Psychedelics and Men's Groups
Part III: Expansion
Psychedelics are hot right now like the climate in 2030. Since the turn of the century, these psychoactive plants, fungis, and compounds have been crawling out of the drug war closet and into peer-reviewed journals, state voter ballot measures, and onto the desks of the FDA.
Much has be said about the history of psychedelics, and we’ll get into that in later posts. For now, I want to speak about how they can be helpful, particularly in groups of men.
>|<
In the last post, we got curious about your inner Structure, which contributes nourishing resources to the Self—integrity, values, purpose, etc. These foundational elements that people unspokenly expect of, say, a house, are similar traits that seem exceedingly rare in men.
In this post, we’ll talk about Expansion, or how you can explore the further dimensions of consciousness and self with psychedelics, especially in groups, while also tending to your inner Structure, and continuing to cultivate your Groundwork—or awareness of—your body, environment, and relationships.
Next week, we’ll touch on Integration, or how you bring these experiences into your life.
If this work has been helpful for you, please subscribe, like, and comment below. Thank you.
>|<
Psychedelics, or entheogens, such as psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and ayahuasca, and also empathogens like MDMA (which is not a psychedelic) evoke and inspire states of deep vulnerability and openness in humans. Indeed, many people report having the most powerful inner experiences of their lives on psychedelics.
How? Why?
MDMA, for example, temporarily shuts off the right side of the amygdala—the “reptilian” part of the brain which controls the fear response: fight, flight, freeze, annihilate, etc.—which can create space for you to experience true safety, love, and connection—sometimes for the first time.
In a world full of unrelenting too-much/too-fast, the opportunity to slow the nervous system down and feel your heart for a handful of hours can have an extraordinary impact on the rest of your life.
It’s a sad reality that right now, MDMA is legally limited to small clinical trials with military veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD.
In Oregon, there is a legal framework for individuals to sit with psilocybin with a trained facilitator.
Many people report after psilocybin journeys a deep sense of well-being, connection with the divine, experiences of having moved through feelings, emotions, and memories which have been stuck, sometimes for decades—or even generations.
Insights and revelations can arise which can offer a way through internal obstacles, or work to unlock the power of the imagination through a deep experience of childlike wonder and awe.
I’ve heard over and over from men that psilocybin has helped them re-connect to their soul, and helped them feel more compassion and love for humans, non-humans, and the earth.
>|<
Are Psychedelics For You?
There are three main points to remember when you consider your psychedelic ‘readiness’, or when approaching your first psychedelic experience. They arrive in no particular order.
You can expect that imbibing psychedelics in a safe, solid, and sacred container will:
expand your mind
open your heart
reveal aspects of yourself that you cannot unsee
memories
traumas
insights
patterns of behavior
sources of deep-seated beliefs about yourself and the world
Psychedelics are not for everyone, nor are they helpful for every problem.
They are also not silver-bullet solutions. One journey will not ‘fix’ you—partly because you’re not broken, and partly because healing takes time.
But they can help you become aware of how you’re treating your body, or other people. They can also help you explore your own consciousness, and understand things about the universe and your place in it. They can also reveal your deepest wounds by shining a sort of light into the darkness.
This is the thing about psychedelics
They don’t do your personal work for you. They may reveal things which can help you in big ways, but the work—the real work—comes later, in Integration.
Integration is how you bring what you experience in a psychedelic journey into your life. (More on this next week.)
>|<
Psychedelics in Groups
While we’re developing ways for individuals to sit with psychedelics, many Indigenous traditions practice medicine ceremonies in groups.
Why in groups?
Because healing happens in community. Just as wounds that originate in relationship need to be worked in relationship to heal, the feelings of safety that MDMA can evoke can be tested, experimented with, and supported within the context of a group in ways that will produce more resilience and buoyancy when out in the world.
No problem that you experience begins and ends with you. You are part of a larger system, and if you’re struggling, then that system is also struggling.
An example of why we heal in groups, the simplest version:
it is good for a man to grieve and cry and be angry about the losses he’s experienced.
any time a man is willing to feel his feelings, all of his relations feel some benefit
It is better for him to be witnessed by another in his feeling and expression. Perhaps this is a partner or therapist.
Some men have one other man in their life who might show up in these moments.
It is best when he can grieve amongst others, who may understand and share in his grief, and who may feel a sort of permission to feel their own grief, help him move through it, and celebrate him throughout.
The connection that is cultivated amongst groups of men who move through difficulty together is a strong and ancient bond, shared by sailors, soldiers, students, and rite-of-passage initiates throughout history.
>|<
Stay tuned next week for Integration.