Psychedelics Today

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.