There has never been a better time to be a psychonaut
Some year end hopefulness
There has never been a better time to be a psychonaut. With the possible exception of Eleusis or some archaic mushroom fueled matriarchal polyamorous tribal society, of course. But for those us living in modernity, we've hit the jackpot. There is a proliferation of both novel molecules and strains of psilocybin. There is a embarrassment of riches when it comes to information; substacks and youtube channels and podcasts abound. All the publishing companies are scrambling for titles with the word psychedelic in them. Folks like Tracey are going head to head with Dr. Phil. Community members are gathering to offer grassroots education to one another, both locally and virtually. Citizen scientists are able to develop testing methods so we can all be more clear about what we are working with.
There was even that recent news piece about the insomniac mushroom user who tried to turn off the engines of an Alaska Airlines jet. It only served to prove how save mushrooms are: you can't crash a plane on them, even if you try.
There will always be people who want to focus on the bad. There is danger, there is bad information out there, there are terrible people in the space. And I'm not saying that's not true. There are shadow sides to everything. But with a little perspective, we see that the upside is so much greater. With a little bit of common sense, a dedication to education, and some community spirit, most of us are much more likely to find ourselves on the receiving end of amazing results; healing, spiritual connection, and deep transformation.
That's it for today. I'm just happy to be alive and filled with gratitude for all of it, for all of you. The year has been full of ups and downs for all of us. I'm not immune to struggles. But the world is awesome and love is possible. I just don't want to forget this, and I want to make the most of it. I'd like to invite you to make the most of it with me.
Some other short curated thoughts:
Provincetown decriminalizes psychedelics!
Further proving it's a great time to be alive! - Link
"Read what you love, until you love to read."
I recently heard this quote by Naval Ravikant. It was very inspiring. He goes on to say that if you read an hour a day, you're in the top 1% of readers on the planet, and that he credits reading with most of his success. It made me want to spend a little time with some classics like the Bhagavad Gita, the Kybalion, and Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius is interesting because there are so many things he says that almost sounds like it was pulled right from the Gita.
"The Yogi, being established in the self, is indifferent to praise and blame"
It's a brilliant quote. In a world where so many of us have our lives on public display on social media, it's a powerful practice. Which pulls you out of your center quicker; praise or blame?
Do you want to speak at a Tam Conference in 2024?
If you'd like to be a part of one of our upcoming conferences conferences, please fill out this form. Please note we get a lot of responses and don't have a spot for everyone - Link to form
Mindfulness for Integration Masterclass Recording
A 90 minute teaser for our Meditation for the Journey class.
Meditation for the Journey Class - Starts January 19th
We generally get two kinds of folks in the 'Meditation for the Journey' course.
The first person is some sort of professional in the psychedelic space. They might be a sitter, a ceremony leader, a therapist, a coach, or someone with a desire to move into the space. They are looking for not only tools to be more useful to their clients, but also ways to develop as a person who cares about other people. As we know, there are parts of the healing arts that cannot be taught, only cultivated. The meditation practices shared in this class do just that. But only if you do them! "mastery is inevitable with practice"
The second is a regular person who is interested in having a more creative and proactive relationship with their medicine. It's someone who has gotten pretty good at dialing in the perfect setting for their journey, and wants to work on their mindset. They know that even if they have the perfect sitter or ceremony, it all comes down to what's between the ears. They know that there are places they go in their travels that nobody can follow, and when they get there, they want to be ready. This class has tools for them, for sure.
Meditation for the Journey covers many different kinds of meditation, with the major focus being on three distinct types.
Basically, you can consider an awareness practice as one where you are curious to see 'what is happening'. Anytime you check in to see how you're feeling, or where you feel an emotion in your body, that's an awareness practice. We'll be exploring these in ways that give us a depth of understanding about our inner world with more clarity. We'll also see that practicing like this can build our focus and concentration, enabling us to face and ultimately heal issues that are sometimes difficult to see.
Second, cultivation practices.
Cultivation practices allow us to grow and expand qualities that we would like to be more a part of our personality and experience. It might be gratitude, courage, or self-esteem, there are ways to meditate that can put us more in touch with dormant or underdeveloped parts of ourself. Cultivation practices might also refer to energetic practices, where we build an inner vitality.
For the purposes of this short email, we're going to call shadow practices ones where we work to engage the subconscious mind in meaningful communication. Often we use visualization meditations as a tool for opening up this dialogue.
If you are interested in a more complete syllabus there is one on the web page here.
You are also welcome to watch the video I posted above to learn more about my style of teaching
Details of the class
6 Fridays at 9am pacific, noon eastern, starting on January 19th
Classes are no longer than 2 hours. It's all recorded and available forever.
There is a break, the dates are: January 19,26 | February 2, 16, 23 | March 1
There are two optional weekly 30 minute meditations on Monday and Wednesday at 9am Pacific as well
Hope to see you there!