Greetings Dear Friends!  I hope this message finds you in great spirits as you tend your inner fire by the fireside this Winter.  In 2024, I’m thrilled to be launching into several new exciting endeavors, one of which I recently spoke on which is the completion of Communitas Retreat Sanctuary temple space! Yet another wonderful opportunity I’m excited to share is my joining the Third Wave’s Psychedelic Coaching Institute as a core facilitator for their upcoming Psychedelic Coaching Facilitator training Program! 

Back in early 2020, I just left my life the artistic director and event curator after 10 years of designing and building intentional festivals.  It was a difficult time on my life path, as creating experiences that inspire wonder, healing and positive transformation was my greatest joy and passion up until that point. In a deeply reflective and humble state, I entered into a psychedelic ceremonial journey. During the medicine experience, a deep & profound love for the sacred fungi emerged guiding me to a moment profound clarity. It was the medicine way back in 2008 that inspired my path of producing events. It was also the medicine that inspired my devotion of service to others in which events was only a filter I was blessed to have for as long as I did. A feeling arose from the core of all that I am, its time I embrace the call to devote my life in service to the medicine that had brought me all of these profound gifts that I hold dear. 

Only hours after that experience, I jumped online and as synchronicity would have it one of the first messages I saw was from Paul Austin, Founder of the Third Wave promoting at the time the first Psychedelic Coaching Certification in the country.  After a brief conversation with my wife, who felt and encouraged my fire of purpose, I was registered with the course.  And it was that decision that laid the foundation to a flourishing path of facilitation and coaching in the psychedelic field as the founder of the SpArc.  

The Psychedelic Coaching Institute certification program is a robust six month commitment within which aspiring coaches, facilitators and innovative entrepreneurs learn the full spectrum of the psychedelic ecosystem and how to launch a successful end to end career in the field. Although healing is a core aspect of the psychedelic journey, this career is not designed for healthcare professionals and is instead focused on those who wish to support the evolutionary potential of the inspired well through self-actualization, high performance optimization, spiritual initiation, creative genius & vitality, anchoring of life purpose & impact.  In other words, this isn’t about supporting people in getting to base line wellness, this is about helping forge a courageous evolutionary lifestyle. Follow the Link below to explore the full curriculum and learn about the incredible content shared in the program.  And the benefits don’t stop with the incredible curriculum of learning, the power of building community with 40 aspiring industry professionals, a series of world class lecturers and hundreds of alumni is an invaluable asset to launching into the industry.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or wish to learn more from my own experience in the program! One thing is for certain, far more people are adventuring into the psychedelic landscape than those who can adeptly support them. There is PLENTY of room for a thriving career in this field for those who can honor the path of ethical, intentional and compassionate stewardship it requires.  Now onto a whole slew of awesome updates and inspiring news from the psychedelic landscape.  And as always, thank you for joining me on this journey! 

Update on HB727 NC Psychedelic Research Bill

The following is an update from Gina Giorgio, Project Lead for the NC Psychedelic Policy Coalition from their recent Coalition meeting. HB727 is a bill slated if passed to award $5M in funding resources to academic, non-profit and other qualifying institutions to engage in psilocybin and mdma research in the state of North Carolina. It has passed the Health Inspections committee and now rests in the Appropriations committee. 

HB727 will be considered by Appropriations during the short session, which begins the third week of April. It is possible that the psychedelic research study appropriation will be added to the state budget, rather than passing as a standalone bill. This does not necessarily change the contents of the bill, but passing a “psychedelic or drug bill” is a stronger statement than some legislators are comfortable with. The bill does still maintain bipartisan support. 

Next steps in NC
The NC Psychedelic Policy Coalition will continue to meet bi-weekly and plan to circle back with legislators and budgeters to cement support and to answer questions they may have. An informational hearing in Raleigh is also an idea on the table this Spring. All in all, the bill is still very much alive with generative interest and support – yet more will be discovered about current sentiment & mobility when the house appropriations committee meets in April.
If, like us, you grew up listening to Incubus, you might be stoked to find out that lead singer Brandon Boyd is a psychedelic advocate.

Recently, Shylah Ray of Doubleblind sat down with Brandon to discuss his journey of discovering mushrooms, his first ayahuasca experience, his creative process, his spiritual path, and much more. Its an incredibly inspiring conversation.
 
This is the inaugural interview in DoubleBlind’s new and improved Medicine Music series, in partnership with PORTAL, a psychedelic advocacy project started by Propeller. In this series, they explore the relationship between plant medicines, creativity, personal growth, and mysticism with their favorite artists. 
More and more evidence suggests that psychedelics, such as MDMA, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), psilocybin (commonly known as magic mushrooms), and DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine; the active ingredient in ayahuasca), can be useful tools—in conjunction with psychotherapy—for easing difficult-to-treat mental health conditions. But as these once-villainized drugs come closer to mainstream medicine, a question remains: How do they work? “We need to know so much more,” says neuroscientist Jennifer Mitchell of the University of California, San Francisco, lead author of the MDMA study.

Scientists don’t know how psychedelics improve mental health or why a patient’s environment seems to influence the effect. They also don’t fully understand what triggers the psychedelic experience commonly known as a “trip”—and they’re unsure whether this trip is necessary for overcoming symptoms.

Researchers and clinicians don’t actually need those answers to administer psychedelics safely. But revealing how psychedelics function could help pharmacologists design more effective treatments. Click to Read Full Article.

Acquired brain injury (ABI), such as traumatic brain injury and stroke, is a leading cause of disability worldwide, resulting in debilitating acute and chronic symptoms, as well as an increased risk of developing neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. These symptoms can stem from various neurophysiological insults, including neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, imbalances in neurotransmission, and impaired neuroplasticity. Despite advancements in medical technology and treatment interventions, managing ABI remains a significant challenge. Emerging evidence suggests that psychedelics may rapidly improve neurobehavioral outcomes in patients with various disorders that share physiological similarities with ABI..

As psychedelics move from the undedrground to mainstream medicine, clinicians aspiring to work in the field are inducing altered states with deep breathing. The vigorous modality known as holotropic breathwork, is offered at the end of an eight-month training to provide a lawful taste of the therapeutic potential of alteresd states of consciousness. 
 
“The depth of what I experienced was so similar to psilocybin,” Dr. JJ Pursell, a naturopathic doctor from Oregon marveled… “It was trippy…” 

This profound self-development book offers a roadmap to release emotional burdens, unlock inner peace, and embrace a life of fulfillment.

It is a classic that will help you break free from limitations and unlock your true potential.

Learn how to navigate challenges with grace and emerge as a stronger, more resilient version of yourself. By incorporating the principles of surrender, “Letting Go” provides practical tools for personal growth and transformation.

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