The title of this post is a question because I’d love to know YOUR questions.
I’ve had some recent interviews on my podcast where the guests have brought up the interesting (and hot!) topic of working intentionally with plant medicine (1).
It’s a topic that you might be hearing about more and more. A new leadership model based on personal development, resolving trauma, and increased head-heart “coherence.”
The outcome: teams and leaders that co-create businesses models in a more highly evolved way, experiencing better results in less time and with less effort.
And I’m not talking necessarily about edible nutritional plants, since I do often talk about how “food is medicine” in reference to my work in nutrition.
“Plant medicine” is also available in the form of herbs and supplements. Remember, even simple things like aspirin come from a plant; in the case of aspirin, the source is willow bark.
What plant medicines am I referring to here? A class of plant medicines called entheogens or psychedelics. Micheal Pollan’s book, How to Change Your Mind and This Is Your Mind on Plants has created a lot of visibility around this topic. Pollan explores the semantical roots of the word, “psychedelics”. The answer: “Mind manifestation”. He explores the benefits of taking out a very troubling system in the human mind called the Default Mode Network, which is behind much of our rumination and repetitive thoughts (read: anxiety and depression). Taking this system offline can create room for expansion, a sense of connection, and a feeling of belonging.
Some of the plant medicines that are “hot topics” today include:
- Psilocybin
- Ayahuasca
- San Pedro- Other heart openers: Kana, Sassafras, MDMA
These medicines have been studied for their effectiveness in treating mental health conditions while still being relatively safe (2).
But these plant medicines are controlled substances and must be approached with caution and reverence.
I have the honor of having a few experts in the field of plant medicine coming on my podcast in the upcoming weeks and months.
Are there any questions that you’d like me to ask?
Please contact me via my Contact form and let me know.
See the Mountain Mantras podcast for episodes as they are released.
Thank you so much for making these conversations even more helpful.
(1) See interviews with Michelle Norris, Robyn Benson, Daniel Gutierrez, & Shawn Wells.
(2) See this article from the Guardian.
When I studied psychology at the graduate level at Northwestern University, my Addictions class did a deep dive on the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin. Take a look at one of our group presentations here.
Additional resources:
Bogenschutz, M. (2017). It’s time to take psilocybin seriously as a possible treatment for substance use disorders. The American Journey of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 43(1), 4–6
Timothy, L., Ralph, M., Madison, P., Gunther, W., Ralph, S., & Sara, K. (1965). A new behavior change program using psilocybin. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 2(2), 61-72.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0088612
