and that importance should be put toward medical uses Folks in the audience were making claims about microdosing for migraines and traumatic brain injuries, etc Are people taking sub-perceptual doses or a threshold dose? Joe says a macro dose is a dose you can see (maybe the size of an ant), micro dose is something you need a microscope to see The majority of people microdosing aren't educating themselves on dose size Interesting Moments from the Conference Joe was surprised was how charismatic Tradd Cotter was Tradd has plans to do mushroom retreats in Jamaica The most exciting news is a new method of pulling out the antibiotic resistant ‘stuff’ in a person, culturing it out and introducing it to sterilized/colonized grain bag and then reintroducing it to the person so they aren't antibiotic resistant anymore This would be a mushroom bi-product that fights disease in humans in less than 24 hours This same model could be used in cancer treatments or even agricultural applications, using mushrooms to fight disease or bugs that kill plants, etc There were mushroom foraging walks and mushroom identification tables at the festival Vendors included mushroom kombucha, mushroom jerky, festival clothing, etc There was a guy from outside of Arizona who casts real psilocybin mushrooms and makes detailed metal jewelry out of them The town is small and surrounded by super tall mountains, and the festival is dispersed around the town It's a small festival and a great way to make connections “This is where you quit your job and dedicate your life to mushrooms” - Tradd Cotter Mushroom farming is one of the few businesses you can start with under $5,000 Links Website About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle completed his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Download   In this episode, Kyle interviews Daniel Shankin, Founder of Tam Integration. They cover topics including the Psilocybin Summit, child rearing, and integration practice. 3 Key Points: The Psilocybin Summit is an online conference on the myth, magic and science of psychedelic mushrooms. Psychedelic Integration is really a form of reparenting ourselves. We need to learn to ask ourselves how we can connect deeply without becoming codependent. Child rearing is an important topic. Nurturing a child with care and love is similar to the way we use psychedelics, meditation and yoga for healing. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About Daniel Daniel came up in the psychedelic space in the 90’s Recreational use turned into therapeutic use He explains that as enlightenment called to him, it also called him to do shadow work He said the transformational work began in his 20’s He said there was no community so he used Ram Dass books to help with integration Daniel says that psychedelics made him feel a deeper sense of life, more responsibility in his role on earth, feel more connected, etc. His calling from these feelings led him to practice yoga, open a studio, provide trainings and more “People gain so much by being heard” - Daniel Child Rearing Daniel mentions talking to his wife about conscious child raising The conversation is about how to heal, not just talking about how to raise ourselves so we need less healing “How do I raise a baby with as little trauma as possible?” - Daniel Grof talks about the birth process in his books but kind of stops talking about trauma after the baby is out The baby is designed to be held by the mother, and to put that child in a box with other children in boxes without parents, in a cold and sterile environment is a horrible idea We project our own anti-social tendencies onto babies A baby is meant to have constant connection and attention, and when we give a baby neglect, we wonder why they have addiction, depression, etc. Psychedelic Integration is really a form of reparenting ourselves “How much deep connection can you offer and can you stand? How can I connect deeply without becoming codependent?” - Daniel Attachment and Healing As a yoga teacher for 20 years, he has found that there is a type of reparenting, that it is helping people to learn to help themselves “Caring for people is a good thing to practice, one of our greatest problems is self-centeredness” - Daniel Money isn't the problem, "my money" is the problem Samskara is a subtle tendency of the mind (like an eroded river) The tendency to prove that we exist, or to prove that we are right, is something that the ego promotes It takes energy to tame the ego and recondition ourselves “Am I trying to prove that I exist in order to feel loved?” If our needs are met and we feel safe and loved, we don't need to prove ourselves We tend to look for the quickest and easiest way possible for the least amount of suffering, we look for the quick fix, but there is a lot of work to be done typically It's important to introduce a meditation practice into a psychedelic practice Babies will cry into an endless void because they don't understand time, just like in breathwork or psychedelic sessions, where time is distorted Mindfulness of Enthusiasm Enthusiastic consent is where you can press someone into giving you consent Are they enthusiastic about engaging with you? If not, then don't Learn how to gauge enthusiasm Psilocybin Summit September 19-22, 2019 The 920 Coalition is doing for psilocybin what 420 is doing for cannabis There has never been a conference that is just psilocybin, and never fully online and live It allows people to attend a conference from home There is no venue to pay for, no tickets for travel, making it more accessible The goal is to get as much traditional information as possible Daniel says he's not advocating psychedelics, he is advocating meditation for those who use psychedelics Daniel hopes that with this conference, that he didn't choose the speakers to just spit facts, hopefully this is heart and mind education that helps people feel like there is something possible in their lives that makes them feel greater, and that may or may not include psilocybin Coaching vs. Therapy Some people do not need therapy, they need coaching and accountability We live in a world where our context does not always work to serve us How do we change our context to better serve us? Links Website Tam Integration The Psilocybin Summit About Daniel Shankin After a profound and intense awakening experience in 1998, Daniel dove deep into his yoga and meditation practice to stabilize his realization in his body and the world. He began teaching in 2002, and took over leadership of his neighborhood yoga studio in 2004. He’s directed several teacher training programs and taught on the faculty of even more. Daniel ‘Sitaram Das’ Shankin has dedicated his life to the cultivation of clarity, resilience, and heart. With the recognition that our true nature is vast and generous, wise, he strives to serve his clients in finding their own innate goodness and boundless strength. He currently offers leadership coaching with a heavy emphasis on mindfulness and somatics, and is based in Marin County. You can visit his website and learn more about coaching opportunities at sitaramdas.com.

In this episode, Kyle sits down to chat with Greg Kieser, Founder of think-tank, Supersystemic.ly and author of Dear Machine, a book written as a letter to a future super-intelligent entity. Topics covered include blockchain, AI, money, Psychedelic Investments and how psychedelics can help humanity prepare for the emergence of super-intelligent entities. 3 Key Points: Blockchain offers an enormous amount of opportunity, by taking data that would otherwise be protected by government or big corporations, and making it accessible to the general population for a more accessible information source. Money is this interesting concept, that we are storing our time, our energy and our goods in a piece of paper. Psychedelics can help with this, be rewiring the way we think about money and the overall exchange for goods and services. Psilocybin is a cure, its use does not need to be continued for it to work, so Compass Pathways is highly incentivized to continue to heal new people, which is what we want, healing at scale. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes About Greg Greg worked at a foundation in NYC aimed at reducing the rate of poverty He started an angel investment firm/think tank, Supersystemic.ly He wrote the book, Dear Machine, a letter to a future, super-intelligent entity Looking to the Past Our nutrition narrowed when we became farmers “The truth is, we can't go back to where we came from, we have to go to a new place, so how do we do that?” - Greg There is such difficulty with people living in clusters (cities) and transporting all of the food in from the country It's important for the psyche to get back to nature and even taking on a hobby as simple as gardening can be so healing Children’s immune system has been shown to become stronger when living on farms and playing with animals and in the dirt Psychedelics are helpful in understanding how interconnected everything is Integration of Technology Blockchains have the capacity to take data and pull it into a place where we have more control over it (can't be bought or sold) When we combine our knowledge of technology with psychedelics, we will really start to progress as a species Block Chain The creator of Bitcoin created BlockChain, which is a type of database that lives out on the internet that no one can own It offers an enormous amount of opportunity, by taking data that would otherwise be protected by government or big corporations, and making it accessible to the general population for a more accessible information source Greg mentions a block chain that will be a regeneration of land Maybe all the members donate $50 to the block chain, and those members then can follow the progress of a pond or the growth of a tree, etc Its a good example of a block chain being used for good Money Money is this interesting concept, that we are storing our time, our energy and our goods in a piece of paper Psychedelics can help with this, be rewiring the way we think about money and the overall exchange for goods and services AI AI is going to get more and more powerful and corporations and governments are going to want to get their hands on AI for more power In Dear Machine, Greg wrote about a super aware machine that helps us to make super intelligent decisions based on what food to eat (based on our microbes, our genetics, what is the most sustainable for the environment, etc)\ Greg fears that the government will try to take control of it and have its own agenda, but he thinks that with super awareness for decision making, that good will win Kyle mentions that the Western mind is so obsessed with Apocalypse AI and Superintelligence are going to accelerate whatever systems we already have in place If it happened right now, it would look ugly But, if we create a world that appreciates interconnectedness and the diversity and complexity of our minds and our bodies, then we will be in a much better place Psychedelics have a huge role to play, it allows us to appreciate things, it helps get our ego out of the way, it helps us break addiction Monoculturization has led to a lot of bad things “Don't try to change the system, just make a new system” - Buckminster Fuller Human well being and environmental stability are two metrics that we need to work on Interest in Psychedelics Greg's interest in psychedelics began when we was invited to Psilocybin ceremonies He said it just ‘clicks’ “You really don't understand what psychedelics are until you take them” - Greg He then began to invest in psychedelics, microbiomes, agriculture, etc Compass Pathways The main problem with the health system is that we get into the idea of patenting molecules Psilocybin is a molecule that can't be patented, so he's not worried Greg wants to see psilocybin use at a larger scale, so the medical model is a great way to get there As a part of Compass Pathway’s program, in order to be a therapist and provide the therapy, you have to go through the therapy yourself Psilocybin is a cure, its use does not need to be continued for it to work, so Compass is highly incentivized to continue to heal new people, which is what we want, healing at scale Looking Ahead Greg is most excited to see healing from opioid addiction Alcohol and tobacco fall under that in his hopes for healing Greg is also really excited about the microbiome and the gut connection to the rest of the body There was an Autism study that gave people with Autism a microbe transplant from healthy people and after 2 years there has been a remission of symptoms Microbiome Reddit  Links Supersystemic.ly Dear Machine: A Letter to a Super-Aware/Intelligent Machine (SAIM) About Greg Kieser Greg Kieser is founder of Supersystemic.ly, a Brooklyn-based think-tank and angel investment firm dedicated to increasing humanity's readiness for the emergence of superintelligent entities through the study and spread of "supersystemic" perspectives and innovations. Kieser, whose university and independent studies of complex systems science form the operating thesis of the company, founded Supersystemic.ly after more than a decade overseeing a portfolio of technology initiatives at an NYC-based poverty-fighting foundation. His work at the foundation was driven by a complex set of metrics for measuring the impact of investments on the economic, physical and mental well-being of low-income New Yorkers. Dear Machine, and to a greater extent the company, unites his unique skills and knowledge in technology, social investing and complex systems science.

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. David Nichols, American Pharmacologist and Chemist. Dr. Nichols has made many contributions to the psychedelic space and is recognized as one of the foremost experts for his outstanding efforts in medicinal chemistry of hallucinogens. 3 Key Points: Dr. David Nichols is the founder of The Heffter Research Institute, which promotes research of the highest scientific quality with the classic hallucinogens and psychedelics in order to contribute to a greater understanding of the mind leading to the improvement of the human condition, and to alleviate suffering. Dr. Nichols has a strong opposition toward the DMT/pineal gland theory. The assumption is that DMT is released during birth and death, but Dr. Nichols presents opposing arguments as to why it isn't true. David doesn't believe in the research of microdosing psychedelics. He believes there are many other diseases and disorders that research money could be put toward discovering drugs for than the potential for heightened creativity with microdosing. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About David When he was a kid he was into pyrotechnics He synthesized a lot of MDMA for MAPS He is the founding President of Heffter Research Institute He was introduced to psychedelics before he went to graduate school David's work was never interrupted during the drug war because he wasn't doing any clinical work He proposed the study for MDMA testing on rats for a micro-dialysis of chemicals being released from the brain David’s History of Substances David attended a meeting at the Esalon Institute He met Rick Doblin, a young kid at the time, who was enthusiastic about MDMA and Marijuana Rick decided he wanted to develop MDMA as a drug, and asked David to make it with him Then David met Rick Strassman, who asked him to make DMT So he made the DMT and then DMT Spirit Molecule came out as a result David made the first batch of psilocybin for John Hopkins “The only way to use these substances, is to use the medical model.” - David Microdosing David doesn't agree with microdosing, he thinks its all just a big hype He says that there is a huge placebo effect with microdosing He says there isn't a lot of proven results and literature to make him believe in it He thinks that there are far too many other things to research and create drugs to cure (like eating disorders for example) vs. just heightening creativity with microdosing David edited Torsten Passie’s book, The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics DMT Rick Strassman’s DMT hypothesis is that upon birth and death, the Pineal gland produces DMT, which produces an outer-body experience David says that the pineal gland is too small, it's only 180mg It produces 25 micrograms of melatonin in 24 hours, so there is no way for it to produce 25 milligrams of DMT, the amount needed for a DMT trip Heffter Origins Heffter Research Institute was David’s idea Arthur Heffter was a scientist with a PhD in Pharmacology and Chemistry He was one of the most well respected Scientists in Germany He got samples of Peyote, and knew there were alkaloids in it, and he separated all the alkaloids, and took each alkaloid himself to find out that mescaline was the active component in Peyote He was the expert who invented hair tests to find out if people were suffering from lead poisoning Heffter Research Institute The effects that they discovered from Psilocybin blew them away They knew LSD had powerful effects, but they weren't expecting to find the therapeutic benefits that they did with Psilocybin Psilocybin has a great timeline too, LSD is really long lasting, and 5-MEO-DMT is super short and really powerful Psilocybin is great for use in therapy because of the time it allows for integration GMP Psilocybin Patent Joe mentions the patent of GMP Psilocybin and asks if there are other ways to make psilocybin David says that he believes there are other ways to make Psilocybin The cost of psilocybin is trivial in comparison to the cost of therapy, David doesn't think that the drug itself will have a monopoly Links Heffter.org Donate About Dr. David Nichols Dr. Nichols originally conceived of a privately funded Institute as the most effective mechanism for bringing research on psychedelic agents into the modern era of neuroscience. This vision led to the founding of the Heffter Research Institute in 1993. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC, where he continues his research. The focus of his graduate training, beginning in 1969, and of much of his research subsequent to receiving his doctorate in 1973 has been the investigation of the relationship between molecular structure and the action of psychedelic agents and other substances that modify behavioral states. His research has been continuously funded by government agencies for more three decades. He consults for the pharmaceutical industry and has served on numerous committees and government research review groups. Widely published in the scientific literature and internationally recognized for his research on centrally active drugs, he has studied all of the major classes of psychedelic agents, including LSD and other lysergic acid derivatives, psilocybin and the tryptamines, and phenethylamines related to mescaline. Among scientists, he is recognized as one of the foremost experts on the medicinal chemistry of hallucinogens. His high standards and more than four decades of research experience set the tone to ensure that rigorous methods and quality science are pursued by the Institute.

Download In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dr. Torsten Passie, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy with the Hanover Medical School in Germany. In the show, they cover a range of topics on Dr. Passie’s studies on microdosing. Dr. Torsten Passie will be taking part in a special panel dedicated to microdosing at Breaking Convention 2019 (August 16-18, Greenwich, London), also featuring Amanda Fielding of the Beckley Foundation, Dr David Erritzoe of Imperial College, London, Dr Devin Turhune (Goldsmiths), and Dimitris Liokaftos, exploring myriad aspects of microdosing, including its effects, unknowns, and media representation presented by BC director Nikki Wyrd. Find out more about Breaking Convention: https://www.breakingconvention.co.uk/ 3 Key Points: Psychedelic research in the University setting died off after 2004, but is finally seeing an increase as the psychedelic revolution continues to grow. There is very little to no documentation of doctors doing self-experimenting with psychedelic drugs. It's becoming popular for therapists to use the substances used on their patients, more common to do the self-work before doing the work on others. Even if microdosing does not produce any significant effects and it is all placebo, the trend is a new way to introduce it into our society. The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About Dr. Passie Dr. Passie has been researching psychedelics for 25 years He specializes in the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs He has found difficulties in researching psychedelics during prohibition Dr. Passie had a mystical experience before using psychedelics and then became interested in psychedelic use He had grown up as an atheist, a materialist, and his experience required him to change his psychological state His perception of reality was irritated and he had to see a therapist to integrate this experience He said that this was frustrating because he was young and still in search for his identity Through all of this, he decided to study medicine and become a psychedelic doctor He became very conscious that he was on the right track Research Studies The researchers were the only ones doing studies on psychedelic states, there wasn't much happening at the Universities He did studies with cannabis, ketamine and even laughing gas The research then was on how cannabinoids can help with psychosis They were not successful with that, but it came to be that CBD was a neuroleptic and an anti-psychotic Research pretty much stopped after 2004 due to new laws and the cost of the research Dr. Passie does mention that in the past 10 years research has really taken off again and that we are really seeing the renaissance of psychedelic culture In most of the literature of doctors doing self-experimenting, there is very little to no documentation of doctors doing self-experimenting with psychedelic drugs Kyle mentions that MAPS has included into their training protocol to allow for therapists to have self-experiments with the substances that they are using on patients Kyle also mentions he can't imagine trying to hold space in breathwork without having had his own experiences with breathwork Dr. Passie says that the history of self-experimentation with psychedelics has shown that the participants can become ‘gurus’ and lose their objectivity, he uses Timothy Leary as an example But with only a few times of self-experimentation, maybe 2-4 times, he doesn't see risks HPPD Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is a disorder in which a person has flashbacks of visual hallucinations or distortions experienced during a previous hallucinogenic drug experience Dr. Passie thinks there is a selection bias in what is published about HPPD Its more common to have a study published that talks about an adverse effect of LSD than a benefit of it Hundreds of thousands of studies were conducted in the 50’s, and no one claimed that this phenomenon came up And now one person has conducted a study, claiming that this phenomena exists Dr. Passie says that this pattern happens among people who are prone to anxiety and who are dissociative He says that most subjects that claim to experience HPPD, have experienced visuals even before ever taking LSD Microdosing It has been known to not have any effects from 15-20 micrograms of LSD 20-50 micrograms of LSD is considered mini-dosing, where you can feel some type of effects from it, but not as much as the full dose Dr. Passie says it is strange for people to claim to have increased cognition during microdosing based on conventional data that shows that LSD produces poor cognitive function He thinks that whatever the effects are of LSD at a high dose, that the effects at a low dose are the same, just less, not completely different effects He believes that there is some placebo effect with microdosing In terms of the microdosing trend, Dr. Passie is critical about the productivity factor, he does believe in the creativity factor though The flow state may also be increased with microdosing He claims that in his own experience with microdosing, he doesn't experience the flow state, in fact he experiences a feeling of agitation Combinations In a study, when patients took a microdose first, and then a little while later, they took a different full psychedelic dose, the microdose impacted the experience of the full dose It lessened the effects of the full dose psychedelic Psychedelics and Sleep Dr. Passie mentions a study where patients were given LSD, both high and low doses, during sleep What was found was that LSD impacts REM sleep patterns The dreams were not altered The REM phases got longer during the beginning of sleep, and then much shorter near the end of sleep It shows that the impact of sleeping patterns brings someone to feel much different the next day The Microdosing Trend Microdosing has much to be explored yet But even if microdosing does not produce effects, the trend is a new way to introduce it into our society “Microdosing might be a new assimilation process of psychedelics into our culture” - Torsten Instead of the 60’s where we are taking huge doses, we are taking tiny doses as a slow approach to assimilate psychedelics back into society Links The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics About Dr. Torsten Passie Torsten is a professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy affiliated with Hannover Medical School, and led the Laboratory for Consciousness and Neurocognition. He has conducted clinical research on psychoactive substances and has written several books including The Pharmacology of LSD (2010) and Healing with Entactogens (2012). Between 2012 and 2015 he was visiting professor at Harvard Medical School.

In this episode, hosts Kyle and Joe sit down with Psychologist, David Luke, Executive Director of Breaking Conventions, a conference on the better understanding of psychedelics. In the episode, they cover research on psychedelics and transpersonal ecopsychology. 3 Key Points: Transpersonal experiences are super powerful and can be valuable if integrated properly. Getting access to drugs at affordable prices for research is difficult for the progression of the psychedelic movement. There is a lot of red tape in studying psychedelics. There is a growing field for mapping altered states of consciousness using science and research. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook   Show Notes About David David is a Psychologist He works at the University of Greenwich He is a co-founder of the Breaking Convention Conference Breaking Convention August 16-19, 2019 in London England There are over 180 speakers, a variety of workshops, and more David will be speaking about Shamanic perspectives and mapping altered states of consciousness The topic of David’s speech for the conference is Ecodelia: Towards A Transpersonal Ecopsychology Through Psychedelics. Parapsychology Parapsychology is a study of phenomena that questions what we think we know about science David has conducted pre-cognition experiments with ayahuasca, san pedro, mescaline Research David says it's tricky doing this work because there is a serious amount of red tape around psychedelic studies Getting access to the drugs and to get a lab to make them specifically for research is outrageously expensive David says that Compass Pathways is making the research side of things easier He says that he wants the proper research to be done so that it can be available for all those who need it, and for that he supports Compass Pathways, but if they were to pull something like what happened with Esketamine and making an isomer of Ketamine extremely expensive, then he will not support it Nature and Psychedelics Psychedelics provide a feeling of connectedness with nature People prefer to take psychedelics outside, but overall prefer to have amazing, transformative experiences, which in turn makes them more tuned in to nature Transpersonal Experience An experience that is genuinely transpersonal can be useful Typically after a transformational experience, people question their sanity, they have cognitive dissonance, their world view just isn't suitable enough to contain a normal sense of reality anymore Its common for a lot of experiences to need a lot of integration afterward David leads breathwork sessions He sees people who have taken loads of psychedelics come in with skepticism about Breathwork, and then leave having the most transformative experience they've ever have “There are no limits to the human mind, and there are many ways to get there, and psychedelics are just the more obvious route.” - David We get further and further away from figuring out psychedelics as a whole the more hyper-specialized we become in our individual fields The psychedelic space is a really interesting territory The things that Terrence McKenna would talk about years ago, we are finally starting to explore with science Links Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience (Muswell Hill Press) About David David is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich where he teaches the Psychology of Exceptional Human Experience. He was President of the Parapsychological Association between 2009-2011 and has published more than 100 academic papers on the intersection of transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness. He has co-authored/co-edited four books on psychedelics and paranormal experience, directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon at the institute of Ecotechnics, and co-founded Breaking Convention.

In this episode, Kyle interviews David Krantz, Certified Epigenetic Coach, and an expert in nutritional genomics. In the show, they talk about the effects of substances via the implications on an individual’s genetics. 3 Key Points: Epigenetic testing is a bio-hack for boosting cognitive function and harnessing our creativity and ultimate human potential. There has been a lot of research done on genetics and the effects of THC. The body produces cannabinoids that activate the THC receptors internally, which varies from person to person. Each person should be seen on an individual level, and the more we know about our unique genetics, the more we can understand about our interactions with different substances. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About David David works with clients on creating optimal epigenetic expression He uses people’s genetics as a guide to look at recommendations for diet, herbs, supplements, etc. He began looking at cannabis for recommendations and found curiosity in psychedelics too Epigenetics studies the effects of the modification of genetics It looks at chemical groups attached to the DNA itself and what happens to them over time Cannabis and Genetics The most robust area of research on genetics is THC David said he has seen some research on Psilocybin and just very recently that liver enzymes are responsible for LSD interactions It looks at the way people are metabolizing these substances When you ingest something or smoke it, it has a higher impact on the body, edibles are a great example Kyle brings up the curiosity of edibles impact being either physiological or biological Genetics show the body’s cannabinoid levels The body produces cannabinoids that activate the THC receptors internally There are two enzymes that break down cannabinoids in the body, Anandamide and 2AG There is a higher likelihood to use cannabis in a person with lower levels of endocannabinoids This makes some people high-functioning stoners, and others non-functioning stoners The substance is neutral, it's all about the body and how it reacts to it When the liver breaks down an edible, it makes THC more potent There is speculation that the slow metabolizers have a better chance of passing a drug test because they don't have a chance to convert 110HTHC to the COOHTHC Food and Substance Effects Kyle mentions someone who was drinking grapefruit juice everyday for 3 weeks, and it potentiated the effects of Ketamine In order to psilocybin to be converted to psilocin, you need a chemical in your body called alkaline phosphatase Vitamin C deficiency and Vitamin B-6 deficiency all both correlated with alkaline phosphatase deficiency David brings up his experience going keto, it worked really great for him, his energy levels increased, he lost weight, but his wife had a horrible time with keto Then he looked to genetics and it made perfect sense to him as to why it worked for him and why it failed for her Metabolism, biochemistry, genetics, and so many other factors impact a person's reaction to substances Gene Type Testing Apeiron David also mentions that with companies like 23 and me, they get their money from selling people’s genetic information He says Apeiron is focused on what you can actually do with the information, not just simply providing the results David says its super valuable for people to know these things about themselves, how to mitigate stress, how the metabolism works, knowing what to eat, knowing vitamin deficiencies, etc. Psychedelics in the Future of Epigenetics David thinks were going to see that the epigenetics of psychedelics are going to show the ability to overcome trauma When we look at people at an individual level, we all have our own idiosyncrasies and variations “Because there is no such thing as an average human, let’s stop treating people like average humans and start treating them like they are individual people. Let’s stop leaving out the outliers.” - David Taking an individualized approach to the psychedelic space is highly beneficial Links Website Instagram About David David Krantz is a certified Epigenetic Coach who specializes in boosting cognitive function and helping clients harness their creative and personal power. As a lifelong musician, David sees the various systems of the body as parts of a complex symphony. And, as a coach, he excels at fine-tuning those parts to create resonant harmonious health. David also serves as Director of Psychoacoustics at Apeiron Center in Asheville, NC where he develops sound-based tools for better mood, energy, and focus. Additionally, he’s an expert in the pharmacogenetics of the endocannabinoid system and has developed a proprietary genetic test for looking at individual response to cannabinoids. A biohacker by training and artist by nature, David enjoys working with others who have a deep passion for enjoying life.

Download In this episode, Kyle joins in conversation with Dr. Sam Gandy. During the show, they cover topics including the implications psychedelics have for human well-being and the biosphere at large at a time of growing disconnection. 3 Key Points: There have been a lot of recent threats to our planet and its survival if we continue on our current path of unsustainability. Feeling connected to nature increases the human desire to take care of and heal nature. There has been an inverse correlation with our connectedness to nature and our connection with technology. Getting out in nature, as well as using psychedelics in nature, both help increase our connectedness to nature. There has been a rise in cutting edge research that reveals the capacity of psychedelic substances to enhance human-nature connection, which Sam shares snippets of throughout the episode. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook Show Notes About Sam Sam has a PhD in Ecological Science from the University of Aberdeen and a Masters in Entomology from Imperial College London He has a lifelong interest in nature and wildlife and has conducted research in areas all over the world He is a Scientific Assistant to the Director at the Beckley Foundation He is a collaborator with the Psychedelic Research Group at the Imperial College of London Sam’s interest in psychedelics began in London when it was legal to buy mushrooms He was ‘anti-drug’ until he discovered psychedelics and began to explore consciousness and a love for nature His background in Ecology (the science of interconnection) has combined with the Psychedelic field Sam is interested in the capacity of psychedelics to increase human-nature connection and relatedness Saving Earth There is a huge threat that our planet won't survive past this century if we continue on our path of destruction Remedying our nature disconnect is something really important if we want to survive This nature disconnection is inversely proportional from our technological connection We cant live without nature We have to make room for all the other life going on, not just the life that directly serves humans, like crops and livestock There is an increasing awareness of the need for nature connection Sam mentions about humanity’s screen addiction, it raises our cortisol levels and there are many consequences such as psychological and physiological effects “Contentment is the enemy of invention” Psychedelics and the internet are growing alongside each other Timothy Leary would say the internet is the psychedelics of the future in terms of connection The internet is playing a pivotal role in access to information in this psychedelic renaissance “Technology is not good or bad, it's about how its used, the intent behind it” - Sam Nature Disconnect Sam thinks that the first step that took us away from nature is when we started farming, we became less hunter-gatherer minded and stepped away from the wild environment At that point we started living in large groups (creating cities) Then there was the division of labor and urbanization Cities and technology are the main reasons for our disconnect with nature “Long term sustainability would be one of the chief governing principles of how things are ran” - Sam Psychedelics and Nature There is something radical about psychedelics, they can convert the skeptics into appreciating nature The ego dissolution character of psychedelics are a key component in feeling connected to nature The default mode network (where the ego resides) becomes relaxed and dissolved, and when that happens there is a breakdown of perceived boundaries between self and others/nature That dissolution of boundaries is a key component in the psychedelic experience “When you feel part of it, it changes fundamentally how you relate to it” - Sam One's knowledge of nature is a very weak predictor of one's concern for nature There isn't research of the use of psychedelics in natural settings yet, Sam hopes that as we research psychedelics more (in clinical settings) the research can evolve into studying their use in nature With psilocybin, most people have claimed to have a long-term fleeting change in their connectedness to nature, that the feeling of connection doesn't go away after the trip is over, it lasts for weeks, months, even the rest of their life Rigid Egos and Nature Disconnection Psilocybin decreases blood flow to the default mode network "When we are destroying our own homes (our bodies and nature) are we falling out of love with our self?" - Kyle When we dissolve the ego, we increase connection, to ourselves, to others and to nature Future in Psychedelics We are going to see the rise of Psychedelic Therapy We are going to see Psychedelic groups and communities on the rise From those groups, we will see projects and initiatives develop, which could bring decriminalization, integration circles, etc. Sam believes the rise of depression and anxiety are a cause of our disconnection to nature, and he believes there is a lot of personal healing to be had if we get back into nature and actually play a role in healing nature too Instead of trying to save the world just for our children and our children's children, we need to look at this planet as if we were to reincarnate and come back to this planet, so we should want to look after this physical plane to make it better for future installments of ourselves Get Connected with Nature The direct, physical sensory experience with nature alone is well known to increase our connectedness with it Sam suggest listeners to get out in nature and do anything! Boating, gardening, bee keeping, a walk in the woods, whatever Sam really likes the art of Japanese Forest Bathing, which is about mindfulness and taking in nature, maybe combining it with breathwork exercises, etc. The more mindful you feel, the more connected to nature you are, and vice versa Final Thoughts Nature connection is just a single facet of the psychedelic experience, and Sam hopes for more research on this facet in the future We have a decent amount of research on psychedelics effect on people with depression, PTSD, etc, but Sam hints toward some future research on the effects of psychedelics on the healthy-normal population Make time for nature in whatever way works for you 2 hours of nature time a week are profoundly beneficial for health Links Facebook Twitter Email: [email protected] About Dr. Sam Gandy Dr. Sam Gandy works on the cutting edge of psychedelic research, as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Beckley Foundation, and as a collaborator with the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London. Sam has a lifelong love of nature and wildlife, and a PhD in ecological science from the University of Aberdeen. He has been fortunate enough to conduct field research in various parts of the world including the UK, Kefalonia, Almeria, Texas, the Peruvian Amazon, Vietnam and Ethiopia. Outside his work in the psychedelic field he has written papers, book chapters, articles and spoken at conferences and festivals on psychedelics and he is fascinated by their potential to benefit human lives.

Download In this episode, Joe and Kyle sit down and chat with Veronica Hernandez and Larry Norris of Decriminalize Nature Oakland. Decriminalize Nature is an educational campaign to inform Oakland residents about the value of entheogenic plants and fungi and propose a resolution to decriminalize our relationship to nature, which just recently had success in doing so. 3 Key Points: Decriminalize Nature Oakland is a campaign that just recently found success in decriminalizing psilocybin mushrooms as well as other psychedelic compounds naturally derived from plants or fungi, such as ayahuasca, peyote and DMT. The mission behind Decriminalize Nature is to improve human health and well-being by decriminalizing and expanding access to entheogenic plants and fungi through political and community organizing, education and advocacy. These decriminalization initiatives are gaining traction across many cities in the US. It's about connecting to key people in the community and educating them, so they can use their reach to get information about these plants out there, to provide access to people everywhere. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook Show Notes About Veronica Veronica is a clinical psychologist licensed in Peru She has been working in the US as a Social Worker Clinician She has been combining plant medicines and spirituality back into psychology She is currently finishing her PhD at CIIS About Larry He is in the same PhD program as Veronica Him and Veronica are the team that created ERIE In between they have taken the time to run Decriminalize Nature Oakland Decriminalize Nature In this initiative, they had to convince 8 people of city council to agree to this, in comparison to the Denver Initiative, where they needed thousands of ballot signatures This bill included naturally occurring psychedelic compounds, not just mushrooms Larry mentions they used the word entheogen instead of psychedelic, as a way to create new conversation around the plant medicines a reduce the stigma A Win for Plant Medicine From where Veronica comes from, Ayahuasca and other plant medicines are national patrimony, state and church can't touch them To be able to bring these to a place where it's considered schedule 1, Veronica is super inspired about being able to make this happen Right now these plants are in a tug of war between money interest of the tax side and the government, and the other side of corporate interest The goal now is to educate people on what these plants do, safe practices and develop places and services to hold the space and make these plants available to people It's about connecting to key people in the community and educating them, so they can use their reach to get information about these plants out there Starting city by city is typically easier to initiate, to then have a better hold on direct action and education afterward to be able to duplicate on the state level They have had 50 different cities from 30 different states reach out to make this happen in their communities Veronica says that her first time trying San Pedro, she had felt an immediate connection to the plants It became her goal to combine conventional medicine with plant medicines and make it available to everyone “To be in touch with something bigger than yourself is one of the most important things" - Veronica Sustainability Although there was no verbiage in the bill, they are being mindful about sustainability of the plants when making them more available with decriminalization Synthesis is a better idea for ibogaine, 5-MEO-DMT and other compounds that are naturally derived but also pose a risk to their sustainability with decriminalization The landscape just doesn't allow for synthesis right now, so we start at decriminalization and then hopefully open doors to the route of synthesis to aid in the sustainability of these substances and resources Larry’s advice is that instead of spending your money and taking a trip to Denver or Oakland, to stay home and organize this is your own community because it can actually happen It starts now and it starts with education Joe says the most major push-back received in Denver for the decriminalization was the threat of people driving on mushrooms Links Website Facebook Instagram Twitter About Veronica Veronica Hernandez, is a clinical psychologist and shamanic practitioner from Peru. Since 2006 she has been trained on shamanic facilitation. She received her clinical training at the Institute of Rational-Emotive Therapy, New York, under the supervision of Dr. Albert Ellis. She was assistant professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and research assistant at the Hospital Psiquiátrico Noguchi de Lima (Peru). In the United States, she worked as a Social Services Clinician at John Muir Health Hospital’s Inpatient Psychiatric Adolescent Unit, California. Currently she is completing her doctoral degree at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, where she is carrying out research on the healing and transformative benefits of entheogens, especially Ayahuasca. About Larry Larry Norris, MA, PhD Candidate is the co-founder and executive director of ERIE (Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education) 501(c)(3), a group dedicated to the development of entheogenic research and integration models. Larry is also a co-founder and on the Board of Decriminalize Nature Oakland and helped to co-author the resolution which received an unanimous decision from Oakland City Council. Beginning his studies in cognitive science as an undergrad at the University of Michigan, he is now a PhD candidate in the East-West Psychology department at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. His dissertation reviews archived ayahuasca experiences to identify transformational archetypes that induce insights hidden within the experiences. As adjunct faculty at CIIS, Larry taught a graduate course called Entheogenic Education: Contemporary Perspectives on Ancient Plant Wisdom in order to discuss the concept of entheogens as educational teachers and cognitive tools. He was also an adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University teaching a class titled Paradigms of Consciousness. A dedicated activist and proponent of cognitive liberty, Larry’s efforts are a contribution to not only change the Western legal status of these powerful plants, fungus, and compounds, but also to emphasize the potential sacred nature of entheogens given the right set and setting.

Download In this episode, Kyle talks with Tom Lane, author of Sacred Mushroom Rituals: The Search for the Blood of Quetzalcoatl. In the episode, they discuss the history of Quetzalcoatl, the ceremony of the deified heart and sacred mushroom rituals. 3 Key Points: Quetzalcoatl is a feathered-serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture that can come to you when partaking in the ceremony of the deified heart. Quetzalcoatl teaches how to overcome fear and hatred and bring love. The ceremony of the deified heart is a sacred mushroom ritual that when methods are combined correctly, can bring about Quetzalcoatl. In the episode, Tom tells intriguing stories of his experiences with mushroom rituals and experiencing Quetzalcoatl, including a ceremony with Maria Sabina. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes Quetzalcoatl He was not an Aztec, he originated as a King in the Toltec civilization thousands of years before the Aztecs As legend has it, where his blood fell is where the sacred mushrooms grew Some people believe he was a Naga, a combination flow of energy, a male/female serpent A winged, jeweled, male/female, serpent In the ceremony of the deified heart, the serpent will come to you About Tom He was building geodesic domes in a remote area in Mexico He had some of his first mushroom experiences, and it led him to realize that the story of mushrooms was about Quetzalcoatl His first experience with the mushroom was mild He said the mushrooms found him, he takes them as a sacrament Ceremony of the Deified Heart The legend was that Quetzalcoatl gave cacao to participants as an aphrodisiac and it would help release serotonin The goal is not to talk a lot Then, the mushrooms are to be retrieved from the ground, fresh Before the ceremony, Tom says he likes to put four candles placed in all four directions The key to eating the mushrooms is eating them totally covered with honey You eat them two at a time, as it represents the male and female And when you eat the mushrooms, you actually never swallow You chew and chew and the mucous membranes of your tongue take the psilocin straight to the brain and spine He says once it starts to take effect, it feels like there is a snake up your spine (He mentions his friends call this Kundalini) Then you go out and Quetzalcoatl will come When he comes, he is like a rainbow jeweled serpent, an embodiment of pure light, pure energy, pure love Tom says the next day it feels like you're 10 years younger Its a pure force of love, an obliteration of the concept of time Quetzalcoatl created this ceremony to bring about the serpent for healing, for a balance of male and female This ceremony is best done during the night, with thunderstorms in the mountains Ceremony with Maria Sabina One night they went to see Maria Sabina She agreed to do a ceremony at night Her house was in the mountains and had a thatched roof with no windows or doors and sometimes clouds would come through her house During a ceremony a lightning bolt came though the house, in one window and out the other Maria’s daughter gave him truffle like mushrooms and he brought them back with him Maria’s daughter really tried to learn his name, she repeated it a multitude of times until she said it exactly perfectly so she could say it during the ceremony Quetzalcoatl Messages God gave us love and pain We have to learn how to celebrate the pain God gave us knowledge, and tools of how to heal the pain Tom’s goal is to teach people how to take the sacred mushrooms to meet Quetzalcoatl and find healing,  love and peace “Once you get rid of the ego, you get rid of fear, and then you have love.” - Tom The only way you can overcome hatred and fear is with love The body is teaching the mind when consuming the sacred mushroom It's best to just try to love people and be kind, and it's all acts of kindness and love that makes a person feel good Links Sacred Mushroom Rituals: The Search for the Blood of Quetzalcoatl About Tom Lane Tom, Author, has a Bachelors in Forestry from the University of Tennessee and a Masters from the University of Florida in Science Education and Middle School Education. He has worked full time in the Solar Energy field as a Contractor and Trainer and has a background in Mushrooms. Tom spent some time in 1973 living in the jungles of Palenque in Mexico and learn about mushrooms and mushroom ceremony. Tom is the Author of the book, Sacred Mushroom Rituals, The Search for the Blood of Quetzalcoatl.

Download In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Alexander Belser, a Clinical Researcher who has done a variety of works in the psychotherapy and psychedelic fields, helping patients heal from depression, OCD, suicide, and other illnesses, all while focusing on gender neutrality and equality. In this episode, they cover topics on privilege, inclusivity and recommendations for the psychedelic space. 3 Key Points: Privilege is commonly seen in therapist roles and as well in an individual’s access to treatment. It's important for the psychedelic community to be vocal about privilege and be inclusive of all types of people, all repressed groups. Psychedelics have the power to help people come to terms with their own sexuality, as well as become accepting of other individuals sexual identification. In order to see more equality in the psychedelic space, we need to confront structural heterosexism and transfobia, retire the male/female therapy diad, and develop acknowledgement in the psychedelic world of the stresses that LGBTQ people face. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes About Alexander Alexander started attending psychedelic conferences in college He works at Yale currently, treating individuals with major depressive disorders with psilocybin assisted psychotherapy He lives in New York and works on a team for the MAPS, MDMA trial for the treatment of PTSD Queering Psychedelics Queering Psychedelics is a Conference put on with the help of Chacruna Its an opportunity for Queer folk to come together and talk about psychedelic medicine Alexander's presentation was on Queer Critique for the Psychedelic Mystical Experience Privilege and Inclusivity People with more privilege have more power, more access to funding, more access to expanding the research agenda Many of the people in psychedelic research are privileged, white, cisgender individuals (and Alexander believes they are using the privilege for good) But it's important for the psychedelic community to be vocal about privilege and be inclusive of all types of people, all repressed groups Alexander thinks that we need to eliminate the male/female diad The typical structure for psychedelic therapy is to have a male cisgender therapist and a female cisgender therapist But Alexander thinks this is gender essentializing Its totalizing of gender, assuming that the masculinity is held by the male therapist, and femininity is held by the female therapist Alexander thinks that the therapists should be more gender neutral Its essential to assess the individual needs of the client for specific gender pairing Recommendations Alexander's Reccomendations Confront Structural Heterosexism and Transfobia Retire the Male/Female Therapy Diad Acknowledgement in the Psychedelic world of the stress that LGBTQ people face We need to be able to run moderation analyses to see if a type of psychedelic treatment works the same for sexual minority populations as it does for straight folks Are there unique clinical considerations for sexual minorities? The psychedelic Renaissance is maturing and reaching a point where our approaches can be more inclusive He thinks it's important for straight folks to think about this too “We all suffer, including straight folks, in a world where the idea of gender and sexuality is firmly printed as either being A or B. It's a disservice to our identities.” - Alexander It is common to feel “oneness” after a psychedelic experience, and it's common for gender roles to change throughout the process And on the flip side, maybe our perception of other people’s gender (homophobia) transforms from a psychedelic experience, and we can become more accepting of other forms of gender Mystical Experience When people score higher on the mystical experience questionnaire (profound unity, transcendence of time and space) its predictive of their improvements on depression and anxiety It's important to be mindful of what value we put on marginalized people’s psychedelic experiences The most common issue Alexander sees is people feeling ‘stuck’ in these bodies Psychedelic medicine encourages (at least in appeal) embodiment Final Thoughts First, we need to come to terms with our own internalized homophobia, transphobia and racism Together, we learn from each other, how to dismantle types of patriarchal, homophibic and transphobic structures MDMA expanded access may probably end up being very expensive, we need to think about privilege and access to mental healthcare broadly It's not just about diversity, Alexander encourages people to create allies He has hope that we can proceed with integrity in these topics Links Alexander's website Center for Breakthroughs About Dr. Alexander Belser Alexander Belser, Ph.D., is a Clinical Research Fellow and clinical supervisor at Yale University. He is the Co-Investigator of two studies at Yale exploring psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to treat OCD and depression. His research with sexual minority people has focused on preventing suicide among adolescents and on the protective role of gay-straight alliances for students. Dr. Belser was a founding member of the Psychedelic Research Group at NYU in 2006, and he is currently an Adjunct Faculty member in NYU’s graduate program in Counseling Psychology. He has been a researcher on various psychedelic studies of depression, anxiety, OCD, addiction, trauma, and among religious leaders. He is a study therapist for the MAPS study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. Dr. Belser serves as a peer reviewer and has published peer-reviewed articles on topics such as psychedelic mysticism, altruism, patient experiences in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, cancer and psychedelic therapy, case studies, psilocybin treatment and posttraumatic growth (forthcoming).

In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Ido Cohen, co-founder of The Integration Circle. In the show they talk about themes that arise from transformative experiences and the different ways to integrate them through attitude change, environment and community. 3 Key Points: A common theme after a transformative experience is the calling for an attitude change. The experience is only the first step, the integration is where the real work begins. Environment is a critical part in integration. You can't always change your environment, but you can change your relationship to it by forming new coping mechanisms than the ones used before a transformative experience. Joining consciousness events, finding a therapist and looking for integration circles are all great way to not feel so ashamed or alone after a transformative experience. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook Show Notes About Ido Ido is a Clinical Psychologist based in San Francisco He works with individuals and couples in integration groups Ido graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) He did his post-doctoral internship at C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco He went to India and it opened up the psycho-spiritual realm for him He realized there is a lot more to this reality than what we see He had a powerful Ayahuasca experience, and it led him to choose his dissertation project He wanted to know how to take his experience and integrate it into his daily life Integration Ido began talking to people who had big transformative Ayahuasca experiences (pre, during and after) He interviewed people at a year out of an Ayahuasca experience, so they had time to reflect “For most people, something is calling them. Either curiosity or suffering.” - Ido The message comes through a relationship that we are having with something People felt that they had to go through something personal before they were able to go into archetypal realms A theme afterward was difficulty of re-entry (integration) Another common theme was people realizing that they need to change their attitude in order to heal It starts with small steps, maybe instead of watching TV for 2 hours you go for a hike for 2 hours, you open up to make room for change Ego and Self Jung’s idea of ego-self access; there is the ego that takes things and organizes them and processes things into our reality, and then the self that is the unconscious, the imaginary and dream state The idea is to look at the relationship between the two Are they fighting or are they in harmony? The role of community is so important “We need to learn to integrate not just the negatives, but also the positives.” - Ido Having pleasurable experiences can feel unsafe to a person who has been through a lifetime of negatives Transformative Experiences Personal and Environmental Most people have these experiences, and come back to the same urban environment, the same work mindset, the same cultural ideals about “achieving”, the instant coffee mentality “We want things fast because we don't want to suffer, we don't want to wait, we don't want to invest, we don't want to change.” - Ido “When people come back with this new experience but to an old environment, then the question is, ‘How can I not let the pressure of this old environment get in the way of my experience?’” - Ido It really is all about changing your attitude Maybe go journaling, go into nature, go dancing, etc. “How do I honor my process and not succumb to the pressures of using the same coping mechanisms as I had before?” - Ido Integration is a complex process Environment You can't always change your environment, but you can change your relationship to your environment You can start looking for integration circles You can start looking for therapy You can go to consciousness events, meditation/yoga groups It really depends on the person but it's all about finding resources that help you feel more connected, less ashamed, and less alone One of Ido’s clients said to him “I realize I have to break my own heart if I really want to change” Spiritual Bypass Ido suggests a great book on understanding spiritual bypass Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters When you start to be really critical about an experience, that's where you need to be more curious Shift from criticism to curiosity Jung says that this is ‘the lifelong process where we are slowly descending into our authenticity’ Final Thoughts Seek community Don't do it alone, even if you think you can, you don't have to If you're shy, come anyway, were all just doing our best Encourage people to seek out knowledgeable communities Take yourself seriously, honor these sacred experiences and honor yourself Links Integration Circle Website Instagram Facebook About Ido Cohen Ido offers depth oriented psychotherapy to the bay area out of San Francisco. Ido conducted his doctoral dissertation study for 6 years, researching the integration process of Ayahuasca ceremonies in western individuals, using a Jungian psychology lens. Ido is committed and passionate about supporting individuals engaging in psychedelic, entheogenic and other consciousness expanding practices, as they integrate their experiences to create long lasting and sustainable change. In addition to his psychotherapy practice, he offers individual and group preparation and integration services.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Raquel Bennett, Psy.D. at Kriya Institute. In the show, they cover topics surrounding the properties and paradigms of therapeutic Ketamine use. 3 Key Points: The Kriya Institute is devoted to understanding the therapeutic properties of Ketamine. Raquel Bennett specializes in using Ketamine therapy for patients with severe treatment resistant disorders. There are three questions that should be used when determining if someone is fit for Ketamine therapy. Is it safe? Is it legal? Is it ethical? There are many different paradigms for Ketamine Therapy, but determining the best method for each individual patient is the goal. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                             Integration Workbook Show Notes Kriya Institute The Kriya Institute deals with how to work with Ketamine specifically in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Kriya provides clinical services to patients, training for other clinicians, and Kriya conference The conference is a big collaborative meeting Raquel is trying to create a patient assistance fund to make services more available to people Ketamine Ketamine isn't addictive physically It is possible to become psychologically addicted to Ketamine Raquel thinks its a property of the person not of the object It's possible to become addicted to anything, shopping, sex, etc. About Raquel She first encountered Ketamine in 2002 when she was suffering from severe depression She was seeing a therapist that took her to a psychedelic shaman where she took Ketamine From the way she felt after taking Ketamine, she wanted to know if it was replicable for other people She is interested in people with treatment resistant mood disorders, such as severe depression, unusual bipolar disorder and people living with active suicidal ideation She remembers her teachers (who gave her Ketamine) saying they don't use it often, and don't know if it will work They were not seeking an antidepressant effect, they were helping her to connect to the cosmos and the universe, to find out why she was having such severe depression The fact that it acted as a rapid-acting antidepressant was a surprise to them, and that's what triggered her curiosity with it “Most of what I know of being a Ketamine provider, I learned from being a patient” - Raquel Ketamine and Patents Johnson and Johnson just came out with a filtered Ketamine product that they patented $850 for 84mg of filtered Ketamine $1.59 for 100mg of generic Ketamine They are only providing it as a nasal spray Companies tried to make a new molecule, but they couldn't Instead, they modified it, and filtered it, and then patented it (Esketamine) Ketamine Treatment Paradigms There is a lot of disagreement on the route, the dose, the setting importance, etc This was the reason she created the Kriya conference, to share ideas, to find the best possible methods One way is to give it as a low dose infusion out of the anesthesiology model (0.5mg of Ketamine per kg of bodyweight in an infusion center) They aim to get enough ketamine in the patient's body without the psychedelic effects They take the normal dose, divide it by 6, and space it out to avoid the psychedelic nature The patient is being forced into a passive role, they aren't being called to heal themselves, they are just showing up for the medicine Raquel says that's not all that there is to it, the medicine is only half of it Another paradigm for using Ketamine is facilitated Ketamine Psychotherapy In this way, the Ketamine is used as a lubricant for talk therapy We are using Ketamine to help people to talk about material that is too painful or too shameful to get to otherwise” - Raquel In this paradigm, the emphasis is on the therapy, not the Ketamine, the Ketamine is a lubricant and a tool In this way, the patient and the therapist are both participating 50%, the patient is not passive She says the psychedelic effects are to be avoided, or else the patient becomes too far out The third paradigm would be to induce mystical experience on purpose As a provider, it is believed that the visions are meaningful Only about 1 in 6 patients are actually a good candidate for psychedelic dosing The patient is willing to offer their body up as a vessel, and the messages they receive are from God The provider's role is to make sure the journey is safe, and then help the patients to help construct meaning from what they saw, create actionable steps on how to change their lives Raquel says that all of these paradigms are helpful, different methods work for different patients That’s her job as a Ketamine Specialist, to determine which method is best for patients “This is where the direction of the field needs to go, being aware of the spectrum of the services available, and then matching the treatment to the patient. Individualized treatment.” - Raquel Proper Use Is it safe? Is it legal? Is it ethical? Is it appropriate to give Ketamine Treatment to someone without a profound impairment or disorder? The literature supports the use of Ketamine for the following psychiatric or psychological disorders; major severe refractory depression, bipolar depression, physical pain with depression, recurrent suicidality and obsessive compulsive disorder Do the potential benefits verify the potential risks? Raquel doesn't believe that making this experience available to everyone is the right way, her goal is to demonstrate that Ketamine is safe and useful for refractory problems Group Administration They can work with 6 clients at a time It includes carefully selected individuals that all fit into the group This provides a much lower cost for patients Ketamine Types There are 3 Types of Ketamine The molecules themselves are not flat, they are 3 dimensional and fold in space Some molecules are ‘right handed’ and others are ‘left handed’ Right handed molecules are Arketamine and left handed are Esketamine Generic Ketamine is an even amount of Arketamine and Esketamine molecules What Johnson and Johnson did with Esketamine was patenting the filtration process of removing Arketamine from the Esketamine molecules Kriya Institute Site Kriya Conference in November A list of providers working with therapeutic Ketamine A resource list of books and journey music A Contact option Links Website About Raquel Bennett Dr. Bennett is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology (PSB 94022544), working under the supervision of Dr. Bravo. Dr. Bennett primarily works with people who are experiencing severe depression, who are on the bipolar spectrum, or who are contemplating suicide. She has been studying the therapeutic properties of ketamine since she first encountered it in 2002. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Bennett’s practice has evolved to include consultation services for medical professionals who wish to add ketamine services to their offices. She also lectures frequently about therapeutic ketamine. Dr. Bennett is the Founder of KRIYA Institute and the Organizer of the KRIYA Conferences.

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Ben Eddy, a Black Belt from Eddy Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu system. In this episode, they cover a range of topics on Jiu Jitsu, Psychedelics and flow state. 3 Key Points: Before Jiu Jitsu, Ben says he was very analytical, thinking of the most efficient, fastest way to complete anything. Jiu Jitsu is an ‘in the moment’ type of game, and it allowed him to tap into a flow state. Psychedelics have the ability to imprint you and change your thought patterns, and when combined with a sport like Jiu Jitsu, you're able to achieve a type of embodiment you wouldn't have before. We do not need to rush into psychedelics at a young age. It is important to experience life for what it is first, and to feel that fully to have a comparison to after diving into the psychedelic realm. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook Show Notes About Ben Ben got into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when looking for a way to get in shape He was in San Francisco in the tech scene He was into wrestling in his past and competition and he found that Jiu Jitsu was similar His main instructor, Eddie Bravo, was training for a match He wanted to be around the energy of this event He moved down to southern California and that is where his psychedelic use began Ben knew that when he was going to do psychedelics, there was going to be a before and after, that there were going to be doors that were going to be opened He says he took the time to really understand the sober life before psychedelics, in order to know the difference Ben describes it as a cool opportunity to wait to use psychedelics, he had the choice to wait and experience life and figure out what life is before psychedelics Joe says for the younger listeners “meditate on that”, figure out life first before diving into psychedelics Strategy vs Flow Before Jiu Jitsu, Ben says he was very analytical, thinking of the most efficient, fastest way to complete anything Jiu Jitsu is an ‘in the moment’ game, where there is more of a ‘flow state’ He was running into people that could just ‘find answers in the moment’, there was no plan or no strategy, it was a natural flow Psychedelics and Training Training with an active dose was hard to get to at the start Ben trains now with active doses It has the ability to imprint you and change your thought patterns Ben’s active dose is 2 grams of mushrooms during a practice Ben does mention that all people are different and his active dose is different than anyone else's Jiu Jitsu makes you bring everything that you have up to the forefront in that moment Feeling is a way of knowing, especially in these flow states He says that weed is commonly used in Jiu Jitsu, but he hasn't seen a whole lot of Psychedelic use yet Ben says that weed helps you drop into the one instrument that you're trying to play, get into that flow state Jiu Jitsu is a sport of form, technique, and dance, it's not about strength Origins Jiu Jitsu came from Japan and their Judo Then it came to Brazil and mixed with the beach vibes and turned into Jiu Jitsu Then it came to the west and our beaches and developed into what it is today Kyle mentions the idea of using Paul Stamets ‘microdosing’, psilocybin, lions mane and niacin In that state we are creating new neurogenesis and neural pathways and being in that state may make us learn differently Kyle says its an interesting application for performance and new ways of learning Ben says the goal is to get to a certain level of embodiment, at every point you're trying to be present in the here and now Music After Jiu Jitsu, music took on a whole new color, feel and wave for Ben than it did before He thought music was a distraction Once he started to play with flow more, he began to open up to music to live in it Jiu Jitsu and the flow state really start with the breath Its like breathing in and accepting life, and the exhale is where it all lets go Links 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu About Ben Ben Eddy is a Blackbelt at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu system. Starting off in the tech scene in San Fransisco, Ben relocated to southern California, where he began his journey into Jiu Jitsu, psychedelics and tapping into the flow state. He currently travels and competes.

Download In this episode, hosts Joe and Kyle interview Hamilton Souther, Shaman of Blue Morpho. In this episode, they cover Hamilton’s incredible journey from Western life into becoming a Shaman and the spirit teachings that he experienced along the way. 3 Key Points: Hamilton Souther, a Shaman of Blue Morpho, shares his experience from living a normal Western life to his journey of his calling, learning and training to become a Shaman. He shares amazing examples of connectedness and spirit while living amongst the natives. A common concept that comes out of an Ayahuasca ceremony is that the plants care for you. The teachings that come from the plants are peace oriented and resolution oriented and opening of creativity and problem solving. Shamanic training is a long and extremely difficult journey. Training comes to the people that feel the deepest calling, because you have to commit your whole life to it. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Hamilton He grew up in Silicon Valley He went to CU Boulder for Anthropology He was interested in humanity He wanted to travel and had opportunities to He had some near death experiences and accidents when he was younger The year after he graduated from college he would go into spontaneous awakenings and altered states of consciousness while totally sober He would have really intense visionary experiences in those states Those experiences were so powerful which led him into training and into his Ayahuasca experiences He felt without purpose and gave himself up to something greater He turned to shamanism to try to explain the nature of those experiences Spontaneous Awakening Kyle mentions that this can happen, that substances are not always required for an ‘awakening’ Hamilton says he wanted to connect to something other than himself The path took him to Peru, and there was a possibility of meeting people with Ayahuasca He was being called to it and knew they were real and it led to his ‘apprenticeship’ as a Shaman It wasn't by accident that he was there, he had visions that he was supposed to stay there and to learn Discernment Coming from a scientific background, he demanded (from the spirit guide) that the process be practical and grounded in reason and logic He used doubt in a way that he was able to use a lot of proof and truth toward his belief system rather than just being naive and believing these messages too early He couldn't envision how to evolve from the vomiting, defecating human on the ground to the composed shaman in the room Even though he spoke the language, he couldn't understand what the people were saying when they shared their stories It seemed like a different world to him The first few years were learning how to survive in the jungle and learn how to live off of the food He says it was like reliving his childhood, he had no idea how to walk through the forest like he knew how to walk down a street growing up The first house he lived in out of college was one he built himself with locals These experiences were so far from what he grew up in Toward the end of his apprenticeship, ceremony started to look less impossible and more of something he would dedicate his life to Spirit In the indigenous communities, everybody sees spirits, especially at night And not just in the Ayahuasca culture, its everybody. They thought the jungle was literally alive with spirits They would say things like “call me if you need me” and they meant it telepathically Hamilton says “sure enough, they do answer when you call”. He was in Southern Peru at a pizzeria, and they were in ceremony, and they started to call to him He had to excuse himself from the table and go outside and sit with himself and went into an Ayahuasca vision and the two men in ceremony said to him in the vision “we just wanted to call to say hi” So Hamilton, using his doubt, wrote down the place and the time of when this happened, and when he returned from his travels and got back to the community, the two men gave him the coordinates and time where Hamilton was when they called him. It matched perfectly He realized then and there that they had a very different understanding of the forest and of space time and they were tapped into another kind of knowledge and wisdom That's what he was looking for when he came down to the Amazon in the first place “The mysteries of consciousness are really unexplored and are not studied by science at all” - Hamilton For Westerners, reality and how it is experienced is just a tiny slice of total consciousness “When you're in the amazon, and you're living in the forest and you're participating in these visionary experiences, you see the interconnectedness of life.” - Hamilton “Globally we've all agreed that education, literacy and participating in the economy is worth it. I think it's worth it to really address on a massive scale what were facing collectively. It's a part of our natural evolution.” - Hamilton The plants have a very specific role to play, and that they care That's a common concept that comes out of an Ayahuasca ceremony, that the plants care for you The teachings that come from the plants are peace oriented and resolution oriented and opening of creativity and problem solving Especially with the environmental crisis, people who turn to Ayahuasca start to care for the environment Psychedelic plants have a huge role to play in global life, individual growth and collective change Blue Morpho Its a center that Hamilton and the shamans that he works with created They did a ceremony to talk with the plants to make sure that this was okay to use as an offering to everyone It started in 2003 and evolved over the years to practice traditional ceremony and now San Pedro People come from all over the world to visit them The majority of the people are really coming for the right reasons, with clear intentions for transformation, growth, exploration and personal healing Over 17 years they have focused on bettering services and professionalism and they believe they have truly succeeded Ayahuasca is just one aspect of Amazonian plant medicine There are hundred of plants with medicinal healing properties The Dieta is a period of time where you go into deep individual isolation and connection to a specific medicinal plant where you create a relationship with a plant Then you go into the Ayahuasca ceremony and Icaros are sung and you drink the Ayahuasca Then the Dieta is a time where there are restrictions such as abstinence, no alcohol, strict food diet, no medications, etc. and you go into a meditative state for healing for a time of a few days, to weeks to even months Shaman Training Training comes to the people that feel the deepest calling, because you have to commit your whole life to it Then, you find a lineage of shamans that are willing to accept you (if you aren't born into a lineage of shamans) It's a journey, and you have to find a group of people open for training It's different from any kind of training from the western world, it's a tremendous journey, and it could take years to decades Its meant to be a test, and incredibly difficult When Hamilton trained, he was told that 1 out of 100 make it to be actual shamans It's really a job of service, not an exalted one The reason the training is so incredibly difficult, is so that you can sit with people, who are going through extremely difficult, and transformational experiences and you can be there for them and love and support them unconditionally with the strength gained through the training process “Its a role of service, you have to be able to deal with any form of suffering that people come to you with.” - Hamilton Final Thoughts Stay open minded He warns about a dystopian world We need to be the change makers, and there is a lot we can do We are incredibly powerful, especially when we are united in common goals Whether they are about human rights or the climate There is something mysterious about life itself Links Website About Hamilton Souther Hamilton focuses his work on Universal Spiritual Philosophy. He is bilingual in English and Spanish, has a Bachelors degree in Anthropology, and has studied shamanism in California, Cusco, and the Amazon. Hamilton was given the title of Master Shaman by Alberto Torres Davila and Julio Llerena Pinedo after completing an apprenticeship under Alberto and Julio. He guides ceremonies and leads shamanic workshops, in which he shares Universal Spiritual Philosophy.

Download In this episode, Joe records with Sean McAllister, an attorney who helped advise Decriminalize Denver. During this special, extra episode, Sean helps us understand the language in the recent bill for Mushroom Decriminalization in Denver, CO. 3 Key Points: Recently, Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization passed on the ballot in Denver, CO. Psilocybin mushrooms have not been made legal, they have simply been decriminalized. This means that Denver has the lowest law enforcement priority around psilocybin and that no money can be used to criminalize this behavior. Decriminalization of Psilocybin in Denver is a big step toward changing the stigma around psychedelics. But we need to be careful, decriminalization is just a tiny step in the right direction and we need to be respectful and responsible with this initiative. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook               Show Notes On May 8th, the city of Denver, Colorado voted yes on I-301, which decriminalizes the possession and use of Psilocybin-containing mushrooms. The official results will be certified on May 16th. As of May 9th - the unofficial results are - yes (50.6%) and no (49.4%).  I-301 decriminalizes adult (21 years or older) possession and use of Psilocybin mushrooms - making these offenses the lowest priority for law enforcement. This initiative also prohibits law enforcement to spend money and resources enforcing arresting adults with possession of mushrooms.  Sean’s Role in the Mushroom Decriminalization in Denver, CO Sean is an Attorney with McAllister Garfield Law Firm in Denver He has done a lot with cannabis law since 2005 He heard about the Mushroom Decriminalization campaign and began working with them His role started in January to help the team understand what it would look like if the bill passed and his role definitely continues going forward now that it has passed What the Vote Means “Decriminalize” means just that Psilocybin mushrooms have not been made legal, they have simply been decriminalized “You should never be arrested for putting something in your body that grows naturally in nature.” - Sean This means that Denver has a lowest law enforcement priority around Psilocybin Its not legal, it's not regulated This bill means that a person cannot be imprisoned for possession and cultivation for personal possession amounts The city is not supposed to spend any money to criminalize this behavior You can grow them to eat them yourself, but you can't grow them to sell them This also doesn't mean that groups can host events and ‘give out’ mushrooms as a gift in return for donation, this is not good behavior for this initiative This initiative is simply a first step at looking at mushrooms in a better light and reducing the stigma For the benefit of this bill passing, we have to be careful about amounts, the smaller the amount of mushrooms the better There isn't an amount listed in the bill to distinguish between personal use and intent to sell The city has to establish a review commission What this commission is supposed to do is track the public safety impact, use, criminal justice impact, etc We hope and guess that Psilocybin will not impact any of these, just like how Marijuana did not impact anything for the bad when it was decriminalized Once the city sees the results, they won't have so much stigma about it, and Denver will lead the way for the state and the rest of the nation for sensible drug policy Political Pushback The typical response was “we already legalized marijuana, let’s not jump to something else” Sean thinks this gives Denver an amazing reputation, that it understands therapeutic ability and research and no tolerance for the drug war “We need a system that addresses public safety concerns but maintains as much personal liberty as possible on these topics” - Shane Other Initiatives Sean is a part of Chacruna, based in San Francisco Oakland is attempting to Decriminalize Nature, which by nature means all naturally occurring substances They aren't on a ballot, they are looking to convince city council to agree with it and accept it California attempted to raise signatures to be on the ballot in the 2018 election but it failed to get on the ballot Oregon is now collecting signatures to get on the ballot at the state level in 2020 Oregon's model is for medicalization, Sean expresses concern for a purely medical model Between big pharma and quiet equity firms, they want to monetize on psychedelics like they did with marijuana, and that's what we risk with medicalization Psychedelic Liberty Summit in 2020 in the Bay Area will be to talk about the rights and wrongs around psychedelic initiatives Final Thoughts Sean mentions a possible system that revolves around a licensing structure Similar to how we get a drivers license; we practice, we take tests, etc. For psychedelics, we would need to learn the effects, harm reduction techniques, take tests to verify our knowledge, etc and receive a license that allows us to use psychedelics freely If we abuse psychedelics and use them improperly, then we would get our license taken away, suspended, etc. Overall, after this initiative passing, we have to be careful we don't ruin this victory with poor behavior Let’s just do what we're doing respectfully, responsibly, and to ourselves Links https://mcallistergarfield.com/ https://chacruna.net/council-for-the-protection-of-sacred-plants/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/attyseanmcallister/ About Sean McAllister Sean T. McAllister is one of the nation’s leading cannabis business attorneys, licensed to practice law in both Colorado and California. Sean’s legal work focuses on the complex interplay between corporate law and state cannabis regulatory structures and federal law. Sean is a recognized leader in the cannabis industry. In 2004, he founded Sensible Colorado, which worked on all of the ballot initiatives in Colorado that culminated in recreational cannabis legalization in 2012.

Download In this episode, Joe talks with Shane LeMaster, Licensed Addiction Counselor and Certified Mental Performance Consultant. Shane is also involved in Psychotherapy as well as Sport and Performance Psychology and Psychedelic Integration Therapy. In this episode they cover a range of topics such as social work, Ketamine, sensory deprivation, psychedelic icons and the psychedelic culture. 3 Key Points: Shane has a podcast of his own, and his goal with the podcast is to bring people’s personal experiences to light to learn from them, to master the potential of our minds. Ketamine is a great gateway to opening up people’s minds to all of the other psychedelics. Its also a great place to start for therapy. Every single facilitator or shaman has different techniques and styles and that's okay If we don't have differences then we won't have styles to choose from. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Shane Joe and Shane met up recently at a Psychedelic Club meeting about harm reduction in Fort Collins Shane just got accepted into the PhD program in social work at CSU He had been pursuing a PhD program in psychology and it wasn't working out for him so he decided to take the social work route He works with many people and has developed a strong skill set on the micro level and he wants to start making impact on a macro level with helping people Social Work Shane thinks of social work as an integrative approach for every discipline that we find useful, to come to a holistic, greater understanding of an issue Shane wants to use Ketamine as a ‘medium’ term goal, because it's legal But ketamine is not where he is going to stop, he finds there are benefits in many other substances He would love to work with LSD and Psilocybin He will continue to offer his services through his business Mind Ops Shane’s Podcast - Conversations with the Mind His goal with the podcast is to bring people’s personal experiences to light to learn from them It's important to create dialogue and invite people for conversation with differing opinions The goal is to create a theory that implements both opinions Ketamine Ketamine is a great gateway to opening up people’s minds to all of the other psychedelics Shane has had a lot of personal and recreational experiences on Ketamine and when he returns to it as a medicine, he is able to attain and sharpen skills for mindfulness Joe brings up the idea that recreational ketamine could have the ability to bring up past trauma or may re-traumatize someone if not used therapeutically Ketamine has a lot of risks, but being educated and using the substance correctly can be absolutely beneficial Shane says we shouldn't try to avoid trauma, we should accept it and use it for good and let it power us “Sometimes we don't even know what were suppressing. We need some assistance to show us what were avoiding in life and I think that psychedelics help with that a lot.” - Shane Sensory Deprivation Shane says he’s interested in John Lilly's work from back in the day and his terminology of being able to meta-program your human brain Joe says John Lilly was a big part of isolation chambers which led to float tanks Psychedelic Icons Joe mentions Robert Anton Wilson, he was good friends with Timothy Leary He had great critiques, great books and worked with Leary on the 8 levels of consciousness Joe suggests listeners to read The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan “My interest is not in psychedelics themselves, but psychedelics as a means to access higher states of who we are, parts we have forgotten.” - Shane Psychedelics are just one way to tap into ourselves and discover our ultimate potential “We should all be questioning, everyday, changing our belief systems” - Shane “Belief is the death of intelligence” - Robert Anton Wilson Shane says a lot of people give Leary a bad rap, but Shane appreciates what he has done Joe mentions ‘smile squared’ - Space, migration, intelligence and life extension TFYQA - Think for yourself question authority “Turn on, Tune in, Drop out” - Timothy Leary Shane says that phrase sticks with him, it called to his rebel phase in youth to grow and do this work in his life The Psychedelic Culture Splitting - a rephrase of divide and conquer Joe says the psychedelic world is very cut throat "We should take care of each other a bit more in this space" - Joe Shane says, we need to lift each other up versus look for ways to step over each other Every single facilitator or shaman has different techniques and styles and that's okay If we don't have differences then we don't have styles to choose from “We can't become fundamentalists in our own practices, we need to value the differences culturally and from a world view. They are all valuable.” - Shane Links Website Mind Op Youtube  Podcast About Shane Shane earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO, completed extensive coursework towards a Master of Arts Degree in Sport & Performance Psychology at the University of Denver, and earned his Master of Arts Degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology from Argosy University. Shane is nationally certified as a Sport Psychology Consultant and a licensed mental health clinician in the state of Colorado. Having worked in community non-profit mental health since 2008, Shane has gained experience working with the entire spectrum of mental disorders and with all populations and age groups. Shane plans on attending a Ph.D program in Counseling Psychology where his interest in Resiliency, Mental Toughness, and Mindfulness Training Program Development can be explored and further developed. He is a life-long athlete having competed at various levels in more than a dozen different sports. Because of his passion for warrior cultures of past and present, Shane has been ardently developing his own “Warriorship,” training in various forms of Martial Arts for 25 years. Shane feels that the self-discipline, the philosophy of non-violence, the innumerable mental and physical benefits, and the enjoyment that he gains from the Martial Arts is what helped drive his passion in the field of Psychology. His personal interest in Eastern Philosophy stems from his adoption of a Buddhist lifestyle and blends well with his training in Western Psychological Science. Clients describe Shane as an out-of-the-box clinician that is easy to get along with, knowledgeable on a variety of topics, credible with lived experience, and as having the ability to make therapy fun and interesting.

Download In this episode, Kyle hosts a conversation with Veronika Gold from the Polaris Insight Center, a center that offers Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. They compare and contrast Ketamine Psychotherapy methods and Ketamine Infusion. 3 Key Points: The most studied way of using Ketamine has been infusion, mainly used for treatment resistant depression and PTSD. Veronika used lozenges and intramuscular Ketamine therapy working for Polaris. When people are healed from depression, there is a lot of anxiety and activation that happens. Infusion clinics don't offer the therapeutic help that comes with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. The dissociation that happens with Ketamine is a different dissociation that happens with trauma. With trauma, dissociation happens when the nervous system can't handle the stress in someone's life, with Ketamine, it allows people who feel dissociated from their trauma, to feel again. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Veronika She specialized in trauma treatment She is involved in the clinical trials for the treatment of PTSD, sponsored by MAPS in San Francisco Veronika is originally from Czech Republic She studied at CIIS She grew up in the Czech Republic in a communist time so she dealt with a lot of trauma She met Stan Grof at 16 at a Transpersonal conference She was fascinated with his work and Transpersonal Breathwork became a part of her healing It lead her to study psychology and become a psychotherapist and study non-ordinary states Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Ketamine therapy has been studied from the late 60’s until today The most studied way of using Ketamine has been infusion, mainly used for treatment resistant depression and PTSD In Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, the therapy is as important as the medicine There is a biochemical effect of Ketamine When people are healed from depression, there is a lot of anxiety and activation that happens Infusion clinics don't offer the therapeutic help that comes with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Benefits of Ketamine Psychotherapy The treatment method used at Polaris includes a comfortable room, eye shades, music tailored to the therapy, and an ongoing therapist They use non-ordinary states of consciousness as a part of the transformation They use lozenges and IM (Intramuscular) Only 30% of the ketamine from the lozenges are effective The lozenges allow for a slow onset of the medicine With IM, a higher dose can be used because it's less taxing on the body and more effective The property of Ketamine is dissociation Veronika says she prompts people to explain where they are, to share about what comes up for them “Sometimes there are memories that come up that are connected to their struggle. Sometimes they do full trauma processing. There are times where they go inside and then come out.” - Veronika Ketamine vs. Classic Psychedelics They used Ketamine as a means to do the work legally For the work that is being done underground, the therapists are putting themselves at risk for legality, and it does impact set and setting But even if other substances were legal, Veronika thinks Ketamine will still be used for certain issues Ketamine is described as a +4 on Shulgin’s scale A moderate to high dose can allow people to have a near death experience or ‘review of their life’ The dissociation that happens with Ketamine is a different dissociation that happens with trauma With trauma, dissociation happens when the nervous system can't handle the stress Opposingly, with Ketamine, it allows people who feel dissociated, to feel again Veronika mentions a study that says the higher the effects of dissociation from a Ketamine session, the higher the antidepressant effects are. She has work in somatic studies and organic intelligence Breathwork Veronika’s experience with Breathwork helps her understand her patients The bodily experience that happens in Breathwork also helps her understand the body movement/energetic blockages, etc that happen in Ketamine therapy The last 30-90 minutes is where the integration starts Sessions They do mainly one-on-one session but have done a few pair therapy sessions Veronika says its easier to do one-on-one because the sessions are short and there is a lot of internal work The Future of Ketamine Veronika is excited about people’s curiosity with Ketamine therapy and the effectivity of it Ketamine is a new and emerging field and we are figuring out who it is useful for and who it is not Veronika says that non-ordinary states are all beneficial for healing, and not having to use Ketamine (using Breathwork) is still beneficial “A big part of the healing is having a positive experience and connecting with places that feel good, having positive visions. Its supportive for our nervous system and our ability to heal.” - Veronika “When we allow the inner healing intelligence to come through, it will take us to where we need to go.” - Veronika Patients don't always need to just feel the dark stuff and the trauma, sometimes sitting with the good feelings and remembering what good feels like is a part of the healing too Kyle and Veronika were both on separate episodes of the Consciousness Podcast with Stuart Preston Podcast Episode 23 with Kyle Links Website Polaris About Veronika Gold Veronika has expertise in the treatment of trauma. Her approach is integrative and informed by Somatic Therapies, contemplative practices, and mindfulness. She also has an interest in educating others about the healing and transformational potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Download In this episode, Joe talks with Matthew Remski, yoga teacher, consultant and author. In the show they talk about high demand group life and their cultic mechanisms, and the after effects of living in a high demand group setting. 3 Key Points: Matthew Remski shares his experience of spending most of his 20’s in cults, and his healing journey afterward. Cults aren't defined by their content (political, religious, psychedelic), they are defined by their element of control. Another term for a ‘cult’ is a high demand group. High demand groups can be very appealing from the outside, no one signs up for the rape, torture, or manipulative experiences that happen inside of a cult. And the after effects from high demand group life can be extreme, such as PTSD, inability to form romantic relationships, etc. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Matthew Yoga was a safe space of retreat and recuperation after being in cults He was in a cult for 3 years led by Michael Roach at the Asian Classics Institute He was in Endeavor Academy for 6 years in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin These experiences gave him group dynamic perspective Yoga gave him somatic autonomy, and allowed him to feel himself again after the cultic nature of the groups He spent age 22-29 in these groups where we would have built some sort of career, and he didn't He became a yoga teacher and opened his own yoga studio as a part of his healing Cults People end up doing harm to themselves, or do things that they didn't sign up for An organization misrepresents itself, and presents itself as a safe haven for people who may be vulnerable for any reason High Demand Organization, along with other synonyms, are other words for ‘cult’ ‘Self Sealed’ implies that everything that happens within the group is to have the individual think it's for the ‘good’, a ‘bounded choice’ environment (saying that sexual advances or torture are a part of the development toward enlightenment, for example) The high demand group rewires a person's attachment patterns to make them ‘unattached’ Steve Hassan’s BITE model Behavior Control Information Control Thought Control Emotional Control The content of the cult doesn't matter (religious, psychedelic, political, etc), it's the element of control that is the same amongst true cults There can be political groups that aren't cults, but the element of control is what defines it as a cult Octavio Rettig and Gerry Sandoval They are perhaps responsible for multiple deaths (maybe not directly but through negligence) They use 5-MEO-DMT with abuse and malpractice Cult Impact The impact from a cult can be cognitive, labor related, relationship/family oriented, etc. Matthew says the estrangement from his family has taken over a decade to repair The relationships he had prior, has been unable to restored His identity was changed for him through social coercion “The cult takes its best possible part of you for its own agenda” - Matthew The after effects from high demand group life can be extreme, they can have PTSD, they may not be able to form romantic bonds, they may become estranged from their family, etc. Recent estimates in the US alone say that there are 8,000 high demand groups These dynamics can be found in many organizations Wild Wild Country - When a controversial cult leader builds a Utopian city in the Oregon desert, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal Psychotherapy Cult Psychotherapy cults look like a Buddhist or yoga cult but with different group practice techniques They will depend upon group psychotherapy that break down and humiliate members and create fear that looks like love and acceptance It includes members revealing intense secrets so they become vulnerable Practice And All Is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics, And Healing In Yoga And Beyond Matthew’s book is applicable in many different community constellations His intention is to help foster critical thinking and community health Joe says that anyone in a group dynamic or especially those leading groups (such as an ayahuasca circle) need to read this book Practice And All Is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics, And Healing In Yoga And Beyond Links Website About Matthew Matthew has been practicing meditation and yoga since 1996, sitting and moving with teachers from the Tibetan Buddhist, Kripalu, Ashtanga, and Iyengar streams. Along the way he has trained as a yoga therapist and an Ayurvedic consultant, and maintained a private practice in Toronto from 2007 to 2015. From 2008 through 2012, he co-directed Yoga Festival Toronto and Yoga Community Toronto, non-profit activist organizations dedicated to promoting open dialogue and accessibility. During that same period, he studied jyotiśhāstra in a small oral-culture setting at the Vidya Institute in Toronto. Matthew currently facilitates programming for yoga trainings internationally, focusing on yoga philosophy, meditation, Ayurveda, and the social psychology of practice. In all subject areas, he encourages students to explore how yoga practice can resist the psychic and material dominance of neoliberalism, and the quickening pace of environmental destruction.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Computational Neuro-Biologist, Dr. Andrew Gallimore, one of the world’s knowledgeable researchers on DMT. In the show they discuss DMT and the possibilities of being in an extended state of DMT, such as accessing higher dimensions and communicating with intelligent entities. 3 Key Points: This reality that we are in is a lower dimensional slice of a higher dimensional structure. DMT is a technology or tool that allows us access to reach out to these higher dimensions. Andrew has developed and written about the Intravenous Infusion Model, which allows a timed and steady release of DMT to induce an extended state DMT experience. Extended state DMT hypothesizes that with enough time spent in the DMT space, the ‘map’ of the space would begin stabilize over time and you could develop a ‘life’ in the DMT space like we do in our waking life. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Andrew Since age 15, he was into psychedelic drugs and altered states of consciousness He was at a friends house and was looking at a book called Alternative London and it had writings on different psychedelics but only a very short segment on DMT His fascination grew from his yearning to learn more about DMT His interest turned into academic work, learning chemistry and pharmacology and he is now into learning more about the brain itself He is currently a Computational Neuro-Biologist DMT DMT is a compound found almost everywhere in nature, highly illegal, yet highly interesting Interaction with entities are common All frames of reference are gone Andrew says that the first few times were very intense and he would come back with no way to comprehend or describe it Then after a few more times he started to see the entities and have a more stable experience with more intent Andrew describes a very vivid experience of a man in a dark robe where he asked him “show me what you've got” and he opened his mouth and Andrew woke up a if he had seen God himself. He describes it as a shattering experience These beings in the DMT experience, aren't just pointless beings in a dream, they are powerful and extremely intelligent We don't have any way to comprehend the levels of intelligence in this dimensional space, we only are ever able to experience intelligence with our human capacity for what intelligence is There is a sense that these beings are intelligent because they have been around for billions and billions of years or potentially infinitely Communicating with Intelligent Entities He calls his book the ‘textbook of the future’ “We are imprisoned in some kind of work of art” - Terence McKenna This reality is a construct or artifact of the alien intelligence or the ‘other’ “This reality that we are in is a lower dimensional slice of a higher dimensional structure. DMT is a technology or tool that allows us access to reach out to these higher dimensions” - Andrew DMT is everywhere “Nature is drenched in DMT, but it takes a high level of sophisticated intelligence to identify it, isolate it, and discover a means of using it as a tool” - Dennis McKenna “In order to communicate with these beings, we need to bring the right tools to the table” - Andrew Target Controlled Intravenous Infusion Model - using the same model for DMT as the anesthesia model It uses administration of a short acting drug using a mathematical model to control the release “We are not just passive receivers of information but we are actively constructing our world from moment to moment.” - Andrew Continuity Hypothesis of Dreaming - it says that dreaming is continuous with our waking life, the brain constructs the world when you're asleep in the same way that it does when you're awake Extended State DMT (DMTx) Our brains are constantly updating its model of reality, so if you put someone through the DMT space for months at a time, that person’s model of reality would completely shift This idea has been completely unexplored The hypothesis is that an extended time in the DMT space would begin to make that space more stable over time, the goal being to live in the DMT space as you would in this reality of waking life The measurement of DMT in the blood with Ayahuasca is 1/5th the level of DMT in the blood as a breakthrough DMT experience Andrew hasn't heard of anyone trying the Intravenous Infusion Model yet There is this space that exists one quantum away, and it is accessible by everyone (technologically, not necessarily legally) Inter-dimensional citizenship is close at hand Links Book Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game Website Instagram Twitter  About Dr. Andrew Gallimore Dr. Andrew Gallimore is a computational neurobiologist, pharmacologist, chemist, and writer who has been interested in the neural basis of psychedelic drug action for many years and is the author of a number of articles and research papers on the powerful psychedelic drug, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as well as the book Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game (April 2019). He recently collaborated with DMT pioneer Dr. Rick Strassman, author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, to develop a pharmacokinetic model of DMT as the basis of a target-controlled intravenous infusion protocol for extended journeys in DMT space. His current interests focus on DMT as a tool for gating access to extradimensional realities and how this can be understood in terms of the neuroscience of information. He currently lives and works in Japan.

Download In this episode, hosts Joe and Kyle interview music artist, East Forest. Influenced by psychedelic Psilocybin sessions, Trevor Oswalt, the mind behind the project, produces soundtracks for psychedelic journeywork sessions. 3 Key Points: East Forest is a music artist and producer with a mission to create a playground of doors for listeners to open and to explore their inner space. His recent project, ‘Ram Dass’, captures the words of wisdom of Ram Dass and pairs it with sound, a project with four chapters that will release throughout 2019. Ayahuasca is connected to the Icaros, but psilocybin doesn't have a music ritual. His goal with his project, Music for Mushrooms: A soundtrack for the psychedelic practitioner, is to bring ritual to psilocybin journeywork. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook             Show Notes About (Trevor Oswalt) East Forest East Forest is a 10 years and running music project that unfolded exploring into sharing and medicine circles and developed into a public interface Its based around introspection and tools for people to use Between retreats, podcasts and live performance, Trevor is inviting people in to assist with their journeys Ram Dass Trevor is working on a 4 part record project with Ram Dass He had the idea to do a record with spiritual teachers Ram Dass had a stroke 20 years ago, and he got Aphasia from it It would take him 15-30 minutes to answer a question, so Trevor would put it to the music and put Ram's words on the pauses in the music His wisdom and story would come alive in the songs The first time Ram Dass did psilocybin was with Timothy Leary and he said it changed his life Ram Dass talks about the ‘witness consciousness’ a viewpoint of things from the soul It is a place where you can love everyone and tell your truth and accept your dark thoughts You can't get rid of your dark thoughts, but you can learn to live with them Journeywork Soundtrack Music for Mushrooms: A soundtrack for the psychedelic practitioner Its a 5 hour playlist for journeywork that guides you and helps you do the work He made it live during his own journeywork session over a weekend the previous summer He says he is influenced by Keith Jarrett, who does long form pianist pieces Joe says trance in music is under explored Trevor describes a trip that he had where he took mushrooms and listened to his own (first) album that he made “It was as if I created this album without knowing what I was creating. My soul had tricked my ego into doing it so I could use it as a tool in that moment to transform into something new.” - Trevor There is a lot of music, science, and arts that are inspired by psychedelics He describes its a symbiotic relationship between psychedelics and music That's the thing about art, you put it out there and everyone puts their own meaning to it His first experience with psychedelics was in college with mushrooms He was outside at a festival and it was a very transcendent, blissful experience Retreats He attends retreats where there is either yoga, wilderness hikes or mainly revolved around music He does a retreat using music at Esalen with his partner, Marisa Radha Weppner They are doing another retreat in June at Esalen during the summer solstice and he will also be releasing the third chapter of the Ram Dass Record Next Esalen Retreat Sound He went to Vassar college in New York and there were pianos all over the school, he learned how to play simple songs and was shocked of how great it sounded coming to life and that fed on itself and he was hooked His first album was made in iMac with pro tools and his skills developed from there Sound quality is critical in journeywork Joe’s friend has mentioned that it's hard to make a living as a music creator, she goes by Living Light Joe also mentions a festival he attended listening to Reed Mathis and the Electric Beethoven They went on a 20-30 minute talk about how the music is a ritual Kyle used to lead some hikes, once was with Trevor Hall and it has gotten more common to collaborate these experiences with music Live Music During Ayahuasca, the shamans sing the Icaros, and the song is a part of the ritual No one uses Ayahuasca recreationally, the ceremony has never been detached from the drug With psilocybin, in the western culture, it's almost always only been used recreationally His goal was to create a new musical tradition that would speak to our western years and make sense to us without taking from another religion and putting it to our ritual Links Website About East Forest East Forest is an American Ambient/Electronic/Contemporary Classical/Indie Pop artist from Portland, Oregon, United States. The project was created by Trevor Oswalt who derived "East Forest" from the German translation of his last name. To date he has released eight full-length albums and six EPs. East Forest’s newest release, “RAM DASS” is a full length album releasing in collaboration with the acclaimed spiritual teacher. Covering topics such as dark thoughts, nature, the soul and so much more, these songs are full of inspiration. The album will release in four “chapters” throughout 2019, culminating in a full length release on August 9, 2019.

Download In this Bonus episode The Teafaerie and Joe Moore get into lots of great topics. Enjoy! ! The Teafaerie micro-bio(me) The Teafaerie is a writer, flow arts teacher, ruespieler, toy inventor, app designer, street performer, party promoter, and superhero. erowid.org/columns/teafaerie Some links Event in Ran Rafael, CA w Tam Integration Tickets Mapping the Source on Erowid Carrying the Light - Audio  Telepathetic - https://www.erowid.org/columns/teafaerie/2013/02/21/telepathetic/ The Teafaerie on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flowfaerie/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ruespieler

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Jesse Gould, founder of Heroic Hearts Project, a non-profit doing psychedelic work with veterans. They discuss the difficulties veterans face finding healing from their PTSD in the current landscape. 3 Key Points: Heroic Hearts is a project geared toward raising funds and providing resources for veterans to receive healing through Ayahuasca and other psychedelics. Our current landscape of social media and government make it extremely difficult to receive donations and get veterans the help that they need. Heroic Hearts is trying to bridge the gap between PTSD and access to healing. Veterans tend to feel alone in their symptoms from their experiences, so creating community and an integration plan are both really important in the healing process. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Jessie Founder of Heroic Hearts Project He found the healing potential of Ayahuasca after a week long retreat after struggling with severe anxiety after combat deployments with the army He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and grew up in Florida Jesse graduated with an Economics Degree from Cornell Heroic Hearts Heroic Hearts is trying to be the voice of veterans in the psychedelic community There are very few options through the department of veteran affairs The organization helps raise money to provide opportunity for veterans to access treatment such as Ayahuasca retreats PTSD and Addiction affect the veteran community more than the general public Aligning the veteran voice with the psychedelic cause is a powerful force for change Integration is so important, both to understand what you're trying to achieve (beforehand) and stay on that path (afterward) Jessie says they work very hard to make sure vets are having true healing through their Ayahuasca experiences PTSD People have a common misconception around PTSD that there are these constant traumatic outbreaks, and although that can happen, there are so many people living their day to day lives and you'd never know they have PTSD but they still suffer from it PTSD doesn't always come from severely traumatic events like war, it can come from other things like childhood abuse or sexual assault SSRIs numb the pain but don't help with any actual healing Donations It's really hard to get donations Heroic Hearts provided financial scholarships so far to about 15 people They are doing a retreat in May for another 7 veterans The received a grant from Ubiome to study the effects of Ayahuasca on the gut microbiome There is a strong link between the stomach biome and mood They are coming up with do it yourself marketing campaigns to help individuals raise their own money, setting people up for success In a place where it's easier to get money, it's also harder to get money because so many people are creating personal fundraisers for their dog, etc. There are more and more large organizations helping smaller companies like Heroic Hearts with research Community Breathwork can be used as a helpful bridge between patients and their PTSD Veterans tend to trust veterans more They tend to feel alone so creating community among vets is really important Psychedelics and ceremony really help vets transition out of feeling alone Jesse says he plans on creating local meetups and groups for vets He tends to send vets on retreats with friends or other vets from the same community so when they return from their retreat they have a built-in community to come back to Heroic Hearts Project There is an application for vets There are many options to donate, all funds raised go right to the vets “Why is there no government funding going to the biggest breakthrough in PTSD research through the MAPS MDMA therapy? Not one cent of government money has gone to that.” - Jesse “Why are we having to send veterans to other countries to get the mental health that they deserve?” - Jesse Links Website About Jesse Gould Jesse founded Heroic Hearts Project after attending an Ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, Peru on February 2017. During the week long retreat he instantly saw the healing potential of the drink and knew that it could be a powerful tool in healing the mental struggles of his fellow veterans. Jesse was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and grew up in New Smyrna Beach, FL. In 2009 he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Economics. After working in investment banking for a short time he enlisted in the Army and became an Airborne Ranger for four years and three combat deployments. Most recently, he worked in finance in Tampa, FL After struggling with severe anxiety for many years, he finally decided to go to an ayahuasca retreat which has had a profoundly positive effect on his anxiety and daily life.'I know what it is like to be at the mercy of uncontrollable elements in your own head. I also know the extreme relief of finally having these elements under control. Ayahuasca provided this. We have the ability to help thousands who are suffering but we let politics and ignorance get in the way. This is unacceptable. I started this foundation because the therapy works, I will risk what I have to ensure my fellow veterans get the treatment they deserve and a new chance at life.'

Download In this episode Kyle sits down with a close friend in the psychedelic space, Lucas Jackson. They have shared many experiences such as Near Death Experiences, leading breathwork workshops, and other similarities. They cover topics such as the Near Death Experience, Ayahuasca experience, Breathwork tools, and accepting death, finding meaning and integrating these exceptional experiences. 3 Key Points: Exceptional experiences are not always euphoric and light, they can also be dark and cathartic and make it difficult to transition back into ‘real life’. Lucas explains his Ayahuasca experience as his darkest and hardest. He felt alone with no help, no one to talk to to help understand it, he felt as if he actually died. But this gave him a realization and acceptance of death. The key to making it through and putting understanding to the dark experiences is having the right tools, such as a community of understanding people, practices such as breathwork, yoga, meditation and just simply coming back to the breath. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                              Integration Workbook             Show Notes About Lucas Lucas' interest in psychedelics started in high school, the books that he read then were influential He had a near death experience at 19 He came down with a lung issue and was in the hospital for 2 months and in and out of different stages of consciousness After that experience his interest for psychedelics and breathwork grew Lucas describes it not totally as a single NDE but more as being so close to death for an extended period of time He says it wasn't mystical and great, coming back to ‘real life’ had some dark qualities Revisiting a Dark Past Lucas says he wrote stuff down when he was in the hospital with a breathing tube and couldn't talk and one day he went through it all and it was very dark and cathartic When he went through and read his past writings, he said that he felt sympathy for the ‘him’ that wrote it He says it is hard to remember the person he was before his experience and illness Breathwork After he dropped out of school, he started up a farm in Vermont and then toward the end of that he started to feel restless and there were synchronicities that led him to breathwork He heard that Stan Grof was going to be doing a talk at a local bookshop and he met Lenny and Elizabeth Gibson He ended up doing breathwork training in New York He explains the experience as more powerful than what he would have imagined He said he wanted to tell everyone about it after the first breathwork experience Kyle says its common with any exceptional experience, people want to run and tell the world Lucas says the sitting was just as powerful as the breathing It's not often that you have someone sit at your side for 2-3 hours giving you full attention Lucas says that his GTT training was supposed to take 2 years and he thought he was going to get through it in 2 years no problem and he is in his 5th year doing the program and he loves the pace Kyle says that part of the training in breathwork is doing your own work Lucas says with this kind of work, you don't get through it and you're done, It's a continuous process Robert Anton Wilson’s ‘maybe’ logic helps Lucas with being okay with not knowing He had a few experiences where he went through a ‘death’ feeling, and then he would let go and blast through this ‘light’ and then feelings oneness and wholeness Ayahuasca Lucas went through the ‘death’ experience and thought it was actually real, he felt complete void and nothingness That experience haunted him for years His ayahuasca experience was really about the purge, letting go of absolutely everything James Fadiman The remoteness of the experience was what he was seeking, being so far removed from everything he had known, everything that made him comfortable The shaman was known for his potency of the brew There is no consistency among the dosage He felt very alone during the experience, he had no help, but it was almost special because it taught him that he is alone always anyway so there was some comfortability with the realization The shaman didn't speak English and the messages that he received through the translator didn't make him feel completely safe about his experience It took him over 3 years of chewing on the content and the questions before feeling somewhat okay Lucas’ advice to anyone wanting to do this is ‘take off, make time for this, you'll need more time than you think’ “I believe that there is a collective pool to tap into, where you're processing the suffering of all, and once you hit that, it's an abyss and you have to surrender. It can be so freeing.” - Lucas Spiritual Emergence Lucas says there wasn't any day or event where he felt like he was going to have to go to the hospital or harm anybody, but it's because he has the correct tools and great community For him, the first experience was fun and exciting and then you want to do more and then you get into the work and the hard stuff "What is, waking up?" - Lucas There's the Ram Dass idea that the tool will fall away when its usefulness has been exhausted Lucas says the tool is having a daily practice, and for him its a breathing practice Grof’s framework was a lifesaver for Lucas “What are you going to do with the reality you are presented with?” - a quote from The Truman Show movie “Even if this is all an illusion, why not make this the best illusion, the best dream?” - Lucas How are we showing up to the world after something so exceptional? Final Thoughts What is this world for? Lucas mentions an Alan Watts video, it says life is like a dance, there is no goal, and then after the dance we sit down “What is the particular thing that we are trying to achieve? General improvement of all humanity sounds like a good goal. Hopefully psychedelics can be a huge tool in moving towards that.” -Lucas Lucas says that he isn't a therapist, but he is available to talk with someone if they may need it. Having an open and welcoming therapist is great, but if they've never had an exceptional experience, it's helpful to talk to someone who has, therapist or not. About Lucas Jackson Lucas has spent his life wandering through inner and outer landscapes, collecting experiences, and sharing those experiences with those closest to him. His outer wanderings have led him to working with earth and plants around the world, including starting a biodynamic/permaculture food forest in Central Vermont. Lucas has also spent time working with people who were experiencing extreme states of consciousness while at Soteria-Vermont and while volunteering with The Zendo Project. The galleries of his inner world are made up of psychedelic musings, astrological insights, and various constellations of esoteric traditions. Lucas holds degrees in Environmental Science and Psychology and is currently pursuing an MA in Religious Studies. Lucas can be reached through his email address at [email protected] as well as on Instagram @biodellic. He is available for astrological readings and is happy to meet others interested in discussing the topics covered throughout this episode of the podcast.

Download In this special interview, Joe and Kyle sit down with Theologian, John B. Cobb Jr., referred to as the Godfather of American Theology. They recorded with John at the conference they all attended in California, on how exceptional experience can help save the world. They cover a range of topics inspired from Alfred Whitehead’s teachings and the promising applications of Whitehead’s thoughts in the area of ecological civilization and environmental ethics pioneered by John Cobb Jr. 3 Key Points: Process thinking argues that reality consists of processes rather than material objects, and that thinking this way is similar to the teachings of a psychedelic experience. It is hoped for and believed that exceptional experiences can help save the world. Whitehead's process philosophy argues that there is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have consequences for the world around us. Certain curriculum, education systems and Universities are not helping us to see the value of our world. A full systems change is needed and hopefully psychedelics, exceptional experiences and process thinking can help with that. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook             Show Notes Process Thought Alfred North Whitehead The senses heighten connection, but we shouldn't rely only senses for our experiences The label that can we give to the 'most fundamental relationship' is any 'happening' What's happening when we listen to music? We aren't hearing one tone after another tone, we are hearing the music as a whole piece Whitehead calls the fundamental relationship of inclusion, a 'prehension' How one moment leads into another moment If the world is made up of prehensions, then in any given moment, what is prehended? The boundary between conscious and unconscious experience is fuzzy. Whitehead calls the relatedness to the past, physical prehensions. But we also prehend, potentialities. It is being experienced as potential not as actual. Whitehead thinks this is present in very elementary matters. Whitehead says that waves of vibration are a very large part of the world we live in Whitehead believes that without some type of variation from moment to moment, that nothing really happens He wrote a lot on relativity and very little about quantum David Bohm He was very process oriented He wanted to change our language into using words that mean something is ‘happening’ versus using nouns that say that something ‘is’ “If you only have potentiality and too little grounded in actuality, you better be careful. If you don't have the potentiality, then you live in a deterministic universe” - John “Does Whitehead relate the potentialities to his ideas about intuition?” Intuition can be of both pure potentials and about other people A lot of paranormal experiences are not supernatural Just because someone has seen something or done something, it doesn't mean that it's true. There is plenty of illusion. [caption id="attachment_3637" align="alignleft" width="300"] T-shirts available on our store[/caption] Complex Societies An important feature of Whitehead is to distinguish complex society Panexperientialism is ‘the view that if evolution of humans goes all the way down to subatomic particles, then human ‘experience’ by deduction must have originated at the subatomic level, which implies that not just humans but individual cells, individual molecules, individual atoms, and even individual subatomic particles, such as photons or electrons, incorporate a capacity for ‘feeling’ or degree of subjective inferiority.' There might be in-deterministic qualities in individual entities From a Whiteheadian point of view, contemporary physics would be almost universally valid if the entire world were made up entirely of physical feelings, feelings of actual occasions, ‘what is’. “What would be opposed to physical feelings?” Conceptual feelings, feelings of potentials He thinks there are feelings of potential in every actual occasion “The attempt to make standard physics apply to the quantum world are a total failure.” -John “The attempt to make standard physics apply to the human experience is the task of the Neuroscientists. They think that the subjective experience has a causal role to play in the world.” -John It's more committed to metaphysics than it is to empirical study “Do you think what's going on in the mind, say neurotransmitters or electrical activity firing, that is creating this reality, or the experience, is having an influence on the neurochemistry?” John says that the psyche plays a role Scientists who are busy engineering genetic change, tell us purpose plays no role in genetic change “What do you mean by no purpose in genetic change?” Purpose cannot have a causal effect in the Cartesian world They say ‘I know that my purposes are completely the result of mechanical relations between my neurons’ “Could you elaborate on the definition of actual occasions?” The psyche is a consistent series of actual occasions Its what kinds of things are in and of themselves, ‘actual’ It's in the distinction of things that can be divided up into other entities An actual occasion cannot be divisible into other actual occasions Like an atom, it is divisible, but dividing it does not keep it from actually existing For Whitehead, an actual occasion is the basic unit of actuality Its an alternative to a ‘substance’ way of viewing When we look at other living beings, animals with brains and such, we assume they have a psychic life John thinks that plants have some kind of unified experience Some people have a feeling about a tree, that it's not just a bunch of cells interacting “It's hard for me to think that a stone is an experiencing entity, I think the molecules though are.” - John “I’m sure that cells are influenced by the emotions of people” -John Having a particular conceptuality does not define how things are going to map out “This world view seems very psychedelic.” Among quantum physicists, Whitehead’s name is known and appreciated. It may mean that physics as a whole might adopt an organic model than just mechanistic one The common sense in this is that our knowledge of each other is not just in visual and auditory clues, but people have been told so long that it is “What else would it be informed by if not by visual and auditory cues?” Just by our immediate experience of each other If you go into a room, there is an immediate climate there. You can tell when you walk into a room full of angry people. Ivan Illich's Book on Deschooling Society (Open Forum S) “What would be your vision of an education system if its not working right now?” The one that Matthew Segal teaches in CIIS are examples of a different education system The Great Books program needs revision. It's only been the great western books. John hopes they have incorporated great books from other parts of the world There are parts of different educational systems that are better than what we have “If I had an opportunity to create a school, it would be a school that teaches ecological civilization because a healthy human survival is a goal that ought not to be regarded as an eccentric and marginal one, but regarded as what all we human beings ought to be getting behind collectively, together. And if you have a school for that, the curriculum would be quite varied, but the production and consumption and sharing of food should be a very central part of it.” -John Capitalism has ignored much of reality John says creating a curriculum is not his role, his role is deconstruction because he thinks what is going on now is absurd “Enlightenment is the worst curse of humanity, we have been enlightened into not believing all kinds of things. The disappearance of subject from the world of actuality. If that's enlightenment, then I don't want to be enlightened.” - John Language John thinks we need a lot of reflection on the language we use The questions that are the most important are the ones rarely asked “One of my favorite parts of Whitehead is the reframing of language, our words carry inertia that we are not aware of” - Joe Whitehead Word Book: A Glossary with Alphabetical Index to Technical Terms in Process and Reality (Toward Ecological Civilzation) (Volume 8) The reason there are 36 universities for process studies and 0 in the United States, is because in the US, process isn't as fundamental as substance Kyle Shares his Near Death Experience Kyle got in a snowboarding accident, ruptured his spleen and lost about 5 pints of blood It became mystical when he was in the MRI machine and he was standing on one side of the room with the doctors and in his body at the same time There was an orb of light, and an external voice or ‘experience’ that said “you're going home, back to the stars where you came from, this is just a transition, the more you relax into it, the easier it will be.” Kyle describes it as a blissful experience, but he had a hard time integrating it back into his life. Whitehead has done a remarkable job to describe process, and exceptional experience and putting a language to it Joe says that Whitehead’s work has helped put the psychedelic experience into words “Do you recall the first time you heard something that made you interested in the impact of psychedelics?” Lenny Gibson was probably one of the first people that opened his eyes to the positive uses “Today, it would be remarkable if 10% of the world's population survived without civilization” -John He is confident that there are good things that come from psychedelics He says Whitehead has made him understand the changes that might make us behave in responsible ways, so he doesn't feel the necessity of having a psychedelic experiences “What kind of changes?” We have to change from our substance thinking to process thinking We need to shift from thinking that every individual is self-contained, we are all products of our relationships with each other. In the Whiteheadian view, any individual is, the many becoming one. To be an individual is being a part of everything. Links Website Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition Other books by John Cobb Jr. A Christian Natural Theology, Second Edition: Based on the Thought of Alfred North Whitehead Jesus' Abba: The God Who Has Not Failed Grace & Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today For Our Common Home: Process-Relational Responses to Laudato Si' About John B. Cobb Jr. John B. Cobb, Jr., Ph.D, is a founding co-director of the Center for Process Studies and Process & Faith. He has held many positions, such as Ingraham Professor of Theology at the School of Theology at Claremont, Avery Professor at the Claremont Graduate School, Fullbright Professor at the University of Mainz, Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt, Harvard Divinity, Chicago Divinity Schools. His writings include: Christ in a Pluralistic Age; God and the World; For the Common Good. Co-winner of Grawemeyer Award of Ideas Improving World Order.

Download In this episode, Joe gets on the mic to chat about some current events in the psychedelic space such as the recent passing of psychedelic icon Ralph Metzner, the Psilocybin decriminalization initiatives in Denver and now Oakland, and psychedelic use in the Military. 3 Key Points: Psychedelic Icon, Ralph Metzner passed away on March 14th, 2019. He had a remarkable career and published a ton of books around psychedelics in his time. A recent study found that a single dose of Psilocybin can enhance creative thinking and empathy for up to 7 days after use. Activists are planning an initiative to decriminalize Psilocybin in Oakland. Denver will vote on decriminalization on the May 7th ballot. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Get Educated Navigating Psychedelics or Navigating Psychedelics: 5-Week Live Online Course   Trip Journal                                                Integration Workbook             Show Notes Ralph Metzner Ralph Metzner passed away on March 14th, 2019 He was a part of the Leary, Alpert trio Ralph was a psychologist, writer and researcher who participated in psychedelic research in the 60’s. He had a remarkable career and published a ton of books: The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead Maps of consciousness;: I Ching, tantra, tarot, alchemy, astrology, actualism The Unfolding Self: Varieties of Transformative Experience Green Psychology: Transforming Our Relationship to the Earth Sacred Mushroom of Visions: Teonanácatl: A Sourcebook on the Psilocybin Mushroom Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca The Expansion of Consciousness (Ecology of Consciousness) Alchemical Divination: Accessing your spiritual intelligence for healing and guidance (The Ecology of Consciousness) Ecology of Consciousness: The Alchemy of Personal, Collective, and Planetary Transformation Overtones and Undercurrents: Spirituality, Reincarnation, and Ancestor Influence in Entheogenic Psychotherapy Searching for the Philosophers’ Stone: Encounters with Mystics, Scientists, and Healers The Toad and the Jaguar a Field Report of Underground Research on a Visionary Medicine: Bufo Alvarius and 5-Methoxy-Dimethyltryptamine Psilocybin and Creativity A single dose of Psilocybin enhances creative thinking and empathy for up to 7 days after use It was a 55 participant study in the Netherlands Decriminalize Psilocybin in Oakland Activists plan to decriminalize Psilocybin in Oakland Decriminalize Psilocybin in Denver It will be voted on, on May 7th Joe believes all drugs should be decriminalized We need to have a compassionate drug policy Placing people in jail for non-violent offences tears apart families We should not favor one drug over another in terms of decriminalization Use of Psychedelics to do War More Effectively Harm Reduction Joe mentions conversation he had with a friend of the show He mentioned that Ayahuasca sometimes has mold on it Ayahuasca is labor intensive to make, so they make it once and then it grows mold Then people come and drink the mold infested Aya and it can make a person more sick than they need to be “If you have the option to be more safe, should you be?” If we have less harm and less deaths in the drug world over time, in the next 5 or 6 years we are going to see huge benefits with these substances Staying out of jail, not dying, and by being safer with drugs we have more of a chance to influence policy and make these substances and drug checking more available for the future culture About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Download In this episode Kyle and Joe sit down and discuss Esketamine, a new FDA approved drug that is a derivative of Ketamine. They invite quotes from professionals who have experience with generic Ketamine and to voice their opinions. 3 Key Points: Janssen Pharmaceutica has announced an FDA approved derivative of Ketamine, Esketamine, called Spravato. The new drug is facing critique on its pricing, route of administration as well as functional differences when compared to the traditional, generic Ketamine. Joe and Kyle invite professionals in the field who have experience with generic Ketamine to voice their opinions, hopes and concerns about Spravato. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                               Integration Workbook             Show Notes Esketamine Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson Subsidiary has created a derivative of Ketamine called Esketamine and has gone through the whole FDA approval process There has been some concern about a big pharmaceutical company, Janssen coming in and creating a ‘new molecule’ and introducing an FDA approved ‘psychedelic’ to make generic Ketamine obsolete Pricing There is going to be price differences based on routes of administration (Intravenous vs lozenges) $1.59 at 100 milligrams (93% bioavailable when administered IM) The list price of Esketamine through Janssen will be $590-$885 per treatment session based on the dosage taken which will vary between patients During the first month of therapy, that would add up to $4720-$6785 After the first month, maintenance therapy could range from $2300-$3500 Joe says Ketamine should be cheap Scott Shannon Scott Shannon, Director of the Wholeness Center Joe reads a quote from Scott that says that the new Janssen Esketamine product is overpriced, the research data showed that only 2 out of 5 studies demonstrated effectiveness, and generic Ketamine is much more effective and cheaper than Esketamine Insurance Insurance might cover Esketamine Kyle says he hasn't heard of too many generic Ketamine sessions being covered by Insurance Jessica Katzman The approval of Esketamine by the FDA is controversial based on the route of administration, cost and functional differences Only 8-50% of the Esketamine dose is effective Some of the benefits of Esketamine are it's legitimizing of the existing generic Ketamine use as well as an Insurance overview of Ketamine and Esketamine via cost analysis Esketamine is not new, it has been around for a long time Dr. Matt Brown Physicians have been able to provide Ketamine for decades Janssen was able to get the FDA to approve literally half of what generic Ketamine is There are a lot of unknowns for Esketamine yet, it hasn't even hit the shelves yet Kyle says Ketamine has been used to bring patients internally, like most psychedelic sessions Kyle also says Ketamine is more dissociating, where classic tryptamines like psilocybin are more activating Contraindications Hypertension, stroke, intracranial mass/hemorrhage and cautions like pregnancy, substance abuse, etc. It's pretty available in the underground, so it could have the potential for risk of abuse Recreational experiences have the opportunity to be the most therapeutic and eye-opening experience Audiobook - Function of Reason by Alfred North Whitehead "I need not continue the discussion. The case is too clear for elaboration. Yet the trained body of physiologists under the influence of the ideas germane to their successful methodology entirely ignore the whole mass of adverse evidence. We have here a colossal example of anti-empirical dogmatism arising from a successful methodology. Evidence which lies outside the method simply does not count.We are, of course, reminded that the neglect of this evidence arises from the fact that it lies outside the scope of the methodology of the science. That method consists in tracing the persistence of the physical and chemical principles throughout physiological operations." - quote from Function of Reason Opinions Joe invites listeners to ask questions and leave a message of opinions and such (either anonymously or using your name) Google voice 970-368-3133 About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle is currently pursuing his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Download This is an exclusive interview with Elizabeth Gibson from Dreamshadow, a segment from the Psychedelics Today, Navigating Psychedelics Masterclass, Lessons on Self Care and Integration. 3 Key Points: A common mistake people make is thinking all of the work happens in the session, when really only a portion of the work happens in the session, and the rest happens afterward during integration. It's important not to isolate yourself after this work, it's important to search out people who will be understanding of your experience. Elizabeth compares journeywork to planting a seed. You can't grow a whole plant in one session, you simply plant the seed. You determine how it grows by how you water and cultivate it (integrate it), it's a process that can't be rushed. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Trip Journal                                                  Integration Workbook Show Notes Integration Integration is one of the most important aspects of work with extraordinary experiences “How do you take material that's come up and bring it into your everyday life? How do you realize the benefit of the intense work that you've done?” - Elizabeth Elizabeth's Background Elizabeth has been facilitating Breathwork for 23 years She was a part of MDMA trials in the 80’s when it was legal Elizabeth helped edit the MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy Manual Integrating the Experience A common mistake that people make is thinking all of the work is in the session itself, but really that's only half of the work. The other half of the work happens after leaving the session, the integration. Integration is about being more present with ourselves in every moment, not just yearning to get back to the state of the session The long term subtle changes that happen over time are the most important Stan Grof says that aerobic activity like swimming, running, etc is a way of connecting with energy and feelings that operate at deeper levels Elizabeth says she likes drawing immediately after an experience to work with it symbolically, and then journaling a day or two later once she is able to verbalize her experience “Just do it before you think too much about it” Community Benefits It's important not to isolate yourself after this work “The principle of community is really important. We can't do this work completely on our own.” - Elizabeth We are all the descendants of successful tribes It's important to search out people who will be understanding of your experience If there is somatic stuff happening in the body, it is a good idea to do some body work, such as deep tissue massage On the other side, if we are holding the space for others who went through a session, it's important for us to make ourselves available for them Just to talk and to be heard is so important on its own Email follow up is tricky because a person can pour their heart out or be very vague or not get deep in their email The email follow up method is also tricky because of difficult response time and interpretation of responses Facebook groups can be a helpful way of finding the others and creating community to be able to reach out to understanding individuals Elizabeth says it's like the analogy of seeds being planted, you decide how you want it to grow and how you cultivate it Acting too quickly after an experience isn't always the best idea, its best to keep it slow Journeywork Tips Safe setting Access to people who will be able to support you afterwards Links website About Elizabeth Elizabeth Gibson, M.S., holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and a master’s degree in biology from The University of Tulsa. She has completed Herbert Benson’s Clinical Training in Mind/Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously she worked as a consultant at Arthur D. Little, Inc., and Radian Corporation in the areas of environmental protection and food research. She is a writer, editor and homemaker with interests in environmental literacy, yoga, music and gardening. Elizabeth is the editor of Stanislav Grof ’s The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death and a contributor to the teaching manual MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, both published by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. For the past 12 years, she has been responsible for local news for the Town of Pawlet, and from 2008 – 2014 she was the editor of the weekly environment section for the Rutland Herald and Montpelier Times Argus newspapers in Vermont.

Download In this episode, Joe holds conversation with Dr. Michael Sapiro, Clinical Psychologist out of Boise, Idaho. They cover topics surrounding how meditation and mindfulness intersect with psychedelia as well as psychic ability, altered states and integration. 3 Key Points: Meditation and psychedelics have a lot of overlap such as ego dissolution and unity. Dr. Sapiro believes that meditation and mindfulness bring personal awakening in order to create collective transformation. Both meditation and psychedelics are the most beneficial when they are integrated into our waking life and when we use our experiences to help others and our planet. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Dr. Michael Sapiro Attended John F Kennedy University where he received his PsyD He focused on meditation research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences He is from Chicago, IL He spent time in Thailand for the Peace Corps A lot of his experience was from his time in the Bay Area There is more data coming out about awareness based meditative states and psychedelic states and how they relate subjectively to each other Dr. Sapiro’s Practice Transformational Psychology, Integration based He integrates the Buddhist Dharma, Western Psychology, Non-dual meditation and philosophy, and Noetic Sciences into his practice Michael sees 20-28 patients a week Kashmir Shaivism It's a dissolving type of experience, Its a non-dualistic style of tradition The non-dual tradition helps one just be “whole and unbroken” and focus on the present and now He does the human work in the Buddhism Dharma style, and the spiritual work with the restful piece of being in the now, the focus being integration Vision His vision has been on enhancing personal awakening in order to create collective transformation He wants to help communities and states and nations to transform via individual awakening He has worked with law enforcement agents, military vets, community members, a variety of people at different levels all the way from grounding to stability to thriving He always ends each Sangha with saying 'take this work and apply it to your neighbors' A Sangha is a buddhist community of monks/individuals in support of each other “People have such a deep connection to nature when you come out of the psychedelic experience. You start taking care of the environment differently than before went you went in.” - Michael “We now have data on greater environmental concern and stewardship after the psychedelic experience.” - Joe People who are consciously interacting with things outside of themselves have a greater care for those things. “If I am hurting the world I am hurting myself.” - Michael “Hopefully one of the bigger things that come out of the psychedelic movement are greater levels of environmentalism and global stewardship” - Joe The psychedelic movement helps us see systems that are made up are a part of our tangible reality and our responsibility to take care of the people in the systems We can use psychedelics and meditation, and integration from these experiences, to see how we can operate in these systems and help people find resources in these systems Dr. Sapiro’s Work He teaches as Esalen Institute leading workshops One of his colleagues has reached over 200,000 people with their work since 2011 His goal isn't to be the lead, but the support of leaders, especially women because he feels the need for a balance and the need for more female leaders Michael says he loves surrounding himself around ‘world-changers’ and loves doing anything to be around them and learn from them Boise, Idaho Michael says its surprisingly conscious state Its very community oriented There are 6-7 Buddhist Sanghas, groups of dedicated folks to their practice There is a lot of nature and nature is Dharma, it is the teacher Psychic Ability and Altered States It's very normal for humans to have psychic experiences All of us have access to these states, we just have to tap into them Michael encourages people to accept and cultivate these experiences It may be better to accept these experiences than to deny them There is a difference between energetic flow and psychosis Crazy Wise is a documentary that touches on spiritual emergence issues The Overlap of Psychedelic States and Meditation The Institute of Noetic Sciences had a program called The Future of Meditation Research They found in the research that they were only looking at reducing anxiety and depression, the clinical applications But they found that more than half of the people experienced psychic phenomenon, mystical experiences, terrifying experiences, the things that overlap/correlate with psychedelic experiences Both meditative and psychedelic experiences point to ego dissolution and unity at the same time Ego and anxiety both have wisdom in them, we don't want to lose them completely, but learn how to balance them and use them wisely “We need to be mindful of how we integrate what we learn in the psychedelic/meditative state into our waking life” - Michael “How can meditation and psychedelics lend themselves to being the best version of ourselves while committing to others well being? That is what I am most passionate about.” - Michael David Trellen and Willoughby Britton - Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness “If we are choosing to be more compassionate to our fellow humans and the earth, let’s not tough it out, let's help each other.” - Joe “Let’s do the work that it takes to heal it.” - Michael Be open, be curious. What might meditation be able to bring to personal awakening in order to create collective transformation? Links website About Dr. Michael Sapiro Michael Sapiro, PsyD, is a psychologist, meditation teacher, and former Buddhist monk. He lives and works on the frontier of spirituality, social justice, science, and psychology. He earned his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and holds a Master’s in English Studies. He is a consultant with the Institute of Noetic Sciences and is on faculty at Esalen Institute. Michael is the founder of Maitri House Yoga and was trained for 20 years in both traditional Yoga philosophy and lifestyle, and Buddhist meditation. In his treatment he integrates Western psychological interventions with meditation and awareness practices. He finds the greatest healing comes from living a life of presence, vulnerability, and awareness. At Sage he will fully integrate Yoga philosophy and life-style within the treatment.

Download In this episode Joe interviews, Richie Ogulnick, a long time Ibogaine provider and enthusiast. During the show they discuss Ibogaine and Addiction-Interruption Therapy. 3 Key Points: Ibogaine is a compound found in the Tabernanthe Iboga plant that has been used to treat opioid and other addictions. Ibogaine has shown to have the power to reset the biochemistry of a person to a non-addictive state, and reduce/eliminate the agonizing symptoms of withdrawal, allowing a person to heal from an addiction. The combination of Ibogaine, relocation and integration therapy is the best scenario for healing someone and preventing them from relapse. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Richie In 1989 he was Introduced to Ibogaine while visiting family and friends in New York Its an alkaloid extracted from a West African shrub He was ready to fall in love with doing something with purpose He came across an article about a corporation called NDA created by Howard Lotsof When Howard (a heroine addict) was 19 years old, a chemist gave him a dose of Ibogaine A few days later, he realized he “wasn't afraid” and then he realized he wasn't having opioid withdrawals In “Needle Park”, a park in New York, heroin addicts come there for free needles Richie’s dream was to dose all the addicts with Ibogaine, and that only a quarter of them would show up to Needle Park because they were not addicted anymore He brought 13 grams of Ibogaine back from Africa with him He received a chapter from a book (Healing Journey) called Ibogaine: Fantasy and Reality by Claudio Naranjo People were coming from all over the world to receive Ibogaine treatments It was 15 years where he conducted over 750 psycho-spiritual and addiction-interception sessions underground Upon training people, those people would then go and open their own treatment centers in Mexico, abroad, etc. What is Iboga Tabernanthe Iboga is the plant Ibogaine Hydrochloride is the best product to use to interrupt addiction and symptoms of withdrawal from an addiction Ibogaine is safe as long as someone has had an EKG that has been looked at very closely for any red flags Other than cardiac risk and previous suicidality, schizophrenia, psychotic breaks there aren't many more threats to being treated with Ibogaine The Miracle Compound “There is a miracle compound in ibogaine. There is nothing I have come across on the planet that can reset the biochemistry to a pre-addictive state, that can bring a person to make a choice without the agony of the symptoms of withdrawal.” - Richie There is a 36 hour window where a person has a life review, what brought them to the addictive process in the first place, the person's willingness and maturity It creates a symbiotic relationship for a person to explore themselves with insight Relapse is possible if they don't work on the reason they became addicted in the first place It's the witness component that Ibogaine delivers that helps people process through their addiction Ibogaine as a molecule has a really pharmacologically complex, alien like structure Relapse Justin Hoffman, a DJ in Las Vegas runs Holistic House, a facility where people get to relax and get out of their previous context for a week or two after treatment If a family wanted to help out their family member who is addicted to heroine, Richie says that he asks the family about relocation because it's a big part of reducing relapse He also says that finding a proper therapist to help afterward is huge too The combination of Ibogaine, relocation and integration therapy is the best scenario for healing someone and preventing them from relapse Big Pharma’s Impact Joe says how he got a message from Dana Biel, talking about how the harm reduction movement has been manipulated by the ‘Big Pharma’ industry, especially suboxone Richie says that drugs like suboxone are prescribed to be used everyday for the rest of someone's life, and Ibogaine is a “one-time-only” style drug that doesn't require alot of money to heal people Ibogaine is not profitable so its not attractive to Big Pharma “Ibogaine will never hit the streets like LSD did. It's not a recreational experience, it's a long, daunting 3 stage process.” - Richie Use Cases He knows of a story where these two ladies took Ibogaine daily for their Parkinson's, and as soon as they stopped taking Ibogaine, they got their symptoms back He knows of another lady who had been walking with a cane and upon taking Ibogaine she was walking a mile around her neighborhood without her cane Final Thoughts Joe asks if Richie thinks we are over harvesting Iboga There is the Wakanga tree that contains a small amount of Ibogaine, so he thinks we are okay Ibogaine is an important subject because a lot of people are dying from opiates Ibogaine is available in Portugal but it hasn't had much activity It can be used for therapeutic use as well as addiction-interruption Links website Richie Ogulnick is a long time Ibogaine provider and enthusiast Over the course of fifteen and a half years, he conducted about 750 sessions, including addiction-interruption treatments. He spent the next several years referring close to 1,000 more people to other ibogaine providers. During that time, he also trained doctors and ex-addicts who opened ibogaine centers throughout the world. Richie feels a pull to focus again on the more therapeutic and psycho-spiritual treatments where he is able to offer his expertise in ibogaine treatment along with his knowledge of reintegration with individuals who are looking to deepen and enrich their life experience.

Download In this Episode, Joe interviews Brad Burge, Director of Strategic Communications at MAPS. In this episode they discuss the Phase 3 Trial for MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy, contradictions and Expanded Access. 3 Key Points: MAPS is about to run Phase 3 Trials of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy If MDMA passes this third phase, it will still be tricky to get insurance involved. But the cost of one series of MDMA Therapy is much cheaper than a lifetime of typical pharmaceutical drugs and therapy sessions to heal PTSD. The only reason for-profit companies haven't gotten involved before was because there wasn't a promise on their investment. Finally, for-profit companies (like Compass Pathways) are interested in advancing these medicines (Psilocybin and MDMA). Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes MAPS Brad Burge is the Director of Strategic Communications at MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies MAPS started out as just a few employees in 2009 and has grown to over 40 now Phase 3 Study They are now in Phase 3 Trials They started recruiting at 14 sites (US, Canada and Israel) and are recruiting 150 volunteers with severe PTSD Participation The Future of MDMA Assisted Therapy Breakthrough Therapy Designation The FDA categorized MDMA as a breakthrough drug for PTSD After phase 3 trials, if all goes well, it would mean that MDMA would be the drug to be used (only) alongside Psychotherapy MAPS is training therapists, counselors and social workers One way to get more people educated who are interested in this would be taking therapy interns in and having them gain credits for interning and learning alongside trained therapists Access Expanded Access is known as ‘compassionate use’, a program by the FDA that allows people to receive a treatment that is still in trials In order to administer the therapy you are required to get a DEA schedule 1 license “If there’s one thing that changes public perspective on psychedelic therapy, its individual stories of people who have been healed, transformed by or positively or even negatively affected by them in some way” - Brad They have published many studies of the trials The most recent was the Boulder study, 76% of people didn't have PTSD a year after MDMA assisted therapy Insurance won't cover expanded access, it will have to pass Phase 3 trials until insurance can be used in MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy The MDMA is a very small cost (fraction) of the total cost, it’s the hours on hours of psychotherapy that cost so much But the cost of one MDMA Therapy Session process is much cheaper than a lifetime of pharmaceutical drugs and therapy sessions to heal PTSD Argument Joe says he hears this strange argument that people say “giving soldiers MDMA just makes war easier” Brad says it's not about putting these people back into war, it's about healing the retired veterans to help them adapt back into their everyday life “MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy is going to make them a better lover not a better fighter” - Brad “If there's one commonality in psychedelic experiences, its that things are connected.” - Brad Compass Pathways Joe mentions that people are scared to see a business come in that's acting like a normal pharmaceutical company MAPS is not tied at all with Compass Pathways Out of the top two things Americans are mad about, at least one of them is the Pharmaceutical Industry Finally, for-profit companies are interested in advancing these medicines (MDMA) The only reason for-profit companies haven't gotten involved before was because there wasn't a promise on their investment Capitalism has a tendency to put profit first “Money can be used for good as well as evil” - Brad MAPS has raised over 70 billion dollars all from donations Compass owns its own safety data Part of the goal of a patent is to protect the investment Zendo Project MAPS Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Peer Support resource Tim Ferriss has volunteered for Zendo They are always looking for new volunteers They offer trainings on site at the events They will be hosting a harm reduction webinar right before festival season Rave Act The Department of Justice announced that providing free water and harm reduction education are not violations of the rave act Amend the Rave Act Pharmaceutical MDMA The pharmaceutical grade MDMA costs 800,000 for one kilogram It won't be available in bottles, it will be available in bubble packs More than one is never needed Involvement 2021 or 2022 is the next Psychedelic Science Conference Joe is starting a Psychedelic Club in Breckenridge, CO Links Twitter Facebook Website About Brad Brad Burge is Director of Strategic Communications at the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Brad earned his B.A. in Communication and Psychology from Stanford University in 2005 and his M.A. in Communication from the University of California, San Diego in 2009. He began working with MAPS in 2009, where he engages daily with journalists and media producers around the world to enhance public knowledge about psychedelic research, while also helping develop and evolve MAPS' brand and outreach strategy. Brad is passionate about finding healthier, more effective, and more compassionate ways for humans to work with the pharmaceutical and digital communications technologies of the 21st century. When he’s not plugged in, you’ll find him in the mountains, carrying a backpack, somewhere down a long trail.

Download In this episode, hosts Joe and Kyle sit down and engage in conversation together, covering topics such as Kyle’s capstone project, Trauma and Breath: A Clinical Approach to Trauma Resolution Utilizing Breathwork, current events, upcoming plans and the hurdles as a Psychedelic education and information company in a space of both ethical and unethical findings. 3 Key Points Kyle will be soon finishing his capstone project, Trauma and Breath: A Clinical Approach to Trauma Resolution Utilizing Breathwork. The project is on the clinical application of Breathwork Therapy. The goal will be to use an Integrative Breathwork Therapy model that can be used adjunct to Psychedelic Therapy. Joe and Kyle find out about a lot of things that are potentially harmful in the psychedelic world. They are “journalists”, but without money for legal defense. It’s a difficult time, where a lot of unethical stuff is happening around psychedelics, and Joe and Kyle feel responsible for the safety of the community. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Kyle Kyle’s been doing an internship a few days a week and has been doing undergraduate student counselling He’s been working on his capstone project that has consumed a ton of his time and energy He wants to thank Elizabeth Gibson and Alan Davis who have been reviewing his capstone project for him Breathwork Therapy Capstone Writing the capstone in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program means it needed to have clinical applications Kyle went to the MDMA Training in 2016, and he talked to Michael Mithoefer, who told him that if he wants to get involved, to figure out something that can be an adjunct to psychedelic therapy Kyle thought that he could use an Integrative Breathwork Therapy model that could then be used adjunct to Psychedelic Therapy Styles of Breathing A deep, slow belly breath can be very activating to the parasympathetic nervous system that calms the body down A fast, intense breath can be more active and can bring out traumas The Phases Phase 1: Grounding and Emotional Regulation (slow, deep breath, the therapeutic alliance) They screen for people that have had a traumatic experience, spiritual emergence or psychosis in the last 6 months so they know where to start with a patient They use a capscore (a test that looks at the severity of someone’s PTSD) to determine where to start in therapy Joe mentions that it would be beneficial to see what level of capscore a patient responds positively or negatively to a Breathwork session Phase 2: Using Breathwork in a somatic processing phase Stage 1: Somatic experiencing (helping people breathe into the sensations in the body) The body has a ‘secret language’, of how our body holds onto trauma Turning inward and being more in touch with inner sensations (tightness, heat, etc) Stage 2: A more activating of “blockages” by intensifying or speeding up the breath Phase 3: Outside of the clinical scope, placing someone in a full group, 3 hour Breathwork that might bring up collective traumas or spiritual experiences The goal would be to get people through therapy to get them to the larger group process, create community and form social connections It needs to start with the clinical space, one-on-one to generate trust. Once they have that trust and confidence, they can go out and explore the more transpersonal and spiritual aspect of themselves Bandwidth in Communication We have modems, cable, fiber optics, 3g, 4g, 5g cell networks, etc. Video communication, phone conversation is great, but it's 2D When its in person, depth of field kicks in, you're able to see body language and intonation Living in a tribe of 150 people and creating community, we'd be using our full bandwidth, bringing the human organism back to its full capacity "Therapists get taught clinical practices, but they aren't taught about theory and practice of trauma” - Joe Psychedelic News Responsibility MAPS just published an article about an online Breathwork workshop Joe says its not a bad thing, but there are risks by not having an in person facilitator “We find out about a lot of things that are potentially harmful in the psychedelic world, our relationship to coming out about that stuff is tricky. Yes, we are “journalists”, but without money for legal defense.” - Joe Joe says he feels responsibility for safety in the community Kyle says the psychedelic community sometimes feels like the wild west due to the lack of education. “When unethical stuff arises, what is our responsibility?” - Kyle “We are trying to understand our future, and not put ourselves in a bad place, all while keeping you all safe and continuing to serve the community” - Joe How LSD alters our consciousness Psychedelics Today Books Trip Journal Integration Workbook Both books will be on Amazon for purchase in the next few weeks Arizona Psychedelic Conference Arizona Psychedelic Conference Joe and Kyle will be guiding 2 Breathwork workshops They are excited to connect and meet people Kyle and Joe will be going to another conference in March The title of the conference is “Can Exceptional Experiences Save Humans, from Ecological Crisis” “If were going to survive on earth, we've got to be a little more global. We are all linked to this spaceship that we are traveling through space on, and there are limited resources on this thing. We are answering a lot of these questions through psychedelics” - Joe About Kyle Kyle’s interest in exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness began when he was 16-years-old when he suffered a traumatic snowboarding accident. Waking up after having a near-death experience changed Kyle’s life. Since then, Kyle has earned his B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, where he studied the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness by exploring shamanism, plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the roots/benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy. Kyle has co-taught two college-level courses. One of the courses Kyle created as a capstone project, “Stanislav Grof’s Psychology of Extraordinary Experiences,” and the other one which he co-created, “The History of Psychedelics.” Kyle is currently pursuing his M.S. in clinical mental health counseling with an emphasis in somatic psychology. Kyle’s clinical background in mental health consists of working with at-risk teenagers in crisis and with individuals experiencing an early-episode of psychosis. Kyle also facilitates Transpersonal Breathwork workshops. About Joe Joe studied philosophy in New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A.. After stumbling upon the work of Stanislav Grof during his undergraduate years, Joe began participating in Holotropic Breathwork workshops in Vermont in 2003. Joe helped facilitate Holotropic and Transpersonal Breathwork workshops while he spent his time in New England. He is now working in the software industry as well as hosting a few podcasts. Joe now coordinates Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork workshops, in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Download In this episode, Kyle and Joe host Rebecca Ann Hill and David Jay Brown, Authors of the book, Women of Visionary Art. The book showcases the work and inspiration of female artists such as Josephine Wall, Allison Grey, Amanda Sage, Martina Hoffman, Carolyn Mary Kleefeld and many others. 3 Key Points: Rebecca Ann Hill and David Jay Brown are co-authors of the book, Women of Visionary Art, which includes discussions with 18 female artists. The book and the episode are an exploration of the role that dreaming, psychedelic experiences, and mystical visions play in visionary art. There is a strong need for a balancing of masculine and feminine energies. Females tend to be more nurturing and more cooperative, and it's exactly the factors that are missing in our current world and are causing problems of greed. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About David David’s background is in Psychobiology, the interface between psychology and biology He spent 10-15 years working in neuroscience and research labs His interest in Neuroscience came from his experience as a teenager, experimenting with psychedelics He wrote his first book, The Science of Psychedelics, about 10 years ago David mentions that the psychedelic renaissance has allowed him to write openly about psychedelic topics that he’s been preparing his whole life researching for About Rebecca aka Molly Moon Sparkles She has a huge creative drive She is currently studying psychology and is playing in the art program She is fascinated by entheogens, plant medicines and psychedelic compounds She is a painter and is working on the Molly Moon Magick Series that focuses on the divine feminine She wrote and illustrated the book Ecstatic Love, Lost Dreams and Mystic Visions Psychedelics and Creativity There is strong evidence that psychedelics improve creativity Music, art, technology, so many great things are influenced by psychedelics Putting the Book Together David was so fascinated with the visions he would see on psychedelics and wished that he had the talent to portray it through artwork, and then he began to see artists bring these visions to life He also saw a lot of gender inequality, that there were more men than women in the visionary art space It urged him to highlight the under recognized women in visionary art Rebecca was experimenting with other realms with plant medicines and psychedelic compounds She says her consciousness was so drastically different from any other time in her life, and she started painting her psychedelic experiences This led her to begin building community with other artists who shared the same ‘vision’ as her She said that the psychedelic experience has so much feminine nature to it that wasn't being voiced “We are going through a serious ecological crisis right now and the teachings behind the psychedelic experience is to heal the collective and help climate change” - Rebecca Stanley Krippner conducted a survey of artists and psychedelics The Imbalance of Masculine and Feminine There is an uprising of feminism with the “Me Too” movement, women in congress, women’s marches Our species has been so dominated by men and we need the nurturing and caring aspects of the feminine perspective Surprising Aspects of the Women The most surprising aspect is how much in common the women had David says it was beautiful how well each artist was connected to each other through their stories Laura Holden is completely self taught There were two women from the book that had never touched a psychedelic substance They were inspired through dreams and daydreams The psychedelic experience not only inspires the artwork, but it creates a new way of viewing artwork Kyle mentions that he always wished he could record his dreams Joe says he has been seeing research around capturing visual or imagined imagery Discovering the Artists David discovered most of the artists that he had not previously known through the community Rebecca had been a part of as visionary artists COSM and Entheon August 3rd, Rebecca and David are giving a presentation as COSM in New York Entheon, the Sanctuary for Visual art may be open by them Entheon will have workshops, painting classes, rooms to stay in, full moon ceremonies, etc. It will be an art sanctuary, a church with a spiritual and psychedelic essence Visionary art is getting into museums and becoming a recognized art form The Desperate Need for Balance Terrence McKenna told David that early on in human civilization, men didn't understand the role that sex had in creating babies The power of reproduction was within women and sex was something else Once men began thinking that they were responsible for the generation of life, they starting saying its “my baby” its “my wife” instead of ‘our’ baby or the community’s baby. It kept developing into “my child” into “my country”, “MY”. Then people started using less psychedelics and started consuming more alcohol and now everything is an over exaggerated male dominance “Females tend to be more nurturing and more cooperative, and it's exactly the factors that are missing in our current world and are causing problems of greed. It could be balanced and harmonized with more feminine energy.” - David There is a crucial imbalance from male and female in history alone But more than an imbalance between just males and females, it's about an imbalance of masculine and feminine energies Each of us, male and females have both a masculine and feminine energy We can see the masculine and feminine imbalance in the world and our planet right now. We don't need to shift to a goddess worshiping planet, but we just need to be back in balance and bring more feminine energy of nurturing and compassion and caring and healing Penny (an artist highlighted in the book) mentions about Sandos giving LSD to researchers who gave it to artists Getting Involved “If you want to get involved in painting, dancing, making jewelry, clothing, gardening, don't wait. Do it. If you are true to yourself and your own inner visions, you will succeed” - Rebecca One thing all artists have in common is fear and insecurity, so you can't let it hinder you from beginning Final Thoughts Artists like Android Jones are doing visionary artwork in virtual reality mediums David thinks visionary artwork will become only even more interactive and immersive spaces We need to find a more yin-yang balance between masculine and feminine Links Women of Visionary Art (Amazon) Women of Visionary Art (Inner Traditions) David’s Site Rebecca’s Site MollyMoonSparkle blog About Rebecca Rebecca Ann Hill (AKA Molly Moon Sparkle), is a visual artist with a wide range of experience in different creative mediums. She is the co-author and illustrator of “Ecstatic Love, Lost Dreams & Mystic Visions”, as well as “Women of Visionary Art.” Primarily a painter, she is creating a new series entitled “Molly Moon Magick,” and her other projects include dancing with “Gold Town Burlesque,” writing a blog -“Go Ask Molly”- and working on a new book about her spiritual awakening. About David David Jay Brown is the author of Dreaming Wide Awake: Lucid Dreaming, Shamanic Healing and Psychedelics, and The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality. He is also the coauthor of five other bestselling volumes of interviews with leading-edge thinkers, Mavericks of the Mind, Voices from the Edge, Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse, Mavericks of Medicine, Frontiers of Psychedelic Consciousness, and of Women of Visionary Art. Additionally, Brown is the author of two science fiction novels,Brainchild and Virus, and he is the coauthor of the health science book Detox with Oral Chelation. Brown holds a master’s degree in psychobiology from New York University, and was responsible for the California-based research in two of British biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s books on unexplained phenomena in science: Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and The Sense of Being Stared At. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Wired, Discover, and Scientific American, and he was the Senior Editor of the special edition, themed MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) Bulletins from 2007 to 2012. In 2011, 2012, and 2013 Brown was voted “Best Writer” in the annual Good Times and Santa Cruz Weekly’s “Best of Santa Cruz” polls, and his news stories have been picked up by The Huffington Post and CBS News.

Download In this episode, hosts Kyle and Joe interview Balázs Szigeti, PhD and David Erritzoe, PhD to discuss the self-blinded microdosing study in collaboration with the Imperial College London. In this episode, they explore the self-blinding study and it’s pros and limitations, with the aim to collect data on microdosing and its possible benefits. 3 Key Points: Microdosing (LSD) has the least amount of research so far among research on drugs like Psilocybin, MDMA and Ketamine. This microdosing study includes a procedure on how self experimenters can implement placebo control. This will help determine whether microdosers feel benefits due to the placebo effect or because of the pharmacological action of the microdose. Just because microdosing may have a placebo effect (the way a user feels while taking it) it may actually have benefits that one cannot necessarily ‘feel’ (users may become more creative, have better problem solving skills, etc). Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Balázs Balazs attended his undergrad in the UK at Imperial College and studied Theoretical Physics He moved to Scotland to get his PhD in Computational Neuroscience He became interested in psychedelics via the Global Drug Survey He was doing MDMA research and then the microdosing project came to him About David He is a medical doctor and works in clinical psychology doing research He does brain imaging and his background has been in addiction, depression and schizophrenia He did his postdoc at Imperial and worked with Robert Carhart Harris He worked in a clinical trial working with people of treatment resistant depression He is currently working on an online survey for microdosing Psychedelic Medicine MDMA for PTSD is the most advanced in terms of available scientific evidence for psychedelic medicine There is already a big gap in psilocybin vs MDMA for treatment There isn't much research on microdosing yet In order to do research on microdosing, you'd have to bring in a ‘patient’ and have them in the lab for many hours at a time, very frequently, and it's not practical The Microdosing Study In this microdosing study, they are testing cognitive function The user will have to fill out a questionnaire throughout the duration of the microdose There were a lot of things, very political for the downfall of psychedelic science When the double-blind method was introduced for science, it used methods that would have compromised the ‘setting’ of taking psychedelics There is a manual that the users have to follow for the setup process Its a semi-randomized process where they take the microdose over 4 weeks and it may be either the psychedelic or a placebo It works on a method of a dose hidden in a capsule assigned to a QR code, where the user doesn't know what they take until the end of the study This is a study inviting people that plan to microdose a blotter based psychedelic Its a hands-off study of observation, based on a users own plan on taking the substance Limitations of the Study Its half-way between a clinical study and an observational study They aren't sending the users the LSD, they are just providing the platform for the users to share their experience on In this trial, the flaw is that the research team doesn't know the dose size of the blotter the user takes, it could start as a 100mg, more, less. Its a variable that cannot be controlled The fix would be to have the LSD sent to the lab, tested for dose size, and then sent back to the user (anonymously), but since it's illegal it cannot be done It's also hard to determine even distribution of a blotter into microdose size They don't know if the user is cutting the blotter paper like a pie or in squares Also, because the drug is being bought on the black market, they wont know if there are adulterants in the drug unless the user tests the drug themselves David and Balázs also say that based on current findings, most LSD tested is pure LSD, where a drug like MDMA is more common to contain an adulterant They do have plans to extend the study to include plant based psychedelics and volumetric dosing What is a Psychedelic Microdose? Psychedelic microdosing is not the same as Pharmacological microdosing A microdose in pharmacological context is 1/100th of a dose, where a psychedelic microdose is more like 1/10th of a dose Is Microdosing Worth it? People like David Nichols and Ben Sessa think microdosing is pointless It could be that microdosing is a glorified placebo effect Most people who are microdosing have had previous experience with psychedelics People are doing it because they believe there is a benefit that comes from it The placebo control is the most important component of this self-blinded method People say that microdosing stimulates their creativity, but creativity is hard to measure One thing they could measure is personality through a personality assessment One thing that has been studied is an increase in the ‘Openness’ personality trait after psychedelic use The flaw is that a personality test is a person answering questions about themselves Current Findings The benefit of this study, is it doesn't take people out of their natural, personal setting Based on the feedback already received, the users are getting their guess right only half of the time, on whether it is the microdose or the placebo Just because microdosing may have a placebo effect (the way they feel while taking it) it may actually have benefits (users may be more creative, have better problem solving skills, etc). Homeopathy is widely believed to be a placebo effect in the scientific community, but the homeopathy is continuing to grow Links Self-blinding Microdose Study About Balázs Szigeti, PhD Dr. Balazs Szigeti has studied theoretical physics at Imperial College, but turned towards neuroscience for his PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh. His main work is about the behavioural neuroscience of invertebrates, but he has a diverse scientific portfolio that includes computational neuroscience and driving forward the OpenWorm open science initiative. Balazs is also the editor of the Dose of Science blog that is published in collaboration with the Drugreporter website. Dose of Science discusses and critically assesses scientific studies about recreational drugs. Recently Balazs has started a collaboration with the Global Drug Survey to quantitatively compare the dose of recreational users of various drugs with the scientific literature. About David Erritzoe, PhD Dr. David Erritzoe is qualified as a medical doctor from Copenhagen University Medical School and currently holds an Academic Clinical Lectureship in Psychiatry at Imperial College London. Alongside his clinical training in medicine/psychiatry, David has been involved in psychopharmacological research, using brain-imaging techniques such as PET and MRI. He has conducted post-doc imaging research in the neurobiology of addictions and major depression. Together with Prof Nutt and Dr Carhart-Harris he is also investigating the neurobiology and therapeutic potential of MDMA and classic psychedelics.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Nathan Sepeda, a Research Coordinator at Johns Hopkins. Joe and Nathan cover topics on 5-MEO-DMT research and survey studies, the difference between synthetic and toad sourced 5-MEO-DMT, the sustainability of the Bufo Alvarius toad, and the benefits of a proper facilitator. 3 Key Points: 5-MEO-DMT is starting to gain traction in the research world. The conversation continues on whether the synthetic 5-MEO-DMT experience is any different from a 5-MEO-DMT experience sourced from the toad venom. As the popularity of 5-MEO-DMT increases, concerns about the wellbeing and sustainability of the Bufo Alvarius toad also increases. Proper facilitation has been shown to affect a person’s experience on a substance like 5-MEO-DMT. The use of a practitioner, finding the substance from a reputable source, and integration all play a critical role in the user's experience. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes 5-MEO-DMT Joe found out about Nathan Sepeda and the work being done on 5-MEO-DMT after Johns Hopkins released a poster on 5-MEO-DMT Alan Davis put together a survey about people’s 5-MEO-DMT experiences Half of the use was recreational, and then the other half of survey participants used more of a therapeutic approach set and setting including a sitter and integration The study found that the more structured the 5-MEO-DMT experience was around set and setting, the more often participants reported a more mystical experience as well as a lower likelihood of having a difficult experience The survey only looked at synthetic 5-MEO-DMT Using 5-MEO-DMT from a toad also runs the risk of the other toad venom constituents Joe said the first time he heard about data on 5-MEO-DMT was at the Oakland Psychedelic Science Conference in 2017 Stan Grof had a keynote saying that 5-MEO-DMT was the future of psychiatry Toad Conservation The Bufo Alvarius toad’s population is increasingly declining Joe says he knows someone who lives on the Mexican border in the Sonoran desert, and he would have toads jump into his house all the time He doesn't even see them anymore Joe also mentions the toads flocking to the UV street lights, and people scooping them up or even running them over “How do we do less harm to living things and treat our environment better?” - Joe Nathan’s Role at Hopkins Nathan is the Research Coordinator of Psychedelic Studies at Johns Hopkins He works as an Assistant Facilitator (sitter) for the psychoactive drug sessions He is involved in Psilocybin studies (currently the depression study) He says he is grateful to be a part of the research, seeing people change in a matter of days from the help of the substances Nathan has a background in Psychology and Neuroscience Mary Cosimano is the primary facilitator for all of the studies at Johns Hopkins His training consisted of mock sessions, ways to ask/answer questions, and overall hold the space A lot of people will describe their experience being the most spiritual experience of their life Joe asks about upset stomach with synthetic 5-MEO-DMT Nathan responds saying they ask patients to eat a light breakfast, but he never really sees upset stomach with synthetic 5-MEO Proper Facilitation The use of a practitioner and finding the substance from a reputable source are the two biggest factors in having a great experience, along with integration Nathan says that these findings are preliminary but they are a great start to data on the substance and its use Joe says he is cautious about the religious affiliation people prescribe to their experience with these substances It can get out of hand, there are “shamans” that taze people or throw buckets of cold water on their patients when they are on the substance Waterboarding, sexual assault, all of these things speak to the value of screening practitioners Joe has heard about a facilitator using an extremely high amount of 5-MEO-DMT on his patients, far above the effective dose Joe mentions a story about a “shaman” who was to facilitate a session. The participant thought they were going to do standard DMT, and the shaman gave them 5-MEO-DMT instead (without the users consent) Joe suggests that just because you know a reputable source for a substance, doesn't mean they are a good facilitator Final Thoughts People can find information on the study at clinicaltrials.gov People can apply by contacting Nathan’s team directly They will have room for healthy volunteers in healthy volunteer studies in the future They are currently working on “insight surveys” that are surveys asking people about their psychedelic experiences Links Hopkins Psychedelic Research Website About Nathan Sepeda Nathan Sepeda is an assistant facilitator (or guide) for psychoactive drug sessions and research coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit. Nathan earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota studying psychology and neuroscience. His interests in addiction and mood disorders, in combination with the promising research with psychedelics, have led Nathan to Dr. Roland Griffiths’ lab. Nathan is involved in a number of projects investigating the effects of various psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, salvinorin-A, and 5-MeO-DMT.

Download In this episode, Kyle interviews Dr. Jenifer Talley, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Director at the Center for Optimal Living that does harm reduction in psychotherapy. Topics include the current stigma of substance use and the benefits of using a harm reduction approach. 3 Key Points: Dr. Jenifer Talley is a Clinical Psychologist at the Center for Optimal Living who practices harm reduction with her psychotherapy clients. Substance abuse is typically a symptom of a bigger issue. Jenifer uses a model called the 7 Therapeutic Tasks that helps build a safe relationship with her clients in adjusting their substance abuse mindset. There is a stigma on substance use, and shifting away from the current model into a harm reduction framework could help users be more receptive to change and healing. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Dr. Jenifer Talley Jenifer grew up outside of DC and moved up to New York area for her internship and was working with female survivors of trauma and substance use at St. Luke's Hospital. Dr. Tatarsky has founded the Center for Optimal Living and she is the Assistant Director The Center for Optimal Living is known best for their work with substance use and harm reduction Substance Abuse Jenifer says that 'abstinence only' or 'abstinence first' approach doesn't really work It's all about determining the relationship the patients want to have with a substance People really struggle with vulnerability and trauma is a player as to why someone wants to use a substance “Substance use is a symptom of a bigger issue” - Jenifer It's unfair to ask someone to change without asking the whole system to change 7 Therapeutic Tasks The Therapeutic Alliance - Letting the client know they can trust them The Therapeutic Relationship Heals - Jenifer says they are sensitive about creating a safe therapeutic relationship with clients Enhancing Self Management Skills - How to better help with coping skills, shifting how people relate to cravings “What’s driving my urge to go for a drink right now?” Loneliness, boredom and sadness are reasons for craving Assessment as Treatment - What was the craving, how did they respond to that craving, how did they give into the craving, how did they feel afterward When Friday night rolls around, can the client picture the guilt and shame of Monday morning in that moment? Embracing Ambivalence - The client might have different parts of themselves, one part of them may want to really work on healing and change, and the other part of them might never want to change Goal Setting - helping clients think through bigger lifestyle changes they want to make, such as diet, self care activities, and specific substance use related goals Personalized Plan for Change - asking people to really evaluate their use Substance Use Stigma How do we not be judgmental about someone's substance use, and care about their safety? Jenifer says she feels very protective about people she works with, and is very sensitive to her clients because of the shame about their drug use Clients Under the Influence Jenifer asks herself “does this person need medical attention right now?” She had a client that came in intoxicated but they were able to have a conversation still But she didn't let him go home because the fact that he drank She gave him food and water and waited until he was able to get home safely She thought about it from a compassionate approach and thought “what is that telling us about his use?” and the next time the client came in they said their drinking was hardly manageable Harm Reduction Model There is a gap in training as clinicians as providers In the US specifically, the 12 step process and abstinence are used which are a part of the disease model There is a lot of stigma and shame in calling someone an addict The fear about the harm reduction model is that it is thought to lead to decriminalization The other issue is that the harm reduction model is thought to not include abstinence Jenifer says it does include abstinence, she just doesn't lead with the abstinence approach Kyle mentions that a common thought for clinicians is “How do I incorporate a hard reduction approach without condoning drug use?” Jenifer says the drug use is happening already The first step is noticing your own biases first, and then getting informed about the model Andrew Tatarsky’s Book Patt Denning and Jeannie Little - Over the Influence Shifting to the Harm Reduction Model Help clients build a life that they are happy with 3 day training coming up The training goes into the history and why there needs to be a paradigm shift in looking at addiction The second and third days really go into the 7 Therapeutic Tasks Because there is more funding, they are going to train the region of Florida to train the staff at the Department of Health The idea of harm reduction might be less appealing to parents, so they really focus on educating parents and teens on harm reduction versus strict abstinence Safety First  Robert Meyers Kyle mentions a statistic he read saying that the older generation’s vice is alcohol, and that young adults are using opioids and pills Psychedelic Education and Continuing Care Program is psychedelic harm reduction Final Thoughts A harm reduction approach is necessary to teach people how to test, it could possibly save lives Families for Sensible Drug Policy We need to re-humanize treatment for users Links JeniferTalley Center for Optimal Living Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Dr. Jenifer Talley As the Assistant Director of The Center for Optimal Living, Jenifer coordinates clinical services and training activities along with providing individual psychotherapy.Together with Dr. Andrew Tatarsky, she started the first-ever Harm Reduction Psychotherapy Certificate Program. In her clinical work at The Center for Optimal Living, she provides individual psychotherapy using an integrative harm reduction framework where the focus is on developing a collaborative and compassionate relationship with my clients to promote positive change.

Download In this episode, Joe and Kyle sit down with Renn Butler, who graduated from the second ever class of Holotropic Breathwork in 1989. During the show, they discuss topics on Breathwork, Stan Grof practices, archetypal astrology and the astrological landscape we are entering in 2019. 3 Key Points: Renn Butler is an Archetypal and Holotropic Astrologer since the 70’s who uses astrology in his Breathwork practice. Stan Grof’s Internalized Protocol includes lying down with eye shades and headphones with a sober sitter. A sober sitter is more common in therapeutic settings versus the shamanistic group settings, and Renn believes there is more benefit to a sober sitter in a personal session than a group session. We are moving into a Jupiter square Neptune for all of 2019. Neptune represents our soul’s yearning to reawaken to the universal field of consciousness and Jupiter amplifies whatever it touches, so we are entering into a time of opportunity for self exploration and awakening. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Renn Renn became interested in Stan Grof’s work through many conversations with Richard Tarnas in 1980, and then participated in a Grof month long session with guests like Gwen Frishkoff He spent much time in Esalon He remembers walking through the hallways where the mandalas from breathwork sessions were hung He has been an Archetypal/Holotropic Astrologer since the 70’s Archetypal Astrology Stan Grof looked at ways to determine the content of people’s experiences in assisted psychotherapy Through his friendship with Richard Tarnas, he found that people’s planetary alignments or ‘transits’ corresponded in a remarkable way with their experience in a session “The purpose of astrology is to predict the meaning behind events rather than trying to determine the specific concrete forms they take.” - Renn Carl Jung coined the term archetype based on the Greek word “arche”, which means ‘the forms’ It's the psychological meaning behind events Richard learned astrology by looking at his sessions and the content of the sessions and their correlation with astrological transits Based on his findings, he was able to predict the best days to do sessions A Powerful Breathwork Session Renn had Kundalini Experiences happening for 4 years Transiting Pluto was conjoining his natal Neptune Pluto compels into being whatever archetypes it aligns with Neptune represents divine consciousness He did a 5 hour breathwork session that caused him to re-live aspects of toxic womb (disturbances of intrauterine life) Pluto can help clear out disturbances of the psyche At the end of the session, he felt way more cleared out than he did before It resolved his Kundalini episode that he was in for the last few years Kundalini Awakenings Some describe it as energy moving up the spine or chakra It means to clear out leftover traumatic baggage in the psyche People can have emotional outbursts and start crying or screaming as they discharge the energy Afterward, they will care what happens to the ecosystem and around them and want to be a part of the solution Spiritual Emergence and Psychosis Joe asks when to tell the difference between knowing if someone is going through a Spiritual Emergence or needs hospitalization Renn responds saying you need to look for if the person is taking responsibility for their healing versus projecting. Projecting would be someone saying “You guys are trying to poison me” versus taking responsibility and saying “I’m feeling toxic feelings inside myself” Free Webinar on Spiritual Emergence and Psychosis  Renn mentions a woman who did 90 LSD sessions with Stan Grof “The greatest therapeutic outcomes exist with intelligent well established individuals whose lives become boring and rigid in routine” - Stan Grof Current Astrological Alignments The Astrological Alignments for the next few years are supercharged Uranus square Pluto - a powerful set of archetypes The last time this happened was the end of the 60’s Richard Tarnas calls it the ‘sunset effect’, colors will saturate the sky in the archetypal realm Many people are going to have dramatic healing breakthroughs and openings until 2020 For those who are a bit skeptical about astrology, Renn suggest reading newer texts; Cosmos and Psyche Prometheus the Awakener Making the Gods Work for You Horoscope Symbols Planets in Transit Astrological Transits in Relation to Breathwork Richard’s correlation of the outer planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto with Grof’s 4 perinatal matrices shows the process of revolutionizing astrology Carl Jung would do chart work before seeing all of his patients He would try to find transits with Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, etc There are no astrological alignments that would be too dangerous to do journey-work during But Renn says it's like putting up the lightning rod during certain transits during breathwork “Lie back and let the mother give birth to you” - Renn Renn says it's safer if you are on your back during journey work versus walking around and facing gravity and falling or hurting yourself Grof Internalized Protocol One patient at a time (sitter, breather team) to lie down, wear eye shades, and listen to music through headphones The sitter agrees not to judge or direct the process or abandon the process You can expect miracles with this type of protocol You can't face this material by yourself, you really need people you trust, who are sober and not doing a substance, one person at a time Renn says the ayahuasca revolution has brought a lot of greatness to the western world, but the shamanic traditions usually meant that the shaman drinks with the clients to have a magical insight into the users psyche Sitter Role In a therapeutic framework, the sitter is sober and lets the client do all of the work, and the sitter is there to assist, but not to interfere with the process Stan describes it as a way to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks Renn brings up an example of 3 people doing mushrooms together One person might be feeling aggressive, and another person might feel like a baby wanting to be held The aggressive person won't want to be doing any cuddling One person does the catalyst, and the other 2 support them, and then the next time they rotate Renn thinks one deep session is more beneficial than 3 ‘half-assed’ sessions Interruptions During Sessions Some people have a fear that their experience may interrupt another person's experience Renn says that if someone is laughing or screaming or crying that he understands it is just a part of the universe of the way things just are He is shocked to hear stories about people having a loud experience getting taken out away from the rest of the group and told to contain themselves Kyle mentions that sounds usually aren't a bother, and the loud music helps But it's talking, English words that bring people out of a session People can have great ayahuasca ceremonies, and then they think that ayahuasca is the best psychedelic out there Renn says that all psychedelics are great tools But he encourages people to try breathwork and this solo session style healing Joe says he dreams of a place where shamanism takes a look at the solo process and maybe not always the group process, that all cultures can combine our knowledge for the best result 2019 We are moving into a Jupiter square Neptune for all of 2019, 90 degrees between Jupiter and Neptune Neptune represents our soul’s yearning to reawaken to the larger world’s soul, to the universal field of consciousness Jupiter amplifies whatever it touches This presents a large opportunity for self exploration, with a feeling of deeper cosmic safety “It seems like our psyche’s wait until things are safe for the deepest material to surface.” - Renn Renn says it's good to focus on death so that we can constantly keep our priorities straight Links A Week of Holotropic Breathwork, Dreamwork, Archetypal Astrology, and Visits to Mayan Ruins in Tulum, Mexico Archetypal Astrology Consultations Renn's Books The Archetypal Universe Pathways to Wholeness Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Renn Following a B.A. in English and Religious Studies from the University of Alberta, Renn Butler lived at the Esalen Institute in California for 2½ years where he became deeply immersed in the transpersonal psychology of Stanislav Grof and the emerging archetypal astrology of Richard Tarnas. He completed training as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator with Stan and Christina Grof in 1989 and has facilitated many workshops in Victoria, Canada. His research includes over three decades of archetypal-astrology consultations and Holotropic Breathwork workshops, and thirty-five years of Jungian-Grofian dreamwork.

Download In this unique episode, Joe brings Tom Hatsis and Dr. Jerry Brown together for a psychedelic debate. They go back in forth in conversation on whether there was psychedelic use in medieval or ancient Christianity and if so, was there a secret tradition of including art of mushrooms or psychedelic substances in cathedrals and castles. 3 Key Points: Jerry Brown makes the claim that there is evidence of visionary plants in Christianity and the life of Jesus found in medieval art and biblical scripture. Tom Hatsis makes the claim that Christianity is not hiding a giant secret inside the biblical texts about the true hallucinogen at the root of the religion being an Amanita Muscaria. Jerry and Tom debate back and forth, pulling from art and textual evidence (and lack thereof) to support or deny the claim that Psychedelic Mushrooms are the root of Christian religion. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Jerry B. Brown PhD. Anthropologist, Author and Activist Served as the Prof of Anthropology at FIU in Miami He designed and taught a course on hallucinogens and culture He is the Co-Author of Sacred Plants and the Gnostic Church: Speculations on Entheogen use in Early Christian Ritual The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity Tom Hatsis Author, Public Speaker, Roller Derby Player and Potion Maker He is the Author of three books in Psychedelia; The Witches Ointment: the Secret History of Psychedelic Magic Psychedelic Mystery Traditions; Spirit Plants, Magical Practices and Psychedelic States Microdosing Magic: A Psychedelic Spellbook Partnered with event organizer and short film maker, Eden Woodruff, who runs Psanctum Psychedelia in Portland in the process of winning the Guinness Book of World Record in Magic Intro The debate is around the early Christian use of psychedelics and mushrooms in Christian art The conversation is on the validity on whether or not psychedelics were used in early Christianity Dr. Jerry Brown on Psychedelics in Christianity The Miracle of Marsh Chapel - a double-blind experiment conducted by Walter Pahnky in 1962 where 20 students were divided into two groups, half received niacin and the other half received psilocybin 9 out of 10 who took psilocybin had a profound psychedelic experience Brown explains that this is an important part in the entire history of psychedelics After discovering the Amanita Muscaria mushroom (confirmed by Paul Stamets) in a 15th Century Church in Scotland, he realized that there were many entheogenic images in Christian art He says that most church historians do not have training in mycology to recognize entheogens and mushrooms He brings up an image of Adam and Eve standing next to a large Amanita Muscaria mushroom He went to a Parish Church and saw an image of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a Donkey, and one of the youths welcoming Jesus is holding a long mushroom cap He went to churches in England, Germany and France In the drawing of Genesis, he saw God creating plants (psilocybin mushrooms) "When you go back beyond the 3rd century, there are no visual images or Christian art due to poverty and persecution" - Jerry Jerry reads a passage, “Jesus said to his disciples, “compare me to someone and tell me who I am like” Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.” Jesus said “I am not your master, because you have drunk you have become intoxicated from the bubbling wellspring that I have personally measured out. He who will drink from my mouth will become like me, I shall become like he, and the things that are hidden, should be revealed to him.” He interprets the passage as a reference to drinking a psychoactive mushroom substance Jerry goes on to explain that Jesus realized his feeling of eternal life through the use of psychoactive entheogens He says that this is not a means of dismissing Christianity, but instead to reintroduce Christianity with its original roots Tom Hatsis on Psychedelics in Christianity Tom says that Jerry makes a lot of assertions, but does not present any evidence. He talks about art, but not anything in scripture Tom is curious why the only artwork that Jerry brings his assertions about mushrooms are from a time where we can’t ask them about it Tom brings up Julie and Jerry’s book and that the first chapter has nothing to do with Christian History at all Tom uses an example of stone mushrooms. Someone doing a cross cultural analysis, might agree that they are mushrooms based on the other findings of cannabis and opioids But, as a historian, Tom looks for evidence and in this case, there are eye witness accounts of its use He brings up the example, the infamous plaincourault fresco of Adam and Eve at the tree of good and evil with the forbidden fruit Using this one example, he wants to prove how critical historical methodology is used to prove unsubstantiated claims on Christian art as wrong Tom urges listeners to view the unaltered versions of the plaincourault fresco at Georgio Samorini’s Flikr page  The paradise tree is a mix of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and a symbol of Christ's victory over Adam’s transgression. In the play, it was tradition to place small Eucharist wafers on the tree branches so that’s what the white dots are on the tree branches The tree's shape is not a mushroom cap, it is a parasol of victory Jerry’s Rebuttle Jerry says that the absence of evidence, is not equal, or proof of evidence of absence (just because it’s not written in text, doesn't mean that its not there in the art) Jerry’s issue with the fresco is that “The Fall” is a New Testament creation, not all the way back in Genesis He says that on their website, they do not ‘alter’ the image, they ‘enhance’ it He says that Tom claims the fruit doesn't matter, but the fruit does matter (it could be a psychedelic mushroom) He touches on the skeletal appearance of Eve and the meaning of renewal of life Jerry thinks this image is the beginning of the religious experience and symbolism that the soul is immortal and will continue to exist after death He says the serpent is not a depiction of evil entering Eden, but instead a source of knowledge and a spiritual guide to the feminine to help bring man into higher awareness Tom’s Rebuttle Tom says he didn't hear any evidence from Jerry, he heard arguments to authority He says that Jerry uses anthropology to uncover history, and opinions of art historians, but medieval historians agree that the mushroom is not present in Christian art He also says he did agree with Jerry about the mushroom in art, but that was last year and he has proven himself wrong and that the mushroom caps are parasols of victory Jerry says that Amanita Muscaria was in the Soma, but Tom says cannabis was, and mushrooms were not Chris Bennett's book on Soma There is zero evidence for mushroom art during medieval times In Jerry’s book, he writes about the Basilica di Aquilea, saying that they are Amanita Muscaria, but Tom says they are not that type of mushroom           Tom also says that in the play depicted in the plaincourault, that the script literally says the wafers are hung on the tree, and that the little white dots are not the dots from an Amanita Muscaria Jerry’s Closing Remarks He says that this isn't just cultural analysis, this is about fieldwork and looking at how native people view this artwork The problem he has with Tom and Church historians is that it is not taking evidence from Ethnobotanists Jerry says he believes that there is a long tradition of entheogenic mushrooms in Christian art and would like this debate to continue Tom’s Closing Remarks Tom says he still isn't hearing evidence, he is only hearing assertions and argument to authority and eminent scholars Tom says that Genesis doesn't matter in the plaincourault, because we know that it's about the play He has multiple articles debunking these images on his website Carl Sagan’s Bologna Detection Kit - which shows how to spot fake conspiracies Tom says the holy mushroom hypothesis fails against all the claims Jerry has made Links Tom's Website Jerry's Website Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Jerry Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an anthropologist, author and activist. From 1972-2014, he served as Founding Professor of Anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where he designed and taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.” The course examines the use of psychoactive plants by tribal and classical cultures, including Ancient India and Greece, and by and discusses the discoveries of the modern mind-explorers, the “psychonauts of the twentieth century.” About Tom Thomas Hatsis is an author, lecturer, and historian of witchcraft, magic, Western religions, contemporary psychedelia, entheogens, and medieval pharmacopeia. In his spare time he visits rare archives, slings elixirs, and coaches roller derby.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Duncan Autrey, a conflict transformation catalyst and educator. He runs a podcast, Fractal Friends, that covers topics of self-similarity across our diversity. During their conversation, Joe and Duncan discuss ways of resolving conflict in our relationships and society. 3 Key Points: Duncan Autrey is a conflict transformation educator, working for peace and cultural change. Conflict happens when one person wants to be heard so much that they stop listening to the other side. It is a product of living in a diverse world. We have more rights than we think we do when facing law enforcement. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes What is Conflict? Conflict is a product of living in a diverse world Conflict resolution is about how to get different perspectives working together Conflict happens when someone is really passionate about their side of the topic Conflict also happens when one person wants to be heard so much that they stop listening to the other side The ARC of conversation A stands for acknowledge R stands for reflect back C stands for be curious Resolving Conflict Its okay to be certain about your own experiences, but someone might also be certain about their experiences and the key is to find a mutual ground "How do we understand ecological issues better and work with each other to find how to create better conversation around it?" - Joe In a conversation of conflict, the other side may be the antidote to your extreme Interdependent Polarity - each side has something positive and negative, and each side should acknowledge the negative but aim to pull out the positive of the other side Iceers “It's better to find a way to navigate the question, rather than to answer the question” - Duncan In a hierarchy of permanence, laws are really low. Laws come and go 3 ways we resolve conflict over time; power, violence and laws But the interest based model includes everyone and all sides and works through conflict to live in and share the same planet with each other Impressive Resilience in Humans “Shifts happen” People that Duncan works with start thinking to themselves “I'm a good guy facing a bad guy” and the person on the other side of conflict also thinks “I'm a good guy facing a bad guy” Helping guide the people in conflict to just listen to the other person fully is what starts the shift Law Enforcement and Conflict It's important to recognize the difference between the system and the individuals Our whole system of television, movies, everything is all feeding into this There are sociopaths in the world (5% of the population), and they are falling into roles like prison guards and CEO’s Duncan brings up a story where he was in a car with someone who got pulled over, and the car got completely searched He had vitamins on him, and the police assumed it was MDMA, so he was arrested and spent 4 days in jail “This is a place where the people who are on the right side of the law, are being treated like assholes, and where people on the bad side of the law, are on their best behavior” - Duncan This is a systemic issue, where the society says that you are a good person for doing something good, and are a bad person for doing something bad But we shouldn't be defined by what we are ‘caught’ doing, either good or bad People should be able to hold onto their humanity (not be locked up for life) for something like possession of a drug “If we're going to care about our shared humanity and our right for everyone to be here, we have to figure out the path of restoration” - Duncan “Slavery isn't okay, unless someone gets convicted of a crime” Victoria’s Secret has people in prison slavery making lingerie in South Carolina People have to pay off debt from their incarceration, before they get a license, to get a job, that they have to apply to as a criminal Society doesn't make it easy to be human after prison People in grad school with the same amount of debt, have an education, (usually) a job, and have hope for the future Rights When Getting Pulled Over Right to remain silent is real Right to consent for search - you don't have to say yes Law enforcement tries to use the fact that you think you're guilty and will let the search happen You can't be detained without probable cause (4th Amendment) You can be detained long enough for a traffic citation, but not enough to be caught for another crime Smoke smell in the car is probable cause, even in s state where it is legal Joe mentions dash cams so that there can be recordings on both ends, not just one end (the police’s evidence) Duncan had the thought that maybe once they realize that his vitamins were not MDMA, that they might try to switch out the vitamins with MDMA His attorney said they aren't that corrupt, or smart Links Website Podcast Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Duncan Duncan Autrey has worked in facilitation and conflict resolution for over fifteen years in diverse contexts ranging from rural Paraguay and Colombia to cities of Seattle, Washington, DC, Cuenca and Buenos Aires. He approaches conflict from a belief that it arises from the diverse cultural experiences of common human needs. Every conflict or complicated situation, large or small, is an opportunity for deepening our relationships and improving the world we live in. Duncan currently runs a podcast called Fractal Friends covering topics on exploring our self-similarity across our diversity.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Steve Hupp, the Host of Kentucky Ayahuasca, a new series on Viceland. Topics include Steve’s background and how he wants to impact the American Ayahuasca scene through his work. 3 Key Points: Kentucky Ayahuasca is a docu-series on Viceland about Shaman, Steve Hupp as he works with people seeking healing from severe emotional and physical issues. Steve comes from an unusual background of career criminal and bank robber, and because of his time in prison with a Peruvian Shaman, has decided to bring the tradition to the United States. Steve is careful not to mock what shamanism is by creating ceremony in the States. He wants facilitation to be done as safely as possible and is simply trying to help people through Ayahuasca ceremony. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Steve He was a career criminal who robbed banks It landed him in prison and put him into the same cell of a Peruvian shaman who had overstayed his visa and was probably doing some facilitating in the States His name was Guadalupe and Steve called him Loopy because of the things he was talking about But here and there Guadalupe would say something that would resonate with Steve days and weeks later that just made sense Prison He spent 4 years in prison He got into the federal system because he had beaten the state system so the federal system picked up the case Steve pleaded guilty and made a deal with them to give them their money back He also agreed not to sue the police for opening fire on him He was one of the first bank robbers released on a bond Religion and Spirituality Up to that point he was an Atheist He decided that something else was keeping him alive for something because of what he survived during the police chase Steve says he's seen how religious law worked by seeing gangs turn into congregations He says he is no longer an Atheist after having experience with Ayahuasca He had an epiphany that “anything is possible” and he decided he wanted to bring this to everyone He started to have coincidences that led him to facilitation Shamanism Steve isn't trying to defraud what Shamanism is, but he is trying to tailor it to the American way of life He says the Shaman in the jungle has a different context than an American does Joe mentions that people get upset about how the word ‘shaman’ is used Steve says ‘shaman’ comes from the Siberian word, ‘saman’, which means “to know” but has been branded by anthropologists He also says shamanism is the oldest world religion Joe brings up that so many people suggest doing Ayahuasca in the Amazon because that's where the spirit of the plant is, but he also mentions that the same type of biodiversity exists in Kentucky too Purpose Steve says they face reverse-racism because they can't work with native tribes because they are white, but he’s just looking to bring everyone together “If we don’t start helping our little blue sphere heal, it's all we've got” - Steve He said he had more fear transitioning into Ayahuasca facilitation than any bank he’s robbed because he had to put his name on it His intent is not to build a cult, he believes we are at the dawn of a new world and we are all in this together Helping Addiction with Ayahuasca Steve says he believes there are no addicts, just unbalanced humans Joe says he read recently that the term “addict” keeps people in their problems When he helps people who are addicted to drugs, and they drink Ayahuasca, they realize the drug is not the problem, but the guilt and the shame about using the drug is the problem Plant Teacher Steve believes we are intergalactic children We could use our technology and knowledge to better us rather than being so distracted by the ‘lines in the sand’ He says we could feed everyone on the planet with land the size of Texas What Ayahuasca is trying to teach us is to be kind to each other and we have that choice everyday We need to get past this barbaric attitude of domination “I know I've got grandchildren that I may never see, but I've got to try to leave them a world better than the one I've found” - Steve If we were to teach our kids to teach our grandkids something, we wouldn't be handing them millions of dollars in national debt Its a non-violent change “What if we collectively manifested accountability in our government?” - Steve Law Enforcement Steve believes law enforcement shouldn't be able to have more power than soldiers at war Soldiers in Iraq can't fire unless they have been fired upon Shaman University No one has ever done this before, Steve wants to put together a structure to make sure this operation is done ethically He wants to lay the foundation for people to participate in Ayahuasca ceremony safely He says anybody can brew Ayahuasca, but doing it safely and properly is key Joe encourages viewers to check out the series on Viceland Steve also encourages listeners who want to do Ayahuasca abroad to do tons of research before attending to make sure there are proper facilitators, ethical procedures and quality emergency response techniques and resources Links Kentucky Ayahusca on Viceland Website Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Steve Steve Hupp had spent time in the Military. He was lost in materialism, drug abuse, alcoholism and pride that led him on a 5 year bank robbing spree that ended with him in Federal Prison, where he met his first Shaman, a cellmate. Now he is an Ayahuasca Shaman performing psychedelic healing ceremonies in Kentucky. Steve has worked with Ayahuasca for 15 years, trained by a Shaman from South America on how to work with Ayahuasca. He has spent much of that time working alone and experiencing many visions and entities that called him to found Aya Quest.

Download In this episode, Joe sits down with Kevin Matthews, Campaign Manager of Decriminalize Denver, the group looking to decriminalize magic mushrooms. During the show, they cover topics such as the Right to Try Act, therapeutic success and what it might look like to have Psilocybin decriminalized in Denver. 3 Key Points: Decriminalize Denver’s efforts are aimed to decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms in the city of Denver, CO., and are currently getting signatures to be on the May 2019 ballot. The Federal Right to Try Act allows a person with a life-threatening illness to use any substance that has passed phase one clinical trials. There is so much research and data on the benefits of Psilocybin Mushrooms, and being in an age of social media sharing, people are waking up to the idea of mushroom decriminalization. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Kevin Kevin is a part of the group, Decriminalize Denver The group submitted the ballot initiative called the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization Initiative and they are getting signatures to make the May 2019 ballot Kevin became interested in mushrooms after leaving as a Cadet at the US Military Academy due to major depression He was interested in Psilocybin Mushrooms impact on depression Talking Publicly about Psilocybin Use “Self-healing from psychedelics” is something most people want to be careful talking about Does it uninspire therapists? Does it ruin the medical model? Kevin states that people are afraid to talk about it because they are a schedule 1 substance Those who are willing to take the risk to talk about it are because they believe that mushrooms might have the best impact on them Right to Try Act Kevin knows someone with PTSD and tumors who is prescribed to Psilocybin under the Federal Right to Try Act Anyone who has a life-threatening illness can use any substance that has passed phase one under clinical trials His psychiatrist said that the psilocybin has been nothing short of miraculous in its effects He takes 1.5-2 grams of dried mushrooms every 7-10 days It puts him in control of his own protocol Trump just signed the Federal Right to Try Act this summer, Colorado has had their own since 2014 Generational Mushroom Use Joe says that the media landscape has really changed in the past few years and so much more research and information is becoming accessible to everyone Veterans for Natural Rights group is supporting this mushroom movement After the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, a lot of people went underground with their use 30 million people in the country have used psychedelics in the last decade More young people now are using psychedelics than the same age group used psychedelics in the 60’s Decriminalize Denver The goal of the group is to decriminalize the personal use and personal possession of Psilocybin mushrooms, including the propagation of mushrooms for personal use “Our main goal with this is to keep individuals out of prison, help our vets, and help our loved ones who suffer from these traumas” - Kevin Colorado Always Making Progress Right now, Colorado state legislature is looking at safe injection sites and different kinds of penalty such as rehab instead of incarceration Joe says Denver is a kind of microcosm of the whole nation, it has an interest in both sides of an issue, instead of just one sided “Mushrooms help, in a very profound way. And opening that door is the first step to changing people’s minds, both metaphorically and physically.” - Kevin The medical applications of Psilocybin are huge such as for a stutter, autoimmune issues, anxiety and depression Talking about Psilocybin Kevin says you can't have a conversation without two opposing sides He is excited for when the conversation starts because there is a ton of points on why Psilocybin is proven to be effective John’s Hopkins said that Psilocybin should at a minimum be a Schedule 4 (same level as prescription sleep aids) source Schedule 1 means “no medical value and high risk of abuse” From the clinical research and population studies alone on Psilocybin, we know that's false Decriminalize Denver’s Current Focus Getting all 5,000 signatures (2,000 so far) by January 7th Coalition building, doing some fundraising Getting volunteers activated After getting all the signatures, then they will be on the ballot. Once on the ballot, the campaign and outreach starts Using Psilocybin for Therapy Joe brings up a story about his teacher Lenny Gibson who had multiple bouts of cancer and is a psychedelic scholar. Lenny was incredibly mad at Tim Leary because he was in cancer support groups and imagines how many more options cancer patients would have for pain if drugs were not made illegal Looking at decreasing suffering, it would be special for the Denver population to find relief in anxiety and depression before going into a life-threatening surgery, etc. If this turns into a regulatory medical paradigm, licensure is important How do we create the paradigm to open the work in a professional therapeutic manner? Grand Rounds Doctors will get together around a case study and share it within the medical community It's a way to share and practice case studies organically and internally With social media alone 30,000 people can be reached a month Typing in to Google “benefits of mushrooms” brings up a ton of research When people hear about John Hopkins, NYU, Harvard, UCLA Medical Center, and all of these companies that have already been doing the research they become more interested Medicalization does not equal rescheduling Carl Hart It takes the breaking up of a family after prison time of a drug offense, 7 generations to recover Joe knows of a case where someone in Colorado who got busted for having mushrooms only ended up serving 2 weeks and didn't get a felony for it In 2005 New Mexico Court of Appeal said that cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms does not qualify as the manufacture of a controlled substance, as long as they aren't dried Mushrooms are Beneficial, Not Harmful How do we ruin fewer lives by legalizing mushrooms and keeping people out from behind bars? Mushrooms can put you in touch with yourself and help connect yourself to others Feedback Most of the responses are, “Hell yeah I’m going to sign this!” or “This saved my life” Kevin says when someone says no, it's all about educating them They had 45% support it and 20% maybes Working with the City The bill would include a Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel, a city level committee made up of health professionals, Police, Denver Sheriff's office, city attorneys, etc Final Thoughts Kevin wants as many people as possible willing to participate to volunteer They will be starting public Q&A twice a month (and live streaming them) Links Website Facebook Instagram Check out our online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Kevin Kevin Matthews is leading the decriminalization of Psilocybin mushrooms in Denver, Colorado. He and his group of dedicated volunteers are currently collecting signatures to make the May 2019 Ballot.

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Jake Mitchell from the Flight of Thoughts Podcast. Jake has spent 4 years as a Paramedic in Canada and leads trainings around mental health, first aid and is bringing better practice of psychedelics into the psychedelic space. 3 Key Points: It’s so important to know your substances and get a testing kit so you know its not laced and you know exactly what you're taking. More people seek help when they look at an overdose or a difficult experience as if they are suffering versus breaking the law. Decriminalization at the least, would help make people be seen as a patient and not a criminal. Most police aren't trained on mental health issues, and they have shot and killed people because they don't know how to correctly respond to issues like schizophrenia. We need more mental health training among our law enforcement. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Jake He had major depression and didn't know it, and started to use cannabis as a useful tool for his depression He started to notice some of the first responders use MDMA and Psilocybin off-duty to help with their PTSD “PTSD for those who have been in combat is more understood than for first responders with it, people think that we can just handle it.” - Jake There are levels of trauma that don't qualify daily for PTSD, but for police and firefighters and such, they can be triggered by certain events It's hard to say what percentage of first responders use cannabis, MDMA and psilocybin for personal therapeutic use Jake says he knows of at least a quarter of first responders who have been open about their use There is a new initiative that if police use cannabis, even right before their shift, as long as they are ‘fit for duty’ they won't be scrutinized CBD CBD counteracts the effects of THC, THC binds to CB1 receptors, and CBD binds to CB2 receptors CBD is similar to Advil If someone has taken too many edibles, they can take Advil to counteract the effect of the THC It counteracts the THC similar to how CBD does People used to say to have a good night, eat a pot brownie, but it's a better idea to smoke for the first time than to eat an edible Harm Reduction - Teaching People How to Respond to Overdose They are teaching people about harm reduction kits or when to call an ambulance Know your substances, and get a testing kit so you know its not laced and you know exactly what you're taking Know what breathing technique you want to use if you “feel the fear” setting in If you know someone is on a clean substance, you can try to help them through it, but if it could be laced (with fentanyl, etc) call an ambulance If someone is unresponsive, that's a sign they could be overdosing You can rub as hard as you can with your knuckles on their chest and scream their name, and if they don't wake up, that's a good sign to call 911 Always turn them on their side so that their air passages open up and they don't asphyxiate on their tongue or vomit If you are informed on how to use narcan and you think they are overdosing on fentanyl, use it If they are awake and are psychologically freaking out, just sit them down and simply ask them “how can I help?” They might want something as simple as some water or to go for a walk Knowing your dose is so important LSD and psilocybin don't have cardiac effects, they don't shut off breathing, so you shouldn't have a reason for feeling like your going to actually die unless it's been laced MDMA is one you have so worry about but you'd have to take hundreds and hundreds of milligrams Fentanyl test strips are $2 They are only $1.50 if you buy 100 or more Drug Showmanism The first option should always be cannabis Usually the only reason that people overdose on heroin is because it's laced with pharmaceuticals Advil and Tylenol work similar to opioids Sometimes we have emotional trauma and it comes out as physical pain More people seek help when they look at it as that they are suffering versus breaking the law Narcan costs $20-$40 An overdose death costs $30,000 In Canada, the pharmacist will inform you on how to use Narcan Jake says he hopes that the US will catch up Narcan availability and use The grinding of the teeth after taking MDMA may be a sign that it contains amphetamine Decriminalization at the least, would help make people be seen as a patient and not a criminal A Healthcare Issue, Not a Crime The Good Samaritan Act in Canada says if you have minor possession of a substance and not a traffic-able amount, and you call the ambulance for an overdose, you will not be searched or charged Most police aren't trained on mental health issues, and there have been situations of people with schizophrenia having a moment in public, and because the police don't have education on signs to look for, they have shot and killed the victim 23 and Me, the gene testing company has found that over 180,000 genes tested have been linked to schizophrenia High THC levels can make schizophrenia worse, where CBD can counteract it Serotonin Toxicity Jake says he's been hit in the face by someone on PCP It took 6 police to hold one person down. Another time, there was a guy who was wearing underwear in freezing weather, punching cars driving at almost 40 miles an hour They were snorting Wellbutrin, an antidepressant that works as a stimulant when snorted Serotonin syndrome is super dangerous Ketamine is used in the ER for scenarios like this Does taking MDMA too frequently ruin your serotonin system? Emanuel Sferios - the number one risk of using MDMA is you might not get high from it anymore Addiction Type II Diabetes is a symptom of sugar addiction Sugar and carbs create bacteria in the gut that releases plaque in the blood Technology addiction - Jake had a patient that sliced an artery and was texting and on candy crush and Snapchat Links Instagram  Facebook Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Jake Jake is a Primary Care Paramedic with experience in emergency response, evidence-based research practice, harm reduction techniques, and crisis intervention. He is the Founder of The Psychedelic Society of First Responders and Emergency Workers.

In this interview, Brian Pace interviews Dr. Jason Slot at Ohio State University. In the show, they talk about Jason’s contributions of the psilocybe genus. Jason is in the faculty at OSU in the department of plant pathology. 3 Key Points: There are over 200 species of mushroom forming fungi that produce psilocybin, and Jason studies how and why these organisms produce the psychoactive compound. Animals seek altered states of consciousness as a potential evolutionary mechanism. Mushrooms use horizontal gene transfer to pass on their psychoactive properties. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Jason "There weren't many mycology job postings in the area, and a job came up for someone to study the evolution of fungal genomes" - Jason It all just fell into place What is Neurochemical Ecology Ecology is the interaction among organisms and their interaction with their environment Neurochemical ecology is a special case where the chemicals are specifically targeted to processes of nervous systems in animals There is an opportunity for plants and fungi to produce drugs and compounds that manipulate their behavior or inhibit their eating Species that Produce Psilocybin There are over 200 species of mushroom forming fungi that produce psilocybin Jason has found many more Distribution of Psilocybe Mushrooms were anatomically modern There were flowering forests and wood that spanned to each of the poles The supercontinent would have broken up after that and as the continents separated, so did the mushrooms Humans have been distributing psilocybe through the dung of migrating animals Columbian Exchange During colonization from the old world to the new world, there was the biggest exchange of fungi If the amount of biomass and dung expands, then the number of fungi species evolves and grows The underlying change in the climate that changes the planet from forested to open grasslands also has an impact During human evolution, psilocybe has been around the whole time These neurochemicals have dated human genus Serotonin Serotonin is analogous to psilocybin Bacteria was the first organism making serotonin Insects produce serotonin “Serotonin is a great key, it fits into a lot of different locks and is used in a lot of different ways” - Jason It's in plants, its in amoebas, and its in animals In animals, they have specialized a lot of different receptors that respond to serotonin Serotonin only interacts with one type of receptor in the body Altered States of Consciousness “It must be like something to be a bat, and it must be different than what it's like to be a human, what must it be like to be a bat under the influence of psilocybin, is it anything like a human?” -Brian Animals seek altered states of consciousness Bees seek out fermented grapes We have video footage of foxes taking huge bites out of Amanita Muscaria Seeking out intoxication is a natural human drive Maybe the desire to seek out these altered states of consciousness is an evolutionary mechanism that is happening If you search out new ways of perceiving the world, you may come upon a new pattern that your group of species learns how to live better If ants come back to the hive too drunk, they get punished and get bit Language One of the ways humans distinguish ourselves We have specialized vocal chords, and tongues that make our language unique Terrence - Stoned Ape Theory - the thesis was that psilocybin mushrooms were a part of the diets of the hominids There was some kind of co-evolutionary relationship that may have resulted in human language Psilocybin’s role in our development “What kind of role did psilocybin mushrooms play in our development?” The hominids came down from the trees and now they are standing upright We have to look at opportunity, constraints, etc. If the ape eats psilocybin, it may have an idea or understands its environment better It may help the ape acquire more food or expand into new territory The access to food and changes in locomotion are huge forces in our evolution Having fire to cook our meat and change our availability to nutrients is one of the biggest forces in evolution of human consciousness than mushrooms Horizontal Gene Transfer Vertical transfer of information means from parent to offspring Horizontal transfer of genetic information happens between species One bacteria has a gene to resist an antibiotic, and another doesn't. One bacteria can obtain that gene from the antibiotic resistant bacteria (ex. Antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus) Gene transfer can happen in multicellular creatures like mushrooms Fungi are exchanging genes through different species Paneolis Mushrooms did not inherit the biosynthetic pathway to produce psilocybin, they received it from a totally different genera KT Extinction A comet impact that caused havoc and climate change that resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs Mega herbivores, putting out tons of herbivore dung The genes to make psilocybin were acquired by a dung loving Paneolis from a dung loving Psilocybe Dung attracts flies, but it doesn't kill the insects that eat psilocybin Psilocybin is one of the safest drugs for consumption The amatoxin in Amanita Muscaria (The Destroying Angel, commonly mistaken with Matsutake), interrupts the central part of cellular metabolism Identifying Genes in Psilocybin He sequenced 3 different species of mushrooms that make psilocybin, and then looked at one species that didn't make psilocybin They take two pieces of DNA and then compare them They all have those genes, but how did they get them? Validated the biosynthesis of psilocybin Mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer When fungi are under stress they take the DNA from their environment Cicada Parasitism There are cicada pathogens that infect the cicadas before they emerge from their ‘underground’ and their rear end is transformed into these spore producing structures They fly around and drop their spores all over Are these plants or fungi are using any of these neurochemicals in house for cognition? Turing test - a computer can convince you that it's human Link Website Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Jason Jason Slot is an Evolutionary Biologist that studies topics in three major areas, the genomic and metabolic bases of fungal adaptation and niche, horizontal gene transfer mechanisms and the evolution of symbioses. He is in the Department of Plant Pathology at Ohio State University.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Philip Wolf founder of Cultivating Spirits, a cannabis pairing company. The talk includes topics on Terpenes, Social Consumption and the Cannabis experience industry. 3 Key Points: Terpenes are the component in cannabis that produce the aroma and ‘mood’ you will be in after smoking. As more and more places legalize cannabis, the market opportunity for combining food and cannabis grows. Cultivating Spirits is a cannabis experience and tour company that offers small-batch cannabis, fine wines, and locally sourced gourmet meals. They are a leader in cannabis-infused experiences. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Philip Philip has been in the legal industry of cannabis in Colorado for 9 years Cultivating Spirits started in Breckenridge, Colorado in 2014 after legalization He went to a wine experience event and had an epiphany of bringing the cannabis experience to the ‘soccer mom’ He walked away from equity in multiple companies because he believed in it Cultivating Spirits is the first company to offer a cannabis pairings experience After learning about terpenes he learned about pairing foods with attributes of cannabis Terpenes There are 3 components in cannabis that give you certain feelings THC gets you high, gives a euphoric feeling Flavonoids Terpenes produce the aroma of cannabis and it determines the ‘mood’ you will be in after smoking Terpenes are produced in all plants and produce, they attract pollinators and help fight disease within the plant THC-A is non-activated THC, meaning it needs a flame or heat to activate it Michael Pollan’s book - Botany of Desire At the base genetic level, our goal is to reproduce and expand “Are we the workers for this plant?” - Philip Wolf People’s Reactions They are loving it! The average age for a  person who attends Cultivating Spirits is 45 Cultivating Spirits focuses on parties and events Old folks are some of the best clientele, they don't have jobs and they are done with all of the hassles of making a family and working hard for their job, etc. Microserving Microserving is one hit Holding cannabis in longer doesn't get you higher, it's about the surface area of your lungs So if you expand your lungs very lightly, you will get less high than if you would if you fully expand your lungs when taking a hit Expansion Cultivating Spirits operates all over Colorado They are working to expand to Las Vegas They also opened up Cannabition They are taking this business to other places with good heart Cannabis Nightclubs and Social Consumption Lounges Cannabis isn't the reason for the decline in alcohol sales, but the desire for new experiences Philip believes it will happen first through coffee shops Everyone needs food, so it's a great market to integrate into “I use cannabis like I use a cup of coffee, I use it, but I don't use it all day” - Philip Wolf Cannabis… Psychedelic? There is a psychoactive part to cannabis Philip says he uses cannabis to deepen his meditation and yoga practice He is a Certified Yoga Teacher Although he is certified to teach, he did it for himself and to learn tools he can use during his whole life Cannabis is a mirror - it's what’s inside already but getting amplified First Dinner Approved by Municipality The opening of X-games in Aspen, CO in 2015 5 courses, 5 wines, 5 strains of cannabis A DJ from Thievery Corporation deriving beats from where the food dishes come from Jessica Catalano - Infusion Chef Learning More Lemonine makes your mind energized and Alphapinine and Betapinine will help you focus Leafly Essential oils are made up of terpenes Doterra Max Montrose - Trichome Institute Daniel McQueen - Medinical Mindfulness Links Cultivating Spirits Website Cannabis Wedding Expo Facebook Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Philip Wolf Philip Wolf is one of the world’s first pot sommeliers, an expert and pioneer in the field. In 2014, he opened Cultivating Spirits with a mission to show mainstream America how cannabis should be treated. Setting tables with forks, wine, and pipes, Wolf’s pairings are grounded in the science of interpening, which the institute calls “a method used to identify and understand cannabis variety [by] interpreting … terpenes and flower structure.” Wolf can sniff a bud, identify the strain and terpenes, and interpret both the flavor profile and high. The protocol for his dinner with bud pairings is puff, eat, drink.

Download Today in the show, Joe talks to Maria Carvalho and Helena Valente, founding members of Kosmicare, a drug testing, and harm reduction service at the Portugal Festival, Boom. Joe talks to Maria and Helena on their personal backgrounds, how they got into Boom, research on recreational use, what harm reduction looks like, and what populations are underserved. Drug use is decriminalized in Portugal, and the focus of risk minimization has been useful in getting the population served versus putting people in prison. 3 Key Points: Kosmicare is a harm reduction and psychedelic emergency service starting at Boom music festival in Portugal. Working to support other events in Europe. Boom is in Portugal, where drugs are decriminalized and drug testing is legal. Drug policy has directly affected the number of emergencies that Boom has had. The Portuguese drug policy has resulted in fewer overdoses, drug-related deaths, and HIV infection. Other countries like the US should consider a drug reform with the current opioid crisis. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Kosmicare Kosmicare is a non-profit organization that looks to transform nightlife culture through humanistic, comprehensive and evidence-based policies and interventions They work toward a world where drugs can be used with liberty and wisdom Making festivals safe in Europe About Maria Psychologist, graduated in 1999 at University of Porto She started working in the field of problematic drug use Growing up in a difficult neighborhood was her purpose for getting into studying psychology and drug use She began focusing on recreational use Her younger brother was into the Electronic Dance scene and positioning himself with using substances She was interested in studying other motivations to use drugs than just using drugs to feed a problem She heard an announcement by MAPS in 2008 recruiting volunteers to do work in psychedelic emergency at Boom It was the perfect match considering her interest in psychology and drug use in recreational environments About Helena Helena is a Psychologist who was interested in drug use She wanted to have field experience, and she volunteered in a needle exchange program She began working for a harm reduction project to work in recreational settings that needed volunteers She became interested in the potential that drug checking has in the harm reduction strategy They are working toward a ‘drop-in’ where people can show up to a permanent space for drug checking and harm reduction The Numbers Over 20,000 people showed up to Kosmicare’s information session This year for the first time, Kosmicare had an HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to identify LSD and pills They tested over 700 drug samples in 6 days Maria says half of the Boom population gets in contact with Kosmicare They serve 1% of the Boom population for psychedelic emergency (about 350 cases out of 35,000 attendees) The episodes usually have to do with psycho-spiritual situations versus just an emergency about the drug taken Psychedelic Emergencies Boom is a transformational festival that hosts attendees from over 50 countries Boom is different from Burning Man in that Boom is in Portugal which has a much more legal framework which helps with the services that can be offered Drug policy has directly affected the number of emergencies that Boom has Joe states that there are numbers of regulatory police at Burning Man Kosmicare is included in the entire setup of Boom, which helps reduce the number of scenarios that would cause an emergency at the festival, such as providing shaded areas all over It gets up to 43 degrees Celcius (108 Fahrenheit) But there is a water element so people can refresh themselves In the largest dance areas at the festival, they included medical emergency Teepees so attendees could be helped as quickly as possible Recreational Drug Use They did a survey on recreational drug use and most of the respondents said they use drugs in a beneficial way that doesn't interrupt their lives in a bad way Similarly with Boom attendees, most of them want to use harm reduction techniques so they have positive experiences and don't develop problems with their drug use Mat Southwell “drug users are calculated risk takers” “The legal framework has a terrible influence on people's relationship with drugs” - Helena Lessons Learned Maria says they have had many groundbreaking challenges In 2016 they had someone die on them while having a psychedelic emergency It made her really question why she was doing this Her first impression was that she was doing this work to save the inexperienced user She was caught off guard by the person who died because they were an experienced user and didn't taking unadulterated substances “People may go over the top for a wide variety of reasons, it was the biggest lesson I learned working for the Psychedelic Emergency services” - Maria It's hard to determine people's ability to calculate risks If the person had collapsed in front of an urban hospital in the city, the Hospital couldn't have done anything more than what they did at Kosmicare Collaborations Kosmicare has a collaborative relationship with Zendo MAPS was hired by Boom to direct the harm reduction services They use a lot of Stan Grof techniques for transpersonal psychology They are partnered with many other organizations in Europe that are trying to deliver the same type of psychedelic emergency and harm reduction services The Risks of Drug Policy Joe points out that there are so many festivals happening without these services The Rave Act prevents companies from attending festivals because it “harbors” drug use In Portugal, the fact that drug use is decriminalized, it opened up a legal framework around harm reduction Portugal is one of the few countries where drug checking is allowed by law The Portuguese drug policy has resulted in fewer overdoses, drug-related deaths, HIV infection, tuberculosis and other things Helena says that the US should rethink their drug policy considering the opioid epidemic In Portugal, there were only 12 overdose cases with heroin and opioids Portugal before the Drug Policy In the 80’s, there was a heroin epidemic, which had an epidemic of high infection rates and HIV. This motivated the policy change It was evident that prohibition was not working Usually when it affects only poor people, no one cares, but the fentanyl crisis is affecting all sorts of populations Links Website Facebook Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Maria Maria Carmo Carvalho, Kosmicare Manager, Boom Festival, Portugal, is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the Catholic University of Portugal. She researches if the field of psychoactive substance use and has completed a MSc and a PhD at the University of Porto on the field of psychoactive substance use, youth and recreational environments. She is Vice-President of ICEERS and Kosmicare Boom Festival manager since 2012. About Helena Helena Valente began working with people that use drugs in 2004, focusing in nightlife settings. Helena has a vast experience in coordinating national and European projects in the drug field. At the moment she is a researcher and PhD. Candidate at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the Porto University and founding member of Kosmicare Association.

Download In this episode, Lori shares her first hand experience of MDMA Therapy assisted by Therapist, Shari Taylor. Shari Taylor is a PhD, MSN and RYT(Registered Yoga Teacher). Both from New Orleans, Lori Tipton was Shari’s MDMA patient who suffered from traumatic life experiences and PTSD. 3 Key Points: Lori shares her heartfelt story about her experience in healing her PTSD in MDMA Therapy Before her therapy, Lori says she struggled with loving herself, and the fact that she loves herself now after her healing is the reason she is alive today Lori says she wants people to understand that this is a legitimate form of therapy, and wants this to be accessible to everyone Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Lori Lori has a love/hate relationship with social media She saw on Facebook that they were opening the phase 3 trials for MDMA therapy in New Orleans Sent an email on a whim and Shari replied They looked for people who suffered from significant traumatic events in their lives Lori lost her brother to a drug overdose, her mother killed two people and she was the one to discover their bodies, and she was raped by someone she trusted and got pregnant and then had an abortion Lori says there was an extensive screening process and psychometric testing “You become more of a manifestation of the disorder, and it starts to become who you are” - Lori She felt so 'untethered' and removed from everyone and everything because of her PTSD Day one of Therapy There are many sessions before even taking MDMA to get to know each other first Set and setting are so important Lori says she went in with an open mindset, but was so skeptical She had seen psychologists, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, dietitians, taken anti anxiety meds and antidepressants, went vegan, became a yoga teacher, and even saw a witch doctor But she was nervous that she was going to go into the sessions and come out a different person, which had her start to question who she really was Taking the MDMA She was offered the MDMA, and she accepted it She lied there, started to feel the effects, listened to the music playing and it reminded her of a film she had seen Buddy Boulden a trumpet player, who passed away at 30 at a mental institution in Louisiana So this just popped into her head and then she told Shari about it and then next thing she knew she was telling her about her mother and her rape The way that MDMA worked for her in the first session is that when she had a memory, she could feel it, and she hadn't truly felt the feelings from those memories before As the session ended, it was anticlimactic She said it was like dipping the corner of a towel in water, the water would eventually cover the whole towel The amygdala is getting shut down in therapy, so you're able to bring up these memories without getting overwhelmed Days Following Therapy Lori said after the first session, it was awesome! She went and got pizza and it was the best pizza she has ever had in her life! The first session of MDMA allowed her to experience life in a way she hadn't been in years Her partner noticed her enjoying the world, and noticed the changes the most Lori wrote a lot before going into the sessions, and writing has helped her with her healing The Second Session Having PTSD led her to repress her feelings When she locked up her fear and anxiety, she unfortunately locked up happiness too In the second session she took more MDMA, and it really helped her She felt she was able to really separate herself from her memories and feelings and emotions “It was like taking off a pair of foggy glasses and it was so empowering” - Lori Joe mentions that after his one and only ayahuasca session, he got a strong message that he needed to reconnect to his family He says MDMA is so special in that it allows you to feel love in such a strong way, unbounded Lori says she struggled with loving herself, and the fact that she loves herself now is the reason she is alive today She says her experience is proof that MDMA is not a schedule 1 drug Joe says he hopes that the testing goes well to move MDMA into an accessible space Lori agrees and wants this to be accessible for everyone in her life She believes its revolutionary for psychology After the second session, she didn't want to run away from her feelings, she didn't want to kill herself Healing isn't always pretty, sometimes it looks like crying on the couch for 6 hours of the day She knew she had to be with those feelings Her therapist and her tarot card reader both said she would be more of herself after the therapy The Third Session She believes in the power of the drug, but it was also the support of the therapists. The combination of the two is where magic happened After walking into her mother's death, she couldn't remember so many parts of those moments In that third session, she revisited that memory, and was more present in her memory than what she saw in that moment in her real life She remembered things she wasn't able to remember from her life from over a decade She was able to have such empathy for herself in that situation In that moment, she would have been full of so much shame or blame and she was able to empathize with herself and forgive herself “These types of experiences transcend words of how it feels to release that pain” - Lori With the feeling of the release about her memory with her mother, she then began to talk about her rape and her whole demeanor shifted She was talking about it in an angry tone She had triggers post rape, when trying to have sex with someone she loved and it felt like a tiger entered the room, just frightened and in fear Certain yoga poses also triggered this PTSD response In the therapy session, Shari asked her to try entering into the yoga poses that gave her those feelings Lori was overcome with anxiety, fear, she cried, and felt like she was in hell Shari asked “what are you feeling?” Lori said she felt afraid and full of fear And Shari looked at her and asked “what does that feeling need?” Lori responded and said “it just needs to be heard” After that moment, she felt this huge release “There are very few moments in my life that are so profound and beautiful and meaningful to me” - Lori Joe said there is some magic in yoga to unveil certain energies when working through PTSD Afterglow She stayed the night each time after a session The morning after she had an integrative session She felt like she accomplished more than she even thought was possible There was not a part of her that understood how magnificent her experience was going to be She has been given the gift of being present in the moment She now has the ability to be with the people she loves, it changed her life To a therapist, who really wants people to be their best selves, this has to be a beautiful thing to see Joe says we are seeing movement with this kind of therapy With trials, publications, and people coming forward with their stories, its changing the mental health narrative Lori wants people to understand that this is a legitimate therapy “To deny this therapy is a disservice to human kind” - Lori Life for Lori After MDMA Therapy Startle response is so low She works in a bar, and things are dropped and she used to jump at everything, and now she doesn't anymore She’s less quick to get angry because she’s not thinking about all of the horrible stuff that could happen at the next moment Her ability to be present in the moment has helped her raise her son She doesn't have triggering moments when she is aroused She is feeling joy and happiness in a way she hasn't felt in over a decade Shari’s Thoughts Hearing Lori’s story gave her a new passion in her field Chipping away at the barriers through MDMA therapy is so remarkable Therapists create a safe environment with trust and the ability for patients to allow their barriers to fall down so that their inner healer can come out, to help them heal themselves She feels so lucky to be a part of this type of therapy Stan Grof - inner healer The same way that your body knows how to heal a wound on your hand, your mind also knows how to heal your psyche After Hurricane Katrina, suicide rates tripled Shari gets hundreds of emails from people wanting to be in this study, she hopes or it to become more available for people in the future For people who are more interested in learning about these trials, get on the MAPS mailing list Joe says or someone with PTSD symptoms, it's not always the best idea to go down to Peru and do ayahuasca, they could get re-traumatized Joe hopes for expanded access sooner than completion of phase 3 testing He says for therapists interested in MDMA therapy, he really hopes they dive in and learn a lot Final Thoughts Having discussions like this, storytelling, has the ability to change many people's mindsets Taking MDMA away from counterculture will be the quicker we can see drug reform Whether we see decriminalization, or given expanded access, we need to be aware of what that looks like so everyone can have access to this experience It's important to break the stigma of psychedelics so people are more open to their benefits Main Goals We want doctors to be able to use these drugs We want people to to use these drugs without going to jail We want a flourishing underground provider network that are skilled We need to keep working toward re-scheduling Links Lori https://medium.com/@LoriTipton Shari [email protected] The Mind-Body Project Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Lori Tipton Lori Tipton is an MDMA Assisted Therapy patient who suffered from traumatic life experiences and PTSD. About Dr. Shari Taylor Dr. Shari Taylor holds a PhD in Psychology from Northcentral University, a Master’s of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama, and a Post-Master’s of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in the field of child/adolescent psychology. She is a Registered Yoga Therapist and teaches yoga both privately and in a class setting. Dr. Taylor is an avid participant in the art, music, and culture scene in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is continually enrolled in courses and workshops to expand her knowledge of nutrition, psychology, wellness, and spirituality.

Download James Oroc is the Author of Tryptamine Palace and the New Psychedelic Revolution. Show topics include Burning Man, visionary art, drug war, and politics around the 5-MEO-DMT experience. 3 Key Points: James Oroc is cautious about the medicalization of psychedelics. He believes psychedelics do not necessarily heal sick people, but instead bring a new perspective to healthy users. The 5-MEO-DMT experience is not like the typical psychedelic experience, not everyone should do it, and there are some serious negative side effects that could last for years if not integrated properly. The Bufo Alvarius desert toad is at risk. With climate change and the demand for using them for their 5-MEO-DMT, there is a lot of pressure on their survival as a species. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About James James has written a few psychedelic books, and is kind of a psychedelic icon His interests are in noveling and extreme sports journalism He wrote a book for Burning man, and gave away 500 copies at the festival He is a world class paragliding competitor He believes always being in nature is important In the late 80’s the psychedelic culture had crashed, except for the mountain towns, which is where psychedelic community ended up Joe lives in the Rockies, and was hanging out in Aspen and ran into an old hippie deadhead who talked about skiing on mescaline, when everyone would typically ski on acid In James new book he goes into psychedelics and extreme sports, about using a dose smaller than the psychedelic dose but larger than a micro dose Joe references a movie, Valley Uprising, where most of the climbers would hang out on the side of a mountain face, party all night, drop a bunch of acid and then sprint to the top James’ Interest in Psychedelics James says that 5-MEO-DMT converted him from to being a scientific, rationalist, atheist to agnostic, being merged and one with the god source, through the classic mystical experience He says it took him multiple years to figure out how a 40 minute trip experiences shifted his entire perspective for the rest of his life That's why he wrote his Burning Man book, as a way to help others relate to the experience and make their own sense of it Joe says James Book is far more fascinating than Michael Pollan’s Book, especially for people that have been in the psychedelic space for a while Michael Pollan states in his book that LSD was given to Tim Leary by Alfred Hubbard, but James says that's not true, he says that a man by the name of Michael Hollingsworth gave LSD to Leary, after coming to America with a jar of mayonnaise full of LSD James says its amusing for Pollan to form stories to fit his own narrative He says Pollan has talked about using psychedelics only four times, and that he doesn't like the psychedelic culture and by using them we will become more depressed James thinks depression is a result of the paradigm that we are in “I don't like the idea of psychedelics being used as bandaids to help people except the current paradigm, I like the idea of psychedelics being dynamite, to help bring the next paradigm shift” - James Smart people are depressed because they are realizing we are screwing this planet up, and we may not have that much time left on it He called it ‘extinction denial’ in his last book, and after writing his last book in 2009, its gotten exponentially worse Joe asks James why he thinks people are denying the extinction narrative James replies saying people feel like they can't do anything about it, they worry about paycheck to paycheck, and get caught up in all the small distractions of life. He says no wonder people are depressed Psychedelics aren't a Medicine James thinks the only reason they didn't take hold as medicines in the 60’s is because they were difficult to use, and didn't fit in the medical model “The problem with medicalization is it puts psychedelics in one box, I’m more interested in giving psychedelics to healthy people than sick people” They don't fall under the true classification of medicines James thinks they should be called therapy, instead of medicine He understands the interest of why people want to use them as medicines, but that shouldn't be the only way they are used Joe adds that the medicalization doesn't mean rescheduling - via drug policy alliance James says that last year alone had the most arrests for cannabis than any other year, even as more states are ‘legalizing’ Joe mentions a comment from Brian Normand who runs Psymposia, “Is cannabis really legal, if you can only have 6 plants? It's just heightened regulation.” James thinks that keeping cannabis illegal in the south is the main tool for racial profiling, it's the gateway drug to prison Brooklyn wants to release 20,000 cannabis offenders America James thinks living in America is like living in the belly of the beast There are so many forces at work in the US, James thinks the best thing for the world would be for it to break up in a few smaller countries, although it's probably not going to happen “It's not where you want to be, its where they'll have ya” - James The data that John Hopkins comes up with is what we need to fight the cognitive liberty we should have to take psychedelics Roland Griffith Joe says Stan Grof became uninterested in the research of psychedelics and became more interested in visionary art Creativity is what could help us survive “Art could be the next religion” - Alex Grey Reemergence of Spirit James thinks we are in an interesting time in history, all of the models and structures are collapsing, we are getting to an individualized view of everything. We have the right to create our own spirituality and religion. If we all go find what we find and then come together in clusters of like findings, that is a way for our spirituality to grow Daniel Pinchbeck mentions cloistering up in small subculture communities focused on individual sub aspects of what interest you Reemergence of spirit is important and can happen with the democratization of psychedelics Psychedelics play a role in inner reality and outer reality “Psychedelic perspective is the worldview that we take on as a psychedelic user, and its the perspective that the planet needs to survive. Whether as a society that we can shift to that perspective quick enough, is the issue. But the tools are in hand.” - James Burning Man James tells a story of this wealthy CEO who attends Burning Man, and gets back and realizes he's a rich asshole and starts contemplating how he can make his company better for the world and be better to his employees Burning Man has a lot of potential like psychedelics do, but it was easier back then Burning Man has blown up and isn't what it used to be These highly impactful experiences are more influential when they are small Boom, a festival in Portugal is a free environment because everything is legal, there is no paranoia Burning Man used to be free, but because things are still illegal, it has more of a defensive posture now There are so many resources, police, undercovers, put into Burning Man for how little of crime that happens Joe says its a means to scare the people There's a report that the administration put out recently that agreed that climate change is happening but they don't want to do anything about it Peter Thiel has been bragging about buying a whole country, New Zealand Psychedelics James says he is a very interested observer to see psychedelics ‘come out of the closet’ Is medicalization a means to take the fangs off of the drug war, or take power away from the psychedelic culture? James says medicalization is just a financial opportunity MDMA is leading the push toward legalization US Military is super interested in MDMA because of the PTSD Drone operators suffer from depression when they realize they are bombing people they've never even seen But the MDMA could keep these operators at the desk History of government's involvement in psychedelics Robert Forte - The Dark History of Psychedelics MK Ultra did happen Robert believes Albert Hofman was in charge OSS - Office of Strategic Services John Perry Barlow - founder of EFF Electronic Freedom Foundation John Gillmore - had the largest civil suit against the US govt. for phone tapping If you have an intense psychedelic experience, take some time and integrate it “The first place you go after a major psychedelic experience is the library” James says 5-MEO-DMT was the greatest intellectual adventure of his life He couldn't grasp the concept of quantum physics, after 5-MEO-DMT it was one of the only things that made sense Alexander Shulgin - plus four James had a paradigm shift after the first time smoking 5-MEO-DMT He says 5-MEO-DMT is extremely powerful, he doesn't do it as much anymore, because he appreciates how powerful it is He also believes that it's wrong for ‘shamans’ to take the drug while facilitating LSD is considered not powerful because its been dialed down People don't take the same dose that people used to in the 70’s Every community should have its own psychonaut James thinks people should not start with 5-MEO-DMT, but start with something less intense like mushrooms and a walk in the woods Joe did a lot of holotropic breathwork before taking psychedelics So many people go right to ayahuasca because they are out of the psychedelic culture and are being advertised to James is annoyed with people calling drugs medicine out of context, like at a festival He thinks toad is a sacrament, or therapy, not medicine. It hasn't healed anybody He believes that the ‘toad shaman’ culture will be eliminated once chemists start to synthesize 5-MEO-DMT The toads are coming from an overly populated desert, and with climate change, there is a lot of pressure on these species survival Final Thoughts James suggestions The 5-MEO-DMT experience is unique, it’s not like the typical psychedelic experience, not everyone should do it, and there are some serious negative side effects that could last for years if not integrated properly Start with classic psychedelics like LSD or mushrooms, and go for a walk outside Stan Grof’s house/library burnt down, Terence McKenna lost two libraries, and Jonathan Ott’s library burnt down. Decades of research burnt down   Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics"   James Facebook Typtamine Palace Facebook Instagram Youtube Book About James Journalist, photographer, and artist James Oroc was born in the small South Pacific nation of Aotearoa. Since 1998 he has been pursuing and reporting on the cutting edge of extreme sports in more than 40 countries around the globe, his work appearing in magazines, films, and on MTV Sports. He has been a member of the Burning Man community since 1999, and he is also involved in the documentation and advancement of “Alternative Culture.”

Download Tom Hatsis is an intellectual, occultist, psychedelic user and advocate from Portland, Oregon. In the show, Joe and Tom talk about his new book about microdosing. Joe prepares listeners about the controversial topic, magick, which is highly discussed in the show. Witch craft, western shamanism, old religion and magick are all mentioned during the conversation. Tom is a coordinator for Sanctum Psychedelica, a psychedelic club in Portland. 3 Key Points: Tom’s book Microdosing Magic is a book of templates for people to fill in the blank according to what works for them Magic isn't the ‘hocus pocus’ witchy stuff that people always assume, it's actually mind hacking, reframing and neurogenesis, that every individual is born with the ability to tap into Magic is a great way to create containers to frame our psychedelic experiences Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Tom Tom’s Book - Microdosing Magic: A Psychedelic Spellbook Tom thinks having a childlike wonder and being curious helped him write his book He has written 4 books, 3 have been in psychedelic topics Tom’s background - a part of the Roller derby background since 2005 His first book was called The Roller Derby: A Sensation that caused a Book, the Confessions of a Roller Derby Mascot. Then he got into psychedelic history and wrote The Witch’s Ointment, Psychedelic Mystery Traditions and his newest book, Microdosing Magic. Portland is a great place for the psychedelic renaissance Microdosing Magic Tom said we should be using psychedelics in a magical way Joe agrees saying when using psychedelics we should be flexible philosophically Joe mentions the Robert Anton Wilson reality tunnels We all have a B.S. (Belief System) and then reality tunnels are the marxist sunglasses and the capitalist sunglasses and feminist sunglasses, instead of having 40 glasses to see behind bias, we all have our own pair of shades Microdosing is a tool that helps people become childlike, more genius Magic Microdosing Magic is a book of templates for people to fill in the blank to what works with them Tom never tells people what to do with psychedelics, he is offering insight and techniques Using his own techniques, him and his partner are about to win a guinness world record “If microdosing is like a healthy diet and magic is like exercise, that's great. But what happens when you put healthy diet with exercise? You have something far more powerful than those two things could have been by themselves. That's how microdosing magic works.” Magic = mind hacking, re-framing and neurogenesis The Four Gifts Tom talks about ‘The Four Gifts’ in his book They make up the beginning of his personal magical system that he has cultivated over his lifetime Carl Sagan quote, “The cosmos are within us, we are a way for the universe to know itself” Tom agrees strongly with that saying, he thinks we are microdoses of that cosmic magic and from it, we've received 3 immaterial gifts, Intellect, Emotion and Will, however, due to our evolution in physical bodies, we've inherited a fourth gift, action The magical system is about aligning your intellect, emotion and will, so that when we take action, we are acting in pure magic Magic is super powerful, not something that happens at Disney World. It's a very real thing that every individual is born with the ability to tap into Orenda - the magic that you are born with Microdosing Magic is Tom’s small contribution to bettering the world Joe says there are so many people that practice subtle magic and don't even know it; in catholic religion, in yoga practice Tom has a friend who ‘doesn't believe in magic’, who is a hardcore material reductionist, who has a ‘lucky hat’ Tom - “This isn't for people with claws and fangs, magic is for anybody who recognizes their own power and wants to harness their power to make their lives and the world around them a better place” Neurogenesis, better firing, and re-framing happens in a person’s brain after consuming Psilocybin, Lions Mane and Reishi Tom says he was addicted to coffee, and after using Microdosing Magic, he hasn't needed a cup of coffee on 8 months because of his new neural pathways Joe jokes about overdosing on coffee for a few months on his coffee addiction Tom jokes back that he’d just drink it out of the pot Creative Genius Dr. George Land study - 98% of 5 year old scored in the creative genius category in the same test that 32 year-olds only scored 2% The modern education system robs us of our creative genius that we all had when we were kids, but at no fault to the teachers. The education system, buys these education models that just don't work Tom - “You have to use the internet wisely and not foolishly, to educate yourself and not de-educate yourself” The Book Tour Joe asks about the most interesting questions Tom has received on tour Most people ask about dose sizes and safety questions Tom explains that he gets nervous about certain questions because he isn't a medical professional or a therapist Tom “If you wouldn't take a psychedelic dose, don’t start microdosing” Microdosing Tom has been microdosing on and off for over 20 years “We didn't call it microdosing, we called it being broke, we could only afford 1/8th of acid, so we split it up. We felt way more energy, I started writing way more songs, I couldn't put my guitar down. It sparks that creativity” Joe says it's never been a better time for the psychedelic and microdosing renaissance Cannabis is now legal in 13 states FDA just approved mushrooms for PTSD in Canada MDMA is in phase 3 testing Tom says people in Silicon Valley, and believes people in Congress and DC are microdosing, they just can't talk about it He mentions a talk he just did in Salem, a very conservative place, and no one had any questions. And then after the talk, everybody came up to him privately and asked him their questions Tim Leary made a joke on Liberals not wanting to ‘risk face’ Joe comments on Tom’s book saying it was playful, inspiring, and not threatening like some magic can be Tom says we don't have villages for support anymore, we have community which has replaced that Sanctum Psychedelia’s main focus is community building Tom uses an example of people going to Peru, taking ayahuasca, and because they don't have that mystical framework, they come back to their regular lives and say “now what”? That's why integration and community are so important Tom says he’d love to see ayahuasca and ibogaine clinics with all the great results people have received from their heroine or cigarette addictions Tom’s favorite presentation ever was Mark Haden’s blueprint on the future of psychedelics psychotherapy Mark Haden's Presentation on Psycehdelics Mark Haden Psychedelic Reneissance Cannabis and the War on Drugs Tom likes to buy his cannabis directly from his farmer, he prefers to not have the government interfere He says Gene Simmons from KISS has been so anti cannabis and now all of a sudden is promoting cannabis Joe brings in the drug war issue, or the issue of people being put in jail for nonviolent crimes (cannabis) Tom brings in another issue, saying that if a person is charged for drugs at one point in time that later becomes legal, they aren't allowed freedom because of the fact that they did the crime during the time where it was illegal Racism and the war on drugs really bothers Tom Amanita and the True History of Christian Psychedelic History Predominant Paradigm - the ‘Holy Mushroom’ Tom says there aren't mushrooms in Christian art after doing the historical research Source He has debunked the Amanita Muscaria Santa Claus connection Psychedelic Santa Debate with John Rush The Mushroom in Christian Art: The Identity of Jesus in the Development of Christianity People say the Amanita Muscaria and Santa Claus outfit are the same colors, but Santa’s outfit comes from the American Flag Carl Ruck Dionysus in Thrace: Ancient Entheogenic Themes in the Mythology and Archeology of Northern Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey Psychedelic Christianity - a scholarly debate a scholarly debate pt. 2 Final Thoughts Tom - “Psychedelics are an excellent way to change your mind and yourself” Magic is a great way to create containers to frame difficult psychedelic experiences. It’s about putting new frames on your reality Links Tom's website Instagram Facebook Youtube Tom's Book Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Tom . Thomas Hatsis is an author, lecturer, and historian of witchcraft, magic, Western religions, contemporary psychedelia, entheogens, and medieval pharmacopeia. In his spare time he visits rare archives, slings elixirs, and coaches roller derby.

Download Key Takeaways Bluebird Botanicals is leading the industry in third-party testing and Lab results, green initiatives and a stand on hemp policy. CBD helps cushion the psychoactive impact of THC on CB1 receptors, making for a less intense ‘high’. Lex has a lot of hope for the 2018 Farm Bill, and believes hemp has widespread uses that will open many market opportunities in the future. Intro Joe interviews Lex Pelger, Science Director of Bluebird Botanicals, a Colorado-based company. They talk about CBD and the issues with the FDA talking about health benefits. The use cases of hemp and drug war are discussed. Who is Lex Pelger? He is a Science Director of Bluebird Botanicals. Lex moves from New York to Colorado. He did a psychedelic storytelling open mic tour (Blue Dot tour) across the USA and it culminated at the MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference. Moved from the hustle of New York to Colorado to have his baby. The Cannabinoid Lex gets excited the more he learns about how intricate the endocannabinoid system is to humans and all mammals Bluebird Botanicals doesn't make any medical claims CDB supports health and homeostasis The cannabinoid system was discovered in the body only 25 years ago Opium and Cannabis were the two oldest plants used in the body There isn't anyone connection for cannabis, because there are so many receptors in the human body There is a ton of research happening on cannabinoids Lex thinks the research ban on phytocannabinoids is unfortunate Cannabis and cannabinoids are the most studied drugs in the US CBD functions as a homeostasis molecule Anandamide was the first endogenous cannabinoid discovered in the human brain in 1991 by a team led by Raphael Mechoulam in Israel Raphael Mechoulam discovered the final structure of THC in 1963 CB1 Receptor in the brain was discovered in 1991 also CB1 Receptor If the CB1 receptors are blocked in a human or animal, they won't get ‘high’ on weed The presence of CBD doesn't allow THC to fully bind to the CB1 receptor, so when CBD is present in THC, you won't get quite as high Lex thinks it's unfortunate that because weed has been in prohibition, it has been bred so hard to only have THC He thinks all weed should have a little bit of CBD to cushion the psychoactive nature of THC The Endocannabinoid System Joe says there is no profile to test the endocannabinoid system to know if a person is deficient or not, that he knows of Lex says if you get your genetic results from a company like 23 and me, it will tell you about your cannabinoid alleles A bad trip to a young brain can damage it forever The activists that annoy Lex are ones that refuse the obvious negatives Weed should not be given to all children The ‘Right to Fly’ Jonathan Thompson - Psychedelic Parenting Blog and Podcast How to create a community on psychedelics Noah Potter - Psychedelic Law Blog An open-source thought experiment in psychedelic law and policy “This plant is tied down by so many regulations” - Lex In the state of Colorado, you can't make new genetics Lousy laws made it hard to diversify the cannabis plant Lex believes Aldous Huxley’s book The Island is the best blueprint for what a sane integration of psychedelics and psychoactive might look like. Lex says people taking mushrooms in the woods together is so special, simply because a group of people is spending 6-8 hours with nature and with each other. Bluebird Botanicals Many different products - isolates, oils, vape juice, and topicals will be back soon Independent Lab Verification Leading the industry with third-party lab results Transparent about ingredients, NO pesticides used! Paired with Eurofins - world’s biggest testing lab Bluebird partners with the farmers, packaging partners, etc to be green and more eco-friendly always CEO Brandon hears about a new point of quality to be added, he goes for it Passed 99% inspection quality, CGMP Lex thinks its so nice to work for a company that focuses on giving back to the customers, focusing on employees, quality, the planet, and just giving back CBD Drug Law Changes in California The regulations restrict being able to add CBD to food, which goes is against the 2014 Federal Farm Bill Bluebird is on the board for the US Hemp Roundtable - Hemp Policy Jonathan Miller - Lawyer of the group and writer to address misinterpretation of the law “It's foolish to have the 1950’s 1960’s mindset of cannabis” - Joe Marijuana vs Hemp Both are cannabis plants Cannabis is the species, THC is more than .3% THC, Hemp is less than .3% THC “If a state inspector comes in and tests 6 samples and the results come up as .4% or .5%, they make you burn it. They don't burn it for you, you have to burn it yourself while you watch.” - Lex Cannabis is tricky to grow for commercial use It takes 3 generations for the plant to get used to the environment “Thank you, farmers, for being farmers” - Joe 2018 Farm Bill Mitch McConnell majority leader of the Senate, is pushing this because he comes from Kentucky, the Hemp state. The Senate version of the Farm Bill is correct, the House version has none of the correct language in it. McConnell and the pro-hemp committee will hash out the differences between the two bills. This Bill expands on all of the rights so it makes it look more enticing and safe for big businesses like Whole Foods and Banks. This bill is going to open up many markets. Hemp as an Industrial Product “What’s really cool about hemp is how widespread the uses are” - Lex The Hemperor, Jack Herer discovered all of the uses for the hemp plant Oil and plastic did win, hemp did not win as a top 10 commodity It’s a hard plant to work within the processing stage Thomas Jefferson stopped growing hemp because the retting stage was too hard on his slaves Hemp is not going to change all the markets it's been said it will transform Lex says hempcrete is fascinating. Using hemp as lubricants, bath bombs, and just the seeds are fascinating uses The Russians and the English fought in a war over access to hemp Hemp is a rope that doesn't get destroyed by saltwater, fueled the world’s Navy Fiber is so important, and hemp as a fiber was widespread Hemp seeds are a perfect mix of essential fatty acids Hemp seed made pigeons breed more Joe says there was a huge tradition of people eating pigeons Agriculture is so bad for topsoil, hemp can help repair our lands for us to keep surviving Hemp is a holy material in Korea Joseph Needham layed out all of China’s inventions and explained that the founders of Daoism had a cannabis-induced ‘dream’ and envisioned the first Daoist school where Yin and Yang came from Lex’s job as a Science Director for Bluebird Lex does a lot of education around CBD, Cannabinoid science conferences His passion for cannabis stems from his grandma’s medical condition He wanted to find a way to describe the cannabinoid system for elders to understand Lex is thankful for groups like Erowid, who sit down and interview our elders Lex tells a story about a man who took LSD in the woods, and fell to the ground and felt one with the trees, felt himself rooting down, and felt complete. He never forgot that feeling Lex thinks that a person should be stable before embarking on a psychedelic journey “Huxley says that therapists are attracted to psychedelics because of their own dark icebergs” - Lex. He thinks that therapists should be A gatekeeper, not THE gatekeeper Joe has been trying to get in touch with Dana Beal who popularized ibogaine “Dana Beal was an old-time, cowboy pot smuggler to fund yippie political activism, outreach, and political activism, so he could make the way that he made money, illegal” - Lex He used the system against itself Cannabis can cause catalepsy in people - which makes one ‘blackout’ 90% of cointel pros were against the Black Panthers Hoover feared them because they were black and he was racist They were extremely effective Lex explains that the war on cannabis has a racist framework, Nixon said “Because black people use cocaine and hippies use cannabis, we can use it against them” Lex goes on to talk about the history of the CIA, which puts its money into drug trade because it's untraceable, they protect the drug lords to use it for their own financial benefit He says the CIA and DEA are inefficient bureaucracies “Our belief at Bluebird, is we have to end the war on drugs. It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on people. The war on drugs is incredibly effective at doing what it was designed to do, and that was to hold, certain people groups down” Joe comments saying that there are babies being born and being brought into this world. He appreciates Bluebird for having proper business practice Final Thoughts Lex finished his Moby Dick Pot books about the endocannabinoid system and the war on drugs He says he based them on Moby Dick because it was the only thing large enough to fit the entire history of cannabis and war on drugs He does the Greener Grass Podcast for Bluebird which includes topics on cannabis and green initiatives. He is also a part of the Psychedelic Salon http://www.lexpelger.com/ https://bluebirdbotanicals.com/

Joe Moore interviews Brian Pace. He studies Evolutionary Ecology, is a science consultant at The Third Wave, and is the director of the project, Mind Manifest Midwest, and instigator of the “Find the Others” project. 3 Key Points: Psychedelics are not just illegal, they are also taboo, and Brian’s efforts are aimed to create spaces that make it more comfortable to talk about psychedelics. Online resources are great, but having local, and real psychedelic societies to create community will help people “come out” and be comfortable talking about their experiences. Brian’s interest evolved from ecology to psychedelics when he realized the issue of global warming. The top environmental problems are selfishness and greed, and changing people’s minds with psychedelics is a big hope for the planet. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community.  Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Getting Involved with The Third Wave Met Paul Austin of The Third Wave at the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance Conference. The conference was foundational in him becoming outspoken about psychedelics. Ibogaine - last resort option for people suffering from addiction. Brian and the team built The Third Wave with the goal to bring the conversation about psychedelics to be more comfortable among the general public. It has been good about building bridges to invite all types of people to the community, not just white males. It's important to be inclusive in this space. Find the Others Started at Psychedelic Science, to talk about what psychedelic societies are. Aware Project by Ashley Booth (www.awareproject.org) Psychedelics are not just illegal, they are also Taboo - Michael Pollan “Were having a cultural hangover from the upheavals we've had in the late 60’s and early 70’s.” - Brian “We can fight taboos when we can have conversations - about that which was taboo - in the grocery store, in the bar, with our parents. I think that's definitely what's needed with psychedelics.” - Brian Had the first psychedelic society meeting at a bar that included a presentation about plant secondary compounds and human health and ended with storytelling. 20% of Americans over the age of 15 have had some experience with psychedelics, 11% with LSD. (source unsure) Mitch Gomez from Dance Safe - more than 50% of the population of the U.S has done illegal compounds at age 15 and up. Psychedelics have taken a big chunk of that number. Cannabis is a great help for football players and traumatic brain injury. “If psychedelics are ever going to be reintegrated meaningfully in society, we are going to need some kind of mentorship.” - Brian Timothy Leary - “You're born with the right to fly”. If you start driving on LSD, you might lose that right. Find the Others, Mind Manifest Midwest, The Third Wave A collaborative project that allows people to speak in their own words what they are doing in their psychedelic societies. Psychedelic Societies are real, local and create community. MDMA for PTSD will be passed at the Federal level very quickly. Evolutionary Ecology Psilocybin - PhD focused on plant secondary compounds. The mycorrhizae network - “the Earth’s natural internet” - Paul Stamets Climate change Consumption - eating meat and driving cars The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy. Changing people’s mindsets with psychedelics could be an only hope. “Given that psychedelics have reliably induced mystical and/or religious experiences in people throughout time and across a variety of contexts, it seems natural that we should start organizing communities that help unpack and contextualize these experiences.” - Brian The status of our society Why do we have to work 55 hours a week to barely afford a 2 bedroom apartment? Guaranteed minimum income - an experiment in other countries. What does our society look like when it is less stressed? Timothy Leary “Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…” Helped create the importance of set and setting. Saw the inside of 36 prisons for possession of marijuana. Link Mind Manifest Midwest Find The Others Project Aware Project   Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Brian Brian Pace, M.S. is a scientist by training and psychonaut by inclination. His interest in biology was piqued acutely as a teenager while experimenting with his own neurochemistry. For more than a decade, Brian has worked on agrobiodiversity, food sovereignty, urban cycling, and climate change in the US and Mexico. Brian is the co-founder of Mind Manifest Midwest (facebook.com/mindmanifestmidwest), a Columbus, Ohio based psychedelic society and the instigator of the Find the Others Project (findtheothersproject.org), a global collaboration of the burgeoning psychedelic society movement. Since 2016, he has contributed as a strategist for The Third Wave (thethirdwave.co). At The Ohio State University, he co-created a graduate-level class entitled: Cannabis: Past, present, and future cultivation for fiber, food, and medicine. He spent a year slogging around oil and wastewater pits left by Chevron-Texaco testing mycoremediation techniques in the Ecuadorian Amazon. All pipelines leak. Plant medicine is indigenous technology. Brian completes his Ph.D. in Plant Evolutionary Ecology this semester at OSU.

In this episode of Psychedelics Today, Kyle and Joe dig into and create conversation over an email received about the cost of psychedelics, the facets of capitalism and about feeling isolated after a psychedelic experience. 3 Key Points: Capitalism in psychedelics is a complex topic and includes factors such as the schooling system, the medical system, monopoly, trade, and other facets that go into the cost of psychedelics. There are other forms of therapy that don’t have to involve psychedelics or lots of money. Feeling isolated after an experience is sometimes our own blockage, by refusing to create community because a person hasn’t had the same experience as us. Psychedelics aren't always needed for a psychedelic experience. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Email concern: Some psychedelic experiences seem segregated by a price bracket. Ketamine Therapy - believed it would help with their depression, but ended up spending a thousand dollars every two weeks. Joe - curious that ketamine lozenges may be a cheaper option that could help. Kyle - although the drug itself may be cheap, you’re not just paying for the lozenges, you're paying for a therapist or a psychiatrist. Kyle - in America, healing is a privilege. We work hard to pay for health insurance, or even if we are insured through work or family, it gets hard to pay for because of the premiums. “I would rather pay for taking care of myself, than going out and partying with friends.” Healing may have to be a choice sadly, you may have to ask yourself “do I want this or do I need this?” Joe - One treatment of ketamine is beneficial for a short-term intervention in an urgent state One session of ketamine therapy helps the user understand the situation clearer and can reduce the thoughts of suicide Kyle - “some of my greatest healing experiences were done through my own work, with myself or with friends” “How do you feel about the resurgence of spirituality and psychedelics and it’s capitalism?” Joe - Going from the states to Peru to do ayahuasca to reach spiritualism isn't the only means of spirituality. There are so many other options than capitalist outlets to find spiritual development. Kyle - “I want to offer a lot of help, and do free workshops, but need money to survive.” Joe - Jokingly “You’re three months behind on your rent Terrence!” A person doesn't need hundreds of trips to be complete and happy, Aldous Huxley says you need three to four strong trips throughout your life. “How do we protect the planet, and how do we maintain freedom?” To talk about Capitalism and psychedelics, we are assuming that something needs to mediate the trade or exchange for therapy. Let’s continue to educate ourselves so that we don’t blame capitalism on the fact that therapy has a cost. It’s a hard conversation to have, it’s a complex topic. Joe - pro-socialized medicine $30,000 for a first responder to take an overdose death away $20-$30 for a Narcan Let’s prevent and heal more. Capitalism does incentivize doctors and healers. Kyle - “how can we use these as tools and not toys?” Medicalization of psychedelics may have a potential tie to capitalism The difference between doing it legally for an extremely high price, versus paying the market price for a gram of mushrooms (illegally) and doing the work (therapy) on your own. Joe - Monopoly=capitalism Kyle - the Education system Student loan debt can be a half a million dollars to be a doctor or therapist That debt plays an effect on how much those doctors or therapists charge “How do you deal with isolationism that certain psychedelic experiences bring forward?” Kyle - “this has been a huge issue in my life, this resonates with me. After having my near-death experience, I didn't know to talk to people, how to function in the world. A near-death experience is one of the most psychedelic things. To slowly slip away and ‘die’, and come back to this place and not feel like this is where I belong, how do I exist here? It can lead to isolation. It can be extremely heavy.” “We're all experiencing this reality through our own lens, so we have to meet people where they are.” The reason these experiences can make us feel lonely is that of the lack of community. Kyle believes in not just constantly going into these experiences, but more about the integration of the experiences. Joe - Tim Leary says “Find the others”. But there are a lot of psychedelic people out there who don't take psychedelics that can be a part of your ‘community’. Kyle - it makes sense to feel like you need to connect with someone who has done psychedelics in order for them to understand, but we can connect with other people who may not have had psychedelic experiences. The psychedelic experience isn't the only way. We can also experience spiritualism and healing without psychedelics, too. Kyle - Experience in Jamaica, the Rastas talking about home and family, “if the oil splashes up and burns me, my family isn't here to help me, but you're here to help me, and you can help me.” The people around me are family, they don't always need to have had experienced the same things as me in order to help me Joe - group strengthens self Robert Anton Wilson’s habit - he would order magazine subscriptions and most subscriptions aligned with his interests, and the other half were of subscriptions way outside of his interests, so he wouldn't develop a bias. Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics"

Download In this episode of Psychedelics Today, Joe interviews Shane LeMaster, Therapist and host of the new Podcast, Conversations with the Mind. In this discussion, we cover personal journeying, changing behavioral processes, Jiu Jitsu and where we are headed as a collective consciousness. 3 Key Points: Psychedelics can be a helpful tool for personal journey work. Each type of psychedelic works as its own tool. They are all useful in their own context and should not be compared to each other as better or worse. Shane has used psychedelic therapy to help rewire past imprinted constructs of his mind to learn new behaviors in his Jiu Jitsu practice and his daily life. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Using Psychedelics for personal journey work How we can enhance growth using these substances Big journey work sessions bring large insights “Recently, I’ve been working on softening my hard edges” Construct – the scared child. Our childhood leaves imprints that effect our behavior as adults. Hyper-masculinity is a result of repressing past issues. Are there different messages after a journey in ketamine versus peyote? Substances produce a different feeling as if there is an “other” or “entity” that sends the messages where with breathwork it’s more of a self realization Drug chauvanism “my drug is better than your drug” “Is lsd worse than mushrooms for spiritual development? Or breathwork? We can’t say yes or no definitively.” -Joe Stan Grof – “why would you do breathwork if you have lsd?” “There is something special about the group work process in breathwork, that deeper sense of connection is hugely valuable.” -Joe Some substances are better when done alone in some circumstances, and substances used in a community setting as better for different circumstances. We have a choice in which tool “You can’t build a house with just a hammer. If lsd is a hammer and ketamine is a saw, you can’t say a hammer is better than a saw, they are both essential.” Ketamine in Fort Collins, CO Dr. Scott Shannon Shane Therapist, making great changes but small changes, looking to make a greater impact through social work, helping people to better themselves. Interest in mindfulness, positivity interventions, helping people see their power to fix their own issues The changing landscape of how we understand consciousness DMT vape pens Make it more convenient for the consumer Democratizes the experience, knocks down barriers to be able to have a profound experience Podcasts – creating conversation about a shift in consciousness Elon musk – our intelligence is heightened through proper use of the cell phone Stan Grof – technology of the sacred (ex. Breathwork) Tim Leary – “hedonic engineering” how to live a maximally more pleasurable life Positive psychology meets wearable technology – developing the steps to the most enjoyable life Tim Ferriss twitter feed - “Creation is a better means of self expression than possession, it is through creating not possessing that life is revealed.” “Be a creative force in the universe, it feels so good to create, and bring something to fruition, and share it with everybody, not to possess it.” -Shane Conversations with the mind – Shane’s podcast “One mind having a conversation with another mind. Two minds interacting, sharing knowledge, sharing distress, sharing solution, and adding the sum of the two parts coming together, and sharing it with the collective mind.” - Shane on the purpose behind his podcast Guests on the show How psychedelics help in jiu jitsu PhD credential people PTSD patients Advice from Stan Grof 30-60 days without alcohol is needed before using Breathwork for therapy when treating alcoholism Analogy – default brain behavior like sledding down a hill, we always choose the same route. With psychedelics, it helps us see a new route. You stand up, and for the first time, you look up and take a 360 degree turn and see so many new routes that you have the choice to take. Analogy used to reprocesses trauma, brings new options to think about the experience differently Microdosing helps bring out new patterns of behavior to learn new skills “In wrestling, the last place you want to be is on your back, that’s when you get pinned, that’s when you lose a match. In jiu jitsu, being in your back is a good place to be, because there’s a lot of options from there. So I had to unlearn the fear of being on my back. It’s all about retraining my neural pathways, retraining my thinking.” -Shane Jiu Jitsu It’s been said, earning a black belt is as much time and effort as earning a PhD The transferable skills of Jiu Jitsu can be used in therapy, breathwork and integrating psychedelic experiences. It’s all consciousness work. Link www.mind-ops.com Conversations with the Mind - Shane's podcast https://anchor.fm/shane-lemaster Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Shane Shane earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO, completed extensive coursework towards a Master of Arts Degree in Sport & Performance Psychology at the University of Denver, and earned his Master of Arts Degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology from Argosy University. Shane is nationally certified as a Sport Psychology Consultant and a licensed mental health clinician in the state of Colorado.  Having worked in community non-profit mental health since 2008, Shane has gained experience working with the entire spectrum of mental disorders and with all populations and age groups.  Shane plans on attending a Ph.D program in Counseling Psychology where his interest in Resiliency, Mental Toughness, and Mindfulness Training Program Development can be explored and further developed. He is a life-long athlete having competed at various levels in more than a dozen different sports.  Because of his passion for warrior cultures of past and present, Shane has been ardently developing his own “Warriorship,” training in various forms of Martial Arts for 25 years.  Shane feels that the self-discipline, the philosophy of non-violence, the innumerable mental and physical benefits, and the enjoyment that he gains from the Martial Arts is what helped drive his passion in the field of Psychology. His personal interest in Eastern Philosophy stems from his adoption of a Buddhist lifestyle and blends well with his training in Western Psychological Science.  Clients describe Shane as an out-of-the-box clinician that is easy to get along with, knowledgeable on a variety of topics, credible with lived experience, and as having the ability to make therapy fun and interesting.

Download In this episode, Joe Moore interviews Mike from the podcast "End of the Road". Its a great podcast covering psychedelic and spiritual topics that are probably of interest to you. Mike is an attorney and he joins us to share some insights around patent law in the psychedelic space. Kyle and Joe were even feature on the show a few months back. Disclaimer - This interview is for informational purposes only, not for obtaining legal advice. “Opinions expressed by me, at my own only, and not my firms.” 3 Key Points: Patent law is worth understanding and shouldn't be ignored in our current psychedelic era. It can be used to help protect inventions and innovations that took time and money to develop. Patents aren't all bad. They can help protect the small guy as well and large corporations. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community.  Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes Patent on Ayahuasca 1986 Boston College Law review article (source) Warren Miller, scientist and entrepreneur obtained a patent on a strain of ayahuasca vine. 400 indigenous tribes challenged the validity of the patent. Controversy over the patent created hostility between Ecuador and US. Patent criteria A patent must be a process, machine, or manufacture or composition of matter. A patent does not depend on whether a composition of matter is living or non-living, but rather that it is altered and is not a naturally occurring substance. Taking a plant from South America, and not altering it should not receive a patent. Organizations owning a genome? Transgenic modification – able to be patented Plant patent – specific category Psilocybin Compass pathways – applied for a patent for growing psilocybin – “good manufacturing practice” global standard for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, know your dose each time, etc Compass Pathways applied for a British patent called the “Preparation for Psilocybin” FDA requires that you meet certain standards when you test a product for purity. Trying to patent a pure form of psilocybin. “Non naturally occurring” Using the patent as justification to cover the cost for FDA trials. Group of scientists who created a statement on open practice – 4 point manifesto. (Ram Dass supports it) Trying to make it non-capitalistic – so no one can create a monopoly on it. Full rights can bring the risk of unfair pricing moves Martin Shkreli – marked up a life-saving drug by 3000x Previous groups have decades of open sharing. Compass does not have the same origins Scare – Compass marks up psilocybin. Could be unethical things happening within Compass, but not much journalism done here yet. Once a patent is made, harder to make a similar patent. Broad-based patents make it harder to create further patents down the line since they have to be novel or significantly different and precisely new The process Compass is trying to patent is not the only way to produce GMP psilocybin, there are many other ways. May pull a move that gives them special access to administer Paul Stamets – psilocybin patent application Using psilocybin and niacin for neural regeneration – a neural regenerated composition  based upon constituents isolated from or contained within mushroom fruit bodies or psilocybin or the corresponding synthetic molecules combined with niacin Google patents – US PTO 154914503 filing date April 23, 2017, another in 2018 Claims - Mushrooms have improved memory, cognition, motor skills, complex computer coding challenges, hearing, sensory, vision, learning, promote neurogenesis. Therapeutic applications of psilocybin. A broad patent that covers a large variety of application for using psilocybin therapeutically, not approved yet. Probably would capitalize on the patent. Keen for data sharing and being public with his work. Previous patent: Pesticide replacement – fungi that infects ants and brings them back to their homes. More effective than pesticide. Good he applied for a patent – it would mean that it wouldn’t block people from accessing it or developing their own Andrew Chadeayne – inventor and patent attorney Has psilocybin patent update blog Applied for patents in the psilocybin space Monopoly law If there is a popular drug used in the market, a drug company wanting to capitalize – it will cover all their bases with a patent Daniel Pinchbeck – theories that could work (Marxist society) Cuba – healthcare model – government funds certain health care practices for the public good/applications that the US would not. A model that Marxists could use to get these products on the market vs capitalist model The basic idea of patents: Inventor – creates a patent to protect the invention, not to dominate the market. International Administration of Ketamine to treat Depression – Yale Method for treating depression University of California – scientists using “compounds for increasing neural plasticity”non-hallucinogenic catalog of psychedelic compounds Novel devices for administration Intranasal or inhalant administration method for THC, ketamine, etc. SYQE – developed method of a delivery subject for Patent Protection Full spectrum whole plant extract – different from a vaporizer Pctil 2015 050676 Syqemedical.com Smoking – route of administration dosing precision standard is 30%, their dose delivery is at 70% Tel Aviv Israel – producing the lowest price per gram in the world of cannabis    All cannabis being researched in the country must come from one specific facility – set the US back German patent – synthetic ayahuasca DE201610014603 Open source model Common law copyright and trademark protection Laws changed in 2013 – first to file the patent first, gets the invention Important to get patent protection early in the process Provisional, and non-provisional patent. Provisional gives a year grace period to file non-provisional without all of the details of the full application. Infusion pump technology – method of delivery (ex. DMT) controls the level of a substance in the blood for an undefined, extended period of time. Insulin pumps – monitor and deliver Raspberry pie devices – can buy a computer and program it to do specific functions. Ex. automated brewing system with temp controls. DMTx – same computer could be programmed and applied to control the levels of DMT in the bloodstream Joe Rogan and Elon Musk on a podcast – space travel and psychedelics talk Peter Theil -  Hyper capitalist. Super rich. Book: Zero to One. Make a product 10,000 times better than the competition, so that they will buy it. (Soft monopoly) Tim Ferris – most billionaires he interviewed claim they have had substantial psychedelic experiences. Patent activity Adding cannabinoids to beer, etc. Huge market opportunity for cannabis. Links End of the Road Podcast - iTunes End of the Road Podcast - LibSyn Skqe Medical Paul Stamets Patent - Compositions and methods for enhancing neuroregeneration and cognition by combining mushroom extracts containing active ingredients psilocin or psilocybin with erinacines or hericenones enhanced with niacin Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Mike Exploring the Horizons we never touch, because we are already there....with Michael. Mike is a patent lawyer with a long history in trial law. He has a great podcast that you should check out - End of the Road  

Download In this episode, Joe Moore interviews Marisa Novy, a wonderful psychedelic artist living and working in Breckenridge, Colorado who has been helping Psychedelics Today with some awesome art and more. 3 Key Points: Harm reduction was top notch at Shambhala but the festival could have done a bit more. Early psychedelic experiences added substantial depth to her yoga practice and art. Marisa has helped us at Psychedelics Today a ton and we are very excited to keep working with her. Show Notes Martian Curiosities - Instagram Shambhala Festival in BC An electronic music festival with different producers coordinating music and art for each stage. No alcohol is allowed at the festival. Almost promoted as a psychedelic-friendly festival. The biggest win for the festival this year - no fentanyl found in any of the drugs tested. Marisa's favorite part about Shambhala is the people/community. Shambhala provides harm reduction/drug testing services. Drug testing is done by ANKORS. ANKORS also provides drug safety information. Drug testing helps to clean up the scene because people understand what is found in their substances. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcEoMUYtug4] Drug testing is illegal or not allowed in the United States Marisa did some outreach for Psychedelics Today at Shambhala festival to promote drug safety, harm reduction, and our course Navigating Psychedelics   Marisa's favorite artists at Shambhala CharlestheFirst  Liquid Strangers DeFunk  Marisa's introduction to psychedelics Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson What would it look like if festivals provided integration services to help process the overall festival experience? Links Shambhala Festival Marisa's site Martian Curiosities Marisa on Instagram Etsy Shop Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Marisa Novy I am Marisa, a 24 year old explorer of consciousness and purpose of life. I graduated UW-Milwaukee with a BBA in Marketing and International Business with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship. I grew up making art, and for the most part, I am constantly creating. I have my own small creative business for my artwork at MARtianCuriosities on Etsy, and @martiancuriosities on Instagram for more consulting projects. I became interested in Psychedelics after reading some cosmic literature, delving deeper into my yogic practice, and through my search for meaning and enlightenment. Psychedelics have helped my creativity to blossom and to be my truest self.  

Download In this episode of Psychedelics Today we interview Emanuel Sferios, founder of DanceSafe and host of the new Drug Positive Podcast. The discussion mainly revolves around what "drug positive" means, MDMA, and harm reduction. 3 Key Points: The history of MDMA is different than we have been taught. MDMA is quite safe and the harms are very low. Risk reduction is a more appropriate term at times.  Emanuel is positive that his early drug experiences substantially helped improve his life. Show Notes There is an largely unknown history of MDMA. Sasha Shulgin apparently was not the first to synthesize it in the modern era. He created a new synthesis method. MDMA was the first designer drug in a sense. MDA became illegal and chemists decided to change the molecule Manuel Noriega of Panama used MDMA at least once and gave permission to some chemists to manufacture in Panama shortly before the US invasion. Harms from MDMA are quite minimal and small. Parents who have lost a child can be natural allies to the drug positive movement. Best practices for drug testing MDMA and Cocaine. It is going to be really hard to convince the public to legalize drugs other than cannabis.   About Emanuel Sferios Emanuel Sferios is an activist, educator and harm reduction advocate. Founding DanceSafe in 1998 and starting the first laboratory pill analysis program for ecstasy users that same year (now hosted at Ecstasydata.org), Emanuel pioneered MDMA harm reduction services in the United States. His MDMA Neurochemistry Slideshow has been viewed over 30 million times and remains a primary educational resource for physicians, teachers, drug abuse prevention counselors and MDMA users alike. Emanuel resigned from DanceSafe in 2001 and went on to work in other areas of popular education and harm reduction. He has recently come back as a volunteer. Oh! And he’s making a movie. Links Drug Positive Independent - Meet the Man Who Wants your to Him him Legalise MDMA DanceSafe - Wiki DanceSafe MDMA The Movie  

Download Introduction During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your host Kyle Buller interviews Robin Kurland-West, a licensed marriage and family therapist based out of California. Kyle and Robin chat about challenges and other questions in regard to providing psychedelic integration services. Psychedelic integration is a new territory, and there are plenty of questions to still answer and cover. Show Notes Psychedelic Support Psychology Today About Robin Kurland-West She offers integration services through her therapy practice. Robin had questions about how to create an introduction practice and how to follow up. She was licensed in 2010 and graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2006. About a year ago she decided to do a karma cleanse and began to talk to a friend about psychedelics. Her friend sent her a podcast that spoke to her. She was doing some shadow work and dealing with her addiction experiences. She said a prayer over the psilocybin and was open to what it would show her. A spirit appeared and the forest started sending her messages. It was a female spirit and used two trees to illustrate the inside of her brain. It taught her that her mind was holding onto negative beliefs. She taught her that she needed to let go, that it was “all so absurd.” What has been the difference between experimenting in college vs. doing the work as an adult? In college, it was seen as a party drug. She had a hard time having conversations with people. She doesn’t see it as a party drug anymore, it’s something that you honor. She now views it as a medicine that heals parts that have been cut off. Having had a history of addiction, some people are afraid psychedelics might be addictive. Psychedelics are non-addictive because other drugs are about escaping, and psychedelics are about being fully present. What is integration work for you and how do you approach it? This is new territory for her after having her own experience. She joined a network called the psychedelic support network. Because it’s not yet legal, it’s a bit of a struggle. She offers pre and post ritual services. People meet with her and do a pretty thorough assessment. They set the intention for the experience. Afterward they look at what some of the messages were and how to incorporate it into their daily lives. Do you help with dosage? She focuses more on intention setting because she’s still new at this. She refers people to resources to help with other things. Is there a therapeutic approach you use with people? She uses expressive arts therapy to tap into the unconscious and subconscious. She always uses family systems, there’s usually a root to behavior. She uses CBT and DBT. She uses journaling and narrative therapy. It’s an opportunity to rewrite your story - a new perspective to an old story. She uses mandala work and drawing. She has them stand up and move around. Utilizing movement to integrate is huge. After having her profound experience with psychedelics, she finds it to be a warm blanket she can reach for to remind you that things are different now. What type of challenges have you had providing integration services to people? She wants to know how soon she should see a client after they start on this journey. How many times should she see a client after, and how many times? It could be more individual. She started to do psychotherapy to go deep and heal. It’s possible to put your medical license at risk by providing certain services. She can’t sit with people when they have their experience and has to be clear that it’s a decision that they’re making. She has to detach herself from a lot of it. She likes the idea of immediacy in following up with clients. She sees a client 3-4 times beforehand to make sure they’re healthy enough and set intention. Afterward she wants to see them soon so they can hold onto the gold they discovered in the journey. How do you choose the right psychedelic experience for a person? The idea of doing a diagnosis to find out what will work is tricky. Throw it back on the person to see what they’re looking for. It’s not a scary experience, but you want to make sure you’re with someone who’s trained. There’s a couple that wants to come in and do integration therapy together. She wants to meet with them individually and together beforehand. People are in therapy to discover themselves and they might find something different than they’ve been looking for. How do you approach people who think integration specialists can get them drugs or be a guide during experiences? She says it isn’t about her telling them to use illicit drugs and she doesn’t do drugs with them or hook them up. The difference between integration therapy and a guide: A guide is someone you trust who sits with you. An integration therapist is just pre and post where she’s not involved in the drug. Have you had any clients reach out trying to integrate a really difficult experience? Not yet, but she’s looking forward to it. She would ask questions about what they saw and felt. She would bring in the arts to map it out and they can look at it together. You can have a psychedelic experience without having psychedelics. Is there anything you’re looking forward to with clients? In traditional therapy right now, she’s coming up against blockage in some of her clients. She sees a lot of people being stuck, and that’s the hardest part. She’s excited to see the light turn back on in people’s eyes and see them be healed. She wants to see people be present with themselves and each other so they can have a fuller life. How do you approach therapy and coaching? She just does the psychotherapy, asking questions. She appeals to a clients inner resources. Do you do any online work? She only does in-person work, every once in a while she does a phone session. She works holistically, so people don’t just focus on the mind, also the body and the spirit. Do you get people reaching out from all over the place? Yes, because her name is on the psychedelic support list. She filled out an application and had some correspondence with the organization. What are some of your favorite podcasts and resources? The Psychedelic Salon Podcast Episode Quotes I don’t see psychedelics as a party drug anymore, it’s something that you honor, a medicine. I like to see my clients soon after their experience so they can hold onto the gold they discovered on their journey. People are in therapy to discover themselves and they might find something different than they’ve been looking for. Resources Mentioned So, You Want to Find a Psychedelic Guide - Article Psychedelics Today Episode with Katherine MacLean Joe Rogan Experience interviewing Amber Lyon 8 Common Psychedelic Mistakes Course Erowid Archive The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide - Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More About Robin Kurland-West, LMFT Robin Kurland-West received her license in 2010. Prior to becoming licensed she has worked in non profit agencies and inpatient recovery centers as clinical director, supervisor and lead therapist. Through this journey she has focused her expertise on trauma and addictions. Currently Robin has a private practice in the Sacramento area and works with individuals, families, couples and groups. Her passion to explore consciousness and the healing potential of psychedelics has been prominent through out and is committed to making a difference with those suffering from PTSD and addictions through the use of plant medicines and psychedelic integration therapy.

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your host Kyle Buller interviews Duli Wilkins, aka the “Beantown Ghetto Shaman” about his work and future plans. In this conversation, Kyle talks to Duli about his work with sacred plant medicines, how he got involved in this type of work, and also explore the topic of people of color and diversity in the psychedelic world. Show Notes About Duli Wilkins He’s from the Boston area born and raised. He gives credit to his parents for getting him into what he’s into right now. His dad used to play jazz music and met a bunch of famous musicians. He learned that sound and frequency can be used as a tool for healing. He lived between two warring projects. A lot of his friends got into the gang life. He got heavily into Tai Chi and Chi Kung. He became a multi-dimensional healer He had a friend who gave him a mushroom and that’s when the magic begins. How did everything begin for Duli? His empathic abilities heightened more when he used cannabis. He started getting deeper into the teachings of Rastafarians. In the black community, you didn’t see a lot of people using psychedelics. Using a mushroom was very new to him. Duli's experience with mushrooms? At first he just felt some tingling and checked on his friend looking at the painting. He started to see things happen before they were happening. He was seeing the fabric of reality. He started having out of body experience and heard drumming from the heavens. "What was it like for you to be involved in this work when the people around you aren’t?" Things are changing, more people across the globe are becoming aware of the benefits of teaching plants. A lot of people report seeing ancestors that have passed away. There’s a resistance to psychedelics in the black community because of the history of drugs. It was easy for the government to shut down everyone but their own children. We have to be patient and time will bring things to the surface. Discussion about the pharmaceutical system. It’s great when you have a broken bone, etc. The pharmaceutical establishment is a business and it runs like a business. When we deal with ancestral memory or epigenetics the medical industry can’t touch it. Safety in a teaching plant ceremony is key. Discussion about the dark night of the soul. Work in the shadow is important if you want to become whole. We’re all walking around with trauma. He’s had a lot of past life experiences, even one where his son died very young. It takes a lot of courage to try psychedelics and you have to have a good setting. "Do you see a lot of spiritual bypassing?" Yes, people try to hide behind things. Some people hide behind the psychedelics. Psychedelics and teaching plants are tools, how are you using the tools? When we deal with wealthy people, maybe it’s the lack of struggle to obtain psychedelics. There’s much more to us and as time goes by we’re going to have disclosure. Duli talks about some experiences with extraterrestrials during psychedelic trips. We’re going through cycles and making the same mistakes every time. Last words? Find him on Facebook under @abdukwilkins Find him on YouTube under The Beantown Ghetto Shaman Sign up for our free online course     Episode Quotes Something inside me said, I should take the mushroom and that was the gateway to shamanism. Things are changing, more people across the globe are becoming aware of the benefits of teaching plants. We have to have a re-education and awareness around teaching plants. About Duli Wilkins,  a.k.a Duli Tha Beantown G.H.E.T.T.O    Abdul K. Wilkins a.k.a Duli Tha Beantown G.H.E.T.T.O (Gifted. Hearts. Equal. Towards. Total. Oneness) Shaman is a Boston Native...He grew up in the Inner City of Roxbury where he overcame an environment of gang street violence, neighborhood drug abuse, and police brutality! Duli was influenced at a young age by both of his parents in the interest of spirituality, mysticism, natural healing etc. While attending College at Northeastern University he had a very mystical experience with psilocybin mushrooms and has been using mushrooms and other psychedelics as a tool for healing and conscious awareness ever since! He is a father of 2 and does massage therapy and natural healings in his community!

Download Kyle and Joe interview Robert Forte who has been around the psychedelic world for decades as a writer, facilitator and researcher. He has known or has worked with most of the biggest names in psychedelic history including Dr. Stanislav Grof and Timothy Leary among others. The interview covers a lot of ground and will likely ruffle some feathers. Robert has extensively studied the history of psychedelics and has drawn some conclusions about the origins of the field. Psychedelics as Weapons From the early days, scientists have been working with psychedelics to weaponize them. From project artichoke to MK Ultra, the US government and many foreign governments have spent a tremendous amount of effort researching these powerful compounds and likely still are. Robert states that various governments particularly the United States government have groups that are using drugs to derange the public to make it easier for these groups to meet their desired outcomes - less democracy, increased plutocratic power, etc. Think Brave New World and Brave New World Revisitied. Deranged from Miriam Webster: 1: mentally unsound : crazy2: disturbed or disordered in function, structure, or condition My leg was propped up on a library chair at the time, as it was too deranged to bend.3: wildly odd or eccentric He makes a compelling argument, but we want you the listener and reader to "Think for Yourself and Question Authority". That was a Leary line that we think is valuablein situations like this. Read books on the subject, question the purpose behind them, think critically and see where you want to go with it. After recording this interview Joe Moore read the amazing and comprehensive 2016 history The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government. The book filled in some gaps for me (Joe) but didn't really change my mind much on the topic of psychedelics specifically. Please enjoy the episode and if you want to discuss it, please join us at our facebook group here. Links & Show Notes    Colin Ross - Researcher Psychiatrist John Potash | Drugs as Weapons Against Us MK Ultra - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra Acid Hype -American News Media and the Psychedelic Experience (History of Communication)   Henry Luce Theodore Shackley - CIA Officer Reinhard Galen Samuel Russell - Russell Trust opium \ skull and bones Brave new world revisited - https://www.huxley.net/bnw-revisited/ Entheogens and the Future of Religion The Devil's Chessboard Allen Dulles 10 Global Businesses That Worked with the Nazis http://www.businesspundit.com/10-global-businesses-that-worked-with-the-nazis/2/ JP Morgan Bank complicit in financial crimes in WWII The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade Mossad Israeli Mafia One Nation Under God: The Triumph of the Native American Church  J. Tony Serra (born December 30, 1934) is an American civil rights lawyer, activist and tax resister from San Francisco - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Serra  About Robert Forte James Fadiman calls Robert Forte, “a major but not well known hero of the psychedelic movement.”  A scholar, editor, publisher, professor, researcher of the subject for over 3 decades, Forte has come to some disturbing realizations about the psychedelic renaissance that he helped to start.  Huston Smith called his first book, Entheogens and the Future of Religion, “the best single inquiry into the religious significance of chemically occasioned mystical experience that has yet appeared.” Forte was introduced to psychedelics in 1980 by Frank Barron, who initiated Timothy Leary and started the Harvard Psilocybin Project with him. From the University of California Forte was invited to Esalen to study with Stanislav Grof, before going to the University of Chicago to study the history and psychology of religion under Mircea Eliade. Over the years Forte has worked closely with many of the most prominent leaders of the psychedelic movement, including R. G. Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Alexander Shulgin, Claudio Naranjo, and many others. His early MDMA research in 1981-85 turned on 100s of people to this new medicine. Though this project led to the creation of MAPS, Forte is a vocal critic of MAPS government collusion and deceptive policies. His second book is a rounded view of Timothy Leary, Outside Looking In:  Appreciations, Castigations, Reminiscences.  He first experienced ayahuasca in 1988, and conducted ayahuasca research with cancer patients in Peru, yet he is now suspicious of the globalizing of ayahuasca as an form of “spiritual colonialism.”   He is a enthusiastic supporter of conscious, independent psychedelic healing and recreation, and an equally fierce opponent of  psychedelics for mind control, profiteering, and social engineering by political and economic elites.

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, Kyle Buller interviews Dr. Richard Grossman, an ayahuasca ceremony facilitator and expert with a background in healing and acupuncture. Episode Quotes I find mystical poetry to be an amazing aid in ceremony work. Is it the vision or the emotion that you feel and then the vision comes? In my work, the psychedelic experience is about going beyond the visionary state. The core of all creation is in the heart and breath.   Show Notes About Dr. Richard Grossman Has a long background in healing. He used to be a macrobiotic chef. Primeval meditations and licensed acupuncturist. Works with ayahuasca and San Pedro. How did Richard get involved in ayahuasca? A friend brought some up from Peru and his life changed in one night. It took him years as an acupuncturist learning more about healing. He’s been doing this for about thirty years. Do you integrate your acupuncture practice into ceremony? Not so much with ayahuasca - that’s done traditionally. He had a lot of experience with the Shipibo Tradition. With the San Pedro method, the body change happens in one day. Opinions on psychedelic visions. Many people want them and they’re a distraction. The real thing is that the source of everything is within. If a person can experience that for an instant, their life changes. There are a lot of things happening on subtle levels. The psychonaut and healing processes are quite different. What are some examples of ideas you’ve seen in the psychedelic community? People trying to draw in gods and goddesses. You need to see how deep a human being can go, it’s an infinite journey. What is it like to go deeper and deeper? If you can imagine a series of curtains parting over and over and over again. You begin to see places of illusion. During one of his trips, he visualized himself in a Nazi concentration camp. A voice told him to trust and forgive. He began to question what forgiveness and trust mean. Some people are seeking spirituality and not really healing within. Ayahuasca tourism is a fairly good thing, rather than people coming and ruining the jungle. How would you define a healing process? It’s a complex subject, he likes the idea of a series of concentric circles. Do you work with a person’s energy? People get very relaxed. If there is someone who can’t get relax he calms them with acupuncture. Do you think intoxicants affects the chi? San Pedro or ayahuasca are not considered intoxicants. He sees that ayahuasca is only good for the body. Psilocybin has a rough effect on the liver. The tannins in ayahuasca are valuable and bind toxins in the body. Do you have to worry about any cardiovascular problems? It is a stimulant so he screens people before doing the ceremony. Beauty is a healing process, beauty heals. Is there anything you’re excited about in the psychedelic world? When the community comes together to heal it’s powerful. We’re all going to a place of more love, peace, joy, and healing. What’s the outcome of thousands of people experiencing love and joy? What’s the ayahuasca ceremony structure? Constant music, keeping things from going totally wonky. There’s a point in the ceremony that it could go in either direction: Total group insanity or total group healing. Iowaska ceremonies can be dangerous. It’s something to be respected with its own spirit. You must hold close to the traditions of generations. There’s always a point during the ceremony where he feels it’s the most important and beautiful place he’s ever been. Drama’s not necessary, our culture wants the drama. We need to outgrow externalizing the blame. Life in our heart is meant to be enjoyed. Suffering to heal just doesn’t work. Culture seems to dwell on suffering, is that conditioning? The worst thing a human can possibly do is feeling guilty. "Guilt can’t fly and God wants you to fly." The nature of reality is joy and love. You need to be willing to let go of the things that don’t work. Psychedelics can be used as a guiding light. Any final advice, events? Find him on his website or on Facebook. Heartfeather.com - Dr. Richard Grossman’s website. Don’t stop, just keep going. Sign up for our free course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Richard Grossman, L.AC., O.M.D., Ph.D.     Richard Grossman studied Oriental Medicine at the California Acupuncture College in Los Angeles and received his post-graduate acupuncture training in Beijing, in a course sponsored by the World Health Organization and attended by physicians from around the world. He earned a Masters in Acupuncture, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine degree, a Ph.D. in Oriental Medicine, a Diplomat in Acupuncture, a Diplomat of Pain Management, and a Diplomat in Acupuncture Orthopedics.

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your hosts Joe Moore and Kyle Buller interview Dr. Monnica Williams from the University of Connecticut and Dr. Will Siu a psychiatrist IN private practice based in Manhattan,  and a therapist on MAPS’s MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD clinical trials at the University of Connecticut. They join us to discuss race-based trauma, people of color in psychedelics, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Show Notes About Dr. Will Siu He’s a psychiatrist and therapist on the MDMA for PTSD clinical trials with the supervision of Dr. Monnica Williams. Based in NYC and has a private practice. Does some work in emergency psychiatry at a local hospital. About Dr. Monnica Williams Associate professor at the University of Connecticut. Does graduate teaching and multicultural psychology and research in the health center. Currently doing a study on MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.  What is race-based trauma? There had been some studies previously. When people become traumatized by experiences of racism, oppression, marginalization based on their perceived identity. Often because of ongoing experiences, like microaggressions Eventually, people have so many of these experiences that they start to have symptoms of PTSD. People get so distressed and afraid that they act in a way that might harm them. You have to think about trauma in a non-single event way. Exploring the topic epigenetics. Trauma has been passed down from generation to generation. Layer epigenetics on top of what’s currently going on and trauma is understandable. How has recruiting been going for the MDMA study? It’s challenging, they’re not drawing from the same population the other sites are. They’re creating a culturally safe, welcoming environment for people of color. There is fear and misinformation that requires them to do a lot of education on the front end. Research abuses haven’t stopped, they’re still continuing today. Psychedelic drugs are almost exclusively used by white people. Are there any big problems you’re trying to tackle now in prepping the study? Traditionally there has been no compensation for study participants, but it’s needed for this study. Another layer is paying via direct deposit vs. cash and getting the university on board. How do you send someone back into the trauma you’re trying to heal. How do you support people in the study? Support them as much as possible during the study. Continue to follow-up with people after the treatment is over. There is a lack of people of color in the therapy field, especially MAPS. Often people of color don’t have a good experience with white therapists. Why do you think there aren’t very many people of color in psychedelics? People of color haven’t had the same advantages to become therapists. It’s not safe to talk about substances when your license is on the line. Culturally, psychedelics haven’t played as big of a role with people of color. What does an ideal training model look like for you? Watching the videos of people getting well was a big game changer. The training needs a fuller understanding of what people from other ethnic and cultural groups need. Monica is altering the training to be more relatable. Talk about enrollment. They have people at all different stages right now. They have about 18 people total who have gone through the stages. They still have to follow the guidelines of an indexed trauma to be accepted. How big is your team right now? Three therapist pair teams. A few other people who assist in various ways. Several people are doing double-duty. How can the psychedelic community be more inclusive of people of color? Make some close friends who are not white. Do you have any fantasy projects you’d like to see play out? Start a master’s program with a specialty track in minority mental health and psychedelic therapy. All scholarships for people of color. Any advice you’d give to a young person or professional? There’s a lot of work to be done and we need enthusiastic minds. Change won’t happen overnight or be easy, but it’s worth it. Be involved in the community Episode Quotes The psychedelic community is a very, very white community - most people of color haven’t had an experience with psychedelics. Ultimately, psychedelics and psychotherapy will be an accepted, licensed form of treatment. About Monnica Williams    Monnica Williams, Ph.D. is a board-certified, licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapies. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut, and Director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities. She is also the Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic, LLC in Mansfield, Connecticut, and she has founded clinics in Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Will Siu, MD, DPhil I grew up in southern California, where I completed college at UC Irvine and medical school at UCLA. Midway through medical school, I pursued research interests at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC and ultimately completed a doctoral degree at the University of Oxford. After finishing medical school I moved to Boston to complete my psychiatry residency at the Massachusetts General and McLean Hospitals, after which I continued to work for two years while faculty at Harvard Medical School. I moved to New York City in 2017 where in addition to having a private practice, I am a therapist on clinical trials using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD.

Download This is a great episode featuring Daniel Greig. He is a student at the University of Toronto and psychedelic community organizer working with CSSDP and the Toronto Psychedelic Society. We go all over the map but some notable things discussed on this episode including: Measuring wisdom Mindfulness The promise of psychedelics Future research opportunities How friendly the University of Toronto is to psychedelic research Interesting philosophical overlaps with psychedelics and occultism and much more!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y5qB-fgWV4 Quotes We’re very much detached from our own traditions here in the west. Just imagining practicing something can have just as much of an effect of your performance than actually practicing it. You have to bring your insights back into the community to be an effective member of society. There’s a strong relationship between wisdom and psychedelics. Without intervention, life will tend toward suffering. Links - Daniel Grieg Youtube - Daniel Grieg Academia.edu Relevance realizing https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00814/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00100/full Wisdom - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/wisdom https://www.academia.edu/1762150/A_route_to_well-being_intelligence_vs._wise_reasoning http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550616652206 http://www.wisdompage.com/Ardelt01.html Development Lines - Ken Wilbur Wiki Marta Kaczmarczyk Entity Contact   Paper: Mental Imagery: Functional Mechanisms and Clinical Applications   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmGNhDUe19M&t=7319s

Download   In this 94th episode of Psychedelics Today, host Joe Moore interviews Dr. Benjamin Malcolm, professor of pharmacy at the Western University School of Pharmacy. The discussion revolves around ibogaine, alkaloids, and addiction therapy solutions.   Show Notes: Dr. Benjamin Malcolm discusses psychedelic alkaloids that have potential to treat                addictions. When conducting human subjects research, it’s a good idea to at least    run it past an IRB. There are risks involved in taking in ibogaine that can be used to treat addiction. For people age 18-24, opiates are a major cause of death. Holistic House teaches addicts heath habits for treatment. Ibogaine is still an unregulated area. 2CB haven’t had that many research studies. Surveys tend to have a bit of bias, often given to supportive subjects to begin with. Mescaline, San Pedro, and peyote appears to lack research. There is going to be a need to potentially or switch between traditional therapeutic   modalities and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies.

In this episode of Psychedelics Today, host Kyle Buller interviews Alyssa Gursky, a Masters student at Naropa University with a focus in mental health counseling and transpersonal art therapy. Their discussion dives into the intersection between art therapy, transpersonal art, and psychedelics. Ketamine, symbols, and meaning are also areas of this interview. 3 Key Points: Alyssa Gursky has been working with the MDMA research In Boulder, Colorado and now in Fort Collins for the last three years as a night attendant. Creating art is a gift from our unconscious, to be able to see what is happening within ourselves. There is art in therapy and there is art as therapy. More at: www.psychedelicstoday.com Navigating Psychedelics: psychedelicstoday.teachable.com/p/navigatingpsychedelics

Introduction In this episode of Psychedelics Today, host Joe Moore and Kyle Buller interview Matt Pallamary, and have a discussion with him about his writing, research, and ayahuasca experiences. He also shares his concerns about self-proclaimed gurus and some issues that have been emerging because of the popularity of ayahuasca. 3 Key Points: Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury was a mentor of Matt Pallamary. There are pros and cons to ayahuasca shamanism in Peru. The more in touch with the natural world you are the more balanced you are. Show Notes Matt Pallamary was part of the early psychedelics podcast scene. Matt grew up in Dorchester near Boston, and he began early experiences with sniffing glue, weed, and getting acid from a chemist from M.I.T.. He has almost 20 years experience with ayahuasca. Too many people have a couple of ayahuasca experiences and claim to be a guru. Famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury was a mentor of Matt Pallamary. Everything is energy—the whole universe exists between our eyes. Matt labels shamans as the first storytellers, the first musicians, the first performers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and first performers. Being in touch with the natural world makes a person more balanced. The boundaries between your conscious and subconscious are blurred, overlapping your visions, dreams, and waking life. When going through an ayahuasca experience, you have to be in a safe place where you can be vulnerable and around people you can trust. For ayahuasca experiences, be sure to get references from people that have successfully worked with a group. Resources Mentioned: Matt Pallamary – Website for Matt Pallamary [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKedqiAQ7g] About Author     Author, Editor, and Shamanic Explorer Matthew J. Pallamary is an award winning writer, musician, and sound healer who has been studying shamanism all of his life. He incorporates shamanic practices into his daily life as well as into his writing and teaching. He has over a dozen books in print that cover several genres, many of which have been translated into foreign languages. His book on writing, Phantastic Fiction: A Shamanic Approach to Story took First Place in the International Book Awards Writing and Editing Category, and his popular Phantastic Fiction Workshop has been a staple of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and the Southern California Writer’s Conference for over twenty five years. He has also lectured about writing and shamanism at numerous venues throughout the United States. Matt has spent extended time in the jungles, mountains, and deserts of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism and ancient cultures. Through his research into both the written word and the ancient beliefs of shamanism, he has uncovered the heart of what a story really is and integrated it into core dramatic concepts that also have their basis in shamanism.

Download Caution!! A few important notes. This is an episode of an individual experimenting with powerful drugs to see if he can get any sort of relief from autism. In this case, it appears to have been successful. That said, this came with a substantial amount of risks, and people need to be aware. Please read the below bullets so you understand.  Autism is not what is treated. The thing being treated would be a symptom like social anxiety. "The field of autism science includes a long and shameful history of quack treatments and parents taking desperate and harmful measures to “fix” their children. Autism is a spectrum of congenital and neurocognitive variants, and there are no published research data in support of any compound that can influence its course." Alicia Danforth, PhD Please do not administer these drugs to children with autism. There are only two researchers investigating where MDMA and autism meet - Alicia Danforth PhD and Dr. Charlie Grob. A scientific paper will likely be available on this in the next few months. Expect to see more here.  These drugs have not been shown to cure or treat autism, but in some cases, just like with neuro-typical individuals, some have seen meaningful changes.  Even if changes are noticed the person is still autistic no matter how many high doses of psychedelics they take. Obtaining pure drugs is very difficult if not impossible in black markets. Verifying purity will require the resources of mass spectrometry from organizations offering these services like Energy Control or Ecstasy Data Providing unsafe, dirty or compromised drugs to people can cause serious harm or death. If you are planning to use MDMA to alleviate some suffering on your own, please wait or don't. Do substantial research and have skilled people available to help.  Thanks to Alicia Danforth for helping us understand the nuance's in this area. ..autism is a genetically determined cognitive variant. It's pervasive, and it affects the whole person, not just the brain. No chemical compound has been shown to treat, cure, or alter the course of autism. However, for some people, substances like MDMA can help them manage symptoms such as anxiety, social anxiety, and trauma effects. - Alicia Danforth, Ph.D Introduction Joe Moore and Kyle Buller interview Jon and Dre of the Voices in the Dark podcast out of England. The discussion addresses treating autism with MDMA and LSD, what types of doses you should take, and how to in part do it safely. Note there are always risks with any kind of drug. Learn the basics over at our Navigating Psychedelics course.   3 Key Points: A lot of autism is sensory overload. As far as emotions are concerned, we see potentially too many things in other people’s faces. A good range for MDMA dosages is between 100mg and not going over  200mg. 125 micrograms per drop of liquid LSD, and not going above 250 micrograms is recommended. Show Notes Jon’s first psychedelic experience shifted his academic career path and helped him to deal with depression. Dre first tried MDMA as a first step and it unlocked emotional empathy. Sensory overload is a lot of Autism according to Dre. Jon’s experiences with MDMA made him feel like himself without the fear and the worry. MDMA and LSD at the same time didn’t feel as emotional when combined to Jon. 125 micrograms per drop of liquid LSD, and not going above 250 micrograms is recommended. Democratising psychedelic therapy is where Joe would like to see the industry go. Jon is against the fetishizing of any particular concept of belief system in its totality. Jon is excited that he is starting to see more types of research on LSD/MDMA and autism. Dre’s experiences have shifted his autism by feeling that he has a foot in both worlds to know how living without it feels in his mind. Resources Mentioned: Voices in the Dark – Website for Voices in the Dark Instagram – Psychedelics Today Instagram Patreon – Psychedelics Today Patreon donation page DMTX.org – Website for DMTX.org Ecstasy Could Help Adults With Autism Cope with Social Anxiety - Discover Magazine MDMA-Autism - MAPS.org MDMA-assisted therapy: A new treatment model for social anxiety in autistic adults Autism and LSD-25 Additional Resources https://vimeo.com/198405527 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eINBXdqTfOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ5P4AYAvuE   About Voices in the Dark          LEARNING HOW TO HUMAN At Voices in the Dark, we bring you powerful, mind- and soul-expanding conversations about real life psychology, philosophy, psychedelics, spirituality, social dynamics and much more. We’re a podcast, a blog, and a community of likeminded individuals who want to become the best versions of themselves. We’re dedicated to never stop Learning How To Human. Our mission is to entertain, provoke, inform, and make you question everything you think you know. DRE A disturbingly quick study in most fields, Dre’s autism made learning people more of a challenge. The works of Robert Greene shone a light on the otherwise deeply confusing world of other people’s psyches, transforming the world around him into something which finally made sense. JON After spending far too many years in educational institutions, Jon got a PhD in History but is now finally learning something about the real world and the people in it. He always felt that science and scholarship needed more dick jokes and is on a mission to redress that balance. He writes, talks, travels, sings, and has a problematic relationship with cake and coffee.

Download Kyle and Joe discuss professionalism in the psychedelic field. There are a number of people out there doing very unprofessional things. We need to be aware of what professionalism could look like, what self care, ethics and boundaries look like in this world we are actively developing. In light of festival season, we are offering a $30 off coupon for our online store with every purchase of our course,  Navigating Psychedelics: Lessons on Self-Care and Integration throughout the month of June. If you are a student, please email us with your university email address to receive a special discount! Joe and Kyle will also be offering some special live online course options. If you want to stay up-to-date about these offerings, sign up for our email list. If you're interested in learning more about DMTx, you can enroll in the DMTx 4-week Psychonaut Training. Proceeds go towards the DMTx project.

In this 88th episode of Psychedelics Today, host Joe Moore interviews Mike Brancatelli of the Mikeadelic podcast. After returning from a three-month Amazonian ayahuasca sojourn, Mikeadelic himself shares information about this extraordinary experience, how he has gotten involved in psychedelics and his journey. Show Notes: ● Mike Brancatelli spent his three-month trip in Peru at the Temple of the Way of Lights with their residency program in the heart of the Amazon jungle during an ayahuasca retreat. ● Mike was previously doing stand-up comedy in New York City with his friend Dave Smith called “Part of the Problem.” ● Mikeadelic the podcast began in the spring of 2016. ● Drinking ayahuasca will produce an effect on you, especially when coupled with ceremony and healing songs. ● During an intense healing ceremony, a song cut to the core of the collection of pain that Mike was experiencing, and it felt like he was being unclogged of this negative energy, and it came out in the form of a very vocal purge. ● He feels passionate about ending the war on drugs and the prison industrial complex. ● You can remain filled with passion and compassion without being emotionally attached. Sit with your feelings without letting them control how you respond. ● The information overload of media drowns your spirit. ● A morning routine with meditation is helpful to get centered and focused for the rest of the day. ● The Netflix TV series “Wild Wild Country” is a true story about a controversial cult leader claiming to enlighten people. ● “Enlightenment Now” is a book about the enlightenment philosophy “science, reason and humanism”. It is a contemporary take on that philosophy - you could call Pinker’s take a Modern Enlightenment philosophy. Steven Pinker wrote the book. Joe Moore, suggests it and found out about it from the Bill Gates’s. ● “The Internet of Money” Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Andreas M. Antonopoulos is another interesting read suggested by Joe Moore. ● Before ayahuasca use, listen to your heart to understand why you want to try it. 3 Key Points: 1. During an intense healing ceremony, a song cut to the core of the collection of pain that Mike was experiencing, and it felt like he was being unclogged of this negative energy, and it came out in the form of a very vocal purge. 2. It is incredibly brave to be willing to confront your stress and be willing to stare into your soul and slay your demons. 3. Remain passionate, compassionate, and acknowledge the problems in the world, but don’t stay emotionally attached to them. Become mindful of how you respond.

Joe Moore interviews Britta Love, a passionate writer and sex educator based in New York City. Britta shares about the overlap of sexuality and psychedelics, her field of consciousness and embodiment studies, and dealing with the psychedelic patriarchy. She shares her desires to diversity the field and make supporters he safe and supported. Quotes We have to be OK with the fact that as we get confronted by the internalized racism and patriarchy and privilege that our psychedelic sub-culture carries, that its going to be a little messy for a while, and we are all going to have to feel uncomfortable at times. Giving up your privilege is the ultimate psychedelic trip. There is something about that surrender that’s really deep. If you are someone who does what we call holding space or facilitates in someway, to actively hand that power back as often as possible, when you realize someone is trying to give it to you it, is a really powerful meditation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmzDUK-EZqQ Show Notes ● Britta Love talks about sexual abuse stories that were discussed on a panel on psychedelic patriarchy she participated in. ● In Britta’s anti-racist work, whenever she starts to feel uncomfortable, she recognizes that that discomfort is not as bad as what it must feel like to get oppressed by systemic racism. ● Author Robert Anton Wilson’s idea of “reality tunnels” is that we all have our B.S. (Belief System). What if we could flip between belief systems and be more flexible and be more literate with reality and open-minded. ● Britta speaks about a healer who was sexually abusive to a woman she knows. ● A woman was raped by a male nurse and she was strong-armed to sign a non-disclosure agreement. ● The psychedelic community needs more diversity, more women and people of color to balance out the equality of voices. ● We need healthy models of sexuality to express sexual energy in a positive and constructive manner to get rid of sexual aggression and power dynamics. ● We are too willing to hand over our power to healers and shamans. We can become our own healers when we are in safe environments. ● Psychedelic therapy can be demystified and taught, and doesn’t have to remain esoteric with a hierarchy of privilege structures. ● Forming collectives of up to 100 people with different skills to form a safe, supportive, and collective village of awareness and wisdom. ● How do we create containers that are encouraging of and supportive of the deep reflection that is required to undo racism and patriarchy and systems of oppression require? 3 Key Points: 1. In Britta’s anti-racist work, whenever she starts to feel uncomfortable, she recognizes that that discomfort is not as bad as what it must feel like to get oppressed by systemic racism. 2. We are too willing to hand over our power to healers and shamans—we can become our own healers when we are in safe spaces. 3. Know your value and contribution within a group. People feel better when they are a giver. Resources Mentioned Instagram - BrittaLoved The Daily Transmission Links 10 Reasons to End the War on Drugs and the War on Sex Workers Britta Love Britta Love is a writer, somatic sex educator and multi-dimensional healer based in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Goddard College, she wrote her thesis in Consciousness Studies on the healing and spiritual potential of altered states, specifically those induced by conscious sexual practice and the ritual use of psychoactive plant medicines. She writes for Alternet, Psymposia and Reality Sandwich, gives talks and facilitates workshops in NYC, and blogs on sex, drugs and consciousness        

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your host Joe Moore interviews Daniel McQueen of Medicinal Mindfulness in Boulder, CO about his DMTx project and some of the reasons he is so interested in the DMTx project.   Show Notes What is DMTx Who originated the concept. Dr Rick Strassman and Dr Andrew Gallimore. Daniel's story of a very intense and meaningful DMT experience Much more! Resources Mentioned Medicinal Mindfulness DMTx.org Daniel McQueen, MA Daniel  discovered meditation and spiritual practices at twelve and has been interested in exploring inner states ever since.  He apprenticed under a number of shamanic teachers and has been a practicing intentional journeyer for over 16 years.  For Daniel, working in the professional field of Cannabis and Psychedelics isn’t a career interest, but represents a core identity and life calling.  Finding a place to honor such a life calling within a world that has until recently prohibited it has been an interesting challenge. After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Communication, Daniel traveled down a many forked and unmarked road through the wild terrain of political activism, corporate accountability research and campaign finance reform for many years in Washington, DC.  Disillusioned by the city, he moved to Florida and opened a small meditation center to explore grassroots community organizing before moving to Boulder, CO and returning to school at Naropa University. Daniel earned a Masters Degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa and received advanced training in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy through a year internship with the MAPS Boulder MDMA for PTSD Study.  It was his experience with MAPS that inspired Daniel to explore alternative visions in cannabis and psychedelic activism and entrepreneurship. Daniel bridges transpersonal paradigms with the grounded clinical and organizational skills necessary to begin addressing the significant ecological and mental health crises facing our society today.  Although Daniel no longer practices as a clinical psychotherapist, he supports his clients as a teacher, coach, ally and event facilitator, providing individual and group transformational experiences and deeply held intentional conversations.  In his practice, Daniel quickly realized that the most important intervention he could provide to his clients, who were isolated and longed for meaningful contact with others, was a sense of community.  Medicinal Mindfulness is, in a very real way, a cultural intervention that provides a safe and transformational community container for healing and awakening... a program based on skill development and not dogma.  Since 2012, Daniel has been teaching a psychedelic harm prevention and intentional psychedelic use course called Psychedelic Sitters School.  Since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Colorado, he has been facilitating group journey experiences called Conscious Cannabis Events and guiding individual cannabis journeys. In addition to his work with Medicinal Mindfulness, Daniel has a successful spirituality and life coaching practice with his wife, Alison, through their company, Aspenroots Counseling LLC.  Highly skilled in identifying and cultivating giftedness in young people and supporting significant life transitions, Daniel is inspired to support passionate and talented individuals striving to live into their calling.  A primary focus of his practice involves assessing and addressing the benefits and difficulties related to psychedelic and cannabis use and misuse. Daniel co-founded the Naropa Alliance for Psychedelic Studies and helped organize the first annual Psychedelic Symposium at Naropa University in 2012. About Medicinal Mindfulness Medicinal Mindfulness® LLC and Medicinal Mindfulness Events LLC Medicinal Mindfulness is a grassroots consciousness community/membership organization and education program that supports individuals and groups who choose to use cannabis and psychedelics with intention.  Founded by Daniel McQueen, MA, and his wife, Alison McQueen, MA, our community has come together to provide an enjoyable, safe, open and affirming space to share transformational cannabis and breathwork experiences. We use clinically informed, mindfulness-based approaches within a somatically oriented, transpersonal and community paradigm to create an holistic (mind, body, spirit) process that initiates powerful transformations in healing and personal development. Services are available for individuals, couples, families and groups. Given the common misunderstandings and concerns that accompany the field of psychedelics and cannabis harm prevention and advocacy, we are committed to making ourselves available to public service and safety professionals to answer questions regarding psychedelic and cannabis harm reduction programs.

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your host Joe Moore interviews Brian Normand of Psymposia and coordinator of the Cryptopsychedelic Conference. Banks are devaluing currency by charging high fees. With block chain, you’ve got to think in the long-term. There’s so much going on with crypto, you can’t keep up. What blockchain developer wants to go work for Facebook? Show Notes Joe and Brian discuss the CryptoPsychedelic Conference the took place in Tulum, Mexico. What is blockchain? A next-gen decentralized ledger. A peer-to-peer border-less, institution-less payment system. Money will be one of the first users of blockchain. Banks are devaluing currency by charging high fees. The whole concept of money will transform, it will be a border-less thing. When Napster came out, peer to peer transfer became a very popular technology. When the record companies worried about being irrelevant, they sued. There could be something like Spotify that pays artists more fairly than Spotify currently does. Social media could be rebuilt. We could no longer be the product being sold, but get paid for our contributions. Could crypto be used to trace the history and purity of substances? Yes, that’s a definite use case. The first voting on a block chain happened in Sierra Leone. You’ve got to think in the long term. What were some of the more interesting things that came out of the CryptoPsychedelic conference? Some of the new relationships and seeing the potential collaboration between the two communities. Projects in this space need to be taken on. It was a time to question, not really a time for answers. Watch the movie 2001 a Space Odyssey in one sitting. Every time you watch it you come away with a new experience. Cryptocurrencies are border-less, some have minimal fees, and it’s instant. Decentralized systems Information is easier to access, it doesn’t have to climb up a ladder. The DAO is the Decentralized Autonomous Organization – there is no hierarchy. Government could eventually be run via blockchain. How could we use the internet to further the message of psychedelics? Before the internet, the only way you were exposed to information was top down. Networks, authority institutions. Because of the internet, information is moving more horizontally. How do you change incentive structures in the drug war? Could it be these new technologies? The rate of innovation now is way faster than it was when the internet was first coming out. You cannot keep up with what’s going on, there’s too much going on. Look at money as a tool or form of energy. Crypto will change everyone’s concept of paying taxes. Air BnB cut the cities completely out of the picture. Taxes and healthcare or both extremely important and impossible for people to understand. Internet privacy is a big deal in crypto and psychedelics alike. Brian doesn’t think that Facebook will ultimately make it. Developers want to build new tools to take down the giants like Facebook. Recently, Facebook announced a decline in users. What can you do to reverse becoming “uncool”? Reddit’s price per impression is much lower. Steemit has a fascinating model. It would be cool if you could be compensated for putting helpful content online. We assume that the way the internet is now is how it’s always going to be. How can we use the tool to help the people whose lives aren’t privileged like ours? In a lot of refugee camps, you can’t have cash, so crypto is huge for them. What happens when people who are impoverished around the world can now crowdfund? Resources Mentioned Psymposia CryptoPsychedelic Brian Normand Viveros Brian Normand is CoFounder of Psymposia, entrepreneur, and advocate of psychedelic science, therapy, and drug reform. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and holds a B.S. in Plant, Soil, and Insect Science, Magna Cum Laude.        

Download Introduction During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your hosts Kyle Buller and Joe Moore talk to Zach Leary host of the MAPS podcast and It’s All Happening. We have an incredible time talking to Zach and his worldview, experiences, opinions and much more. It was a very fun time recording with Zach and we hope it can happen again in the near future.  Show Notes Joe and Kyle discuss Zach’s connections with Ram Dass Zach Leary calls himself a futurist and we discuss what a futurist is. A natural way to continue the narrative of our physical evolution and our spiritual development. Cyberspace is an invention as a result of our human condition. The way and the reason we invented it is that we found a need to create another dimension. Futurism and transhumanism and embracing the way technology is augmenting the human experience is a great place to be. Do you see any major problems in psychedelia? Overall, it’s a great time to be into psychedelics. There’s so much research and data available to the end-user and the discussion is improving. Many people are starting to be more open about their beneficial relationship with psychedelics. It’s important to get people in the mainstream aware of their beneficial properties. The Ayahuasca fad going on in the U.S. has many people calling themselves shamans, which raised a red flag to Zach. It used to be that going to the medicine man was a common occurrence in any culture. Mysticism didn’t go away, it just got turned into a more doctrinal practice. The part of the church that bothers Zach is the authoritarian aspect, that there is only one god. There’s an element of fanaticism when someone says there’s only one drug that’s worth taking. April 19 is the 75th anniversary of the first intentional use of LSD (Bicycle Day). We have to start re-thinking about what “natural” means. The human imagination and what it creates is a by-product of nature. There’s no stopping the technological march, the train has left the station. A return to nature can include biodiverse rooftop gardens in New York. It’s very hard to get off the grid. What do we have that’s readily available and sustainable? Mushrooms LSD Other synthetic compounds that don’t bother the rainforest, etc. Drugs that may not be sustainable: Ayahuasca, Peyote, 5-MeO (Sonoran Desert Toad - Bufo Alvarius toad venom) Some people are playing fast and loose with 5-MeO There are people who give do things to “patients” that are non-consensual while they are under the effect of the drug. Psychedelics are often highly individualistic. It’s nice to be able to jump in with a shaman, but to what extent? There is some cultural appropriation here when you take ancient practices and move them into new environments. It’s best not to ignore the roots and traditions of these practices but honor them as best as you can. How do we not make mistakes in psychedelics? There’s so much data, examples and role models now. There are best practices based on data now. Zach would like to see less consumption of MDMA. People over-consume MDMA. More of a concern about bodily harm. 2-3 times a year is probably enough. There are parallel paths going on and if the parallel path of computers and humanity are going on, what does that look like eventually? What are some of your major influences in the psychedelic world? Terence McKenna, Jim Fadiman, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, Dennis McKenna How would you like to see the future of psychedelics evolve? We’re seeing the rumblings of what’s to come. There’s going to be a firmly legitimate place in the psychiatric world for the psychedelic therapy. Hopefully, it carries over into recreational use and cognitive therapy. Links ZachLeary.com The MAPS Podcast Psychedelicstoday.teachable.com Bluebird Botanicals About Zach Leary       Zach is the host of both the “It’s All Happening with Zach Leary” podcast and “The MAPS Podcast.” They have helped to cement him as one of the most thought provoking podcasters in the cultural philosophy genre of podcasting. He’s also a blogger/writer, a futurist, spiritualist, a technology consultant and socio-cultural theorist. In all of Zach’s work he blends his roles as a spiritual aspirant and a futurist into a unique identity all his own. His spiritual background has it’s roots in being a practitioner of bhakti yoga as taught through many of the vedantic systems of Northern India, in particular Neem Karoli Baba as taught by Ram Dass. Through the practice of bhakti yoga he has found keys that unlock doorways that allow the soul to experience it’s true nature of being eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. In addition to bhakti yoga, Zach is influenced by many different methods and traditions of consciousness exploration ranging from trans-humanism to buddhism and clinical psychology. Zach is also a frequent pundit on the political systems that are fueling todays economic and cultural structures. At the core of all of Zach’s work is the belief that we have been fused together by the collective practice of using technology to expand our species imagination with spirituality and mysticism to define the very nature of who we are. Check out our online store   /**/ /**/ /**/

Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your hosts Kyle and Joe Moore talk to Dr. Matt Segall, a philosopher with a Ph.D. working at CIIS as an administrator and adjunct lecturer. In this episode, we explore psychedelics through the lens of philosophy and Alfred North Whitehead. Show Notes: Philosophy is really important when talking about psychedelics. This movement is working on a lot of different levels. Looking to get accepted into academia therefore it’s important to be precise. About Dr. Matt Segall Strong interest in Alfred North Whitehead 12 levels of abstraction away from Plato. Ropes in all of western philosophy and science into a cohesive system that seems to reenchant the world a bit. Extended state DMT research Use an IV pump to keep a steady stream of DMT in the bloodstream for an undetermined amount of time. The initial phase of the study is 10-20 minutes. Not just for medical research, it’s for the community. Join the class at psychedelicstoday.teachable.com. How did Matt Segall stumble his way into the Whitehead world? Philosophy came first, but not by much. He had a teacher who introduced him to some psychedelic teachers. His first experience with psychedelics was when he was 19 years old with mushrooms. He realized that there were many other worlds running in parallel with this one. These substances open up our perceptions of other worlds and other facets of the same world. We need to incorporate the experience induces by these substances. Western philosophy is rooted in the psychedelic experience. Plato’s encounter with the ideal forms that led him out of the cave proves that the origins of philosophy include psychedelics. There is chemical evidence that the rituals in Athens were psychedelic in nature. When ancient Greeks refer to wine, they’re talking about something that was way more mind altering. What drew you into Whitehead? In college, he listened to a McKenna lecture and he mentioned Whitehead a lot. McKenna introduced him to Whitehead. He waited until he started graduate school, so he could take a course on him and study him alongside other graduate students. Whitehead incorporated 20th century physics and a version of Darwin’s understanding of evolution expanded to a cosmological level. Combining advanced science with an enchanted view of the universe. The modern era has alienated human beings from the rest of the natural world. The industrial revolution made this alienation even more profound. There has been a gradual isolation of the human being from the rest of life and the universe. Human beings have come to think of the rest of life and just robots seeking to reproduce. Value has to be assigned to anything non-human by humans. This thinking is highly destructive. Our idea has not fit the reality and it’s destroying the reality. Whitehead helps us re-inhabit the planet as one of the many species. When human beings come to recognize that value is not just made up in our human society but it’s an intrinsic cosmic value, they can act accordingly. Whitehead’s process is called a process-relational process. We’ve traditionally been thought to have a soul or mind that’s independent of others. Whitehead proposes that our soul or mind is in relation to others. So that what it means to be me is that I’m not unique, but my uniqueness comes from my unique perspective and works with the other souls in the environment. This attempts to move us away from thinking of ourselves as isolated minds. The biggest challenge is to get people to not shut down when they see Whitehead’s terminology. Philosophy can serve to help us develop a language that actually serves to represent our experience. It’s well worth it to learn the dictionary that Whitehead provides. Whitehead’s understanding of perception is welcoming more indigenous ways of knowing back into the realm of philosophy. Whitehead helps us make sense of indigenous experience. All of human culture stems from these shamanistic practices. We don’t yet have the words to explain yet what these psychedelic journeys are doing to us. A downside to being in the west is that we don’t have relationship with psychedelic substances. The plants that are a part of the ayahuasca brew told the indigenous people how to brew them. People talk about nature deficit disorder, kids being raised indoors being told the outdoors is dirty. The problem is not one of trying to reinvent the wheel, we have to stop beating this capacity out of children. When we talk about the human nervous system in the context of symbiotic relationships with our ecosystem: It doesn’t make sense to consider the human brain and nervous system as enclosed within the skull. The human nervous system is actually a lot more ecological in its extent than most physiologists would let on. The chemical metabolism of our brain extends out into the environment. Richard Doyle wrote a book called Darwin’s Pharmacy where he coins the term “ecodelic” which challenges the idea of an autonomous individual. The idea is we’re actually permeated by the chemicals flowing through our environment. Our consciousness is shaped any time we eat anything. Some drugs are not thought of as drugs: sugar, caffeine, tobacco. These are accepted psychedelic substances. The fact that cannabis and other psychedelics are becoming more mainstream again shows that we in late-stage capitalism. Is there anything in particular you’ve been excited about in psychedelics lately? The research on MDMA for PTSD in veterans coming back from Iraq and the success rate they’re achieving. The FDA may be forced by the sheer weight of the evidence to approve MDMA. The hope is that we can use MDMA to treat “pre-traumatic stress disorder.” Enhance the empathic capacity of those who handle a great deal of conflict. Within a year or two the FDA is going to be approving MDMA, which is unbelievable. Joe and Matt talk about how credentials are often forced as a barrier to entry into certain fields. Matt is all for a standardized approach to mainstream these things. He wants to go in all directions to get the therapy out. The plants used in psychedelics are so much safer than any drug that’s on the market right now. Some lawmakers are trying to pass a law to allow the death penalty for drug dealers, including those who sell cannabis. Do you have any places you’d like to send people to re-engage with philosophy? Study the history of philosophy. Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas. Story of Philosophy by Will Durant Matt teaches an online course on Whitehead, the next one begins in January 2019. Philosophy is not an abstract linguistic analysis. He approaches philosophy as a spiritual practice. Philosophy is learning to die. We’re embodied creatures and philosophy is a way to come to terms with that. Psychedelics help you experience ego death, but we’re still conscious. Tweetable Quotes Psychedelics are not just theoretically interesting, they have profound practical implications for how we organize our lives. Whitehead’s terminology is an attempt to return us to our concrete experience. Philosophy is learning to die. Resources Mentioned Psychedelicstoday.teachable.com Bluebird Botanicals Footnotes2plato.com Pharmakon – book by Michael Rinella Passion of the Western Mind – book by Richard Tarnas Story of Philosophy – book by Will Durant Introduction to Process Relationship Philosophy – book by Robert Mesle 0thouartthat0 – Matt’s Youtube Channel About Matthew Segall, Ph.D.      Matthew T. Segall, PhD, received his doctoral degree in 2016 from the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS. His dissertation was titled Cosmotheanthropic Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead. It grapples with the limits to knowledge of reality imposed by Kant's transcendental form of philosophy and argues that Schelling and Whitehead's process-oriented approach (described in his dissertation as a "descendental" form of philosophy) shows the way across the Kantian threshold to renewed experiential contact with reality. He teaches courses on German Idealism and process philosophy for the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS. He blogs regularly at footnotes2plato.com.

Download In this episode of Psychedelics Today, Kyle and Joe speak to Dennis McKenna (of Dennis McKenna fame) and Mark Plotkin founder of the Amazon Conservation Team. We discuss a broad range of subjects. One of the most interesting was a project that Dennis and many others have been working on for over a year at the time of recording this, titled Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs, which was a conference in the UK in 2017. It was a 50 year follow up to the initial event (and later seminal book) that Richard Evan Schultes, Ph.D helped coordinate and host. This link will take you to a page where you can see all of the talks that were given at ESPD50. https://vimeo.com/album/4766647 We really think you'll enjoy the show. Please let us know what you think and if you can, pre-order the ESPD 50 to save some money on the post release price. About Mark Plotkin, Ph.D Dr. Plotkin has led ACT and guided its vision since 1996, when he co-founded the organization with his fellow conservationist, Liliana Madrigal. He is a renowned ethnobotanist who has spent almost three decades studying traditional plant use with traditional healers of tropical America. Dr. Plotkin has previously served as Research Associate in Ethnobotanical Conservation at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University; Director of Plant Conservation at the World Wildlife Fund; Vice President of Conservation International; and Research Associate at the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution. Among his many influential writings, Dr. Plotkin may be best known for his popular work Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice (1994), which has been printed continuously and has been published in multiple languages. Other works include the critically acclaimed children's book The Shaman's Apprentice - A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest, illustrated by Lynne Cherry, and Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets. His most recent book, The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug-Resistant Bacteria, coauthored with Michael Shnayerson, was selected as a Discover Magazine book of the year. In 1998, he played a leading role in the Academy Award-nominated IMAX film Amazon. Dr. Plotkin's work also has been featured in a PBS Nova documentary, in an Emmy-winning Fox TV documentary, on the NBC Nightly News and Today Show, CBS' 48 Hours and in Life, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Elle, People, The New York Times, along with appearances on National Public Radio. Time magazine called him an "Environmental Hero for the Planet" (2001) and Smithsonian magazine hailed him as one of "35 Who Made a Difference" (2005), along with Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and fellow New Orleanian Wynton Marsalis. Dr. Plotkin has received the San Diego Zoo Gold Medal for Conservation; the Roy Chapman Andrews Distinguished Explorer Award; an International Conservation Leadership award from the Jane Goodall Institute; and, with Liliana Madrigal, the Skoll Foundation’s Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2010, he received the honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters" from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Plotkin was educated at Harvard, Yale and Tufts University. About the Amazon Conservation Team The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving South American rainforests. This small but robust outfit occupies a unique niche among other environmental non-profits working in the tropics: ACT works hand in hand with local indigenous communities to devise and implement its conservation strategies.   About Dennis McKenna Dennis Jon McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.  McKenna received his Master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaii in 1979. He received his doctorate in botanical sciences in 1984 from the University of British Columbia,[2] where he wrote a dissertation entitled Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in Amazonian hallucinogenic plants: ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and pharmacological investigations. McKenna then received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health, and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. Dennis McKenna Links Dennis on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dennisjonmckenna/ Dennis's Recent book - Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss Symbio Life Sciences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKiKfAmysrI Links https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_plotkin_what_the_people_of_the_amazon_know_that_you_don_t

Download Joe had the opportunity to interview an old friend Tarif Ahmed while visiting Long Island, New York recently. They had the opportunity to record about all sorts of things from diversity, privilege, open source experimentation with different psychedelic regimens, bringing psychedelics safely into Islam and much more. If you enjoy the episode, please let us know what you think by leaving an iTunes review!

Malin Vedøy Uthaug, a PhD candidate from Prague,  joins Psychedelics Today to talk about her interest and research with ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT. Malin shares her experience how she got involved studying psychedelics and shares a little bit about her personal experiences with ayahuasca. Malin is currently working on an interesting research study examining the potential influence that the ritual and ceremony may have on the overall ayahuasca experience. More at https://psychedelicstoday.com

Download James Norwood, MA, joins Kyle and Michelle Hobart for a talk about spiritual emergence, madness, entheogens, and the Gnosis Retreat Center. Learn more about Gnosis: http://www.gnosisretreatcenter.org/ [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4-lJWwwRc8] A brief introduction to Gnosis Suppose you come to the end of your tether, can no longer cope, have a break-down, fall apart, go to pieces. To whom would you turn? Where would you go? What alternatives do you have when you desperately need help, but have little, if any, say in the kind of help available? When a person’s suffering becomes insupportable, to him or herself and to others, and yet persists, that person is in a state of distress. Once you find yourself in distress you come to realize that you are at the mercy of other people. Which of those people are you willing to be at their mercy, for better or worse? To whom are you willing to entrust your life? If you don’t happen to know anyone who comes to mind, then how will you go about finding someone you can trust? Do such persons exist? Gnosis Retreat Center aspires to be such a place, by providing a safe place to be, when you are alone and afraid, confused, bereft, and not sure whom to turn to for help. Gnosis is a household that is populated by others like yourself, a refuge for those who are lost, afraid, bewildered, or simply seeking a fresh start, who may, if they choose, get over their ordeal and see it through, without jeopardy. If you want to learn more about spiritual emergence(y) check out this online webinar: Spiritual Emergence or Psychosis? Links Gnosis Website: Gnosisretreatcenter.org Gnosis Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Gnosisretreatcenter/ Gnosis Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1MQyM14pcKhu96Zr5e2WA?view_as=subscriber  Gnosis donations: https://www.youcaring.com/gnosisretreatcenter-752245 Gnosis Twitter: https://twitter.com/GnosisRetreatC Tickets for our upcoming event, Mad To Be Normal | The West Coast Premiere can be found here: madtobenormal.eventbrite.com Additional video link of interest to the viewers: This is the video of the talk on Why Radical Community is Vital https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOI_qT0mDKs&t=15s About James Norwood, MA James Norwood, MA, is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California. Norwood is presently working as a clinical intern, researching MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in concert with the Multi-Disciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, and is on the board of directors of Free Association Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides alternatives to treatment for people with altered experiences of reality in the Bay Area. About Michelle Anne Hobart, MA Michelle Anne Hobart, MA: is a practitioner of energy medicine and holistic health educator. She holds a BS in Biology, and an MA in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. Currently, she is doing coursework in Integral Counseling Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. Michelle is an advocate for the Neurodiversity movement and a certified Spiritual Emergence Coach. She supports sensitive, empathic people whose gifts and experiences have been judged or oppressed and who are in the process of reclaiming and recovering their self-care, power, and personal truth. Michelle offers workshops, retreats, support groups, and one-on-one sessions.

Matt Kay, Co-Founder of the East Coast Float Spa, joins Kyle on this episode of Psychedelics Today. This is another experiential episode where Kyle gets to float and report on his experience. Kyle and Matt also talk about the benefits of floating, the history, and how Matt got involved in the float business. We hope you enjoy this episode! Let us know what you think below in the comment section. Learn more at psychedelicstoday.com

Download Leoni Joubert a science writer, author, trainer and public speaker  joins Kyle Buller and Joe Moore to discuss Psychedelic Policy in South Africa. We discuss the promising avenues of improving policy around mushrooms, iboga and more. We also learn about South Africa wanting to be more involved in the psychedelic movement including research, medicalization, and even talk about the possibility of Bio - Leoni Joubert Leonie uses different storytelling approaches to wander through the often unmapped terrain faced by all of us as we find ways to live together on an ever more tightly packed planet: climate, energy, environmental change, and hunger and malnutrition in the world of Big Food. Mostly, her stories try to give voice to a silenced environment, and the social injustices of a society where the divide between rich and poor has never been greater. She has spent the better part of 15 years exploring these topics through books, journalism, communication's support to academics and civil society organisations, and non-fiction creative writing. Bibliography Scorched: South Africa's Changing Climate Boiling Point: People in a Changing Climate Invaded: the Biological Invasion of South Africa The Hungry Season: Feeding Southern Africa's Cities Oranjezicht City Farm: Food, Community, Connection She has also contributed a few book chapters, including: Opinion Pieces by South African Thought Leaders, edited by Max du Preez (Penguin, 2011) Bending the Curve, edited by Robert Zipplies (Africa Geographic, 2008) Climate Governance in Africa - A Handbook for Journalists (IPS Africa and HBF, 2014), contributed an article. Links - South Africa Psychedelic Policy http://leoniejoubert.co.za/ https://psychonauts.co.za/ http://www.iboga.co.za/about-the-iboga-association-of-cape-town   Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download Dr. Ben Sessa is a writer, psychiatrist, and researcher working in the UK to start the first ever MDMA for alcohol addiction study. We have a very exciting discussion and even get Dr. Sessa's first reaction to the idea of DMTx. We also explore Ben's background and his experiences with psychedelics legally - Ben is one of the few people who has ever received MDMA, LSD, DMT, ketamine, and psilocybin in a legal research setting. We hope you enjoy this episode! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Links Ben Sessa's website - Mandala Therapy Limited  BBC Three - Druglands Towards an Integration of Psychotherapy and Pharmacology: Using psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Sessa  Breaking Convention conference - London Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BreakingConvention/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/drsessa Books The Psychedelic Renaissance           To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic The Psychedelic Renaissance Psychedelic Drug Treatments           Dr. Ben Sessa - Videos https://vimeo.com/38063005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UygZnBTWW0M About Ben Sessa Dr. Ben Sessa, M.B.B.S., M.D., B.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in adult addiction services and with custodial detained young people in a secure adolescent setting. He trained at UCL medical school, graduating in 1997. He is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012 and 2017) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). In speaking publicly at universities and medical conferences, Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is a co-founder and director of the UK's Breaking Convention conference.   Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download James Casey, a student at Colorado University Boulder, joins us on Psychedelics Today to share his experience with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, forming the Psychedelic Club Boulder, and his interest in neuroscience. James had the unique opportunity to be a research participant in the MAPS phase-2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD trials and shares part of his experience with us. The MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been a life saver for James, and now he advocates for the therapeutic use of MDMA for treatment of PTSD and other mental health issues. [caption id="attachment_2054" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Source: MAPS (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/155866837087764496/)[/caption] Episode Quote I think it is criminal that we are really keeping this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy) from people..... Veterans aren't the only people suffering that need this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy), people who have experienced childhood trauma, law enforcement, firefighters, people that are victims of rape, or gang violence. This really has the potential to heal so many people. To speak for the veteran community, I know so many people that I've deployed with or know that have been deployed, that I am afraid I am going to get a call tomorrow, next week, or next month because they killed themselves. To know that if they try to do the same treatment that I did outside of the MAPS study, that they risk getting thrown in a cage for years on end is criminal to me. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02l8LCxWSGU] Show Notes Researching the effects of LSA on cockroaches Psychedelic Club Boulder Tips on starting a psychedelic club/group Drug testing on campus at CU Boulder Results of testing - 88% of the MDMA samples tested positive for meth. About 40% of the LSD samples tested positive for a research chemical Drug reform and war on drugs Veterans, PTSD, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy Changing the psychedelic narrative among law enforcement DMTx About James Casey U.S. Army veteran, participated in a study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2014. After three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, James no longer qualifies for PTSD. Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download Kyle and Joe talk CBD, ketamine, terpines, floating, education and much more!     Thanks to our sponsors EntheoZen and BlueBird Botanicals!

Naropa graduate student, Alyssa Gursky, joins us on Psychedelics Today to talk about her experience with ketamine therapy, breathwork, transpersonal art therapy, and being a night attended for the MAPS MDMA-assisted psychotherapy studies in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado. Alyssa has been already played multiple roles in the psychedelic community, such as volunteering for MAPS, Psymposia, and Psychedelics Today. Her passion and energy for this work are motivating. We are really excited to see how her career in the psychedelic field unfolds as an inspiring transpersonal art and psychedelic therapist. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsvJedwUyg] Show Notes & Links Transpersonal Art Therapy Psychedelic Club Ketamine Therapy with Scott Shannon Ketamine Therapy with Shane LeMaster Honoring My Inner Goddess: How Mushrooms Helped Me Love My Body MAPS Global Psychedelic Dinners Wim Hof Method & Breathwork Wim Hof and autonomic nervous system and immune response Cold Exposure - Wim Hof Method by Justin Weiss Alejandro Jodorowsky [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdXGhsAynGI] About Alyssa Gursky Alyssa Gursky is a master’s level candidate in Transpersonal Art Therapy. She currently is subcontracted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) on their study using MDMA for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on their Boulder and Fort Collins sites. She’s incredibly passionate about the healing potential of the creative process and the body’s innate wisdom. She loves science fiction, anything by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and petting all of the dogs.