10 things this month

Monthly resource roundup #5 - April 2023

Hello loves, a few shares and announcements this week:

1. Time explores psychedelic medicine for the treatment of Long-COVID, citing anecdotal stories such as that of a woman who cured all of her symptoms through a single, five-gram psilocybin journey.

2. The inaugural “Psychedelic Science” conference is taking place in Denver, Colorado this year. I’ve had a peek at the programming and it looks promising. It will be the biggest professional gathering on the topic to date (at least since the psychedelic renaissance) — I will definitely be there. If you want to go, you can use a promo code PT15 to get 15% off to save on tickets (from Psychedelics Today).

3. Unrelated but a topic dear to my heart: a colleague recently shared this short but moving clip produced by Dove on the cost of social media. Social media has a devastating impact on beauty standards, mental health, and self-esteem, especially for young girls. If this is a topic close to you, give the video a watch and share it to help raise awareness.

4. Speaking of social media. I’ve been feeling burned out from healing and self-development these past few weeks. As always, the TikTok algorithm conveniently placed a video of a therapist in front of me emphasizing the net negative impact of constantly trying to change something about yourself. Hustle culture meets healing, so to say. (I’ve previously written about the perils of intellectualizing spirituality here.) I decided to take some time off and replace self-help with fiction and podcasts with music (or silence). Living life under the groundbreaking assumption that perhaps things are good (enough) as they are.

5. As part of that, I’ve decided to also take a little break from writing. I shall return refreshed and inspired soon. Until then, I recommend checking out Holly Whitaker’s newsletter here on Substack, as well as Alex Olshonsky’s brilliant Deep Fix.

6. Before my non-fiction hiatus, I read Sarah Blondin’s “Heart Minded”. Here’s a passage that particularly touched me: “Remember, if ever in doubt: open. To open is to spread wide that which wants to hide, to pull apart tissues grown tight and listless, to reenter your heart. To open is to face the shadow that asks to be restored to light. Bring everything that is hurting you into the light of loving awareness — for to see is to heal.”

7. Big news from Oregon, where the first legal psilocybin facilitators have been officially licensed. Oregon became the first state in the US to legalize psilocybin mushroom therapy in 2020, which will be offered through state-regulated healing centers starting later this year.

8. If you’re curious about the status of psychedelics-related legislation in other states, you can refer to this legalization and decriminalization tracker. Psychedelic Alpha also has several other useful resources, including a newsletter and a job board for the psychedelics industry, should you want to get involved.

9. If you’re planning a journey any time soon and are looking for a playlist, this one is one of my absolute favorites that I created specifically for mushrooms. Here’s also a great curation of ambient, meditative, and heart-awakening tunes.

10. I recently spoke with the lovely journalist Amanda Seibert on the Ibogaine Uncovered podcast about my experience at the Mexican ibogaine clinic Beond a few months ago. If you’re curious to learn more about my experience and integration process, you can give it a listen here on Apple podcasts or on Spotify.