“Johns Hopkins is deeply committed to exploring treatments for our patients. Our scientists have shown that psychedelics have real potential as medicine, and this new center will help us explore that potential.”
―Paul B. Rothman, M.D., Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Psychedelics, hallucinogens, or entheogens are terms given to substances that naturally occur in certain plant species or are chemically synthesized in a laboratory.
They contain psychoactive components that alter our usual perception of the world. When ingested, the effect on the mind causes an altered state of consciousness.
This state enhances feelings rather than numb them as addictive substances do.
Entheogens allow us to get beyond the ego and default mode network of our minds; to access experiences and truths beyond the everyday external world that have conditioned and programmed us.
Entheogenic medicines bring us to a reality that encompasses truth. Truth of our connection to spirit and each other, to the planet and universe we exist in. In the right setting and with clear intention the medicines take us to the realm of truth.
They cleanse and purify, releasing toxins from the body and mind, clearing the pollution that clutters us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, aligning us with our true spirit.
“One of the most striking effects we observed was a decrease in blood supply and thus activity within the Default-Mode Network (the DMN), a collection of widespread brain regions that work together to coordinate the activity of diverse areas of the brain, in doing so controlling our conscious experience and maintaining our sense of self. When the DMN disintegrates under LSD or psilocybin, the inhibitory control it normally exerts over the other areas of the brain weakens, allowing for a dramatic increase in global connectivity, allowing regions to communicate with distant partners with which they typically do not talk. As well as producing the subjective experience of ‘ego dissolution’, this process leads to the emergence of a more complex, less predictable, and more flexible state of consciousness. In this more fluid, ‘plastic’ state, long-lasting changes can take place, repressed memories can be accessed, and the maladaptive thought processes of depression and other psychological disorders can be reset, like a computer being rebooted.”
―Why Science Needs Psychedelics: A Paradigm Shift for Psychiatry-Amanda Feilding, Beckley Foundation
Preparation
The preparation phase of a medicine journey is for gathering information, getting clear on intention, and acquiring the skills needed to navigate the experience.
We use this time to decide on the medicine that is best suited for our intentions and to find the safe setting and skilled guides to assist us.
We get the body, mind, and spirit ready to explore our fears, meet challenges, manage disappointments and embrace the divine beauty within.
The more prepared we are, the more fulfilling the experience.
Integration
The entheogenic experience opens the door for change, integration keeps the door open and invites us to stay in our process and engage in the healing that was gained through the medicine work.
Integration keeps the momentum of the medicine journey going, cultivating awareness, and moving insights into real life.
In the days and weeks following the medicine journey, there is a window of opportunity to enter a unique training period to tune into our inner guidance system and align with the true self.
The purpose of integration is to extend the transformational work from the medicine experience far beyond the journey itself.
Cautions and Disclaimers
Psychedelics are not for everyone.
Contraindications vary by medicine. When considering an entheogenic experience it is important to know which medicine is best suited for the target outcome and if there are any physical or mental health risks associated with that particular medicine.
Many plant medicines are classified as illegal substances. We must do our due diligence to stay within the legal parameters of the Province/State we live in.
“Set” and “Setting” are key factors to address before embarking on a sacred medicine journey. “Set” refers to mindset, “Setting” the environment the experience will take place in.
A safe environment for the experience, clear intention, and support is necessary for the best possible outcome.
Preparing for a medicine journey is a major step that is often avoided. It is an important step to reduce risk and provide the opportunity for a transformational outcome rather than a recreational one.
“Most of today’s university-led psychedelic research with human participants focuses on therapeutic applications. Through clinical trials, psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin (the active substance in “magic mushrooms”) have shown promise in the treatment of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addictions. However, little is known about the brain mechanisms and psychological processes that underlie these therapeutic effects. The BCSP aims to fill that gap by conducting basic research in healthy volunteers to investigate the mechanisms of action of psychedelics. Contingent on regulatory approval of research protocols, BCSP researchers will employ low doses of psilocybin to study neurobiological, perceptual, and cognitive aspects of the psychedelic experience, including creativity, flexibility, and top-down and bottom-up sensory processing. Other studies will focus on enduring transformative effects of high-dose psychedelic experiences on emotion, stress regulation, and inflammation. The research team includes scientists with expertise in neuroscience and visual perception, cognitive psychology, emotion science, and psychiatry, and several members have extensive experience administering psychedelic compounds to human subjects in clinical trials.”
― UC Berkeley, Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics
“It’s literally a reboot of the system—a biological control-alt-delete. Psychedelics”
— Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
DISCLAIMER: All content on this website is for informational purposes only. Janice McInnes Coaching provides integrative coaching to individuals and supporters of individuals navigating transformational experiences such as psychedelic journeys, meditation retreats, holotropic breathwork, holistic treatments, personal development workshops, and other psycho-spiritual events. Janice McInnes Coaching does not recommend, screen, or approve people for psychedelic therapy. Coaching is intended as supplemental support and is not a medical service or a substitute for professional treatment or counseling…read more