Rosemary Woodruff Leary is remembered—if she’s remembered at all—as a muse, fugitive, and heavily indicted co-conspirator in Timothy Leary’s psychedelic revolution of the 1960s and ’70s. But her story is far more complex than that. A true believer in the mind-expanding potential of LSD, a master of the elusive art of “set and setting,” and a woman determined to live a remarkable life, Rosemary was a countercultural icon in her own right.
Susannah Cahalan is the author, most recently, of The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Countercultural Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary. In June, Cahalan joined The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie to discuss Woodruff—what drove her to begin experimenting with psychedelics, what she saw in the tumult of postwar America, and why her legacy deserves more than a footnote in someone else’s story.
A: As much as I hate to start with Timothy Leary, we are starting with him—she was [his] third or fourth wife, depending on who you ask. She was a seeker. She was a behind-the-scenes character who was propping up Leary, working with him on his speeches, sewing his clothing, helping him create an image.
She was also very much a true believer in the role that psychedelics could play in not only expanding consciousness but actually making society better. She was called the Queen of Set and Setting—the mindset that you bring into a trip, and the environment. Rosemary was very good at making people feel grounded and supported.
Q: What drove her to move to New York and start experimenting with drugs? What was she seeking that she wasn’t getting in her hometown of St. Louis?
A: She had always talked about herself in these mythic terms. She saw herself as someone who was going to live a great life—with a capital G, Great. She wasn’t going to find that in St. Louis. She was attracted to “great men”—these genius archetypes. That’s what she found in New York. Through being in this scene, she was able to express some of those sides of herself.
Q: What was going on in postwar America where this type of thing was even taking place?
A: I think there’s a lot of overlap with today. There was a sense of insecurity. Some people responded to that insecurity and fear by having a lot of children, being very family focused. And other people started questioning the nature of their reality and the role of society.
They were still kind of caught up. Rosemary described how Timothy—despite all of his talk of revolution of the mind and [how he] was going to upend society—was the kind of man who put his hand out and expected to have a martini glass put in it.
Q: And that was part of the function that she served, right? She kept the rooms clean, helped organize, fed people.
A: It’s been an interesting thing, talking about Rosemary in today’s culture, where there seems to be this idea that either you have to be a tradwife or a girlboss. She wasn’t either of those. Yes, she was stuck with a position that oftentimes she resented. But she actually did really enjoy taking care of other people. She was genuinely really good at taking care of people and beautifying spaces, too.
Q: What is the message that you might bring to a contemporary person reading this?
A: The thing I hope people take away from it is that she was complicated. She doesn’t fit into these ideas of what a woman should be or how she should use her power. She was more like all of us, who are complicated. We sometimes pick people who aren’t great for us. Or we love people who are damaged and damaging. And that doesn’t make her any less worthy of a biography.
This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity.
Texas passed a landmark law in June 2025, supported by former Gov. Rick Perry, that allocates $50 million to support research on ibogaine, one of the most powerful psychedelics, for treating opioid addiction and treatment-resistant PTSD. Arizona passed a similar law in May, funding research on ibogaine’s effectiveness for treating veterans and those with traumatic brain injuries…
Ann Arbor’s first Hash Bash took place in April 1972 in response to the arrest of activist John Sinclair, who was sentenced to 10 years for possessing two joints. The event occurred shortly after the Michigan Supreme Court struck down the state’s marijuana laws and Sinclair was freed from prison.
Hash Bash has since become an annual protest against cannabis criminalization, drawing tens of thousands of people to the University of Michigan’s Diag each year, even after Michigan legalized adult-use marijuana in 2018.
In 2021, the city started Entheofest to honor September’s Entheogenic Plants and Fungi Awareness Month and as a way to discuss the legalization of psychedelic plants.
From 1:11-4:20 p.m. on Sept. 22, the fourth annual Entheofest will be held at The Diag at 913 S. University Ave. offering live performances, educational booths, and psychedelic-inspired art activities. Speakers at the event include State Senator Jeff Irwin, Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabbi, and other local advocates.
The event’s goal is to raise awareness and build equity in the growing industry of entheogenic plant use. The free-speech gathering provides an opportunity for education on the medical and therapeutic benefits of these natural substances, offering tools like harm reduction kits and information on cannabis expungement services.
Nationwide, Oregon and Colorado remain the only two states that have fully legalized recreational psychedelics. However, over a dozen U.S. cities have moved to decriminalize the use of certain entheogenic plants and fungi, including psilocybin.
So I’ve been writing a cannabis column for about two years now, focusing primarily on the dispensaries in Washtenaw County. My mission: to find the cleanest smoke in the Great Lakes State. Lately, I’ve been getting closer to the holy grail, but I haven’t done it all or smoked it all. When I lived in Philadelphia we used to use a gas mask, we called it the Stan Ipkiss. It got you fried for a whole day and you definitely fell out of the time-space continuum. It dawned on me that a Cali-based cannabis company called Stone Road sent me a sample of their powdery concentrate last year ahead of 7/10, known among stoners as “Dab Day,” or a celebration of cannabis oils and concentrates. I did some bong rips of it and it definitely got me way too high but Dabney Coleman (RIP), I’ve just never been that guy. It just so happened it was finally time to do an actual bloody dab ahead of all this year’s Dab Day festivities. DaBella, step right up. There was probably no need to ever do another. One dab to rule them all.
Not sure what sorts of things dabbers get into on their holiday, I have a strong suspicion it involves dabbing their ever-loving brains out. Invariably, every dispensary in the area will have some sort of special. High Profile looks like it has some good deals and the artwork is cool and accurate. House Of Dank has a whole gang of activities, too, including some Dab Day giveaways.
A dab is mostly a fear and loathing high for an old-head doper like me. Don’t get me wrong: I prefer to smoke a mini-bong, a high-powered cartridge, or flower that is minimum 20% THC, but the dab is simply not for everyone — THC content tends to be around a minimum of 80% for dabs. I’m glad I finally did one but a record heatwave descended with a brimstone summer storm just prior to my dab debut. It was a lot to contend with around my mild anxiety. I met with accomplished Detroit-area bartender, Andy Garris — a purveyor of high-end experiences, in terms of his attention to detail in the fading art of hospitality. Garris has been doing dabs for years so I sought him out as the ganjalier for this endeavor. He welcomed me into his Ann Arbor home while he was doing delicate knife work on produce for dinner.
The preferred live rosin for the evening was from Information Entropy in Ann Arbor. Andy and I discussed our smoking habits and rituals before he got to torching up his dab rig for a quick demo. I generally don’t do edibles; Andy does it all. He had two kinds of live rosin on offer: Organic Mechanic was preferred for the novice over the nameless top-shelf IE jar adorned only with artwork from The Boondocks. Treading on new ground can be both exhilarating and frightening, but I felt a kindred comfort with Andy who has been serving me royally at his establishments over the years. Tailored drinks and a ticket to ride every time.
Winewood in Ann Arbor is the only dispensary I’ve found to sell bubble hash in jars.
From the outset of this “assignment,” my feeling was don’t let this interrupt your preferred consumption methods, but surely it is finally time to be intrepid enough to embrace a phenomenon (albeit over a decade late). The first I’d heard of dabbing was in 2010 when early adopters warned of its lethal punch. I heard things like, “Dude, I hit a dab and landed on the floor immediately,” or, “Yeah, it felt like the room was collapsing and I was just free-falling in a one-toke-over-the-line echo chamber.” These reports were reason enough to swerve the business altogether and I really didn’t travel in a circle that sponsored extreme marijuana thresholds. At the same time, I duly noted Action Bronson regularly firing up dabs on his impactful show, Fuck, That’s Delicious (VICE Network, unfortunately).
Andy ignited his custom black flamethrower and thoroughly warmed the marble glass rosin housing; the rig itself was intricately bong-shaped, with several colors of pyrex and hand-blown glass. As instructed, I took a small portion of the yellow flake Organic Mechanic rosin on the tip of a scalpel-like implement. I swabbed the silver metal instrument into the bowl in a circular fashion and took a pretty long pull while the glass filled with a milky cumulus cloud. I was ambitious but I surely didn’t have the green lungs to clear all the billowing contents in one take. It took two hits. Lift off.
The origins of international Dab Day are murky and elusive, which is pretty apropos. It doesn’t seem like the dab community can really articulate its history but at this point it doesn’t really matter. Apparently the Grateful Dead lived at 710 Ashbury in the late ’60s and a rapper from the online cannabis community named TaskRok is credited with flipping the word “OIL” over in a dab chat room in the early 2010s. A lot of the lore seems to be speculative but it’s all part of the collective cannabis consciousness now, and it is truly an egalitarian affair. Essentially, all are welcome to get epically zooted.
Winewood in Ann Arbor is the only dispensary I’ve found to sell bubble hash in jars.
A dab has legs, perhaps tentacles that stretch in devilish directions long after the hit. For me, I was stuck on a lasting high hours after doing one. I wouldn’t recommend being too far from your comfort zone to start out with, but my dabbling safari is most likely at its end. Maybe I’d try another one if I stumble upon it again, but I’m afraid I’d never sincerely seek it out. My head space wasn’t exactly liberated at the time of this exercise but my decision is essentially final. The dab didn’t make me go dark, but it was still 90 degrees in the shade well after 8 p.m., which surely didn’t help matters as I tried to come down from the stratosphere. This didn’t feel like Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception, it just felt like something to endure, more Interzone than a step towards nirvana.
Andy and I got to talking about local dispensaries and while he’s been to many in Washtenaw County, I recommended Apothecare and Winewood Organics in Ann Arbor and Planet Jane in Ypsilanti. Dispensaries that use the caregiver model and ones with their own onsite grow are the best. The only dispensaries I’ve hit in the Detroit area are the excellent Flower Bowl on Warren Avenue and the Dispo in Hazel Park, which has great prices at all their branches. I’m still learning about dab culture and supply sourcing but for Washtenaw County I highly urge you to check out Winewood Organics: they use living soil and have an onsite grow. Apothecare has certified organic cannabis and also uses living soil. Planet Jane also has its own grow house and has the best flower in the state for me. Never tried their rosin, but I’m guessing it’s bang-for-your-buck stuff. Andy recommended Herbana for rosin in Ann Arbor.
As for flavors, there’s a bit of a consensus around the hash-based Peach Crescendo which was recently on bud menus at Quality Roots and Skymint; these are chains, so surely you can find one close to you. I’m not sure how the hash-based stuff will go over with dab connoisseurs. Hash is a tangent here and I’m a fan of the old-school chocolate Afghan, Moroccan, or Lebanese varieties. These are very hard to find now but you can get bubble hash-infused prerolls at most dispensaries. Winewood in Ann Arbor is the only dispensary I’ve found to sell bubble hash in jars.
I decided to stop into Winewood and talked briefly with owner and grower Eric Parkhurst, who said they were re-upping their rosin stock with a caregiver-driven Tropicana Cookies-based strain, but he had plenty of live resin on hand. You can get a gram of this Lemon Slushee live resin for 45 bones. Looks pretty primo.
Peachy Hash Co. has also developed a following in the rosin ranks, probably something you need to order online but their products look tasty. Superb Cannabis Co. seems to have a bit of a strong following and does have products in Detroit-area dispensaries. Metro Times readers have awarded a Best Concentrate four times in the Best of Detroit poll; the reigning holder of the title is Concentrate Kings with previous winners being Mitten Extracts, Green River Meds, and Uncle Morty’s Extracts.
I couldn’t tell you much about the actual flavor profile of the dab, it just tasted like a very strong bong hit. However, there is a very stonery aroma and aura from the dab; I think back to Stacy Keach’s cop character in Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams. It’s a rabbit hole and I’m fairly certain I don’t want to go down there again. Maybe it says something about our end-phase capitalist culture that kids want to get so fucking astronomically high to escape the terrors of the modern age. I don’t blame dabbers at all for that sentiment.
An hour into the dab hit, I felt sorely upset having not secured a proper dinner for the evening. It wasn’t a fiendish attack of the munchies but rather a notion that a good meal would have helped balance the high. Andy wondered aloud if what we were smoking was potentially detrimental to our health since neither of us could accurately pinpoint the exact ingredients of the rosin or process used to make it. At the end of the day, “It gets you super high,” was the mantra. Winewood actually has a fairly in-depth synopsis of dabbing (including preparation methods) but not being very scientific, I still don’t fully understand how concentrate is made. Maybe the dab blew out the last scientific brain cell in my aging, blunted head.
Live rosin for the evening was from Information Entropy in Ann Arbor.
When I woke up the next day from a relatively deep sleep, I still felt groggy and some of the effects of the dab lingered. After some coffee and kombucha, I was finally exiting the dabiverse. So for me, it was a high that peaked about an hour after the dab but lasted for some 17 hours in total. It’s a bit of a commitment, shall we say. The other lasting thing I’m finding is olfactory hallucinations, like out of nowhere I get a heavy aromatic essence of the dab experience. It’s actually more pleasant than the dab was itself.
Maybe the final takeaway from this dab experiment is Andy’s notion that once you smoke something on that level, everything else you smoke doesn’t quite compare. I would tend to agree though the next day I hit my hippy stick vape pen loaded with a Sweet Tart strain from Herbal Solutions in Ypsilanti clocking 86.4% THC and it basically was a dab flashback, taking me back to that death-defying interstellar mental space.
So I can say I was a Dabbage Patch Kid for a day. I celebrate cannabis in all its forms. Party on, dab dudes and dudettes. Enjoy your day.
In the event of a bad psychedelic trip, you may be better off riding it through than taking additional drugs to extinguish the trip—which can actually be more dangerous.
In a new study, doctors are warning about so-called “trip-killers,” or drugs used to counteract the effects of a psychedelic trip. What they found is that over half of anecdotal recommendations online call for benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, alcohol, and other remedies, but found that trip-killers are often more dangerous than the psychedelics themselves. This LSD Reddit thread, for instance, has trip-killer recommendations. Less than 2% of recommendations they found were for CBD or cannabis to lessen a trip.
The study, “Trip-killers: a concerning practice associated with psychedelic drug use,” was published in Emergency Medicine Journal on Dec. 19. It was announced in a news release the same day.
There’s no Narcan to end a psychedelic trip, but people have tried various drugs to do just that. Researchers found that drugs such as benzodiazepines and antipsychotics are the options most frequently recommended, but warnings about their potential side effects are rarely included, they noticed.
Benzodiazepines or benzos, are central nervous system (CNS) depressants primarily used to treat anxiety. Benzos are dangerous in numerous ways—notably there’s a risk of overdose, and also a risk of powerful dependence that can lead to dementia. Like fentanyl, benzodiazepines can stop breathing, and there are few ways to reverse a benzo overdose.
The intensity of a psychedelic trip can lead to distress, agitation, and psychosis, and researchers cited recent data indicating that more than 8% of drug-related trips to emergency rooms in Europe involve psychedelic drugs.
The study was led by Manchester-based Dr. Gregory Yates, in the U.K., who thinks there is a huge lack of peer-reviewed research showing how these drugs are being used and the risks involved.
Instead of going to a doctor, which is pretty much impossible to do during a trip, psychonauts are turning to Reddit.
“There are multiple ways to control a ‘bad trip’ and avoid hospitalization. One is to take psychedelics under the supervision of a ‘trip-sitter’—a non-intoxicated friend who can provide psychological support. Another is to use additional psychoactive drugs—‘trip-killers’—to attenuate or prematurely end the psychedelic experience. Trip-killers are not new, but have received increased attention on social media in recent years.”
“Information on trip-killers is not available through drug advice services, despite the probable risks they pose,” researchers wrote. “To our knowledge, no relevant papers have been published in the medical literature. It was the aim of our study to gather descriptive data on the use of psychedelic trip killers by analysing posts made on Reddit, a publicly accessible, anonymous social media website.”
Researchers analyzed posts on social media platforms like Reddit, and found 128 threads created between 2015 and 2023, with a total of 709 posts.
“The most recommended trip-killer, with 440 recommendations, comprising nearly half (46%) of all the trip-killers mentioned in posts, were benzodiazepines, known for their sedative effects and physical dependence. Benzos were followed by several different antipsychotics (171;18%).
One in 10 recommendations were for antidepressants, while 1 in 20 were for alcohol. Opioids, antihistamines, herbal remedies, such as camomile and valerian, and prescribed sleeping pills, attracted 3% each. Cannabis and cannabidiol each took 2% of the vote share.”
Trip-killers were mostly discussed in reference to countering the effects of LSD (235 recommendations), magic mushrooms (143), and MDMA, popularly known as ecstasy (21).
Trip Sitters in Europe
Set and setting are so important when it involves psychedelics and hallucinogens. Not observing set and setting, or disregarding the profound nature of psychedelics can lead to bad trips, which can be terrifying.
Much like the United States, leaders in Europe are currently figuring out how to incorporate psychedelic therapy into its healthcare landscape most effectively.
A European lobby group representing developers and professionals within the industry advocates for including seasoned practitioners as integral members of a multidisciplinary advisory body.
Seasoned practitioners—i.e. trip sitters—would serve as a guiding authority, offering essential insights to regulators and healthcare practitioners regarding optimal practices as the field expands and changes. This effort comes from the European Psychedelic Access Research and European Alliance (PAREA), as reported by Politico, as per a briefing document slated for submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The document reads that people with actual experience with psychedelics should have say-so over the dos and don’ts of psychedelic trips. This aligns with the idea that those with an actual relationship with the substance, rather than simply a desire to profit from it, makes for better business, as seen in the cannabis industry as well.
If psychedelics are taken with better care, often with a trip-sitter involved, bad trips would be less common and people would be less reliant on so-called trip-killers.
“I never pictured a world where marijuana would be anywhere close to legal, and it’s mind-blowing to me that mushrooms are being decriminalized everywhere,” says Shane Mauss, a comedian who tours the country discussing his psychedelic experiences. For the 2018 documentary Psychonautics, he consumed a wide variety of substances on camera, from ayahuasca to LSD to ketamine to DMT, a smokable drug known to provoke especially strong hallucinations in which users sometimes encounter cartoonish “entities.” Mauss also hosts a science podcast called Here We Are, where he shares his thoughts about the mainstreaming of psychedelic drugs, the surprising pace of legalization efforts, and the role that podcaster Joe Rogan and other public figures play in normalizing psychedelics.
In June, Reason‘s Nick Gillespie caught up with Mauss at the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver. Attended by a reported 13,000 people, the conference was organized by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a nonprofit that is in the final stages of gaining Food and Drug Administration approval for the use of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.
Reason: What does the psychedelic renaissance mean to you?
Mauss: I don’t know what the psychedelic renaissance means to me. I can tell you that as someone who was born in 1980 and experienced much of the Reagan-era “just say no to drugs,” early ’90s PSAs, the frying egg and this-is-your-brain-on-drugs stuff, I never pictured a world where marijuana would be anywhere close to legal, and it’s mind-blowing to me that mushrooms are being decriminalized everywhere.
Even when I started my science podcast eight years ago, the [only] organization even attempting to jump through all of the regulatory hoops to just test psychedelics in any way at all was MAPS, which was much smaller even eight years ago. And now there’s Johns Hopkins and Stanford and a zillion universities are getting into it.
What do you think changed?
I don’t know if this is just what progress looks like and it’s inevitable? I know I didn’t see this coming. Maybe the war on drugs was such a horrible policy in the first place that it was never going to last.
What do you like about psychedelics?
Psychedelics just changed my life. I did them as kind of a goof when I was a teenager, to be a rebel or whatever. I had smoked weed and laughed about it and thought it was great, but psychedelics were something more meaningful for me. I always had pretty serious depression issues from the age of 10 years old, and [psychedelics] were something that really helped with that. Mushrooms were my all-time favorite, my go-to for a very, very long time. And I think if it weren’t for DMT, I probably wouldn’t have a science podcast. I was always interested in how the mind worked.
Can you describe your experience with DMT?
I was raised in a strict religious household. I didn’t fit into that. I was always an atheist, especially in my younger years. I was a very angry, bitter atheist. To have a DMT experience, it seems like you’re talking with entities or in some other world. Or is this the afterlife? Or is this some other dimension? That is the subjective feeling of a lot of experiences. It made me go: “How could I perceive something like that?” By the end of it, I actually don’t think I was in some other dimension. I think it was in my brain.
So then the question is, how would a brain make a perception that is so different from this conscious experience? It just got me really digging into how the subconscious mind works in neuroscience, and it was incredibly impactful for me over and over again. I started doing ketamine a few years ago and other than falling and scraping my face, it’s been nothing but really interesting. [Gestures at red marks on his face.] This looks much worse than it is.
If anyone watches my documentary Psychonautics, they’ll see I think I have a balanced take on psychedelics. I have a lot of inherent disclaimers. You can look at this face and go: “Well, maybe I should pause before doing ketamine outside of a nightclub so I don’t fall over.”
What are the parts of the psychedelic community that you like the most?
I did psychedelics alone for a very long time until I started experimenting with doing a psychedelics show. I think 2015 was when I first started doing a few of those. Once I started meeting the people that would come out to a psychedelic comedy show, they weren’t the cliché—burned-out, dreadlocked hair, and their only hygiene was a sound bath—type. It was never like that. Sometimes I’d have like one table of burnouts, a bunch of clichés, but you would just meet the most interesting, intelligent people.
I’ve been doing science shows for years, and it can be tough sledding sometimes, getting people to have the attention span to listen to jokes about biology. I remember the very first time that I did a show about psychedelics, the engagement was overwhelming. Afterward, there was a line of people. I’ve been a successful comedian since 2004 and I’ve been on Late Night and everything else. If you do a psychedelic comedy show, there is a line of people that has a million questions and they’re meeting each other in line and connecting. The psychedelic community is just so inquisitive and so open.
What are the parts of the psychedelic community you find objectionable?
I did a 111-city psychedelic comedy tour that ended in 2017. It was the greatest tour of my life. I loved meeting people every show. I loved going to festivals. Then COVID happened. As someone who interviews virologists and epidemiologists, the insane, not just conspiracies, but anger and harassment that I saw anyone doing any kind of science face, it certainly opened my eyes to some of the problematic errors in thinking within the community, some of the magical thinking, and a lot of the grifting in the space. Granted, this is the internet and you’re seeing the worst of the worst cases.
There’s a lot of pretty dubious supplements and things like that are being peddled and treatments and telling people you can cure their cancer with coffee enemas and stuff like that.
Is Joe Rogan a purveyor of psychedelic misinformation?
Absolutely. I’ve been on Joe Rogan’s show. I find him to be a good interviewer and a nice guy. And Alex Jones is one of his best friends. It’s just his shtick: “Oh, did the aliens make the pyramids?” It’s a little discouraging for someone who likes science [that when] I watch Animal Planet, Finding Bigfoot is the most popular show. Or when I try to watch the History Channel to learn something, Ancient Aliens is the most popular show on there.
On Joe Rogan’s show, a way to get on there is to have some big controversial idea or something like that. I think that he ends up subjected to a lot of grifters and a lot of people that are telling him what he already wants to hear and dressing it up as some sciencey-sounding thing.
Do you think the psychedelic community is more open to conspiracist thinking or anti-science thinking?
I find the psychedelic community to be very intelligent. I would say that because of the nature of it being such an underground thing, I think it has drawn people that are unconventional, that maybe don’t like authority as much, which is great. I think we should absolutely be questioning science and authorities and laws all of the time. I very much support that.
Sometimes it’s like a race to see who can have the most far-out idea because there are a lot of creative people in the space, and you want to get attention for your ideas and advertise your ideas. Some of those more far-out ideas are sexier and more tantalizing than reality for some people. I think reality is very interesting. Some people think reality is very boring.
Are psychedelics becoming normalized in our culture?
I started comedy in 2004. I was like a typical late-night, short-joke, absurdist comedian. I’ve always been interested in psychedelics, so even back then I would sprinkle in a few psychedelic jokes here and there. I found that if I did a regular comedy club, I could do five minutes of psychedelic jokes and it would be funny. Usually they were goofy ones, like I ate too many mushrooms. And if I talked about them too much more than that, you would start getting funny looks.
I had all of these deals potentially in the works and ran into all sorts of barriers at Showtime and HBO not wanting to anymore. They didn’t have a problem talking about drugs; they had a problem talking about potential benefits. It was talking about psychedelics as medicines that was very taboo to them. They wouldn’t touch it. When Michael Pollan’s book [How to Change Your Mind] came out, that was the first time there was a psychedelic book on the front of almost every bookstore in the country.Pollan’s book opened the doors for others. And for all of my criticisms of people like Aaron Rodgers, or someone that might be peddling a bunch of anti-science nonsense, it’s still awesome to have someone huge, like a [future] NFL Hall of Famer, praising psychedelics. There are pros and cons to it.
What do you think the benefits would be to society where psychedelic use is just normalized?
That’s a really interesting question because I’m not exactly one of those people that’s like, “If you just put LSD in the drinking water and everyone did LSD, the world would be peace and love.” I’ve seen the negative effects of psychedelics. I’ve been to a psych ward twice myself. I know that psychedelics aren’t perfect. The very things that can help some people’s mental health can hurt others. I have mixed feelings on making everything legal, but the war on drugs is a horrible failure. I don’t know what else there is to do but just get rid of the absurd laws around them.
It will make me nervous when people are doing psychedelics more and more willy-nilly because there’s unexpected things. I mean, marijuana changed my life. I no longer like the stuff. But I had such a beautiful few-year run with marijuana. I loved it. I never saw marijuana being legalized. I was thrilled, even though it’s no longer my cup of tea. Thrilled to see it go so legal and get so popular. My grandma, I think, did CBD. My God, I never saw that coming.
Are you worried about the psychedelic community as it becomes more mainstream?
I’m not about being the cool kid hipster about psychedelics. I’m thrilled to see more and more scientific organizations getting to be a part of it. I have more pause about some of the influencer community out there and some of the wellness community.
If you project 20–40 years into the future, where things have been psychedelicized, what’s that world look like?
I think that people [will] have more options, even to just escape reality, responsibility, or whatever, even in more reckless use of things than just drinking their faces off every day. I think there’s a correlation between younger people not drinking as much, and I think part of that has to do with marijuana and some of these other substances becoming more normalized. There [are] lots more alternatives for people. Even the lowest bar of that is less drunk driving, less alcoholism. I think there will be a lot of excitement for a while, and hopefully 40 years from now this will just be commonplace.
This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity.
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy merges the principles of talk therapy with the effects of psychedelics. Many people seeking help with depression, PTSD, anxiety, or other mental health conditions have tried one or the other.
Some notable research includes looking at the use of psilocybin, one of the psychoactive components of magic mushrooms, to treat anxiety experienced by patients with metastatic cancers. Other studies spotlight the use of psychedelic therapy to help patients receiving hospice care cope with feelings of depression and hopelessness.
Such studies suggest that people, especially those with terminal illnesses like cancer, experience profound psychological transformations in a single six-hour session involving psilocybin when combined with psychotherapy. This dual approach results in a drastic improvement in mood and acceptance of one’s situation.
And now, neuroscientists understand more about how and why these positive outcomes occur. Research indicates that forming new neural connections facilitates assimilating new skills, memories, and attitudes, PsyPost reports. Known as arborization, this process is comparable to the branching of trees, which it’s named after. This happens when neurons create new pathways. This neural growth is crucial in fostering changes in cognition and emotional responses.
Scientists use a method known as two-photon microscopy to examine this phenomenon in living cells. This technique lets them monitor the development and retraction of spines on neurons. Prepare for some science, reader: These neuron spines comprise one part of the synapses, essential for facilitating communication between neurons.
Scientists widely believed that lasting spine formation in the brain required continuous and repetitive mental effort. But, new research from Yale suggests that it could happen quickly and even in one dosage. The scientists observed swift spine formation in the frontal cortex of mice after just a single dose of psilocybin. Obviously, the mice did not receive therapy and integration. But, the study showed that mice administered with psilocybin exhibited around a 10% increase in spine formation. These changes were not fleeting; they were noted one day post-treatment and then persisted for over a month.
Psychoactive compounds mainly alter brain activity by interacting with receptors on neural cells. Among these, the serotonin receptor 5HT, commonly targeted by traditional antidepressants, exists in multiple subtypes. So, there’s more than one way to use them to prompt positive change. Psychedelics like DMT (the key ingredient in ayahuasca) activate a specific receptor subtype known as 5-HT2A. Researchers believe this receptor also plays a crucial role in facilitating hyperplastic states, periods when the brain undergoes rapid changes.
The 5-HT2A receptors, which DMT activates, are found not only on the surface of neuron cells but also within the neuron itself. The famous internal 5-HT2A receptor is key to igniting the rapid changes in neuronal structure. Serotonin is unable to penetrate the cell membrane, which is why people don’t experience hallucinations when taking antidepressants like Prozac or Zoloft (much to many readers taking the mood-elevators distaste). In contrast, psychedelics can cross the cell boundary and influence the internal 5-HT2A receptor, promoting the growth of dendrites and an increase in spine formation.
Besides being the active component in ayahuasca, as readers may know, DMT is also a molecule naturally produced in mammalian brains — including humans.
The fact that our brains make DMT suggests that human neurons can generate their own ‘psychedelic’ molecules (albeit in minuscule amounts). It’s conceivable that the brain employs its own endogenous DMT as a mechanism for adaptation, such as forming dendritic spines on neurons to embed crucial mental states. Ideally, a patient would use therapy in conjunction with these molecular changes for the best possible outcome when seeking help for a mental health condition.
While the brain only makes small amounts of DMT, you may have heard that when we die, there’s a massive burst of it, explaining some of what folks claim to see during near-death experiences. The hypothesis that the brain releases DMT in large quantities at death is a favorite in the psychedelic community; however, it remains a hypothesis without solid scientific backing. Research in this area is challenging not only to any drug laws but also to the ethical and practical difficulties of studying the brain at the moment of death.
However, the psychedelic community must remember that bad trips do happen, and that’s not something you want happening to you or someone that you love in the final days of your life. As PsyPost points out, in “These Precious Days,” a collection of essays by Ann Patchett, she recounts an experience of consuming mushrooms with a friend who was battling pancreatic cancer. Her friend underwent a spiritual and transformative experience, emerging with a heightened connection to her loved ones. Patchett, however, describes her experience differently, likening it to spending eight hours in a dark, nightmarish scenario, akin to being in a cauldron of lava at the Earth’s core, where she felt as if she was constantly battling snakes.
While there’s evidence that psychedelic therapy can do miraculous work, explained by even more miraculous science, even all the Yale researchers and psychonauts in the world can’t prevent with complete certainty the risk of battling snakes in a cauldron of lava at the Earth’s core.
In a recent study from the University of British Columbia, researchers have unveiled new insights into the relationship between cannabis consumption and yoga. The study indicates that individuals who practice yoga after using cannabis may experience enhanced mindfulness and a heightened sense of mysticality.
The research, which originated as a psychology dissertation, examined “the impact of contextual factors during cannabis use on well-being outcomes.” The paper’s author, Sarah Elizabeth Ann Daniels, highlights a significant disparity: While research into psychedelic therapy often emphasizes the importance of setting and intention, this emphasis is notably less prevalent in studies related to cannabis. While cannabis connoisseurs understand that the plant, like shrooms, is indeed psychedelic, the stoner community doesn’t always place the same weight on integrating set and setting into cannabis use. Yoga, which often utilizes intention-setting, could offer one modality to change that.
“When researchers explore the use of other psychoactive drugs for mental health treatment, there’s a strong focus on factors outside the direct effects of the drug, like mindset, environment, and behavior,” Daniels says. “This is because evidence suggests that these elements can dramatically influence therapeutic outcomes.”
The study underscores the importance of the context in which people enjoy cannabis. Its conclusions suggest that the environment and activities, aka the set and setting, invoked while under the influence of cannabis may play a pivotal role in shaping the user’s experience. Drawing a parallel with the world of psychedelics, the research supports the psychedelic-approved conviction that the setting and mindset during cannabis consumption can significantly affect its therapeutic benefits. While the cannabis community is often discussed in terms of a potential model for psychedelics to follow, as weed first gained mainstream societal approval, perhaps it’s time to reverse this relationship and see what marijuana can learn from psilocybin, ketamine, and other substances which therapeutically endorse set and setting.
To investigate the role of context within a cannabis experience, a weed trip, if you will, Daniels orchestrated the experiment involving 47 participants. She instructed them to self-administer cannabis on two occasions, spaced one week apart. In one session, participants engaged in yoga, while in the subsequent session, they just did whatever they usually enjoyed doing while high. The most common activities cited included eating, viewing TV or films, performing household tasks, socializing, and other hobbies.
The research evaluated participants based on several criteria, such as “state mindfulness,” “mysticality of experience,” and “state affect.”
Regarding “state mindfulness,” Daniels sought to gauge levels rooted in “both traditional Buddhist and contemporary psychology models of mindfulnesses.” This measure illuminated participants’ awareness of their mental states and bodily sensations. On the other hand, the “mystical experience” metric looked at more profound moments – such as experiencing deep peace and tranquility and perceiving a distorted sense of time, a common occurrence for cannabis trips.
In her research, Daniels identified a marked enhancement in participants’ reported mindfulness when they combined cannabis use with yoga practice. Additionally, their “mysticality of experience” saw a notable uptick. Despite mysticality traditionally being more aligned with psychedelic substances, Daniels points out, “While cannabis is not considered a traditional psychedelic,” it has been observed that “recent evidence indicates that it shares many commonalities with psychedelic-induced altered states.”
When it comes to “state affect,” which essentially gauges an individual’s emotional and mood state, Daniels found no significant variance between sessions with yoga and those without.
Pairing cannabis and yoga is nothing new. Ancient yogis in India touted the benefits of hashish, and classes such as the LA-based Ganja Yoga invite people to partake to enhance their yoga experience.
Of those participating in the study, six were newcomers to yoga. Thirty individuals claimed to engage in yoga sporadically or occasionally, with the remaining 11 being regular or frequent practitioners. 72% of the participants, or 34 individuals, expressed interest in blending cannabis and yoga in the future. In a symbiotic relationship, yoga not only amplified their cannabis experience, but the inclusion of cannabis also heightened their appreciation for yoga. Daniels notes:
“The most frequently reported theme was enhanced physical awareness, where 15 participants articulated a heightened cognizance of their body, its movements, and sensory experiences. Many described feeling more ‘in touch’ or ‘in tune’ with their bodily sensations and expressed that their awareness of movement and physical sensations was at a ‘deeper’ level than usual. Importantly, they emphasized that this was distinct from their regular (non-cannabis influenced) yoga or physical activity sessions.”
Reflecting on her findings, Daniels suggests, “These results underscore the importance of considering context and offering guidance to those using cannabis for therapeutic purposes, with the aim of enhancing its positive impacts on mental health and well-being.”
The primary takeaway from the study is that going forward when prescribing cannabis (although you don’t need a doctor to implement this information), physicians should consider set and setting as part of cannabis consumption.
“Physicians have long identified a lack of clarity on the optimal approach to prescribe cannabis for therapeutic use,” the study reads. “Offering precise behavioral guidance and educating about the influence of environment and mindset can potentially optimize the benefits and reduce the downsides of therapeutic cannabis use. Given the favorable response to the yoga component, recommending yoga or similar mindful exercises might be highly beneficial.”
The use of psychedelics as a treatment for serious mental health conditions continues to gain traction as multiple studies focus on the psychological symptoms commonly experienced by cancer patients. In one study, researchers at the University of Washington are exploring the use of psilocybin, one of the psychoactive components of magic mushrooms, to treat anxiety experienced by patients with metastatic cancers. Other research focuses on using psychedelic therapy to help patients receiving hospice care cope with demoralization.
In a separate study at the Center for Psychedelic Medicine at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, researchers are conducting a clinical trial using psilocybin-assisted therapy to treat existential distress in patients with advanced-stage cancer in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Colorado. Dr. Xiaojue Hu, a psychiatrist and researcher at NYU’s Center for Psychedelic Medicine, noted that the study “is building on the same work in this area originally done at NYU in the 2010s.”
“Now, there are many other studies using psilocybin in cancer patients, including a study using psilocybin in combination with multidisciplinary palliative care to treat demoralized cancer survivors with chronic pain going on at Emory University,” she told SurvivorNet.
Hu explained that psychedelic-assisted therapy could be a more sustainable and effective treatment for cancer patients than other commonly prescribed alternatives including antidepressants.
“From the psilocybin research on depression alone, we’ve seen clinically significant impact from just one or two doses of psilocybin in conjunction with therapeutic support that can last up to 14 months for some patients,” said Hu. “This is in contrast to antidepressants, which people have to take on a daily basis for potentially years, with a risk of relapse when the meds are tapered off.”
Psilocybin And MDMA For Mental Health
Clinical research and other studies into psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA have shown that the drugs have potential therapeutic benefits, particularly for serious mental health conditions such as depression, PTSD, substance misuse disorders and anxiety. In January, a California biopharmaceutical company announced positive results from a clinical trial testing MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. Research published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry in 2020 found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was an effective and quick-acting treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. A separate study published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.
Although the research is promising, Hu said that psychedelic-assisted therapy does not work for everyone and that further research is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of the treatment.
“Psychedelics aren’t a panacea or miracle cure for anxiety and depression, as there’s still much that’s unknown about them and there’s always the potential for adverse effects, like with any treatment,” Dr. Hu said.
Hu added that research has focused on using psychedelic treatments in conjunction with multiple sessions that integrate more traditional forms of therapy.
“Most of the research is also done when psychedelics, such as psilocybin, are used in the context of therapeutic support with usually two therapists, which can include up to three sessions of preparation and three sessions of integration afterwards,” she said. “So the results are not completely due to the physiologic effects of psilocybin alone, in my opinion, but must be taken into context with the therapeutic and environmental support that’s also offered.”
Hu also noted that psychedelic-assisted therapy is conducted in a tightly controlled environment because the set and setting in which a patient receives the treatment can have an impact on its success.
“We typically don’t expect different results if someone took their Lexapro [an antidepressant] in different moods, with different people, or in different environments, but we definitely can when it involves psychedelics,” she said.
While the research continues, the use of psychedelics to treat serious mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression has yet to achieve approval from health regulators. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that the Food and Drug Administration will eventually approve MDMA and psilocybin mental health treatments, according to a letter from the department in May 2022. In 2017, the FDA granted MDMA-assisted therapy Breakthrough Therapy designation, indicating that the therapy is a significant improvement over existing treatments.
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) predicts that an application to use MDMA to treat PTSD will be submitted to the FDA at some point in 2023, and approval could come as early as 2024. But so far, MDMA-assisted therapy has not been approved by any regulatory agency and the safety and efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD have not been firmly established.
“MDMA and psilocybin have the most clinical research and legal momentum behind them right now, with psilocybin already being legalized in Oregon and Colorado and MDMA phase III trials recently being completed,” said Hu.
Evidence-Based Psychedelic Medicine Company Harmoniously.com to Join Leading Health Care Conference
SAN FRANCISCO, September 21, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Harmoniously.com, a leading name in the field of psychedelic medicine and integrated wellness, is delighted to announce its attendance at the upcoming HLTH Conference in Las Vegas. Renowned for being a hotspot for healthcare innovation and dialogue, the HLTH Conference offers a dynamic platform for Harmoniously.com to showcase its revolutionary healthcare solutions.
“We’re incredibly excited to be part of the HLTH Conference this year,” states Sean Carr, CEO of Harmoniously.com. “This event is a gathering of the most forward-thinking minds in healthcare, and we are eager to share our unique approach to improving patient outcomes through psychedelic medicine and holistic care.”
About Harmoniously.com
Under the leadership of CEO Sean Carr, Harmoniously.com has distinguished itself as an avant-garde player in the realm of psychedelic medicine. The company specializes in a multi-modal treatment paradigm that includes regulated access to psychedelic treatments such as ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Harmoniously.com complements this offering with a range of additional services, including executive leadership coaching, nutrition counseling, and spirituality programs, aiming to bring about holistic wellness.
By taking an integrated approach to healthcare, Harmoniously.com succeeds in treating the entire individual — physically, mentally, and emotionally — following stringent scientific protocols and regulatory guidelines to ensure both safety and efficacy.
A Multifaceted Approach to Healthcare
What sets Harmoniously.com apart is its commitment to an integrated healthcare experience. Utilizing a blend of cutting-edge psychedelic medicines and complementary therapies, the company is uniquely positioned to make meaningful impacts on patient health and well-being.
The HLTH Conference
The HLTH Conference is a yearly event that attracts professionals, innovators, and stakeholders from various sectors within the healthcare industry. Taking place in Las Vegas, the conference is a global stage for transformative conversations and actionable insights into the future of healthcare.
Join Us at the HLTH Conference
Harmoniously.com will be taking meetings on Sunday, Oct. 8, and Monday, Oct. 9. Attendees are invited to schedule time with CEO Sean Carr to learn more about the organization’s groundbreaking healthcare approaches and to engage directly with him and the rest of the Harmoniously.com team. “We are committed to driving the conversation forward on psychedelic medicine and holistic healthcare,” adds Carr. “The HLTH Conference serves as an ideal platform for us to engage with like-minded professionals and collaborate on defining the future of healthcare.”
For additional information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
For Christine “Cat” Parlee, who has stage IV metastatic melanoma, the Roots to Thrive program was a godsend. Not that she expects it to save her life: The probability of surviving advanced melanoma for 5 years is about 15%-20%, according to the American Cancer Society, and Parlee was diagnosed in 2017. But an innovative approach to group therapy at Roots to Thrive, based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, has helped her deal with this life-threatening disease.
Parlee’s health issues are complex. As if malignant skin cancer wasn’t enough, the 50-something resident of Vancouver Island also has a condition called trigeminal neuralgia with anesthesia dolorosa. With that rare disorder, she says, “emotional outbursts can literally cause me severe pain. So I got very good at suppressing my emotions.”
“But you don’t grow, or grieve, or eventually accept the end if you don’t process your fears,” she continues. Roots to Life has “allowed me to experience my own anger, fear – the feeling that this is SO unfair – without pain or panic attacks. … It’s one of the hardest yet most beautiful experiences I have ever had to put in words.”
A key ingredient of that experience is psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms. Founded in 2019, the nonprofit Roots to Thrive is the first Canadian medical practice to legally use psychedelic drugs, specifically psilocybin and ketamine, in group therapy for patients facing the end of life. Combined with two other ingredients – a psychotherapist and a supportive patient community – the drugs have proved highly effective in easing the distress that comes with a terminal diagnosis, according to Pamela Kryskow, MD, the medical lead at Roots to Thrive.
“Once that safe community is built, a psilocybin mushroom session with that same group of people creates a healing container, where patients can deeply explore their challenges while under the influence of the medicine,” says Kryskow, who is also a clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia and adjunct professor at Vancouver Island University.
“Once that safe community is built, a psilocybin mushroom session with that same group of people creates a healing container, where patients can deeply explore their challenges while under the influence of the medicine,” says Kryskow, who is also a clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia and adjunct professor at Vancouver Island University.
Clinical Trials at Full Tilt
Research confirms the promise of psychedelics – from plant-based psilocybin and DMT to synthetic MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD – for palliative and end-of-life patients. In 2016, a landmark study at NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that a single dose of psilocybin relieved depression, anxiety, and hopelessness in cancer patients. More recently, in a follow-up study, 80% of the same patients reported that the positive effects were sustained 4½ years later. And more testing is in progress.
“There are 113 clinical trials currently registered at clinicaltrials.gov,” says Paul Stamets, a mycologist whose 2020 bookFantastic Fungi is a companion to a popular Netflix documentary. “This is unprecedented, and a reflection of the scientific justification for exploring the benefits of psilocybin over a wide range of mental health issues.”
That exploration dates back to the 1950s, when psychiatrists like Humphry Osmond, who coined the word “psychedelic,” first experimented with LSD-assisted psychotherapy. Studies during that period were less than rigorous by today’s standards, however, and in the United States they virtually came to a halt with the 1970 signing of the Controlled Substances Act. But decades later, in 2014, Scientific American called for an end to the ban on clinical trials involving psychedelics. By then, the country was in the middle of what psychiatrist Ben Sessa dubbed a “psychedelic renaissance.”
Right-to-try laws, which give gravely ill patients access to experimental drugs without having to wait for FDA approval, have helped jump-start the surge in psychedelic research. Currently, 41 states have their own versions of these statutes, which stand alongside the federal Right to Try Act, signed into law in 2018. Two states have focused on psilocybin in particular. In 2020, Oregon became the first to legalize the therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms. Colorado voters recently followed suit, decriminalizing magic mushrooms on Election Day 2022. This is expected to pave the way for similar changes in Colorado laws that prohibit other plant-based psychedelics, such as DMT, ibogaine, and certain forms of mescaline, in June 2026.
How Psychedelics Work
As defined by the National Institutes of Health, psychedelics are potent psychoactive substances that alter cognition, changing the user’s mood and perceptions by acting on neutral circuits in the brainthat involve the chemical serotonin. Much of this happens in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates how you feel and how you see the world. “Psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, are believed to all act on what are called serotonin 2A receptors,” explains Charles Nemeroff, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and co-director of the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at the University of Texas’s Dell Medical School in Austin.
Matthew W. Johnson, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, describes the activation of the subtype of serotonin receptor as “the first step in the chain,” one that leads to “changes in brain communication” during the psychedelic experience. “It’s likely that the brain looks different in the long term in a way that corresponds to psychological and behavioral improvements,” he says, noting that psilocybin “works more like psychotherapy than other psychiatric meds.”
However, psychedelics work, they have been shown under certain circumstances to be an effective complement to psychological support for end-of-life patients. In a recent study of more than 3,000 adults, the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research found that taking these drugs under the right conditions made people less afraid of death, much the way a near-death experience unrelated to drugs may reduce the fear of mortality. The result, of course, can be a dramatic improvement in quality of life for the terminally ill.
This isn’t to suggest that psychedelics are a panacea. Johnson notes, for example, that the therapy is especially risky for patients with schizophrenia or severe heart disease. Gauging the risks calls for further research, says Gregory A. Fonzo, PhD, an assistant professor and co-director of the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Dell Medical School. “Current studies have focused primarily on establishing efficacy,” he points out. “But future studies with larger numbers of participants are necessary in order to identify individuals who are likely – and not likely – to respond well to this treatment.”
Separating the Patient From the Diagnosis
For those who respond well to psychedelic therapy, it isn’t just an individual experience. “Many patients report breakthroughs in family dynamics,” says Johnson. In some cases, this happens as “they start having more open conversations about potential or pending death.”
There have been other kinds of breakthroughs as well. “We’ve heard many reports of profound insights, transpersonal experiences, and rapid shifts in patients’ moods and their sense of self occurring during psychedelic experiences,” Fonzo says. “It’s possible that these patients’ subsequent changes in their belief systems, their perceptions of self and others, and their overall mood state are key factors that promote benefits for conditions such as depression. But additional research is needed to validate that.”
Clinical trials have even dipped into the realm of spirituality. In 2021, a Johns Hopkins review of psychedelic research focusing on end-of-life and palliative care noted that some psilocybin studies used a mystical experience questionnaire designed to measure things like “a sense of unity, reverence, and authoritative truth … transcendence of time/space, and ineffability.”
But for many end-of-life patients, one of the most important benefits of the therapy is more concrete: They come to see themselves as separate from their diagnosis. “These sessions typically lead to changed narratives that a person carries about the cancer and themselves,” Johnson says. “I think these patients are actually learning things about themselves and about life, and that’s what separates psilocybin from other psychiatric medications.”
In helping terminal patients overcome the fear of death, psychedelic therapy often frees them, paradoxically, to live more fully. “[Patients] say that they have healed old traumas they’ve carried, so they are able to be more present with their family and friends,” Kryskow says. “They are able to focus on having more fun and more connection.”
Still, results vary, and Cat Parlee maintains that each psychedelic experience is unique. “Mine changed me to the very core of my DNA,” she says. Before she signed up for Roots to Thrive, she says, “the very thought of death caused me to have massive panic attacks.” But those days are gone. Her advice to prospective patients considering a similar program: “Be open. Be vulnerable. And no matter what you’ve heard, leave your expectations at the door.”
LOS ANGELES, November 11, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Rythmia Life Advancement Center today announced that the third quarter of 2022 was officially the busiest quarter in the company’s history. The management and staff of Rythmia would like to thank their loyal customers, stating that, without them, this achievement would not have been possible.
When asked what caused the sudden and significant increase in bookings, Gerard Powell, CEO of Rythmia Life Advancement Center, said, “I can’t be positive, but I feel there are a few key reasons. First, there’s heightened awareness around the healing attributes of ayahuasca. Second, we got a big boost from a podcast featuring Ron White’s Rythmia experience that received over 1 million downloads! And being one of the world’s highest-rated resorts on TripAdvisor doesn’t hurt either. This increased awareness has resulted in world-class athletes like Deontay Wilder, former heavyweight champion, visiting Rythmia. Having Cesar Milan join the Rythmia Board has been another great plus. Unfortunately, as with many businesses in this post-COVID correction, we are experiencing a lack of inventory combined with a severe and relentless spike in inflation. Hence, at some point in the very near future, we are going to have to raise prices significantly. Many businesses will attempt to hold out, decreasing their quality of customer service before increasing their prices. We are not that kind of business. Our goal is to continually maintain an enviable standard of customer satisfaction.”
“Frequently, hotels reserve a certain number of rooms, commonly referred to as a ‘pocket inventory.’ We can’t do that because of our limited room count. In the past few weeks, we have had to inform many loyal repeat customers that we are sold out. This lack of availability will undoubtedly be exasperated with the addition of Taita Juanito’s twenty-five visits in 2023. My counsel to all potential guests is to book immediately and to have alternative dates already chosen in case your primary dates are sold out.”
ABOUT RYTHMIA LIFE ADVANCEMENT CENTER Rythmia Life Advancement Center is focused on incorporating plant medicine into metaphysical teachings. The results of its program are spectacular, with over 95% of its 12,000+ clients reporting a life-changing miracle during their stay. Furthermore, the company is a model of diversity. For further information and/or reservations, call (888) 443-5566 or visit https://rythmia.link/press.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 15, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– The Microdosing and Meditation Study, led by Beckley Foundation in collaboration with Psychedelic Data Society and Quantified Citizen (QC), seeks to observe how meditation skills evolve over three months of regular meditation practice and whether, how, and for whom microdosing (the repeated use of low sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics) may impact these skills.
‘Enhancing Mindfulness’ was reported as the most widely endorsed motivation for microdosing (Rootman et al., 2021) in the largest microdosing study to date, Microdose.me, which was conducted by Quantified Citizen in collaboration with University of British Columbia and Maastricht University. The study was launched in 2019 and is still running with over 20,000 participants to date. Despite the growing evidence of overlap between the neurophysiology and phenomenology of psychedelic drug-induced states and contemplative practices, no research to date has specifically assessed the effect of microdosing on meditation practice.
“In my opinion, psychedelics can be used as tools to get into a higher state of awareness, which, rather like a farmer preparing the ground for seeding, can help achieve a more fertile ground for either meditation or creative thinking. No research has been conducted so far on the effect of microdosing on meditation practice, and I am very curious to find out if regular meditators do experience measurable benefits from microdosing,” shares Amanda Feilding, director of the Beckley Foundation.
The results of this study will help guide future research and improve understanding of the effects of microdosing. Ideally, this will lead to better safety and insight into potential benefits and risk factors.
Why should you participate?
This study will help you (whether you use psychedelics or not) engage in a useful self-reflexive process, where you can evaluate, through a protocol carefully designed by a psychology researcher and meditation expert, the ways in which your meditation practice evolves over time, and whether, and in what way, microdosing interacts with this practice. You may also help increase the current scientific understanding of the effects of psychedelic microdosing on meditation.
Who can participate?
The study will gather data from all meditation practitioners, whether or not they use psychedelics.
How to participate
To join, please enroll in the Microdose.me study on the Quantified Citizen app. Microdose.me shares standardized assessments with the Microdosing and Meditation Study to avoid repetition. After this first step, you will unlock the Microdosing and Meditation onboarding process.
Quantified Citizen is a citizen science-powered health research app. It has a growing library of studies on interventions, techniques and emerging trends.
To fuel further growth and development of new study capabilities, Quantified Citizen is currently in the process of raising its Seed+ round of funding.
Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and other professional athletes share thoughts on reducing stigma and encourage others to pursue healing with plant-based medicine.
Press Release –
Aug 29, 2022
LOS ANGELES, August 29, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and several other prominent professional athletes are speaking publicly about the benefits of psychedelics for mental health and sports performance. Experts at Rythmia Life Advancement Center, a medically licensed resort in Costa Rica that conducts ceremonies with ayahuasca, say the athletes’ openness is reducing a long-held stigma and paving the way for more people to improve their health through plant medicines.
Ayahuasca is an increasingly popular plant medicine known for its psychedelic effects that can help users experience transformational journeys of self-discovery and reflection. Plant medicines have become more accepted and widely used in the wake of clinical studies that show ayahuasca, psilocybin and iboga have huge promise in treating conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), opiate addiction, nicotine addiction, alcoholism, anxiety and depression.
In interviews published in early August, Rodgers said he consumed ayahuasca in ceremonies in 2020 and 2022. Rodgers went on to win the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player award in 2020 and 2021.
“When Aaron Rodgers spoke out, I thought it was incredible because I’m an advocate for people in the public eye sharing their psychedelic experiences, especially those who don’t fall into the standard box of a ‘psychedelic user’ as it helps alleviate a lot of the stigmas,” said Isaac Mackie, Director of New Business Development & Operations at Rythmia. “I also think there’s a potentially fascinating correlation that he used ayahuasca before winning the league’s most valuable player recognition in 2020 and 2021.”
Rodgers is one of several athletes who say they have benefitted from psychedelics. Daniel Carcillo, a former National Hockey League player, suffered at least seven concussions throughout his career, leaving him with mental illness, headaches, impaired memory, slurred speech, and insomnia- symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. After using ayahuasca, his depression and anxiety vanished, as did the other symptoms, he said in 2020.
Former UFC fighter Dean Lister said he was struggling with the use of alcohol and prescription medicine until he decided to try psilocybin, which has helped him stop using the substances. NFL player Kenny Stills said using ketamine, a legal anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects, helped treat his depression. And like Rodgers, former NFL player Kerry Rhodes said an ayahuasca ceremony changed him and, like Carcillo, relieved his CTE-related symptoms and improved his quality of life.
According to Kelly Slater, an American professional surfer, 11-time World Surf League Champion, and member of Rythmia’s board of directors, “This work has truly changed my life, and the lives of people around me, for the better. Many thanks to Gerry and the Rythmia team.”
As more people share their experiences with ayahuasca and other plant medicines, organizations like Rythmia can reach more people whose lives could benefit from the ancient healing powers of plant medicine. Rythmia specializes in helping guests use plant medicines safely and effectively through various methods, like ayahuasca ceremonies.
“We’re seeing more and more people are beginning to accept plant medicine and ayahuasca as valuable tools in their healing journey,” adds Mackie.
Retreats, like Rythmia Life Advancement Center, are a valuable resource for anyone interested in pursuing the powers of plant medicine. To learn more, visit https://rythmia.link/press.
About Rythmia Life Advancement Center
Rythmia Life Advancement Center is focused on incorporating plant medicine into metaphysical teachings. The results of its program are spectacular, with over 95% of its 12,000+ clients reporting a life-changing miracle during their stay. Furthermore, the company is a model of diversity. Eighty-two percent of Rythmia’s staff are members of a minority community and/or identify as LGBTQ+. And the company prides itself on its management team, 70% of whom are members of a minority community and/or identify as LGBTQ+. For further information and/or reservations, call (888) 443-5566 or visithttps://rythmia.link/press.
Startups, Researchers, Artists, Non-profits, Activists and Influencers to Define the Future of the Psychedelic Ecosystem
Press Release –
updated: Jun 5, 2020
NEW YORK, June 5, 2020 (Newswire.com)
– As psychedelics continue to reach mainstream consciousness, nearly 1,000 people from around the world will gather digitally for Psyched 2020, the largest, free digital psychedelic conference to date, hosted by Tabula Rasa Ventures. The conference will be held online from Sunday, June 7 to Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
Psyched 2020 includes conversations with some of the most significant names in the psychedelic space, including Rick Strassman, Christian Angermayer, Matthew Johnson and JR Rahn, among the more than 100 speakers across the globe. Additionally, the event includes a day for psychedelic art creation, which will be voted on amongst the community for a $1,000 cash prize to the winner.
The conference looks to answer: what does the psychedelics ecosystem look like today; how will it change over the coming decade; what does a healthy future look like; What steps can we take today to make it happen, and what current models can we use if any to develop an impact-driven psychedelic industry?
“Building a strong, intentional, thoughtful and impact-driven psychedelic ecosystem is now more important than ever,” said Tabula Rasa Ventures Founder Marik Hazan. “This conference is part business, part festival and part education. As leaders, we need to keep lines of communication open for all contributors and learn from one another, thinking critically about what 2020 and the future will look like. With so many attendees and speakers, there is a clear interest, want and need for more psychedelic information and community building, and we couldn’t be more excited to host this unprecedented event.”
Tabula Rasa Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to building an impact-focused, community-led psychedelic industry by responsibly investing across the psychedelic ecosystem.
