Greetings Dear Friends!  As the first breath of Spring greets our beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, I’m inspired to share about my learnings this winter on psychological freedom supported by the works of Dr. Hawkins – Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender and Michael Singer: The Untethered Soul.  So often we may perceive the discoveries in our hero’s journey to be those of novelty. Of reaching into the transcendent to uncover new insights into how to create, expand and evolve.  Yet in truth, if psychedelics have taught me anything these last 16 years, it’s that deeper growth is often far more of a journey of remembrance than of innovation.  Who is the “Self” that lies behind what culture, parentage, education, friendships and social expectations prescribed for us?  Who rests at the heart of our inner most being that ignites our dance, our laugh and our smile?  What rests at the heart of our unique and extraordinary SpArc?  

For many years, my world had been about designing, crafting and executing innovative ideas and solutions.  Finding ways to influence, inspire and at times even manipulate outward circumstances to create conditions that aligned with my preferences, passions and in some cases comforts.  Yet the reality is, the only thing we truly have any control over is how we feel, think and act. When we apply pressure to circumstances around us to conform others to our desires (as benevolent of intentions may be) we are taking away their sovereignty to choose their destiny… while also shortchanging the vast and dynamic potential of our own.

Many of life’s greatest challenges – from changing long held beliefs, to navigating relationship intimacy in partnerships, to deepening bonds of friendship cannot be genuinely supported through “fixing” or changing others to align with our ideals. Often, the inner work is about allowing and accepting what truly wants to be seen, felt and perceived to emerge. To trust in the passion & purpose of a partner to rise in harmony with a genuine need.. To hold a space of loving care for a friendship to grow into something new and extraordinary beyond scope.  This doesn’t mean not to uphold healthy boundaries and core values to ensure balance and reciprocity..  It means not attaching to how things “should” be based upon expectations (often steeped in fears & judgements fabricated by the mind and others).  When we let go, we allow the Muse of life to emerge into the boundless expressions it was always meant to be. 

As we prepare for Springs’ blossoming, I invite us to reflect on the power of genuinely letting go.  To let go of the way things “should” be to allow for the infinite potential awaiting just at the horizon. It’s time to explore who we are when we allow ourselves to be boundless. To embrace the adventure of remembering our wondrous nature.. and stop fretting our way through life forcing everyone and everything into a small “safe” box we can understand. 

New opportunities cannot take root in a mind closed to the wild and unbound nature of the universe.  Freedom can be scary to a default mode psyche that likes predictability. But in the end, what’s more frightening?  Entrenching ourselves in the way things have always been, a world filled anxiety, fear, failed expectations and futile attempts to control?  Or spreading our wings wide to a life of profound possibility? In 2024, the Dragon is calling us to to quiet the mind, open the heart and Soar into the uncharted territories of the untethered soul.  Where this all leads.. I’m not quite sure.  But I’m excited to take the leap and meet you there. 

Now onto a myriad of exciting resources, opportunities and insights from the psychedelic ecosystem near and far! And as always, thank you for joining me for the Ride. 

Stepping into the powerful work of psychedelic healing, coaching and transformation is a deep and personal commitment.  It’s incredibly important that you choose a guide & facilitator that genuinely resonates with your core values and sense of safety & care.  I often share, your psychedelic coach & guide should be someone you can feel comfortable leaving your children with for a long weekend. It’s on that level of intimacy.  When you release into an experience, its important you can trust and genuinely let go to receive the full bounty of what the medicine and your inner healing intelligence can provide.

I recently received a series of powerful testimonials that speak to the heart of my work and service. This vocation is a true lifelong path of devotion. I am honored to share these words of clients of the SpArc, and if you hear the call – I would be honored to support you in a journey of lasting healing and Self Discovery.

“Working with Ehren and The SPARC immediately brings to mind a few words; initiation, alchemy, freedom, support, home. From the preparation, to the experience, and the subsequent integration, I felt supported at every point on my journey. Ehren’s deep, informed, and steadfast support allowed me to completely get out of my own way, providing the medicine a path to create the space needed for me to heal, and giving me strength to chart a new path in my relationships, my work, my community; and ultimately my mind, body, and spirit. I am completely changed in amazing, beautiful and wonderful ways, and Ehren and the SPARC helped show me that everything I ever needed was inside me the entire time. All I needed was the space and support to access it. I am who I truly am. What a tremendous gift!” – JW

“Ehren is one of the rare individuals on this planet who answered the call of his soul with crystalline clarity. For those of us who have been able to sail in his wake, we have been gifted with lives that are far richer than one can imagine. That is the case for me anyway. The universe could not have chosen a more perfect person to lead us on these fantastic journeys of the mind, heart, and spirit. My journey has led to personal spiritual, and psychic awakenings that I never imagined! Having dealt with depression most of my life, this was the breakthrough I needed.As for Ehren, during the journey I felt completely, and utterly comfortable, safe, nurtured. That is saying a lot for me, because I have very strong trust issues with men. But upon seeing ‘s face in the referral, and having the first Zoom meeting with him, I knew those trust issues would not apply with him whatsoever. I don’t know if you will ever find anyone who would take better care of you! From the beautiful accommodations he provides, to the ceremonial experience, and afterwards a nice tasty meal! I was even able to take a solitary walk on the property and commune with nature afterwards, which was fantastic for me because that is my happy place. So if you’re on the fence about an experience, jump off of it. Because my dear you will not fall, you will fly!” – Melanie Miller

Yuria Celidwen was born into a family of Indigenous mystics, healers, poets and explorers from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

“I grew up with one foot in the wilderness and another in the magical realism of Indigenous culture,” said Celdiwen, a native of Indigenous Nahua and Mayan descent. “My Elders’ songs and stories enthralled my childhood. They enhanced my mythic imagination and emotional intuition, which became the fertile soil where the seeds of kindness, play and wonder dig their roots.”

“[But] we carry intergenerational trauma, and also intergenerational bliss,” she added. A result of Indigenous communities’ historical colonial oppression, genocide and “the exploitation of our Lands and age-old traditions, and the resilient, Mother Earth-oriented and tightly weaved communities and traditions we preserve.”

Those great disparities, Celidwen said, are formative to the research and work she has pursued for the last two decades, collaborating and building coalitions with Indigenous communities from around the world to create community spaces and policy that promote Indigenous Peoples’ voices and their time-honored principles.

“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend.”
 
― Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

Numerous anecdotal reports and observational studies have reported that psychedelics, even at microdoses (approximately one tenth of a recreational dose (Prochazkova et al., 2018)), may acutely or sub-acutely enhance certain aspects of cognition and/or creativity (Anderson et al., 2019, Frecska et al., 2012, Kuypers et al., 2016, Mason et al., 2019, Murphy-Beiner and Soar, 2020, Petranker et al., 2022, Prochazkova et al., 2018, Uthaug et al., 2018). However, it is difficult to draw any reliable conclusions regarding the lasting changes due to limitations such as non-controlled or non-rigorous study designs, variations in populations, prior exposures and lack of documented dosages. Moreover, the psychedelic induced changes in cognition are complex as they can be both construct dependant (e.g., divergent thinking vs convergent thinking) and time dependent (acute vs subacute vs persisting). For example, one observational ayahuasca study reported an increase in divergent thinking and a decrease in convergent thinking acutely (Kuypers et al., 2016) while another psilocybin observational study reported enhancement in both convergent and divergent thinking sub-acutely and lasting enhancement in convergent thinking seven days after psilocybin dosing (Mason et al., 2019).
About two months after Lykos Therapeutics (formerly MAPS Public Benefit Corporation) submitted the new drug application (NDA) for MDMA in combination with psychotherapy, FDA granted it priority review last week and has set a target date for determination by August 11, the company announced on Friday.

If the NDA is ultimately approved, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would then need to reschedule MDMA accordingly. It would become the first psychedelic in history to be approved as a pharmaceutical, to be administered in tandem with talk therapy and other supportive services.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review MDMA-assisted therapy as a potential treatment option for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the application has been granted priority status, according to the psychedelics-focused drug development company that’s leading the effort.
Many people are aware of the recent resurgence of interest in psychedelics, from new studies in depression to Prince Harry’s use to deal with his psychological problems. What is less well-known is that psychedelics are now being used to treat addiction, especially alcoholism. And that has a long history.

In 1933, the founder of AA, Bill Wilson, achieved his abstinence as a result of a psychedelic experience, and when LSD was made available for research in the Fifties, he helped persuade the US government to fund six trials in alcoholism. These revealed that just one or two LSD doses as part of a traditional abstinence-based programme doubled the outcomes. This effect lasted for many months and was much greater than any subsequent medicine developed for alcoholism.
As a young child, I was captivated by any stories or movies that had anything to do with the supernatural. When I was growing up in the late ’70s, hit movies included “Star Wars,” “E.T.,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Poltergeist.” Uri Geller was on TV bending spoons with his mind, and every other household seemed to have an Ouiji board. In this context, belief in the supernatural just made sense.

At the time, it seemed obvious there were still many mysteries to be understood and explored. While I would have given anything to have some kind of “superpower,” I also envisioned myself as a junior scientist. Of course, I had no idea what that really meant, but I would collect magazine articles about demonic possession, ghosts or aliens, imagining that I would need these later as “evidence.” Rather than playing sports, I would ride my bike around the neighborhood, “investigating” possible UFO landing sites. Even at the age of 9, I wanted to move beyond belief and “prove” that these things were real.

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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