A recently published study that administered ayahuasca to participants with treatment-resistant depression sheds new light on how ayahuasca affects mood and brain chemistry. This study conducted in Brazil was a high-quality randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial looking at the effects of ayahuasca versus placebo and comparing the effects between 28 depressed…

Integrating an experience with ayahuasca starts way before the ceremony itself. It starts when you first decide you want to work with ayahuasca. The motivation that leads you to make that decision is the first step of integration. Some people may even feel that they have started to connect with…

People who’ve had profound positive life-changing experiences with psychedelic plant medicines such as Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Peyote, and Psilocybin mushrooms often want to go further with these medicines and weave them more deeply into their lives but may not have a good understanding of how to go about it. …

In the past 30 years consumption of digital content and interactions with digital devices has becomes a central feature of the contemporary modern lifestyle. Many people spend more time during the day with their screens than with another person. Our screen life has expanded and expanded to the point where…

During the final panel of speakers at the Queering Psychedelics conference held in June of this year, a participant asked why we use the term medicine to refer to the substances (i.e. plant medicine) and not to the practices associated with their use. I think it’s an excellent question and…

I get a lot of inquiries from people who are new to psychedelics and are interested in some form of intentional work with psychedelics but don’t know how to go about it. The key word here is “intentional.” Intentional work with psychedelics is very different than recreational use. It is…

The Chacruna Institute For Psychedelic Plant Medicines is organizing the first ever conference on the intersection between psychedelic medicine and the LGBTQI commuities. This 2-day conference is part of Chacruna’s Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities speaker series. …

Self care has become a hot mainstream topic, probably because of the skyrocketing levels of depression, addiction, obesity and other lifestyle-related problems. Because of the commercial nature of American culture, a lot of ideas around self-care are being co-opted and packaged as products/services to be purchased and consumed. …

Plant medicines and psychedelics, used in thoughtful and intentional ways, can be incredibly life changing and transformative. They offer the potential for profound spiritual experiences and deep healing. But these experiences can also be very challenging, difficult, dark, or painful. This is especially true when the person is unprepared for…