Tag: Psychedelics

The shroom boom is well and truly upon us. Earlier this year, Colorado passed Prop 122 to legalize and regulate psychedelic medicine. Across the pond, UK Conservative politicians are arguing for the same. Even the British royals (well, Prince Harry) are dipping a toe. The global psychedelic ...

Ever wondered if there’s a link between the magic behind Silicon Valley’s big ideas and uncoventional art? You’re not alone. From books by Michael Pollan to eye-opening Netflix documentaries, it’s not just the rebels and misfits talking about psychede...

In recent years there has been a renaissance of research into the use of psychedelics for the treatment of a wide array of psychopathologies. Mental health concerns as various as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, body-image disorders, addiction, and others have all been shown to be amenable to psyc...

Some clinical studies have suggested that psychedelics may have anti-inflammatory effects in humans as well. For instance, a study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” reported that psilocybin administration was associated with decreased levels of in...

On March 1, 2016, in the morning, I rode an elevator to the eleventh floor of a building in Chinatown and sat in a surprisingly high-ceilinged — for being so far up in the sky — courtroom with sixty to eighty people. Two grand juries, we learned, would be selected that day. Those not cho...

When effective, psychedelics affect the human brain in many ways. They can significantly alter both functional connectivity (how the brain’s connectivity functions) and structural connectivity (how the brain’s connectivity is physically structured). Notable effects include disrupting the...

When I was a child growing up in Mexico, drugs were not a recreational pastime with the people with whom I associated. Yes, there was alcohol, tobacco, and pot, but hard drugs were simply an export to the intoxicated North. Other than some traditional medicines such as peyote and mushrooms, which we...

The first time I ever experimented with psychedelic drugs was with a group of close friends. We were on a summer vacation and after a few boozy days, someone offered an alternative. “Who wants a tab of acid?” Fascinated and hungover, I stuck my hand out and placed the tab under m...

Imagine you’ve been slipped a pill that makes all your problems go away. A feeling of complete contentment washes over you. A surge of love pulses through your body, and you feel deeply connected to everyone around you. Blissfully, you glide along, absorbing the vibrant colors of your surround...

In recent years there has been a renaissance of research into the use of psychedelics for the treatment of a wide array of psychopathologies. Mental health concerns as various as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, body-image disorders, addiction, and others have all been shown to be amenable to psyc...

On March 1, 2016, in the morning, I rode an elevator to the eleventh floor of a building in Chinatown and sat in a surprisingly high-ceilinged — for being so far up in the sky — courtroom with sixty to eighty people. Two grand juries, we learned, would be selected that day. Those not cho...

I’m talking, of course, about the treatment of intractable conditions such as depression, PTSD, and addiction, which time and time again these mind-altering substances have shown genuine promise in alleviating the symptoms of. Now more than ever before — amid a mental health crisis th...

Rabbi Benjamin Gorelick is the founder and spiritual leader of the Sacred Tribe, a community of Jewish seekers in Denver that grows its own psilocybin mushrooms for use in religious ceremonies. He calls himself “the mushroom rabbi,” but law enforcement authorities regard h...

All my life I’ve been so sure about who I wanted to be. ‘I want to be known for something’, I’d say. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I knew it from a young age. At one point I wanted to be a singer. It’s a talent I’ve always had and seldom used,...

The first thing I will admit is how little I know… about a lot of things, but particularly the current landscape of the psychedelic industry for therapeutic purposes. How did I end up at ‘Psychedelics in the South’ on a Sunday afternoon? Rewind to a little over a month ago w...

The book is divided into three separate essays, each exploring a different aspect of psychoactive plants. Pollan delves into the history, science, and cultural significance of these substances, and how they can be used to expand our minds and improve our lives. He also introduces the idea of plan...

Aldous Huxley wondered. Revealing question, which takes us to the very heart of the relationship between man and the spiritual world. Behind the value attributed to crystals and precious metals lies an instinctive perception of otherworldly beauty. As Huxley writes: “such objects resemble w...

If you’re reading this blog when it’s published on Thursday 6th February 2020, I will be on day five (of six) in a darkness retreat. The six-day experience is to spend time alone in darkness and in silence as an introspective process. While in the darkness I’m planning to t...

In the years I’ve spent in integration circles listening to what people are working on in psychedelic spaces, I’ve listened to this share repeated many times: “I’m unable to ask for help.” The story typically goes like this, “I needed help, I wanted to say help...

I recently watched a Netflix documentary on psychedelics called “How To Change Your Mind” from Michael Pollan (who also has a book on the same subject). The documentary and the book talk about the effects that substances like Psilocybin (the chemical released by “magic mu...

The following is an excerpt from an email exchange with a colleague a few months back. We were discussing recent psychedelic research and the intersection of religion, spirituality, and entheogens—a web of connections which have played a prominent role since the beginning of psychedelic scienc...