News SPORTS | Psilocybin and Weight Loss ->

[mr peabody]

Psychedelics and endurance sports: Increased energy and reduced fatigue?

by Nate Seltenrich | Psychedelic Science Review | 15 May 2020

One mechanism of action may be similar to taking amphetamines.

While anecdotal reports indicate psychedelics are useful in artistic and meditative pursuits, users have also reported them beneficial for physical activities dependent on alertness, awareness, and the rapid processing of sensory data — everything from climbing rock pitches to pitching in pro baseball, it seems.

But in recent years, accounts have surfaced on internet forums of psychedelics offering a different sort of benefit for exercise: increased energy and reduced fatigue during endurance sports like cycling and running.

While the scientific literature is lacking in empirical studies examining the effects of psychedelics on aerobic exercise, experts suggest there are several possible mechanisms — including the placebo effect — that may describe these users’ experiences.

What the experts are saying

In his comprehensive and widely cited 2016 overview of psychedelic science in the journal Pharmacological Reviews, researcher Dr. David Nichols of the University of North Carolina addresses the effects of psychedelics on brain function, sleep, time perception, and visual perception — but nothing related to endurance.

By email, Nichols confirmed he was unaware of any studies to date focused on this research question in humans. He did, however, suggest a potential mechanism for increased energy and stamina based on previous findings in animal models: dopamine.

“Locomotor activity in rodents is generally a product of increased activity in dopaminergic areas of the brain,” Nichols said.

"Psychedelics can turn off inhibitory GABA pathways that suppress dopaminergic tone. So dopaminergic activity is disinhibited, and the effect is similar to what happens if you take an amphetamine."

More generally, research in sports physiology has shown that perceived effort, fatigue, and energy levels — especially in endurance sports — are tightly metered and mediated by the brain. Performance isn’t as closely linked to purely physiological parameters such as VO2 max and lactate threshold as researchers once thought.

In his 2018 book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, journalist and author Alex Hutchinson argues that runners and cyclists are far more beholden to brain chemistry than they often acknowledge. For example, even elite athletes during serious competition have been shown to accelerate — not slow, as expected — toward the end of a race, suggesting they were subconsciously holding back until the effort was almost over.

Hutchinson cites the work of researchers like Romain Meeusen, a professor of human physiology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, who has shown that brain chemistry is involved in the regulation of fatigue during prolonged exercise — with the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (mimicked by “classic” psychedelics and mescaline, respectively) both playing important roles.

“There’s no doubt that perception of effort is mediated by the brain, even though many of the inputs — temperature, heart rate, oxygen levels, and so on — are coming from elsewhere in the body,” Hutchinson wrote in an email. “And in endurance sports, if you can change perception of effort, you can change your performance. So the idea that psychedelics might boost performance isn’t totally outlandish.”

Meeusen’s team has tried — unsuccessfully, it seems — to improve physical performance during exercise through nutritional manipulation of neurotransmitter systems. But he hasn’t tested psychedelics yet, he acknowledged when contacted by Psychedelic Science Review.

Possible role of the DMN

There is a yet another potential mechanism more germane to psychedelics that could be involved, at least in theory. Extensive research has shown that activity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain is reduced after ingestion or injection of psychedelic drugs. The DMN, as we now know, is associated with introspective and self-reflective thought. Additionally, activity in the DMN is often inversely correlated with that of nearby networks geared toward task completion.

If the DMN is tamped down by a psychedelic during exercise, and task-oriented networks amplified, could the result be an athlete who is less likely to dwell on discomfort or self-doubt and more likely to be laser-focused on the job at hand — all while being energized or at least distracted by a heightened sensory experience?

In her 2019 book The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage, author Kelly McGonigal notes that studies have shown that exercise (particularly in green spaces like parks) can reduce activity in the DMN, just like psychedelics.

“If you focus on what is unique about green exercise, the class of drugs it most closely resembles is the entheogen, a category that includes psilocybin, ayahuasca, and LSD,” McGonigal writes in her book. “Like green exercise, these drugs alter consciousness by temporarily reorganizing the default state.” So perhaps there is some synergy in play.

Is it the placebo effect?

Or could all this be the result of the placebo effect — more cynically, an imaginary phenomenon — engendered by some people’s desire to perform better, or at least to feel better, after taking a small dose of a psychedelic? Even given all the potential mechanisms seemingly available to explain away claims on internet message boards, Hutchinson wouldn’t rule that out. At least until some treadmill tests have been run.

“There’s a difference between saying something is theoretically possible and showing something is actually true. And to make that jump requires more than anecdotes and subjective impressions,” he writes. “So to me, until proven otherwise, psychedelics are in the same category as all the supplements and wearable gadgets that I get press releases about: it’s an interesting idea, but nothing more until proven otherwise.”

Psychedelics and Endurance Sports: Increased Energy and Reduced Fatigue?

In recent years, accounts have surfaced of psychedelics offering increased energy and reduced fatigue during endurance sports like cycling and running.

psychedelicreview.com

 

[mr peabody]

Dock Ellis's no-hitter on LSD, 50 years on

by Bryan Armen Graham | The Guardian | 30 Jun 2020

The century-spanning annals of baseball are filled with accomplishments that strain credulity and force us to rethink the outer limits of human potential, like Babe Ruth’s called shot at Wrigley Field or Reggie Jackson’s three home runs on three pitches in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. But few of these latter-day myths compare with the unthinkable feat that played out on a misty night in San Diego five decades ago this month, when a 25-year-old right-handed starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates named Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter while tripping on LSD.

In some ways, Ellis’s performance for the Pirates against San Diego Padres on Friday 12 June 1970 was not exactly a pitching masterclass. Ellis recorded more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six), hit another batsman, allowed three stolen bases, and was bailed out by highlight-reel plays in the field by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou. But consider the circumstances: “I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire,” he recounted years later to the New York Times. “And once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate.”

Somehow, after fanning Ed Spiezio on a curveball in the bottom of the ninth, Ellis completed his long, strange trip without surrendering a single hit in a 2-0 victory. For context: it is one of only 303 no-hitters out of the more than 210,000 games played in major league history since 1876. That alone would secure his place in baseball lore. That he did it while tripping balls almost beggars belief.

This isn’t a story you will hear on a tour of Cooperstown or in any of a hidebound sport’s official histories. To this day, Major League Baseball has only released snippets of this game to the public and it’s unclear whether footage of the game in its entirety exists. Yet in time Ellis’ account of his most unusual triumph has entered the realm between fact and myth where baseball’s most indelible legends call home.

With a day off on Thursday as the Pirates arrived in San Diego for their first west coast road trip of the season, Ellis decided to make the short journey to his hometown of Los Angeles, since the team didn’t play until Friday night. So he rented a car and dropped a tab of acid, timing it so it would hit right as he arrived at the home of a friend’s girlfriend. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked upon his arrival.

“I’m as high as a Georgia pine,” Ellis said.

The old friends caught up over heroic amounts booze and marijuana until Ellis drifted off to sleep. He dropped more acid after waking from what he thought was a catnap, believing it still to be Thursday. That’s when his friend entered the room with a newspaper in hand and an unmistakable look of concern: not only were the Pirates scheduled to play a doubleheader that day, but Ellis was scheduled to pitch. In four hours. In a different city. Ellis’ immediate reaction, as he recalled it: “What happened to yesterday?”

The time was 2pm. Ellis hopped a taxi to the airport and bought a $9.50 ticket for a 3.30pm flight to San Diego, arriving an hour later and making it to the ballpark in time for the 6.05pm first pitch.

“I can only remember bits and pieces of the game,” Ellis recalled in 1984. “I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the [catcher’s] glove, but I didn’t hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters, and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t," he said.

“Sometimes, I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn’t hit hard and never reached me.”

Ellis claimed to have pitched every game of his career under the influence of something, whether alcohol or the uppers such as Benzedrine and Dexamyl that were popped in major-league clubhouses like Tic Tacs during the 70s, but he kept the LSD secret close to his chest for years. He first disclosed it in the draft of a 1976 biography he collaborated on with friend Donald Hall, the former Paris Review poetry editor and future US poet laureate, but asked that it be removed from the final manuscript, lest he invite the wrath of George Steinbrenner, the buttoned-down owner of the Yankees, with whom he had just signed. Only after a 1984 interview with Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Press did Ellis’s account finally enter the public record, trickling quietly into the zeitgeist of a pre-internet world.

Shortly before he died of cirrhosis in 2008, Ellis sat down with NPR’s Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel for a final interview about the LSD no-no. The animator James Blagden went on to use the audio as voice-over narration for an award-winning short film that posthumously elevated Ellis’ peak performance from urban legend to mainstream yarn.

The immensity of Ellis’ psychedelic feat has come to overshadow the on-field accomplishments and social conscience that marked his 12-year major-league career. When he’d first signed a contract with the Pirates out of high school, it had been less than two decades since Major League Baseball was integrated. The free-thinking Ellis was unafraid to voice his opinions on social injustice and institutionalized racism in a sport that was slow to integrate, becoming a vocal advocate for free agency and equality for players of color.

In 1971, he was on the mound when the Pirates fielded the first all-black lineup in MLB history. That same year, Ellis started the All-Star Game and was an important member of the Pittsburgh team that defeated the vaunted Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. He joined the Yankees toward the end of his career and was a key starter on a New York team that captured the pennant in 1976, winning the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year award.

But it was a drive to do good that was a constant in his life after retirement, when he got sober and worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to rehabilitate black prisoners, helped start the Black Athletes Foundation for Sickle Cell Research and served as the coordinator of an anti-drug program in Los Angeles. Ellis remained sober and devoted the remainder of his life to counseling others with substance use disorder in treatment centers and prisons. He died of a liver ailment at age 63 in 2008.

'I'm high as a Georgia pine': Dock Ellis's no-hitter on LSD, 50 years on

Baseball’s great psychedelic myth took place five decades ago, but the man behind it was far more than an amusing sidenote in the sport’s history

www.theguardian.com

 

[mr peabody]

Microdosing LSD gives these world class athletes a solid advantage

by Reilly Capps | The Rooster | 27 Aug 2018

Like a drop of liquid on a piece of paper, the trend of microdosing is spreading. It's seeping out of Silicon Valley tech campuses and college dorms into another aspect of life: athletics. Runners, swimmers, climbers and basketball players are reporting that they're microdosing their way to top performance.

Microdosing is when you take an amount of LSD, mushrooms or a research chemical too small to melt your consciousness or conjure giant snakes, but enough to improve your productivity, heighten creativity and make your brain work better, the way Ritalin or Prozac is supposed to but often doesn't. Because of this, it’s been called "the hot new business trip" by Rolling Stone and "the drug habit your boss is gonna love" by GQ.

Less noticed is the way microdosing is improving bodies. Athletes are saying that these highly-illegal drugs are their secret ingredient for better performance on the track, climbing routes or the yoga studio, improving concentration and endurance.

"People are talking about LSD microdosing as if it's a new health fad, like it's acai berries or goji berries," said Alex O'Bryan-Tear, scientific researcher and assistant to Amanda Feilding, the head of the Beckley Foundation, which studies psychedelic drugs.

Ask around. In the Boulder Rock Club not long ago, a world-class rock climber told me that one of his favorite things is to take LSD and climb. Helps him get into the flow. Helps quiet the mind. Helps him see the rock better. His eyes lit up as he talked about it.

At the Psychedelic Science 2017 Conference in Oakland last month, an amateur yogi told me that LSD helped him flow better. On the ground of a lecture hall, he demonstrated the ashtanga move that he said was impossible for him before he started doing yoga on acid. Somehow, the acid let him flow better.

Today's generation of drug users are often different from the ‘60s hippies; they're less likely to want to use high doses to scramble their brains, drop out or switch religions. Instead, they're looking to use smaller, smarter doses in the right situations, to live better, happier, healthier versions of the lives they're already living.

And at that same conference, a physician told me that he likes to dose small amounts of mushrooms and then go for long-distance runs. It helps quiet his mind, he said, and lets him get in the flow of the run.

Ryan Keating, a former college athlete in Salt Lake City, said that, "when microdosing LSD or psilocybin and playing sports, you are very much in the flow of your movement and feeling."

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes flow as "a state of immersion into the task at hand, when all the rest of life's worries — about grocery lists or annoying neighbors — drops away." Basketball and baseball players call it "the zone." Doc Ellis got there when he pitched his no-hitter on LSD.

Paul Austin @ The Third Wave who collects reports on microdosing, says athletes consistently report being in a flow state on these substances. Jim Fadiman, the world's leading expert on microdosing, who has collected more than 400 individual reports, said "many reported more skill in physical activities" and that "microdosing clearly increases (athletic) performance."

True believers are wildly enthusiastic. "LSD can increase your reflex time to lightning speed, improve your balance to the point of perfection, increase your concentration ...and make you impervious to weakness or pain," extreme athlete James Oroc wrote in the bulletin for MAPS.

LSD, mushrooms and research chemicals might not overtake anabolic steroids as the performance-enhancing drug of the next Olympiad. But it's already made a few lives better.

Microdosing LSD gives these world class athletes a solid advantage

"People are talking about LSD microdosing as if it's a new health fad, like it's acai berries or goji berries." ...

therooster.com

 

[mr peabody]

33 days of microdosing psilocybin to measure changes to athletic performance

by Michael Woronko | Medium | 14 Feb 2020

Truth be told, it wasn’t 33 consecutive days, but as any micro-dosing advocate would suggest, days off are necessary. And while everyone chimes in with their own suggestion towards how best to structure days-on and days-off, I figured to simply do whatever I felt was adequate as I micro-dosed psilocybin mushrooms for over a month in an effort to measure its effects on my physical and athletic capability.

Presented below are the extremely condensed results of my work. Given the current legislative atmosphere throughout North America, I’m choosing to not publish the full results of these findings to the public domain. A full copy of the study can be requested here.

There’s also a need to disclose that any scientific studies into the apparent benefits of psychoactive substances are all steeped in risk of bias; this particular ‘study’ is no exception, as I had gone into this experiment with certain preconceived expectations that could not be eliminated. With respect to psilocybin in particular, there is currently no academic study that purports to examine its use in an athletic or sportive context.

Note that this endeavor itself is not scientific nor academic in nature — it had been conducted under an entertainment pre-text and driven by honest curiosity. Academia itself is currently spinning its circles and rushing to quantify pro-psilocybin results to better-accommodate a wave of start ups that is currently coursing its way through this sprouting new industry; accordingly, I figured to try and provide honest results based on mounting interest in this subject.

Introduction

No self-improvement trend has ever swept its way through online forums and work spaces in the way that micro-dosing has, with psilocybin promising to be the be-all, end-all wonder drug that propels motivated success-seekers to unprecedented pinnacles of self-mastery.

On the heels of cannabis legalization sprawling throughout North America, all eyes are now eagerly fixed upon the slow but all-too-sure legalization of psilocybin, surfing atop a vast wealth of praise (from both therapeutic and pop-cultured standpoints) as cannabis itself had done only years prior.

The reverberating accounts emanating from Silicon Valley are leaving hoards of consumers in a frenzy to micro-dose their way into cognitive improvement — if not perfection. And, while studies are all too eager to tout the apparent benefits of micro-dosing mushrooms, they’re unable to truly circumvent the ever-frustrating placebo effect, as questions remain over how else this once-notorious drug can actually help us on a daily basis.

The first thing to understand about micro-dosing psilocybin is that, despite what many people think, the effects are incredibly subtle. Compounded with the fact that most people who micro-dose are already eager to achieve results surrounding self-improvement, the placebo effect is exceptionally potent in this context.

Beyond this, there remains little to no actual work done to study the potential of psilocybin use in a sportive environment; while some studies are beginning to ascertain that micro-dosing can lead to improved cognitive function, there still remains very little academic research into this subject.

So I figured to try this for myself — to actually try and measure my physical (and partly mental) experience of psilocybin’s psychotropic effects when ingested in a psycholytic manner under a sportive context; basically put, to micro-dose mushrooms and participate in a variety of athletic activities, being very weary of the placebo effect whilst also noting all aspects of my performance in excruciating detail.

To set a context — I’m middle-aged, live a healthy lifestyle and am fervently interested in self-improvement — the latter detail being of particular importance due to its manifestation of any placebo-induced motivation.

Using the most common strain of psilocybin (Golden Teacher), I measured myself among the following spectrum of categories:

Motor Skills and Reflexes
Cognizance and Focus
Strength Performance and Explosiveness
Overall Strength Endurance
Cardiovascular Stamina
Motivation

I took part in a variety of different activities, which included:

Dodgeball
Strength Training
Jogging & Trail Running
Hatha Yoga

Several points to be noted:

∙ I had base-lined everything for two weeks prior, and two weeks post, the study period, noting my findings in as much detail as possible to provide the most fair comparison possible.

∙ Two weeks before, during, and two weeks after this 33 day experiment, I made no changes to my sleep patterns and my nutrition routines, nor did I supplement my athletic performances with any other substances apart from creatine and amino-acid-based pre-workout supplements (which I’ve been taking regularly throughout the last few months).

∙ Upon commencing, I started with very minuscule doses and worked my way up incrementally, usually by 0.02g-0.04g per session. The typically-suggested micro-dose usually hovers between 0.20g-0.30g; I had started with 0.15g (whereby I felt nothing at all) and eventually found that 0.30–0.35g had been too potent of a dose given the onset of fatigue-like symptoms. My ideal range hovered between 0.18g to 0.28g, depending on the activity.

∙ I had decided to directly consume the psilocybin by way of oral ingestion in a fine-powdered form (not utilizing any capsules or mixing it in with any any liquids/foods). I had consumed the dose roughly one hour prior to the engagement with any activity.

∙ Given the usual likelihood of injury, I chose not to experiment in any martial arts formats nor any sports which may put others at risk (i.e. snowboarding, hockey, football).

- No alcohol, cannabis or other narcotics had been used in conjunction with any consumed psilocybin; no psilocybin had been shared with anyone outside of the study; I had not driven whilst impaired and had not engaged in any activity unless I felt that I had absolute control over myself; lastly, no injuries (mental or physical) occurred during this trial.

Dodgeball

I had participated in two games of competitive, team-based dodgeball during this experiment, having played numerous games before and after the study itself had been conducted. I felt that dodgeball itself would provide an opportune environment to measure motor skills, reflexes, cardiovascular stamina and the intangibles (like competitiveness) in a safe way.

The following effects had been noted from two games played; the first having been played with a dose of 0.22g, and the second with a dose of 0.28g:

- Increased cardiovascular stamina (0.22g and 0.28g)
- Increased focus (0.22g)
- No observable change in motor skill/reflexes (0.22g and 0.28g)
- Decreased sense of competitiveness (0.28g)
- Increased sense of immersion into the activity/excitement (0.22g and 0.28g)

Notes:

∙ I found that taking a dosage on the higher end of the spectrum (0.28g) resulted in a mild depression of overall attitude and, to some extent, cognizance and competitiveness.

∙ However, a dosage on the lower end of the spectrum (0.22g) resulted in slightly improved focus and attention, which had been compromised on the higher end of the spectrum. I had also experienced an increased sense of excitement, correlating to the findings of one particular academic study that noted improved mood due to micro-dosing psilocybin in a general context.

∙ Across both doses, I felt less ‘egotistical’ about my performance and tuned myself in to the actual enjoyment of the sport, becoming more immersed in the activity despite losing my sense of competitiveness. Physically, both dosages seemed to contribute to a perceived (and seemingly actual — as elucidated from other activities) increase in cardiovascular stamina and physical endurance, noting noticeably more energy at both the 0.22g and 0.28g dose level.

∙ This may possibly be due to a relaxation of social tension; with ego and competitiveness set aside, I had been able to perceive the activity more purely. This would correlate to a cannabis-based studies conducted in 2005 which had found that the relaxing properties of cannabis could be used to enhance sportive performance.

∙ As much as I would have like to say that there had been an increase in my reflexes, motor skills and hand-eye coordination, I felt no observable change across both doses. I would later come to learn that my focus could possibly see an improvement, albeit in a different environment whereby I’m engaged in a different type of activity.

∙ However, despite there being no way to really confirm, I felt that some of these impressions went beyond mere placebo effect. Namely, the slump that I had felt in my sense of competitiveness when taking a higher dosage of 0.28g — this would be later validated during other activities as a recurring effect.

Strength training / weights

I had participated in a variety of exercises including free weights, floor exercises, resistance training, and other fitness routines throughout the 33 days, aiming to note any clear physiological changes stemming from micro-dosing psilocybin in an incremental manner.

I had started by taking a dose of 0.20g during the first week, 0.24g during the second week, 0.28g during the third week and 0.30g during the fourth week; I had not felt comfortable taking a higher dose as I had experienced a complete lack of motivation at the 0.30g dose level.

The following effects had been observed:

- Slightly increased focus (0.20g, 0.24g and 0.28g)
- Decreased motivation at higher ends of the dose spectrum (0.28g and 0.30g)
- Slightly increased endurance/stamina on lower ends of the dose spectrum (0.20g and 0.24g)
- No perceived or actual increase in strength capacity

Notes:

∙ I observed that I had been able to focus more clearly on the physical tasks at hand across all dose levels; however, I’m choosing to write this off as a mere placebo effect given the fact that I had been closely monitoring my physiological and cognitive responses — something that I don’t do regularly.

∙ There had been no perceived change in increased or decreased work capacity, though it is worth noting that prior academic studies into cannabis-influenced athletic performance did yield a finding of reduced physical work capacity, likely due to mental faculties being influenced by the psychoactivity of the substance. Unfortunately, my experience could neither validate nor refute this finding.

∙ At the higher end of the dose spectrum, I felt a drastic drop in motivation to continue the exercise and felt somewhat of a physical fatigue, all contributing to a clear disinterest in this particular activity. This decrease in motivation had been evident at 0.28g and overpowering at 0.30g.

Jogging / Trail Running

I had taken part in frequent running-based activities that ranged from light jogging to heavy sprinting in a multitude of different conditions (from treadmills to trails) as a means to further expand on the cardiovascular aspect of this experiment.

I had participated in these running activities at dosages of 0.22g, 0.24g and 0.28g in no particular order.

The following effects had been observed:

- Notably increased cardiovascular stamina (0.22g, 0.24g and 0.28g)
- Slightly increased motivation (0.22g and 0.24g)
- Increased enjoyment of/immersion in the activity (0.22g, 0.24g and 0.28g)
- Improved motivation (0.22g, 0.24g and 0.28g)

Notes:

∙ I observed a clear improvement in my cardiovascular ability; unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure why and I can’t necessarily disentangle the placebo effect, though my theory is that the mind is able to become more immersed in the activity in a way that minimizes its awareness of fatigue. This may correlate to cannabis-based findings cultivated from various studies that found there to be a noticeable change in pain perception among athletes.

∙ I enjoyed an increased sense of motivation and excitement over the activity itself, as if the expulsion of energy felt much more enjoyable than it otherwise would.

Hatha yoga

I had taken part in two hatha yoga sessions, both one hour in duration; one session had been performed with a dose of 0.22g and the other with a dose of 0.30g. It had been my hope that yoga would demonstrate changes in both effort and focus, allowing me to gauge the effect of psilocybin on a more mentally-centred physical activity.

The following effects had been observed:

- Decreased motivation and mild fatigue (0.30g)
- Noticeably increased sense of focus (0.22g and 0.30g)
- No change in effort capacity or physical capability
- Increase in heart rate (0.22g and 0.30g)

Notes:

∙ One particularly unexpected observation had been an apparent increase in my heart rate; however, as I did not have any proper measuring instruments, this finding remains inconclusive at best and will be revisited during further studies. It may be worth noting that increased heart rate had been found to be a common experience during cannabis-based trials relating to athletic performance as studied by Steadman and Singh in 1975.

∙ I had experienced a noticeable increase in focus during this activity, likely due to the contemplative and slow-paced nature of yoga itself. Similar to running (see findings above), I had been able to focus my mind to the task at hand more easily.

Conclusions

Subsequently, my findings had led me to some notable realizations that had been validated, repeatedly, across the numerous activities that I had participated in.

Unfortunately, the placebo effect remains a real phenomenon and is very difficult to disentangle from the actual effects micro-dosing psilocybin, which is exceptionally subtle when taken at a psycholytic level (from my experience, between 0.20g and 0.24g) and slightly less subtle between 0.26g and 0.30g.

In terms of benefits, the biggest take away is two-fold, from both a mental and physical aspect:

Psychologically, I noted a definite change in my ability to focus on certain tasks at hand under certain contexts. While this enhanced sense of focus didn’t come from improved cognizance or reflexes (as I initially hoped), it did come about during athletic activities of a solitary and contemplative nature — such as running and yoga. It was as though the background noise and chatter of the mind had subsided and allowed me to become more immersed in the activity, allowing me to feel my leg muscles strain or my engagement with a particular pose or maneuver in a more more honed-in way.

Physically, I noted a clear improvement to my cardiovascular capability. I’m not sure if this may stem from a placebo effect or if the mind is simply not as engaged with an activity in the same way that it otherwise would be; my personal observation is that, by being more immersed in an activity, the parts of the mind which regulate feelings of fatigue may be less vocal throughout activities that demand increased stamina. My opinion is that the mind is largely what imposes certain limits we have on our physical capabilities — to an extent. An influence to the mental faculties can possibly serve to expand on these self-perceived limits, allowing for the individual to push themselves harder than they normally would with perceived ease.

Of the numerous drawbacks relating to micro-dosing psilocybin, the most obvious one to me is the mental (and, accordingly, physical) fatigue that sets in with higher doses, whereby motivation is eliminated and disinterest becomes prominent. I’d imagine that higher doses are not conducive with physical activity, but I remain curious to see if this can be conditioned. While fatigue has been noted in some other studies as a result of taking a higher-level dose, there is no correlation between psilocybin and a physical-depression of the central nervous system.⁸

It’s also worth noting that I had experienced a decreased egocentric perspective, which can affect competitiveness in a team-based sport setting, but I feel that this largely depends on personality; in other words, I figured to enjoy a competitive activity rather than try to out-compete others.
Other miscellaneous findings:

∙ Tolerance of psilocybin builds noticeably over 2–3 weeks; possibly skewing results.

∙ At times, I had experienced very mild social anxiety and self-consciousness; at other times, I had experienced increased social tendencies in the same setting.

∙ There had been, at no point, any concern about a loss of control over my motor functions, no demonstrable loss of cognizance or rationality.

33 Days of Microdosing Psilocybin to Measure Changes to Athletic Performance

Truth be told, it hadn’t been 33 consecutive days. As any micro-dosing advocate would suggest, days off are necessary. And while everyone…

medium.com

 

[mr peabody]

Sports medicine and psychedelics*

David Wyndham Lawrence, MD, MPH and Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD | BJSM | 28 Nov 2019

Sports medicine as a discipline is uniquely situated to safely explore, research, adopt, and implement novel and innovative strategies to meet the mental and physical demands of athletes and physically active populations. Significant advances have been made in sports science; including nutrition, training, injury management and prevention, sleep optimization, and health technologies. However, the stigma surrounding mental health and wellbeing in athletes remains pervasive.

Athletes encounter hundreds of distinct stressors making this population vulnerable to a spectrum of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, substance misuse, burnout, and interpersonal-relationship issues. The stressors encountered by athletic populations include: (1) performance and personal issues (i.e. injuries, finances, career transitions, etc.); (2) leadership and personnel issues (i.e. spectators, media, governing bodies, coaches, support staff, etc.); (3) logistic and environmental issues (i.e. travel, selection, accommodation, physical safety, etc.); and (4) cultural and team issues (i.e. teammates behaviour, goals, cultural norms, team support, etc.). A recent meta-analysis and systematic review identified that mental health symptoms and disorders are widely prevalent in athletes and maybe be higher in elite athletes compared to the general population.

The juxtaposition of sports medicine as a discipline, being uniquely innovative and committed to servicing the comprehensive needs of a vulnerable population with high demands, optimally situates it to critically explore and understand potential novel therapeutic interventions, particularly in regards to mental health and well-being. Moreover, sports medicine practitioners should be aware of advances and early research as it pertains to mental health, in order to conduct informed evidence-based discussions and recommendations with an increasingly knowledgeable patient population.

Psychoactive agents, defined as a ‘chemical substances that alter brain function resulting in alterations in mood, cognition, perception, behaviour, or consciousness’, are ubiquitous in the field of sports medicine. Stimulants, anxiolytic agents, and depressants are commonly used by athletes and prescribers to manage a multitude of conditions. A resurgence of attention is being placed on ‘psychedelics’ or ‘hallucinogens’, with early research suggesting a protective effect for the role of psychedelics in the management of a broad range of mental health disorders. Psychedelic agents are defined as substances that induce perceptual alterations, in addition to changes in mood, cognition, sense of self, and consciousness. Psychedelics can be categorized based on their (1) pharmacodynamics; (2) the subjective perceptual, psychological, and/or spiritual effect; and (3) the derived source material (see table 1).
​

Table 1. Classification systems for psychedelics with select examples.​	​	​	​
Classification​	Terminology/Source​	Definition​	Active ingredient​
1. Pharmacodynamics​	Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists or ‘serotonergic psychedelics’ or ‘tryptamine-based psychedelics’ or ‘classical psychedelics’​	Substances that enact on the serotonergic neurotransmitter pathway and resemble the monoamine alkaloid tryptamine.8​	Psilocybin, psilocin, LSD, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine (5-HO-DMT)​
​	NMDA receptor antagonists or ‘dissociatives’​	Substances that distort perceptions of sight and sound and produce feelings of detachment – dissociation – from the environment and self.4​	Ketamine​
​	Amphetamine-derivative​	​	MDMA​
​	Psychoactive alkaloid​	​	Ibogaine, mescaline​
2. Perceptual, Psychological, and/or Spiritual Effect​	Entheogen​	Substances that produce a nonordinary state of consciousness for religious or spiritual purposes and can induce an experience of “god within.”10​	Psilocybin, psilocyin, LSD, N,N-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 5-HO-DMT, mescaline​
​	Empathogen or enactogen​	A substance that produces “touching within” or emotional communion.7​	MDMA​
3. Source material​	​	​	​
Plant​	Psilocybin mushrooms or ‘magic mushrooms’​	A polyphyletic category of mushrooms that contain psilocybin and psilocin.​	Psilocybin, psilocin​
​	Ayahuasca​	Brew made from plants containing DMT and a monoamine-oxidase-like substance to permit gastrointestinal absorption of the DMT.​	N,N-DMT​
​	Changa​	DMT-infused smoke blend​	N,N-DMT​
​	Vilca​	Snuff made from the seeds of the Vilca (Anadenanthera colubrine) tree​	Bufotenine (5-HO-DMT), N,N-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT​
​	‘Peyote’ or Lophophora williamsii​	Small spineless cactus native to Mexico and Texas.​	Mescaline​
​	Wachuma or ‘San Pedro’ or Echinopsis pachanoi ​	Cactus native to the Andes Mountains​	Mescaline​
​	Apocynaceae shrubs (e.g. Tabernanthe iboga)​	Flowering plant native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Europe, Australia, and the Americas.​	Ibogaine​
​	Seeds from Anadenanthera peregrina​	Perennial tree native to the Caribbean and South America.​	5-MeO-DMT​
Animal​	Parotoid secretion from Incilius Alvarius or ‘Sonoran Desert Toad’​	A toad native to northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.​	5-MeO-DMT​
Synthetic​	​	Synthetically derived​	MDMA, LSD, psilocybin​

Emerging research has documented a protective role of psychedelics in the management of major depressive disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, cancer-related existential crisis, and substance (i.e. nicotine, alcohol, and narcotic) use disorders, particularly as an adjuvant to psychotherapy. These early studies have consistently called for further investigation; however, uniformly conclude that psychedelics appear to be effective in managing these conditions and are generally well tolerated in research settings.

Moreover, early studies have examined the impact of psychedelics on life-satisfaction and their ability to induce ‘mystical-type’ experiences in healthy populations and suggest that psychedelics have the ability to enhance life-satisfaction, subjective well-being, and induce mystical-type or so-called “quantum change/psychologically transformative” experiences. With the resurgence of interest in psychedelics, ongoing risk profiling of these substances must continue in both research and real-world settings.

The pharmacological, perceptual, and therapeutic effects that psychedelics induce depend upon: (1) preparation; (2) the type of psychedelic; (3) route of administration; (4) the dose (including macro- versus microdosing); (5) the set and (6) setting in which the drug is administered; and (7) integration following the experience (see infographic). The ‘set’ (referring to one’s mindset, mental state, and intention preceding and during the experience) and the ‘setting’ (referring to the physical and social environment in which the psychedelic experience is occurring) greatly influence the trajectory of the experience.


James Oroc on microdosing psychedelics and doing extreme sports

The majority of psychedelics enact their properties via serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonism (i.e. ‘serotonergic psychedelics’ or ‘classical psychedelics’) and include: psilocybin and psilocin (the active ingredients in psilocybin or “magic” mushrooms); N, N-dimethyltryptamine or ‘DMT’ (the active ingredient in Ayahuasca and Changa); 5-methoxy-DMT or ‘5-MeO-DMT’ (secreted from the parotoid glands of the Incilius Alvarius toad and certain plant-species); bufotenin or ‘5-HO-DMT’; and lysergic acid diethylamide or ‘LSD.’ Additional psychoactive agents can induce psychedelic experiences including NMDA receptor antagonists (i.e. ‘dissociatives’), amphetamine-derivates, and psychoactive-alkaloids.

Psychedelics are receiving increased research and media attention and have demonstrated early therapeutic benefit in managing a multitude of mental health conditions. Evidence suggests these tools should not be used or studied in isolation, but as an adjuvant to psychotherapeutic practices to support mental resilience, in additional emotional and experiential acceptance. Sports medicine practitioners should become aware of psychedelic agents and the developing field of research examining their role in the management of mental health and wellbeing. In the future, psychedelics may be an additional avenue to explore to manage not only mental health conditions in the athletic population, but also sport-specific stressors including burnout, retirement and life transitions, and sporting failure.

Dr. David Lawrence is an academic sports medicine physician in Toronto, Canada with privileges at the David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic (Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, University of Toronto), Mount Sinai Hospital (Sinai Health Systems), and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (University Health Network). Email: [email protected]

Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is the Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London.

Sports Medicine, Mental Health & Well-Being, and Psychedelics | BJSM blog - social media's leading SEM voice

By Drs David Wyndham Lawrence, MD, MPH (@davidwlawrence1) and Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD (@RCarhartHarris) Sports medicine as a discipline is uniquely situated to safely explore, research, adopt, and implement novel and innovative strategies to meet the mental and physical demands of athletes...

blogs.bmj.com

 

[mr peabody]

The psychedelia of running

by Maura McNamara | Medium | 18 Nov 2018

There are two practices that have saved my life: running and psychedelics. In that order. I could write a book about psychedelics, and might. This essay is a love letter to running. It is a prayer of gratitude.

My early twenties were captive to a quiet desperation that took the form of compulsive, destructive relationships with alcohol and food. For years I couldn’t socialize without drinking, and I couldn’t drink without blacking out, awakening to the grim reality of the previous night’s horrors as related by my boyfriend through a light sheen of humor over deep disappointment.

Binge eating happened alone, accompanied by binge watching and binge masturbating. A furious cycle through various pleasure buzzers that kept me mostly safe from acknowledging the black sludge of self-loathing dripping through my chest and also totally quarantined from relaxation or joy. Despite the outward trappings of a privileged life in New York City with a talented, handsome boyfriend and a world class education, I lived in a muted bandwidth of sensation approximating but just adjacent to life.

I shamed myself for these behaviors even as I performed them over and over, trapped in a hopeless cycle of destruction and disgust that I thought simply amounted to my experience of life this time around. It was a devastating fall from the grace of an ecstatically creative childhood, which I tried to justify as the inevitable wage of adulthood even as I mourned it. I regarded “happy” and “successful” people as others, somehow blessed by the gods with an ease I was simply not to be allotted in this lifetime.

I started running after breaking up with said talented, handsome boyfriend. While we had come to the mutual realization that we weren’t making each other very happy, I was devastated by the dissolution of our shared universe and obsessively wounded by the speed with which he seemed to be moving on. Inconveniently, we had decided we were better off without each other about ten months into a year-long lease that neither of us could afford to break early, and several times in the final months of cohabitation, I fled the suffocating proximity of our one bedroom apartment for Central Park, where I would stand choke-crying on the butte of some glacial boulder, picnickers in the vicinity treating my publicly-private grief with the respectful apathy of any good New Yorker.

And then one time I just didn’t stop running. I found myself circling the reservoir again and again, running far longer than I ever had before in my life. In seeking to anesthetize the pain oozing through my chest, I had inadvertently run myself into the void of beinglessness. I came to, staring at the fountain, all breath and no feet, feeling as though I might have just run twenty miles and might run twenty more. I was a torrent of stillness and quiet. A vacuum. It was bliss. Turns out: the suffocating presence I was fleeing was not my actual boyfriend, but the boyfriend in my head with whom I had been carrying on a relationship at deafening decibels day and night as I played out my grievances and judgments over and over again. Physical exhaustion does wonders for hollowing the mind.

Until that moment in Central Park, I resented running. At my fancy middle school, prowess at PE on the track made of crushed Nike soles was just another meter stick for how breezy-how easy-how toned-how rich, and I did not register on any of the leaderboards. As a teenager and through college, “jogging” was a lashing that I thrust on myself regularly as atonement for my fat and lazy failures. Among the many games I played with myself like measuring my worth in the number chips I hoarded or the varying pressure of my underwear elastic against my belly, forcing myself to turn over angry red digits on the treadmill at my university’s windowless gym was a joyless ritual I both hoped and deeply doubted would finally transform me into the good version of myself. I resented the people who gazelled effortlessly at their stations and refused solidarity with those strugglers sweating nearby.

Somewhat in awe of the heartbreak magic that had unlocked a new kind of running, I decided to test it, signing up for a half marathon a few months later and telling everyone I knew so that I couldn’t back out without widespread embarrassment. I quickly discovered that after breaking the six mile barrier, there is little difference taking on eight, ten, thirteen miles. Once I decided I was going to run long distances, much of the work was done: I was a runner.

After all, there are many reasons not to run. Running in itself is not a series of pleasant sensations. It is often aching feet, jabbing pain in the torso, hot cotton lungs in humidity, fingers stiffened to claws in the cold. The reward of running is a long, slow relief, unlike most of the immediate but fleeting pleasure delivery systems I’d exhausted in the past.

If I let my mind have its way when I ran, it would riot with gripes and excuses, and sometimes simply pain: you can’t breathe! this isn’t fun! you can’t do this! Any pretext to end the sensation of discomfort, to convince me that I was not one of those chosen few who can, in fact, do it. When I decided I was a runner, I also decided I would not engage that voice. If it would say anything to make me stop, it was not to be trusted. I realized that listening to music was a bandaid that would mask the voice, but not make it cease, so I abandoned my headphones.

Learning to observe physical sensation without needing to have an opinion about it — good or bad — has freed my mind from associating pain or discomfort as a drama that is happening to me. I can choose to experience labored breathing as my breath massaging my body from the inside. I can experience my bones pounding the ground as a healing rhythm mirrored by my heart pulsing blood through my body. My ears are free to marvel at the wind rattling the trees and catch the hilarious snippets of commentary that roll off the wake of passing cyclists.

Ultimately this practice of disregarding my thoughts while running is a gift to my entire life. It is the same practice that can acknowledge without indulging the voice that cries woah woah this is not for you! when a psychedelic starts to tear me from my personhood, or hey hey your leg is definitely going to fall off if you don’t stand up! ten minutes into a two hour meditation. It’s the same practice that helps me navigate difficult conversations without exploding, to meet fear and anger with spaciousness and humor. If there is a gap in my resolve, those cries can rally to the most hellish scream of stop stop stop you are dying! But the less I listen, the less it protests. And in its place blossoms the most exquisite calm.

That first accidental run in Central Park became thousands of miles and several marathons. I anticipated agony or at the very least boredom in all the training hours required at longer distances, but instead I’ve been staggered by so much freedom and joy. I didn’t have these words in Central Park at the time, and I wouldn’t until drinking ayahuasca in the jungle a few years later, but running was the first time as an adult that I understood the infinite capacity within me to withstand and endure.

There was the time I got stung by wasps at the start of an 18 mile race that I still had to complete in order to qualify for a later marathon, and the December half I ran along the Brooklyn waterfront where gusts of wind lashed icy waves over the balustrade into our path. Enduring despite challenges is intoxicating. It becomes private superpower. The body is capable of so much more than we think.

So is the mind.

Running is psychedelic because it brings me to the present moment by force. When you are lost in the timelessness and placelessness of psychedelics, there is no one else who can show you the way, no one who knows more than you do. But dwelling in fear or worry or resentment on a long psychedelic trip is simply too exhausting. Too harrowing. Eventually, you have to lay it down. Running is the same. Neither experience makes room for anything but surrender. There is no where to go, no one to be, but present.

Learning to dwell in the moment — whatever it is, however uncomfortable or different than anticipated — has brought me into a peace that makes my life worth living. The present moment is infinitely unfolding, completely alive. It has become the only place I want to be, and magically, running and tripping have opened portals to that presence that do not close when the physiological experience ends. They have taught me that I can choose to be at home in any moment by taking responsibility for my experience of the world. I no longer meet new social situations with apprehension, no longer seek alcohol or food to escape the burden of being myself. Escape where? I’m still here. I might as well accept the gift of being me, make it an art form worthy of a lifetime.

At times I still struggle against both practices, fighting their demand to surrender. Of course there are days when I have to drag myself out the door, when I am too tired, too distracted, when I can’t remember the point of this excessive gauntlet in the first place. I make it to the park simply because this is what I do. I am a runner. And once I make it there, once I am in motion, once I am just breath, I am swept with gratitude. The only voice that resounds is a sigh: Oh, hello, it’s you. Welcome back.

The Psychedelia of Running

There are two practices that have saved my life: running and psychedelics. In that order. I could write a book about psychedelics, and…

medium.com

 

[mr peabody]

Entheogens - The performance benefits of psychedelics

by Boomer Anderson | Decoding Superhuman | 6 May 2020

Breaking stereotypes and biases of psychedelics through a wide-ranging and science-backed conversation with Paul Austin, a responsible use psychedelics advocate. Paul talks about the applications of MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, and LSD.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to decoding superhuman. This show is a deep dive into obsessions with health performance, and how to elevate the human experience. I explore the latest tools, science and technology with experts in various fields of human optimization. This is your host Boomer Anderson, enjoy the journey.

Today we’re taking a deep dive into the world of psychedelics. We’re going to look at what traditionally people thought of as psychedelic, use the science behind it, as well as microdosing for performance. But before I get into that, and really introduce you to today’s guests, let’s give another shout out to a listener who took the time to write a five star review. Subject wonderful combos, and this is from Jolguin87 - I enjoyed boomers interview style, super humble, super curious and makes for engaging conversations. And Jolguin87 you actually make me blush. So thank you so much for that. If you’re inclined, please head over to iTunes and leave a five star rating, just with a little bit of a message. We’ll read yours on the show soon. And I look forward to hearing more from you guys and getting more feedback.

My guest today is the CEO and founder of the third wave. Paul Austin is an entrepreneur, public speaker and educator and he’s founded two companies in the emergent psychedelic space. The first one I’ve already mentioned, but the second one is called Synthesis, which is actually here in Amsterdam. Within the third wave Paul leads a team of creatives, engineers and coaches to develop a comprehensive educational platform that serves the psychedelic ecosystem. His work has led him to be featured in BBC, Forbes, and Rolling Stone magazine. So what did Paul and I get into today? As you guys know, if you’ve tuned into any of the episodes in the past six months, psychedelics has become an increasingly talked about theme on the podcast. Part of that has been a result of my own exploration in the space, both with larger doses of substances and smaller micro doses. caveat emptor here, I’ve done my own research, you should do your own and going down this path is not for everyone.

But I invited Paul on the show to have a really educated and science backed discussion around psychedelics and trust me didn’t disappoint. We talked about psychedelics role in ancient cultures, the research that came out of the 1960s. And what is emerging as sort of this? Well, I guess you can call it third wave, if you will, in Silicon Valley and other places with the use of microdosing in performance. We talk specifically about certain psychedelics, namely MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, as well as LSD, and how they can be used both from a performance context but also from a healing context, which I guess even if you’re healing, it will contribute to performance at some point. The show notes for this one are decodingsuperhuman.com/thethirdwave and enjoy this conversation. Probably the first of many with Paul Austin. Decoding Superhuman is all about performance optimization through health optimization. performance can come from many avenues. But one of the foundational aspects that I tell people to work on first is sleep. And sleep among many high performers is elusive. It’s difficult because we find ourselves working late into the night. And to say to somebody who’s extremely ambitious and on this mission to stop working at 6pm is categorically ridiculous. So if you want to keep working, we’re on your electronics. How do you protect yourself? My favorite hedge is blue light blockers. And I’ve had Andy Mant on the show before but if you go over to his company blublox.com, you know that they do a lot of research on the product that they’re producing. If you want a pair of OSA sexy blue light blockers, head over to blue lock, head over to blublox.com use the code DS15 You’ll get yourself a nice little discount. Let’s get to this conversation with Paul Austin.

Paul, welcome to the show. Boomer. Thanks for having me on. Man, I can’t wait for this. This is a conversation you and I have had multiple conversations. Multiple seems like a fractal like connection in terms of networks. But this is a conversation I’ve wanted to have on the show for a very long time. And I’m glad that you’re joining me here today to talk about a topic that needs some addressing for sure.

Paul Austin
Yeah, you know, psychedelics; in particular, microdose. Ian is one of the things that sort of entered our cultural Zeitgeist The last few years and there are a lot of people who still you know, have questions. There’s a lot of unknowns in that process because there just hasn’t been a lot of education about it, you know, in the past.

Boomer Anderson
How did you come to this field? Because it’s, I mean, originally remind me again, where you’re from. Are you from California region?

Paul Austin
Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Boomer Anderson
That’s not quite California. So Midwest, Midwest, West, which I’m a Midwest boy, too. And so Midwest boy, California, psychedelics... connect the dots. How did it eventually click for you?

Paul Austin
Yeah, so, you know, grew up in West Michigan, which is more traditional, you know, Midwest salt of the earth type family. suburb, smoked cannabis when I was 16 for the first time is sort of my initial act of rebellion. And then when I was 19, I started to look into psychedelics and did psilocybin mushrooms, and soon after, tried Hi, this is at all high doses, high doses of LSD with close friends in beautiful Outdoor nature its settings. And you know, I’ve always been a bit of a rebel a bit of an outsider, a very independent thinker, you know, kind of like carving my own path, if you will. And one of the conclusions, I would say the main conclusion that I came to from those high dose experiences was coming to terms of death, which sounds very, you know, odd but this is what happens is we have this ego dissolution we realize that death is just another step in the process of of our own, you know, evolution and that for that reason, why not live to the greatest extent possible. So, when I graduated from college at the age of 21, I moved to Turkey, where I taught English

Boomer Anderson
Istanbul or somewhere else.

Paul Austin
I was in Istambul initially, for about two months, I taught at a camp a summer camp. I taught Turkish kids how to teach English and how to play sports. So basically playing sports with them through Teaching English. And did that worked at a private school in a place called Izmir for about nine months, and in my free time, just taught myself how to build an online business. And then once I left that job, I took that skill, teaching English and I built my first coaching business online, where I taught one on one and group classes for people, you know, professionals from Japan or China, or even immigrants who had already come to the United States, so they could go get their MBA at Harvard, so they could go, you know, go become a pharmacist, essentially train them on psychology, you know, like really high performance psychology for passing this test. And, you know, one thing led to another that business is going pretty well in 2015. I noticed a few trends going. One trend that I noticed was cannabis was becoming legal. You know, in 2015, there were about four states that had already legalized cannabis. There were several more states states that medicalize cannabis. So clearly there was something going on there. There was more and more research on psychedelics coming out of places like Johns Hopkins and NYU. And so it’s like there’s something going on there. And then Tim Ferriss who is really, you know, kind of a cultural star, if you will started publishing public podcasts about psychedelics, I thought, Oh, this is interesting. So in mid 2015, I started a website called the third wave, which was essentially an educational resource with a particular focus on micro dosing, that just helped to inform and educate people about responsible unintentional psychedelic use. And that was sort of, you know, as initially a hobby project, I was running this coaching business as my main business. The third way was a hobby project for a couple years and then 2017 you know, turned it into a lifestyle business.

And then recently, you know, we’ve started to raise investment and make it a real legit business as more and more money poured into the psychedelic space. So I kind of have this Interesting intersection of travel. And I’ve traveled to about 60 countries lived in five different countries, building online educational businesses, which is what happened with the third wave. And then I also had a brief hiatus, if you will, in 2018. Because in 2018, I was fortunate enough to speak at a number of tech and business conferences, The Next Web and Amsterdam, South South by Southwest Conference in Germany, another conference in Switzerland, which was like a one day self optimization conference. And just noticed that a lot of people who are going to these conferences, these tech and business conferences, you know, they were interested in psychedelics, but they didn’t want to maybe, you know, there were a lot of concerns because it was so new. There’s a lot of unknown so for that reason, we launched a legal psilocybin retreat center in the Netherlands called Synthesis with a co founder of mine who is Dutch and started doing retreats just outside of Amsterdam with silicon I’ve been truffles which are illegal and another one. And so I’ve, I’ve started a few businesses, you know, there was an educational component to that. And now it’s really like, I would say, what drives me most is an awareness of the crises that we seem to be going through as a culture. We have the mental health crisis, we have an income inequality crisis, we have a meaning crisis, you know, basically an existential crisis. And what the climate crisis is also a big one. And I think, you know, what really motivated me about educating people about the benefits of responsible psychedelic use is, these are tools that help us to wake up to these crisis and understand them and feel them and in that feeling, we then actually can start to take action on what do we need to do to address them and overcome them? And I would say is sort of my main mission is how can psychedelics when used responsibly help with humanity, kind of get been through its current period of crisis.

Boomer Anderson
And I want to go into a number of those benefits that you’ve laid out because I think meaning ego, dissolution, all of that existential crisis I’ve dealt with, in a way through psychedelics at least effectively. Before I go into kind of the the science side of things, which is what I love about the third wave, you lived outside the US, and you said five different countries. What’s your favorite one? If you had to, I mean, I guess first off, what are the five and then we can kind of dosey doe from there.

Paul Austin
Yeah, so I lived in Turkey for a year. Yeah. And I know turkey the best I would say because I lived there for a year I taught at a Turkish school. I was close with like a Turkish family. I learned, you know, Turkish, at least some Turkish. So in terms of the culture that I know best, it would be Turkey, and there are a lot of Beautiful parts of it. There are also a lot of things that I didn’t like about it, but it was fantastic. I also lived in Thailand, in Chiang Mai. But when I was living in Thailand, it was much more of like, I was the digital nomad. Yeah hanging out with other expats who are living in Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Boomer Anderson
I commonplace. Do you do that? Right?

Paul Austin
Yeah, exactly. So I love the food, and I loved everything about it, but I wouldn’t say I was I was as like, integrated into Thailand. And then I lived in Portugal, in Lisbon. And, you know, Lisbon was probably my favorite, you know, overall, because it has the best weather in Western Europe. Yeah, it’s on the water. All drugs are decriminalized in Lisbon in Portugal. So there’s just a sense of freedom there that you don’t have elsewhere. The people are very kind and warm and friendly and the city Lisbon itself is going through an amazing rebirth which remains affordable. Yeah.

So lived there lived in Mexico as well and well Wahaca.
And again, food. This is this is what draws me it’s food feeding Mexico, the food in Thailand, you know, it’s Portugal, right. Portugal as well. And then I lived in Hungary, Budapest for a short period of time as well. So those are the five foreign countries that I lived in. And I would say of those Lisbon, Portugal was my favorite. And Turkey is the one that I that I know the best.

Boomer Anderson
Amazing. I can second Lisbon. I haven’t been to Turkey. Ironically, I’ve done the 60 countries thing, but I haven’t been turkey on the list. Let’s go into the third wave because I came across your site, because I was looking for somebody to explain the science behind all this stuff. And I know the research goes back quite a bit, but you aggregated it in such a nice way. Can we talk a little bit about the history of psychedelics specifically from the scientific research side, like when when did it get started? In what do we actually know?

Paul Austin
So when it comes to the history of psychedelics, you know, this is sort of where even the name, the third wave came from, right? Where there’s a first wave, there’s a second wave, and there’s a third wave. And the first wave was, you know, in indigenous us for thousands of years, these, these, these medicines have been used since, you know, ancient ancient times. So that was like, there’s obviously a rich, there’s a rich evolutionary history. And what most people don’t realize is people like Plato and Aristotle, back, you know, in ancient Greece, they were utilizing psychedelics for insight and awareness about the nature of reality, which I think is fascinating. So obviously, we didn’t have the scientific objective, you know, methods that we do now to measure that, but if you read through Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s philosophy, they will refer to these experiences at the eveness any mystery. So then when it comes to the second wave of psychedelics, this is really You know, the first wave was Ancient Greece and kind of the introduction of plant medicine into Western culture, because that was the bedrock of Western culture. Then the second wave of psychedelics was the reintroduction of psychedelics into Western culture. And that was the counterculture. That was the 50s and 60s. And how most people know the 50s and 60s is Timothy Leary, and, you know, like dropping out and sort of like, kind of, you know, doing that whole crazy thing, but what most people don’t realize is there were over 1000 clinical papers published on psychedelics in the 50s and 60s, and it was a highly respected and regarded sort of nascent area of research that held so much potential but unfortunately, because specifically with LSD, it got out of control.

There was a huge government backlash and crackdown on psychedelics which led to this sort of Dark Age period. Was it Nixon or was it somebody else that kind of put the clamp down? Just trying to remember his Oh, it was it was sort of it was it was like a cascading effect, right. So California was really the epicenter for a lot of it, you know, the Summer of Love in 1966. And so initially, at the California, the state of California made it illegal in 1966. And then Richard Nixon came in a couple years later with his war on drugs in 1968. And crack down on it that really, and then in 1971, the UN passed a convention, you know, an Act, the UN convention act that basically made all psychedelics illegal globally, and that if anyone was to have them legal in their country that they would be kicked out of the UN so and that was of course informed by the United States because you know, United States has been especially since World War Two, the predominant will power so anything you know, they want to see happen has happened. So that that, you know, a lot of the research was fascinating. It showed that LSD was super effective for depression for, for autism for alcoholism, with it. Big one big big for alcoholism and addiction. And so, you know, we basically entered this dark period. And then in 1996, there was a guy named Bob Jesse who, who started talking with Roland Griffiths and Ron Griffis was a highly respected addiction researcher.

Boomer Anderson
research university in Minnesota right. thing or I could have that roll.

Paul Austin
Rolling is at Johns Hopkins. That’s right.

Boomer Anderson
Okay. There’s somebody in there. That’s a Minnesota guy, but

Paul Austin
Dennis McKenna. Okay. There you go. That’s the kind of Yeah, so rolling, you know, basically, like they started doing research in the late 90s, early 2000s. And then there was the first landmark paper published on psychedelics in 2006, which essentially proved that psilocybin, which is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, when used within, you know, the right container can facilitate a mystical experience and that happens It’s like, it’s effective. It shows that if you do it this way that 70 to 80% of people will have a mystical experience. And as a result of having a mystical experience, there are significant physiological benefits and psychological benefits, including, you know, just more contentment, a release of, you know, healing of depressive symptoms. A sense of this being the most profound experience that one has ever, you know, gone through, there were all these things that they were starting to build the framework for. And then since 2006, there’s been dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of papers published proving the efficacy of psychedelics for treating everything from PTSD, to addiction, alcoholism, and xiety, to treatment resistant depression to major depressive disorder. You know, like, basically, if you pick a click OCD, if you pick a clinical condition, you struggle with psychedelics likely help with it, which I think is fascinating.

Boomer Anderson
Mm hmm. And right now, we kind of Sit at this interesting area where you know, psilocybin, I believe is legal in Colorado, right?

Paul Austin
decriminalized decriminalized,

Boomer Anderson
decriminalized in Denver. We sit at this interesting kind of precipice, if you will, whereby maps is going through phase three FDA trials on MDMA, I believe for PTSD. And, you know, the future seems quite bright. For psychedelic and psychedelic therapy. I mean, ketamine for depression is already being used. When we look at it in terms of just proof, let’s go down the micro dosing route, because when I started investigating micro dosing, and actually like I was microdose by a friend, you know, dissolution of ego, loved it, and went down. So micro dosing for performance. When did this start to become a part of the picture? And because I know you weren’t one of the first people public bushing on it and how to do it. When did it start becoming part of the picture? And maybe we can start getting into tactically how people can use it and what the benefits are.

Paul Austin
Yeah, so what’s fascinating is it’s sort of the again, I I studied history in college. So I’m like, I’m a history buff and the history you me both. Yeah, right. Yeah, like. So I think context is so important and so useful to explain current trends that are going on. So, you know, most people at this point have heard the Steve Jobs quote, you know, that Walter Isaacson wrote in his biography, and Steve Jobs essentially said that like doing LSD was one of the most profound things that he ever did. top two or three profound things he ever did. That basically helped him to see things from a totally different perspective, and that he was totally different ever since that point. And so there’s a rich history because a lot of the initial psychedelic research was in Menlo Park, you know, which is in Silicon Valley, then the tech world and the psychedelic world the second the use of psychedelics in the 50s. And 60s is sort of what inspired you know that the tech boom in the 70s 80s and onwards the whole computer revolution. So I think that’s the first key point to look at. It’s like engineers and scientists and developers and whatnot.

They’ve been, we’ve been using LSD for 50 years to help with creativity and performance and leadership. It’s just been under the covers. Yeah. It’s kind of a trade secret of what’s going on in Silicon Valley. And then, you know, in 2012, Jim Fadiman published a book called the psychedelic explorers guide, and Jim was one of the researchers from the 60s who, you know, he basically did the only research study proving that LSD helps with creativity. So he took in a number of engineers in 1966, or 25, put them through a study where they took they took about 100 micrograms of LSD, and he had them come in with a big problem that they wanted to solve that they were struggling with. And essentially, he published this entire paper proving that look, LSD helped with coming up with all these innovative solutions. And this is back in 1966. And then while he was in the middle of doing that study, he gets a he gets a letter from the federal government saying, hey, LSD is illegal, immediately sees everything that you’re doing. And he tells a story of like, he gets the letter, and he had just dosed everyone. He’s like, he’s like, I got this letter tomorrow, and continued with the experience. And then after that point, you know, LSD was illegal and couldn’t be used. So that was sort of like an apologist

Boomer Anderson
for perspective on people 100 micrograms of LSD versus you know, what are we talking about in terms of micro versus larger dose here?

Paul Austin
So a moderate dose is 100 microgram. microdose is about 10 micrograms. Okay, perfect, approximately, you know, so micro dose is about a 10th of the regular daily data. So you have that rich history and then You know, Jim published his book in 2012, at a single chapter on microdose St. And then Jim was on the Tim Ferriss podcast in 2015 and spoke about microbes. And then that’s when we started to see this really come out. There was a couple there was a piece published in Rolling Stone, you know, piece published elsewhere. They were like, oh, Silicon Valley engineers and reason scientists are like microdose seen for performance and creativity. And ever since then it’s sort of like blew up in 2015 was when I first heard about it. And because I had had these high dose experiences before that were really profound for a week or two. After I did high doses. It was always like, things felt easy in my life. I was disciplined, I would go to the gym consistently, I would eat much healthier, I would treat people around me with much more compassion and interest and openness. And then eventually, after one or two weeks, some of those things would dissipate.

It’s a way to continue to integrate and just maintain that level of presence with everything and mindfulness with everything. So I think you know, what’s really going on at the fundamental level with microdosing is just like meditation, just like breath work just like yoga. It’s just helping us to be more present. It’s helping the hemispheres in our brain to, you know, the two hemispheres to communicate in a better way. It’s helping us to generally just be more healthy and well, and then when we’re more present as high performers, then it becomes easier to be creative, right? Because we’re not sort of in this anxious sympathetic state, but we can actually drop back and relax into a parasympathetic state, and respond to things and be creative from that position. And then with creativity comes flow and productivity and all these other sort of things that people will often read about with microdose. But at the fundamental level, its presence, its mindfulness. And then it just sort of benefits build on top of that.

Boomer Anderson
So the presence in mindfulness and my understanding is a lot of this comes from shutting down of the default mode network, or at least sort of working through the ego, but why don’t we go Little bit into like just tactically if somebody wanted to start microdose and what does that actually look like? Because I live here in Amsterdam, there are certain substances that are traditionally available to me, I think every stereotype you have, that aren’t necessarily available to those living outside of the nodes. But one of those substances which is now available worldwide legally, is truffled mushrooms. And these are from a company called Provithor. Provithor was founded by a lovely lady named Lily who I’ve come to know very well. And if you want to try truffle mushrooms, which have been effectively bashed in micro doses for you, you can head on over to provithor.com and yes, they do deliver worldwide legally. You can use the code Boomer that’s BOOMER for a nice little discount. Enjoy your experience with that. And let’s get back to my conversation with Paul Austin. Because for instance right now, I mean, between us and whoever’s listening to this, I microdose on psilocybin mushrooms. Right. And so, you know, I’m enjoying that. But it tactically, how would people start to get into this? Or how would they explore this space? If you were to recommend a way?

Paul Austin
So, so what are the risks? Yeah.

Boomer Anderson
Let’s lay out the risks and just address the fraud, fully disclose everything right.

Paul Austin
We’ll be good. And then I and then I can just give all the information there. So the main risk is that these substances are still illegal. Yeah, of course. Right. So, you know, the Netherlands is an exception because there’s simplified and truffles, but generally like LSD and And mushrooms are early. So so just so people have that framework. The other risk to be aware of is specifically with LSD. And we could talk a little bit more about this the difference between LSD and mushrooms because that’s often a big question as well. With LSD, LSD is more dopaminergic. So there’s more dopamine going on. And that’s why it can be useful for very useful for flow states and productivity just like caffeine, coffee. But if someone already struggles with anxiety, or they have insomnia, or they generally tend to be pretty high strung person, LSD might just make that worse. I think that’s also something to be mindful of. So

Boomer Anderson
yeah, go ahead, Bob. I interrupted you.

Paul Austin
Well, with With that being said, and we can kind of dive deeper. You know, the basic logistics of getting started with microdose seen are to start low and go slow, but I’d like to say so with LSD, you know, typical microdose is 10 micrograms. And the best place to start is probably start at five micrograms and seven and a half micrograms, then 10. micrograms, then 12, and a half micrograms and 15 micrograms. And of course, what we’re doing through this process is we’re titrating. You know, we’re titrating our dose level to understand, particularly both from a data driven perspective, maybe through, you know, blood tests through the aura ring through other methodologies that we can use through data, how useful it is, but also just an intuitive sense, like, does this feel right? Is this giving me the energy I want? Am I a little too anxious, you know, just like starting to develop that relationship with it to understand how it impacts us. So I think that’s always the best way to start with mushrooms, it would be something closer to probably point 05 grams of 50 milligrams of psilocybin 100 milligrams of psilocybin 150 milligrams of psilocybin and usually what I will do when I’m micro dosing psilocybin is I’ll combine it with lion’s mane and niacin. This is called the Paul Stamets stat because lion’s mane and niacin are both their Lion’s Mane is also neuroprotective, and how And neurogenesis, just like psilocybin does. And so that’s a useful step. I’ve also microdose psilocybin mushrooms with ashwagandha. Because it’s an adaptogen and just helps with maintaining a sense of balance throughout the day. So, yeah, I think those are probably the best things to be aware of when it comes to starting.

Boomer Anderson
So I guess maybe I should have done this earlier, but laying out the cast of characters when it comes to micro dosing, we have LSD and psilocybin predominantly Are there other ones that you also consider worth exploring in the world of micro dosing.

Paul Austin
So I think to two substances to be very mindful of specifically because they can be easier to purchase our one p LSD, which is a very close cousin to LSD, and that can be purchased through like the clear web, you need Bitcoin, but you can purchase it through the clear web on through Canada. And then there’s another substance called for a co D NT, which is a psilocybin, analog, and same sort of situation. It’s very similar to psilocybin, but you can purchase it from from Canada. So I would say those are two things to be mindful of the other thing that people should be mindful of is mescaline. Yeah, mescaline is from the cacti. It’s the psychoactive component and cacti, both San Pedro and pod. And I think one of the fascinating elements of psychedelics both with high doses and microdose is is its anti inflammatory properties. And we know that inflammation is more or less the key thing that’s tied to longevity, if you could keep inflammation reduced, as this is why omega threes are so important. This is why you know, minimizing vegetable oil intake is so important. This is why you know, getting tons of sunshine is so important. So microdose seen is just another way and mescaline is the most anti inflammatory of all the psychedelics and so that’s also something to be mindful of when micro dosing is it’s probably if you can find it, mescaline is the ideal way to That’s

Boomer Anderson
okay. And I guess in terms of ranking priorities, or maybe going through those cast of characters and saying, What are sort of the chief benefits so you mentioned mescaline as being the anti inflammatory. LSD I’ve looked at as more of a dissolution of ego. Are there additional things that you know, for instance, LSD, psilocybin have their own properties, additional benefits for each of those that you wouldn’t mind highlighting?

Paul Austin
For psilocybin and LSD and

Boomer Anderson
psilocybin and LSD, we can go into the other ones as well.

Paul Austin
So benefits I would say.
Again, all of them, they just help with cultivating more presence. I think LSD is more useful for flow states for hiking, like going outside and like having a lot of energy. If you want to go for a long hike or walk our seats are they good for that for jujitsu or any sort of physical exercise? LSD will be really, really good for that. Potentially for like, you know, if there’s any sort of intense endurance sports, LSD would be really, really good for that as well. cross country skiing or snowboarding or again, you get you need to know your substance before you start doing it. Like if you titrated appropriately and you understand how it’s going to affect you. I think LSD is best for that. psilocybin is more best for like emotional processing and the development of intuition, you know, because it’s suicide is more serotonergic it’s tied to contentment and ease and peace. So you know, when I would microdose psilocybin, I would often do it in conjunction with therapy. From a therapeutic perspective, it just helps with talking about emotions, and opening up emotions and dealing with emotions. So I find that’s usually the the frame of reference that I use now, I will say and I think this is this is really good for me to share with the audience is when I first started my career Kudos and in 2015; I microdosed LSD for seven months, I did it twice a week. And that’s something important to emphasize with micro dosing, it’s usually done once or twice a week for a period of anywhere from 30 to 60 days, tracking and measuring from day one to day 30 or 60 the impacts that it has on your overall both quantitatively and qualitatively.

When I first started microdose, for seven months, it was twice a week. It was anywhere from 10 to 15 to 20 micrograms I would sort of experiment and play around with a different level levels and it was very useful. But when I moved to New York soon after that I had to stop micro dosing with LSD I could only microdose psilocybin from time to time because the energy was too intense in New York, and in fact, nowadays, like where I’m at currently, I’ve cut out all coffee. I don’t drink coffee anymore, because it is so stimulating. And I also don’t really microdose LSD anymore. The only thing that I microdose nowadays is psilocybin mushrooms. Particularly because I noticed that LSD was leading me to be in a more anxious state, a more like really driven state and I just needed time to like chill out and so as I’ve been mushrooms with these other like plant medicines, whether it’s Lion’s Mane or ashwagandha, or kakaw or whatever Jin sang or you name it, there gonna be a ton of botanical formulations that start to come out. Can we go

Boomer Anderson
I just I want to go deep on the kakaw because I’ve played around with this one. What was what was your experience with psilocybin plus kakaw? That was?

Paul Austin
Well Coco is really known as like a more of a heart opener. Yeah, it’s a it’s an pathogen if you want I don’t know ceremonies in the past where it’s not I mean, it has a little bit of psycho activity but it’s not only free like super psychoactive and I just noticed that it just helped more with sort of the heart opening the sensitivity, you know, the compassion and sort of those elements whereas when I microdose suicide with Lion’s Mane a nice and it’s a bit more cerebral on the cognitive, you know, part

Boomer Anderson
We talked about the importance of setting setting with not just microdose aim, but we’ll probably transition back into larger doses here. When you’re doing this, I mean, obviously you can use it in a work setting to a certain extent, you know, legal disclosures aside, but when you’re doing this what’s what kind of setting do you have? You mentioned earlier suicide been in therapy? But also, are you using these in meditative states? Are you using these predominantly as a work catalyst? How are you using them?

Paul Austin
Yeah, so what’s the intention going in to the intention is so important because you know, psychedelics are known as nonspecific amplifiers. In other words, you know, they’re just going to amplify how you’re already feeling before you take them. So if you’re feeling very anxious, and you go take a high dose of a psychedelic, it’s just gonna make you way more aware of how anxious you are. And sometimes that’s useful, right? Because sometimes it’s like, the only way out is through, which is why these high doses are useful because they get you to face whatever you’re doing. But when it comes to performance, you know how I use it nowadays, it’s just like, I tend to have some sort of structure for my day I am at the moment, you know, in a very intense work period, and probably will continue to be for the next five to six to seven years really build sort of, you know, my legacy and profession. And so typically when I’m microdose seen, it’s just like a normal workday. It’s usually the psilocybin line VEDA nice and stack. It doesn’t you know, there’s not anything specifically that I’m doing some sometimes it’ll be like a workday where I’m, I have more writing to do, if I can just help with the flow state of really getting getting into a writing mode.

Sometimes though, I’ll microdose and go hiking with my business partner or with you know, potential investors or with people we might collaborate with. And that’s just a way to like, you know, micro dosing can also just help taking a step back, you know, having perspective on things, looking at things from a wider angle talking about some of the high level creative brainstorming elements. So it really just depends on what you want to do with it. You know, another thing that I will often do is I will microdose before I do any public speaking, because microdose think can help with articulation. And when it helps with articulation, it just I can communicate more clearly and effectively the message that I want to share with everyone, so that’s what’s so great about it, it can be used for various purposes, but the second studying is important in terms of the intention that you’re putting into it. And so it’s really important, I think, anytime someone is micro dosing just to take a few minutes to journal beforehand and just clarify, like, why am I doing this? What’s my intention for the day? Where am I going with this and that just helps with just like visualization is a really effective way to like do things microdose with visualization is an even more effective way to to set that attention.

Boomer Anderson
You work with a number of high performers in doing these types of activities? And not disclosing anybody’s name, obviously. But I’d love to hear about some of the successes you’ve you’ve seen with them. But also, what are you tracking along the way in terms of like, to just ensure that the benefits the physiology are actually there? Is it all heart rate variability, are there other things as well.

Paul Austin
So in terms of, you know, some of the clients that I’ve worked with, it has been, you know, there’s been some that have been exclusively microdose seen a few, but what they tend to be more of is those who go through a high dose experience, and then need help with the integration process afterwards and want to utilize micro dosing as part of their integration protocol, continue to step into their new sense of self, if you will. So when that occurs, you know, we’re both looking at quantitative and qualitative things. So you know, with coaching process. It’s where you now know, where do you want to go? What’s the gap in between? And how can I, as a coach help you get from point A to point B? So, you know, for some people, for a lot of people, it’s just like, especially for leaders, it’s how can I show up more consistently and more often as my best self? And how I define that is how can I show up more often in a parasympathetic state rested and regulated so I can respond to chaos and adversity that is so prevalent from a leadership position. So you know, when we’re looking at what different measurements that were taken as a result of that, one is definitely gonna be sleep quality, right, which is where the aura ring comes into place because the number one key to being in a rested and regulated state is, you know, deep sleep, and probably REM sleep as well to help with kind of creativity and memory and whatnot.

So, heart rate variability is a part of that. But I think it’s more expansive than that. And just looking at General sleep quality is always the number one thing typically, with high performing executives, there’s an element of, they don’t sleep well, you know, there’s a sense of burnout, there’s a sense of too much going on, there’s not being able to really downregulated not being able to really drop into a parasympathetic state. So that always has to be sort of the key North Star for anyone that I’m working with is how can psychedelics help with help us stay in a regulated state. And then you have other things as well. You know, there’s there’s blood tests that we can do and biomarkers that we can look at that look at inflammation, and you know how inflammation is going on. I think that’s another key key indicator is inflammation. High inflammation is a sign of not being so healthy, low inflammation is usually a sign of being interested in regulated state more often. Exercise is another one, you know, making sure that there’s consistent exercise going on it’s going to be key, and how you know, micro dosing and output just general motivation and building new habits. Because that’s a big thing with psychedelics is big Because it interrupts the default mode network and makes it easier for the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other. That’s a key, you know, it’s opening this window of neuroplasticity, which makes it much easier to new integrate new ways of being. And that’s what’s so great about microdose.

And after a high dose, when we have this high dose ceremony, we really oftentimes, sort of feel into what it means to be at our best. And then when we get back into everyday life, there’s work and there’s family, and there’s relationships and there’s distraction, and there’s triggers. And there’s things that draw us back into who we were before. And a key component with micro dosing is let’s keep that window of neuroplasticity open longer. So you continue to integrate new habits that support that new sense of self that you want to embody as a leader. And so typically, that means meditating more often having a breath, work, practice, maybe doing yoga, going to the gym consistently eating healthier, potentially a ketogenic diet or a paleo diet. You know, there are all these things And then when I’m working with a client, it’s just like, what’s going to be most useful and most effective for you with where you’re currently at and what what your skill set is. Mm hmm.

Boomer Anderson
So we’ve mentioned into, you mentioned integration, I want to come, he did a good job of explaining that. Now, some of the larger doses and experiences that people go through. I realize this kind of depends on which psychedelic you choose. But when you’re guiding a high performer through this, and we can choose whichever psychedelic you’d like the higher doses what types of experiences do people typically go through?

Paul Austin
higher doses? Yeah.
The full range of human experience from from

Boomer Anderson
Yeah, I should speak from my own experience. It is pretty wide ranging

Paul Austin
from my like, the most harrowing of experiences where you just you experience The world suffering, and the immensity and totality of that to the most blissful, joyful, incredible, you know, experience of being one with everything, you know, and being one with with creation and being one with the universe and you know, like, just full, blissful love. And then and then the specific experiences kind of go in between that and there are people who you will experience you know, like, I recently did three grams of mushrooms. And I experienced the totality of that as well I experienced the immense suffering that humanity is going through and everything that’s going on right now with the Coronavirus and you know, the climate crisis and all that and just felt that and how like intense it is and how real it is. I also felt how grateful I was for like, just being here and being alive and existing and getting to like play and talk and be in relationships and do all these beautiful things with life. And then the emotions that come with that the anger, the sadness, the joy, the suffering, the bliss, the all the The reference the whatever else it is. It’s really psychedelics just allow you to experience the totality of the human, the human condition, within within a safe container. Yeah, and that’s the key to this, right? You can’t fully experience that range unless you feel safe. Yeah, unless you feel like you can totally release, let go, be vulnerable, you know, and just like, submit, and surrender, and I feel like that’s a huge, huge part of having a successful, quote, unquote, successful psychedelic experience is you just have to surrender to whatever emotions are coming up.

Boomer Anderson
So some of the personal things that have come up, I can share from my own experiences, like looking at external validation and the need for that growing up and dealing with it within a psychedelic experience. That was profound in some ways, but I mean, you seen a lot more different types of people. What are the wide range of issues that people have been able to do? With effectively and maybe very quickly through psychedelics.

Paul Austin
So some of the things that we already spoke about, right, like we could map them to clinical conditions like PTSD or addiction or depression or anxiety, you know, like super, super useful for that. But I think there’s obviously something underneath that. Underneath that as a lot of people go through what are called adverse childhood experiences, they see an adverse childhood experiences, you know, there’s been there’s a great book called your body keeps the score for the body keeps the score, which goes into by a guy named Bessel Vander Kolk, that goes deep into this, about how adverse childhood experiences can impact and affect our growth as adolescence and early adults. And so a lot of the work that happens with psychedelics is healing from those early adverse childhood experiences. And we pretty much I mean, there are people who go through significant ones which are traumatic, very traumatic, which is what leads to PTSD, depression, anxiety. Maybe alcoholism addiction are usually the case. And then, you know, for someone like me, I had to be honest.

I was very fortunate to have a very good childhood, you know, up until the age of 12. I had everything, was loving, great. And I had a great, great parents, great sisters, great upbringing, you know, everything I needed food, all the good things, but I still experience my own trauma was when I was 10 or 11, I was basically rejected by my entire peer group. Yeah, for being who I was. And so basically, my process of psychedelics and overcoming that was like, being able to love myself again for who I was, and healing from that core wound, because we all have these core wounds, right. And so a lot of what psychedelics do is they just help us to forgive ourselves. And, and kind of have that sense of in, in, in, in compassion and whatever. A lot of self love, and, and, and the love. I know this is sort of we’re getting Maybe slightly in the room but but I would say the compassion for oneself and the love for oneself is the key component of all of this and understanding that regardless of how odd we might be, how we might be the things that we don’t like about ourselves loving every part of who we are both the beautiful parts and all the broken parts that’s where like the healing comes in is being comfortable with loving every part of who

Boomer Anderson
we are. So and you’ve got some experience with this right and you’ve gone through a few journeys I imagine that have brought you to this point. Is there a running average of let’s say, and how many journeys it takes before somebody starts experiencing a healing process or is it to each their own as in it could be one it could be five etc.

Paul Austin
If the individual is working with the right but the correct healer yeah If they’re in the ideal set and setting and container, it should be the first experience. Yeah, every time. If it’s not the first experience every time, then something wasn’t done right. I like either it wasn’t the correct substance that was huge. It wasn’t the correct level of substance that was used. It wasn’t the right healer to be doing it with the second setting or the container wasn’t tight enough and safe enough for the person to be able to surrender. The preparation maybe wasn’t effective enough. But if if all those things line up, they’re prepared adequately, the set and setting is ideal. The container is tight. It’s the right substance, it’s the right level of substance. Then with that first experience, there should always be a healing process involved.

Boomer Anderson
frequency for high doses, is there such a thing as too much because I’ve met people who have gone down this path and it almost seemed Like it could be an addiction, if you one were to look at it from an outside perspective.

Paul Austin
So instead of it less of an addiction and more of a disassociation, gotcha. So when people are continually going back into the high doses of medicine, it’s essentially a sign that they are attempting to disassociate from the reality because it’s too difficult to face. So the analogy that I will often use when describing like, how often should we do this stuff, it’s like going to the dentist, right every six months. Typically, we go to the dentist, you know we get a deep clean you know, check to make sure all our teeth is good and wash everything out and then we go home and everyday we fall. Everyday we brush our teeth every day we use mouthwash, whatever it is that we do. So when we look at high dose psychedelic experiences, high dose psychedelic experiences are like going to the dentist. It’s like getting a deep deep clean and then microdose seen or yoga or meditation or breath work or whatever it is, that’s the flossing. That’s the brushing your teeth. That’s the consistent practice the maintenance modality that’s really going to help you to maintain that parasympathetic state on an ongoing basis. So as a leader and high performer, it’s, you’re more creative, you’re more productive, you’re more flow, it’s easier to respond to difficult situations, you know, things like that.

Boomer Anderson
Breathwork, you’ve mentioned a couple of times' what modality do you use or teach your clients?

Paul Austin
So the one that I haven’t specifically started working with clients with breath work, I want to start to use that but I’ve been really getting used to it myself, I typically would just do a traditional Wim Hof breath work in the morning with a little bit of yoga. So essentially, you know, like, the deep belly breaths up to the head and in and out, in and out. 30 or 40 times, breathe out, breathe in, repeat, and then go into a little bit of yoga to stretch. That’s about it.

Boomer Anderson
Okay, two things we haven’t mentioned. And I know we’re coming up on time here, two things we haven’t really mentioned. we’ve focused a lot on LSD and psilocybin, but we haven’t really spoke that much about MDMA or ketamine. Do you mind just touching on MDMA, maybe as a micro dosing substance by more interested as to what’s going on on the scientific side with MDMA? On the larger doses?

Paul Austin
Yeah, so when it comes to micro dosing, we generally recommend that people do not do a micro dosing regimen with MDMA. And that’s, and that’s because it’s an amphetamine as well. And so it can be slightly addictive, whereas LSD and psilocybin are, are anti addictive, you cannot become addicted to them. So that’s one thing to be mindful of. So when it comes to high doses of MDMA, you know, the technical term for them is in in pathogen because they really helped to open the heart, empathy and compassion. And so that really looks like you know, MDMA is good for two specific use cases. One is healing trauma, specifically, acute trauma. That’s why it’s so useful. for treating PTSD is because normally with PTSD when war veterans, for example, come back, and they try to talk about, you know, these experiences that have happened to them as a catharsis to get it out, they can’t talk about it because their amygdala tightens up so much their fear based response gets so tight. And what happens when you take MDMA, and psilocybin, specifically, MDMA is loosens up the amygdala really well. So you can talk about these really traumatic experiences without becoming overwhelmed.

So that’s one good use case for it. The other great use case for it is in relationship. You know, there’s oftentimes when when we’re in close relationships with people in our lives, we get sort of in the head and we get back and forth about logic and rational and I’m right and you’re wrong. And you know, and what MDMA does is it just helps us realize that’s just a story. We’re telling ourselves. Worse here, we’re connected. You know, our hearts are open. I’ve done MDMA with my business partner. It’s been incredibly useful, you know, I think MDMA For example, executive teams or leadership retreats or whatever else will be so, so useful for facilitating better communication, especially when things get stuck. You know, with people it’s also great for for romantic relationships and personal relationships. You know, just sometimes after we’ve been dating or married someone for a long period of time, things can get stale or, you know, there’s there’s there’s separation and distance that starts to occur and you’re doing MDMA Anna, I don’t know, maybe every six months to a year. It’s like a relational ritual. I think it’s very useful just to like, reconnect and rebound about, you know, what matters most which is the relationship. Mm hmm.

Boomer Anderson
Yeah, MDMA for me. And I wouldn’t say it was necessarily a PTSD incident. But MDMA for me was profound. Again, setting setting I had a therapist with me and it was just first time boom, opening up so much stuff but extremely, extremely effective. Let’s talk about ketamine. Because ketamine right now, you can go and get it and depression clinics. How do we look at this in terms of, you know, I guess micro dosing but also larger doses.

Paul Austin
So again, ketamine, I just I think it could be a potential good replacement for traditional pharmaceuticals from a micro dosing perspective, but it also is addictive. So I think micro dosing ketamine and MDMA be very cautious. I think it’s always better to microdose psilocybin as a starting point. Ketamine you know, again, as as a methodology for treating depression, it’s legal. So there are there are dozens and probably hundreds of ketamine clinics that are open in the United States and Canada. And there are dozens and hundreds more that will be opened very soon. ketamine is technically a disassociated, it has an amazing process of just cutting out the ego completely. You kind of exist in this weird in between hyperspace area, it lasts only 45 minutes to an hour usually. So it’s much quicker than typical psychedelics and the best use of ketamine is with bodywork. Where with ketamine, and actually I just had this about a week ago and it was I did a two hour body work session with ketamine. And

Boomer Anderson
sorry, like you got the reaction with me because I was like somebody else has told me this recently, and I’m trying to figure out who it was. With a day burn. It may have been actually a funny

Paul Austin
day was the one who day was the one who hooked it up. Oh, fair enough. I knew,

Boomer Anderson
David. I’m gonna call you and make you hook it up.

Paul Austin
Yeah.
And what happens is like, again, we store so much trauma in our somatic body, and it’s not conscious, it’s subconscious and unconscious. And so if working with a great body works who really understands all like where we hold this stuff? Then ketamine just allows the ego to go away all the resistance, get out of the way. So you can just be like an open canvas. And then it’s really easy to start to dig in from a bodywork perspective to like, loosen up all these aspects of who we are. And that it was basically like doing a two hour bodywork session was like a week of plant medicine. Wow, it was that effective in terms of the shift that happened after that. That’s amazing. And so I think that’s another like when you know, the people who are listening to this podcast when we look at most effective modalities for catalyzing shifts and change in a short period of time. Ketamine with bodywork is one MDMA with a certified therapist is another one thing we haven’t talked about yet, is it wasco but that’s a whole nother conversation.

We may we may have to do that as a part two. That’s I think that’s gonna be a part. Yeah. It’ll be a part two, and that and then I think microdose You know, on an ongoing basis as largely an anti inflammatory supplement is also really, really useful. So I think that’s when I’m looking at like these different combinations. And that’s what’s so great about psychedelics is it’s not just about the psychedelic, it’s about what lifestyle change or what other modality whether it’s yoga breath, work, or bodywork or meditation or whatever else, how can you combine that with ketamine or MDMA or suicide then because again, the psychedelics are nonspecific amplifier, so they just open up, they make it much easier for you to adapt and change. They really, really help with adaptability, and then if it’s done within another container or another modality. It’s like the synergistic effect that really helps with shifting things very quick, amazing.

Boomer Anderson
Before we go into the final few questions that are more rapid fire, in terms of resources for people, aside from your own website, which we’ll talk about in a little bit, What types of what books do you recommend people delve into for this?

Paul Austin
Jim Fadiman the psychedelic explorers guide is usually the first one that pops up. I think it’s, it’s well written, it’s it’s pragmatic. It’s concise. There’s some great stories, it gives the whole lines of sentence setting and how to use it responsibly. There’s a section on microdose. In Michael Pollan’s how to change your mind is fantastic New York Times bestseller top 10 book of 2018. And gives the most in depth perspective of where psychedelics currently stand, what the research is why it’s so useful, why it’s so important.

And then another book is called consciousness medicine by Francoise Horizont. Francoise is one of the five guides who is working with the FDA right now to develop clinical standards and guidelines for the use of psychedelics in a clinical way. And she wrote a book, which is basically now the go to reference For how to guide psychedelic experiences, and I think it’s a really good read for anyone who’s looking at preparation, experience and integration and how it relates to the physical body, mind, the emotional body, connection to community. There are a few other elements of that as well. Amazing.

Boomer Anderson
Paul, this has been a just amazing education over the past 15 minutes and I think we need to transition just because cognizant of time here into some final questions. But I would love to have you back for round two, perhaps when I’m in California, we can do it in person. But first question is is what book has had the most impact on your life and how you live in

Paul Austin
Walden.

Boomer Anderson
Oh, good. That’s such a good one. Wow. That’s a great one. How do you in you may be by Last year, how do you enhance your focus?

Paul Austin
I rested.

Boomer Anderson
What exactly what excites you the most about the health world right now?

Paul Austin
personalized medicine and the transition from the patient doctor relationship to Person Centered healthcare where we can finally have our own all of our own agency and power back in our hands to make ideal decisions for what what we need as individuals

Boomer Anderson
boom, love that. Love that. Where can people find out more about you your work, the third wave, etc.

Paul Austin
So our website is thethirdwave.co So the third wave got SEO. My personal website is Paulaustin.co. I like these to the retreat center that I started which is based out of the Netherlands and if people go there let them know that I sent you is synthesisretreat.com and that’s that’s higher doses. And then you know, I’m on Twitter and on Instagram at Paul Austin 3 W. So Paul Austin three Ws, where you can find me on the socials.

Boomer Anderson
These in the show notes for this one are gonna be at decodingsuperhuman/thethirdwave. Paul, thank you for this amazing education. I appreciate it.

Paul Austin
Absolutely. And thanks for having me on the show Boomer It was a pleasure

Boomer Anderson
To all the superhumans listening out there have an epic day.

Like I said, this is probably the first of many conversations with Paul. It was so wide ranging we went from ancient Greece to large doses of psychedelics microdose as a psychedelics from mescaline to LSD to MDMA, and then back again. And there are many things we didn’t cover. Candidly, we didn’t even get into Iosco. And so there’s room for around two, but I want to hear what you guys thought of the episode. Share what you learned on the social medias tag at decoding superhuman and all reshare it, but it’ll also let me know what you guys are picking up from this. If you feel so inclined, head over to iTunes, and rate the show five stars. If you leave a little comment. I’ll read it on the show soon. But these ratings are so so important. And I’m grateful for every one of them.

Entheogens: The Performance Benefits of Psychedelics with Paul Austin - Decoding Superhuman

Breaking the stereotypes and biases of psychedelics through a wide ranging, educated and science backed conversation with Paul Austin, a responsible use psychedelics advocate. Paul talks about the perks and applications of MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, and LSD.

decodingsuperhuman.com

 

[mr peabody]

These four pro athletes are using psychedelics to heal their brain injuries

by Amanda Siebert | Inside The Jar | 21 Jan 2021

A segment on a recent episode of HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel begins with former NHL player Daniel Carcillo describing his plan to kill himself. He’s one of four athletes in the episode who after retiring from full-contact sports had been both physically and mentally traumatized by the long-term effects of repeated concussions, and has now found relief with psychedelics.

Carcillo, former NFL player Kerry Rhodes, and former UFC fighters Ian McCall and Dean Lister are part of a growing movement of people using plant medicines like ayahuasca and magic mushrooms to help heal post-traumatic stress disorder and the symptoms of brain trauma.

A last resort for chronic concussions and mental health

On the outside, it seemed like Carcillo, a two-time Stanley Cup winner had it all: a wife and children, a comfortable home, and a successful career in the world’s premiere professional hockey league. But truthfully, Carcillo—whose on-ice reputation earned him the nickname “car bomb”—told correspondent David Scott he’d never felt more dead inside.

Depression is just one of multiple symptoms associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a condition of the brain that is associated with repeated blows to the head. Other symptoms include memory loss, confusion, personality changes, and erratic behavior. A definitive diagnosis can only be made in an autopsy, but a 2017 study showed CTE was found in 99 percent of former NFL players and 91 percent of college football players studied.

Diagnosed with seven concussions throughout his 12-year professional hockey career Carcillo says he likely experienced “hundreds more,” and went down multiple avenues trying to improve his mental health. After trying psychotherapy and different SSRIs, he opted for something outside Western medicine’s realm of treatment: ayahuasca, a South American brew revered by Indigenous cultures as a powerful medicine and containing DMT.

“I’m just trying to look for more peace of mind, less suffering,” he says to the cameras from the Peruvian jungle before attending the ceremony. Four hours later, he emerges feeling changed, and calls it “the most amazing experience” of his life.

Months later when HBO’s production team visits Carcillo, he says he’s experiencing “little to no depression and anxiety,” while symptoms including slurred speech, headaches, head pressure, memory issues, concentration, and insomnia—are all completely gone.

“I didn’t see him smile for years,” says his wife, Ela. With her husband still symptom-free after five months, she asks Scott, “How can you not believe this stuff works?”

Clinical research supports anecdotal evidence

While the results of Carcillo’s experience are truly astonishing, Scott says it’s the way these experiences pair up with existing clinical research that truly makes the story.

“Athletes started emerging as potential patients who could benefit from these therapies,” he says by phone from the Bronx. “Their experience lines up with emerging science. For treatment-resistance depression and PTSD, these drugs can provide relief for a lot of people. Maybe not for everyone, and maybe it’s not going to fix everything, but better is better, and these guys hadn’t found better in anything else.”

What’s more, Scott suggests that had the federal government not shut down psychedelic research, which was in full swing before the war on drugs began, generations of people suffering from depression, addiction, and trauma “could have been helped.”

The segment directed by Jordan Kronick also features psychedelic researcher Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris of the Imperial College London. He says a single dose of psilocybin has been shown to produce enduring results in patients suffering from a multitude of conditions that “run the gamut,” from depression and anxiety to obsessive compulsive disorder and more.

When former NFL player Rhodes is featured, he gets emotional when recalling his first ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica. Like Carcillo, Rhodes says the experience changed him, eliminating his headaches and pain, bringing back his memory, and even removing his fear around CTE, leading to huge improvements in quality of life.

“I hear stories like that a lot, but I’m not surprised because that’s how these drugs have been used for thousands of years,” says Rick Doblin, the founder of MAPS. Doblin describes what happened in America after the U.S. government shut down psychedelic research as “an incredible exercise in cultural amnesia,” and advocates for increased study of psychedelics through his organization."

Underground group ceremonies lead to profound change in former MMA stars

McCall fought in the UFC and other professional MMA leagues for 15 years before finally tapping out. Injury after injury had left him snorting opiate painkillers including fentanyl on a regular basis, turning him into a self-described “monster.” Experimenting with psychedelics, he says, helped cure him of his addiction and suicidal thoughts.

Today, he is committed to helping improve the mental health of other former fighters by showing them how life-altering regular group experiences with psychedelic medicines can be.

“Fighters are good people,” McCall says, “but they’re tormented.” The Real Sports segment takes viewers inside a private ceremony in which a group of fighters including grappler and former UFC star Lister are guided through a psilocybin trip by a shaman.

Like any longtime mixed martial artist, Lister has experienced his fair share of head trauma, and describes the symptoms associated with repeated concussions like being “stuck in a prison cell in your own mind.” Before taking five grams of mushrooms (with McCall seated to his right), Lister was struggling with alcoholism, drinking up to 20 beers a day and taking Xanax every night.

During the deep journey (the only kind afforded to anyone who consumes five grams, or a ‘hero’s dose,’ at one time) Lester experiences the kind of near-death hallucination only psychedelic travelers will be familiar with, and says to himself, “If I wake up, I’m going to do things different.” Since the experience, he’s steered clear of all drugs and alcohol."

“It’s so common with psychedelics, that sense of something really serious happening, maybe even death,” says Carhart-Harris. “The way it turns around, where people realize, ‘oh, I’m not actually dying’—that’s where the shift happens. It’s like survivor euphoria: ‘oh, I do have that second chance.’ ”

These four former pro athletes are using psychedelics to heal their brain injuries - Inside the Jar

Four former pro athletes are using psychedelics to help overcome mental health issues and the symptoms of CTE. A segment on a recent episode of HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel profiles Daniel Carcillo, Kerry Rhodes, Ian McCall and Dean Lister.

insidethejar.com

 

[mr peabody]

Mixed Martial Arts star goes from hitting people to healing them

by Kent Sligh | Psychedelic Spotlight | 12 Aug 2020

MMA star Ian McCall is psyched about psychedelics.

Psychedelic advocacy is filled with all sorts of healers: therapists, PHDs, psychiatrists, shamans and scientists. Also this one guy who can easily choke you unconscious.

Ian McCall is a mixed martial artist, a former professional fighter, now retired, who fought at the highest level of his sport. And he’s a passionate booster of psychedelic therapy.

How did McCall go from hurting people to helping people? First he had to get well himself.

“I was on suicide watch when I retired,” McCall says. “I was a mess. I was broken.”

It will surprise no one to hear the sport of mixed martial arts is brutally difficult. Competitors attack one another in a cage until their opponent submits or is unable to defend themselves, saved by a referee.

What’s less understood is how truly elite these athletes are.

Carlon Colker, a Connecticut physician who has trained or advised sports champions like Shaquille O’Neal and Andre Agassi told Sports Illustrated, “If you’re going to measure every parameter [endurance, flexibility, coordination, strength], without a doubt, MMA fighters are the most accomplished athletes out there. It’s not even close.”

At the height of his career Ian McCall competed in the premier mixed martial arts promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a multi-billion dollar enterprise that holds events all over the world.

Many believe MMA formally completed its march to the sports mainstream in May of 2018 when the UFC signed a five-year contract with ESPN valued at 300 million dollars a year.

Today McCall has found success as a coach and a teacher — a self-described “alchemist” and “biohacker” — who has found his calling in micro-dosing psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.

McCall’s excitement is contagious, gaining intensity as he speaks. He has the passion of the newly converted, the energy of a motivational speaker and the vocabulary of a PhD student studying cellular biology. At one point he interrupts his own breathless explanation of peptides and nanoparticles. “You know what an exosome is, right?”

I didn’t. I mean, I looked it up, so now I know exosomes are just membrane-bound extracellular vesicles produced in the endosomal compartment of most eukaryotic cells. But at the time he had lost me.

One more thing you should know about Ian McCall before we go on. He wasn’t just an elite fighter at the highest level of his sport. He was maybe the best fighter.

On March 3, 2012 McCall fought Demetrious Johnson in the first Flyweight (125 pound) match in UFC history, as part of a four-man tournament to crown a champion in the new Flyweight division. The match was ruled a draw (a complicated story in itself), but the fight ended with McCall on top of Johnson, raining down blows. The referee might have stopped the fight, giving McCall the outright win, if McCall hadn’t paused his punching to maniacally shout, caught up in the moment, playing to the cheering crowd.

This is noteworthy because Demetrious Johnson went on to become the consensus best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, holding the UFC Flyweight Championship belt for six years, successfully defending the title eleven times.

And you could make the case that McCall had him beat in their first fight.

Imagine if McCall hadn’t been addicted to Oxycontin.

“I had so much potential and I ruined it with pills,” McCall says. “And I’m not bummed about it because it’s a story that I can use to help save other peoples lives because I’m not the only one.”

McCall credits psychedelics with helping him to overcome addiction. Before he ever fought anyone in a cage, McCall was battling opioid addiction. I ask him if he started taking Oxycontin to treat injuries from mixed martial arts.

“I got addicted at fourteen.”

I’m surprised. To confirm, I ask, “So you discovered Oxycontin before you were treating fight injuries?”

“Yeah. It was just the epidemic that happened with my generation.”

On the one hand, McCall had every advantage. He grew up with two great parents, affluent in Orange County, California. “I come from good stock. I had parents who could afford to put me in jujitsu. Most of the kids who grew up in this area were rich kids.”

But even as he was developing and succeeding as a professional athlete, he was battling an affliction that grinds many down to the point where they can no longer function. And McCall nearly became a champion in the UFC.

“I was a complete head-case back then. I was on drugs, on pills. I was high the whole time. People don’t understand, I was on Oxycontin the whole time.”

The end of his addiction to opiates roughly coincided with the end of his career, after a chance encounter with DMT — N-dimethyltryptamine if you want to get scientific about it — a hallucinogenic drug that is the main active ingredient in ayahuasca. Psychedelic enthusiasts will know ayahuasca is the brew ancient Amazonian tribes used for spiritual and religious purposes.

“I smoked DMT and it really opened my eyes to what I needed to do.”

The experience sent McCall on a whirlwind of learning and obsessive research into psychedelics and magic mushrooms. “Talking, reading, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts!” McCall recounts, enthusiasm mounting. “This is how I got off pills! I started biohacking myself. Microdosing.”

“I built myself up physically, mentally, emotionally,” McCall explains. “I learned about integration. I learned so much about myself. This is serious business, this is serious health, serious healing. Yes, you can go out and have a great time at Coachella on mushrooms. That’s fine. But let's learn some common connection first. Let’s have a conscious community of people that are okay, that are all safe. You have to be safe with this.”

I ask if he’s doing any work with the effort to legalize psychedelics. Of course he is. “We’re working with [Decriminalize California]. Ryan Munevar. We missed this year because of Covid. In two more years we’ll be able to get it on the ballot. This is all happening so fast. It’s going to pass for sure. We’re going to make this happen.”

Well, he’s got me convinced.

McCall has used his experience to develop a coaching philosophy and strategy that he calls “The McCall Method.” Billing himself as “the world’s first psychedelic integration coach for high level sports and performers,” McCall has a slick website which outlines his coaching techniques as well as his approach to psychedelic integration. You can check it out here.

One of the reasons McCall is so fired up about psychedelics is the potential to heal the human brain.

Although MMA fighters suffer fewer blows to the head than boxers — and arguably NFL players — they are certainly susceptible to brain injuries, including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that results from repetitive brain trauma. CTE made national headlines after a couple of NFL players shot themselves in the chest to preserve their brains for autopsy.

I ask if anyone gets out of the fight game without brain damage.

McCall doesn’t hesitate. “Nope.”

He sees some of the same problems in MMA fighters and soldiers returning from combat. “Whether you’re in the military or an athlete you’re put on this pedestal, you’re larger than life. You’re celebrated. It’s a badge of honor, it’s so beautiful. And once we’re done with that, no one knows who you are. There’s no sense of self. You’re lost. I was there. Broken. I see these people going through it. And when you’re brain damaged, when you’re compromised like that, you’re often acting out, often abusing your loved ones.”

Epigenetic neurogenesis, McCall explains, is the healing of the brain itself. “Whether it’s toxins, drugs, whacking your head on things, subconcussive blows, loud music — everything can build up plaque in your brain. They always thought there was no way to fix that, but there is. Psychedelics do that. They fix that.”

Again I feel the need to confirm. “So psychedelics can repair and reverse damage from TBI (traumatic brain injury) and CTE?”

No hesitation. “Yes.”

McCall points to work he is doing with Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelics research nonprofit that describes itself as combining data and lived experience for education and informing public policies.

Whatever research is left to be done, it’s clear McCall is already convinced.

“Psychedelics heal your brain. They fix the receptor sites and neural pathways. You have each hemisphere of the brain going back and forth a lot more. New pathways can be built. Old ones restored. ‘Flow state’ is a broad term meaning each sense gets hyped. That lends itself to every part of life, whether you’re doing a sport or not. Whether you’re functioning on a computer or with your kids, or anything, you’re far more efficient. With athletes that’s where I take it to the next level. These things make your brain evolve. That’s what people aren’t understanding. You’re producing chemicals in your brain, certain molecules that expand consciousness, that make you smarter. The science is there. The scientists say, ‘I can’t say this, but… it makes you smarter.’ I’ll say it! It’s made me smarter.”

I’m certainly not going to argue with him.

MMA Star Goes From Hitting People to Healing People With Psychedelics - Ian McCall

MMA star Ian McCall is truly excited about psychedelics. Instead of hitting people in the MMA, he's gone to healing both himself and others.

www.psychedelicspotlight.com

 

[mr peabody]

Microdosing can enhance athletic performance

Wholecelium | 19 Jun 2020

Sports and psychedelics do not traditionally go hand in hand. In fact, the thought of someone tripping whilst trying to dribble a ball or lift weights is actually rather amusing. The idea being, that when tripping on psychedelics your interior world is so engaged, that your exterior world, (which may include a ball flying at your head) falls by the wayside, so to speak. However, with the trend for microdosing psychedelics continuing to dominate the ‘Wellness’ market, (not to mention all the current therapeutic research) it was only a matter of time before the athletic industry fancied a slice of the psychedelic pie.

An increase in cognitive rather than physical ability

Of course, the sports world is constantly rocked by ‘doping’ scandals. This happens when athletes are discovered to have unfairly improved their skills through performance enhancing drugs. From Lance Armstrong’s fall from grace, to Russia’s 2020 Olympic ban, there is something uniquely ‘dishonourable’ associated with the practice.

Psychedelics are not currently included on the list of banned substances according to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This is because they do not bequeath physical advantages on the player that traditional ‘doping’ drugs like steroids do. Rather, in microdose amounts (1/10- 1/20 of a tripping dose) they increase cognitive ability. This has been reported to improve creativity and productivity— the biohackers of Silicon Valley swear by it. But how can this benefit athletes— from the professional basketball player to the weekend footballer, to the morning jogger?

Tales of psychedelic enhancement

At present, there have been no official studies or research into whether microdosing psychedelics, such as psilocybin, can benefit athletic performance. However, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence.

One of these tales of psychedelic enhancement comes from baseball pitcher Doc Ellis. A major league baseball player, on June 12th 1970 he was called in to play a match. Unfortunately, he had been under the impression it was his day off, and had taken LSD with friends. Ellis played the game under the influence and proceeded to throw a no-hitter. The only one of his career. In fact, in over 175,000 professional baseball games played, only 269 no-hitters have been thrown in history. Ellis recounted

“…I was psyched... a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the glove.”

Getting into the ‘zone’

Many athletes self-report that their stamina and ability are improved at micro or ‘psycholytic’ doses (much less than Doc Ellis had taken!) They are able to focus more upon the task at hand, and find it easier to ‘get into the zone’. The ‘flow states’ that those who microdose for creativity or productivity report, apply here too. All concentration can be put into your sport when the mind is quietened and anxieties reduced. Additionally, this focus has been reported to improve endurance, as you are more likely to continue for longer, thus building your stamina.

‘The point of perfection’

James Oroc, an extreme sports athlete, recently wrote an article for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in which he gushed about the power of the microdose.

“ According to the combined reports of 40 years of use by the extreme sports underground, LSD can increase your reflex time to lightning speed, improve your balance to the point of perfection, increase your concentration until you experience “tunnel vision,” and make you impervious to weakness or pain.”

Release your inner athlete

With such bold claims as these, seemingly backed up by anecdotal evidence, it is likely only a matter of time until scientific institutions start research into the subject. In the meantime, whether you’re a professional sportsperson or simply someone who wants to feel more ‘at one’ with the water while doing lengths at the local swimming pool, maybe microdosing is for you! It could be just the thing to release your inner athlete! Check out our microdosing guide here.

Microdosing Can Enhance Athletic Performance - Get Into The Zone!

Microdosing can enhance athletic performance. How can this benefit athletes— from the professional basketball player to the Sunday morning jogger?

www.wholecelium.com

 

[mr peabody]

Psilocybin and weight loss*

by Miro Tomoski | DoubleBlind | 6 May 2020

Psilocybin has been fast-tracked by the FDA to become a prescription medication in psychedelic-assisted therapy for depression, but now we’re seeing investors line up to support a new indication for the synthetic compound that’s been made famous—in its organic form—by magic mushrooms. Indeed, there is now a patent pending for psilocybin to be used as a weight loss supplement.

“I think, ultimately, we all believe that patents and science and clinical results will drive the value of companies and efforts to bring this [kind of therapy] forward,” says Jeff Smith, chairman of the board at NeonMind Biosciences, the company looking to develop psilocybin microdoses for weight loss.

Patents are often used by companies to show investors they have the exclusive rights to the product they’re investing in—at least until the patent runs out. When it comes to naturally occurring plants or fungi, however, the patent process becomes a lot more complicated and patent approval is increasingly up to the interpretation of the United States Patent and TradeMark Office.

Psilocybin mushrooms, for example, cannot be patented because they are naturally occurring fungi, but specific uses or methods of extracting psilocybin could be considered unique enough to qualify for a patent.

In December, NeonMind applied for a patent to use psilocybin and psilocin (another compound found in psychedelic mushrooms) for the purpose of overall weight loss by reducing food cravings, curbing impulsive eating, and increasing metabolism, among other indications and in combination with choosing less caloric foods. It’s not a broad monopoly on psychedelic mushrooms of any kind, but the rights to their own method of extracting the active ingredients from the mushrooms as well as their use to regulate weight and treat obesity related illnesses like diabetes.

As far as clinical trials go, the weight loss benefits of psilocybin have not been fully explored. The value of any patent and future products also depends on the success of lab-extracted psilocybin and psilocin used in FDA trials, since they are still highly restricted substances. But there’s no doubt NeonMind is prepared for day one of a legal market for mushrooms as they currently hold the rights to more than 120 unique formulas for beverages and infused foods, including coffee that has been infused with a variety of mushrooms containing psilocybin and psilocin.

NeonMind, formerly known as Flourish Mushroom Labs, is part of The Yield Growth Corp, based in British Columbia, Canada. While they are the only company to seek a patent for psilocybin and psilocin for weight loss, NeonMind is just one part of a larger trend among companies looking to enter the psychedelic space with exclusive access to specific treatments. Most notable, perhaps, has been the patent recently granted to Compass Pathways for the use of psilocybin to treat depression.

*From the article here :

Company Seeks to Patent Psilocybin for Weight Loss

But does it work?

doubleblindmag.com

 

[mr peabody]

Athlete's guide to microdosing for performance*

by Maridel Reyes | Furthermore | EQUINOX | 28 Oct 2018

A growing number of people are taking small amounts LSD, cannabis, and mushrooms to increase athletic performance. Proponents of microdosing claim that taking tiny doses of these substances help them function better, in and out of the gym, without getting high.

"There’s no standard medical definition for microdosing, but it generally means taking 1/10th or 1/20th of a recreational dose. That amount is low enough where you don’t feel the psychoactive effects, so you can continue with your daily routine," says Justin Mager, MD, a San Francisco-based internist and a member of the Equinox Health Advisory Board.

But finding the right dose can be tricky. It’s easy to take too little or too much. That’s why it’s best to microdose under the guidance of a doctor, says Mager. “Safety is obviously a big issue. If you want to explore, work with someone who knows what they’re doing.”

That said, you’re probably curious about what substances people are microdosing and why. Here’s what the experts have to say:

The drug: Cannabis
Used for: Improving sleep and athletic performance
Expert take: THC is the psychoactive component in marijuana that produces the feeling of being high. It can help the body relax, promoting a more restful night of sleep, says Dara Huang, MD, a New York City-based nephrologist and medical cannabis care physician. For some patients who have trouble falling or staying asleep, she prescribes microdoses of cannabis before bedtime. It’s also toutedfor its performance-enhancing benefits in the gym (as well as its ability to reduce post-workout muscle soreness). How much you should microdose depends on the potency of the product and the method of delivery, such as a tincture, capsules, or vape pen, says Huang. “Different products have various peak times of effect and the half-life determines how long it will stay in your body,” she says. “It’s best to consult a medical cannabis physician to keep it from becoming a guessing game.”

The drug: Mushrooms
Used for: Boosting energy, focus, and empathy
Expert take: Many studies use a pharmaceutical-grade version of mushrooms’ active ingredient, psilocybin. Emotionally, it can make you more open and empathetic. Some athletes say that it may help you go into the zone, or a flow state, during exercise. Research also suggests that it can reduce depression, making it easier to go off antidepressants. “But mushrooms have variable amounts of active psilocybin, so their potency is variable,” says Mager, who does not prescribe this to his patients. The most common way people microdose is to grind mushrooms into a powder and take a tiny amount, put it in a capsule, or make a tincture.

The drug: LSD
Used for: Increasing energy, creativity, and a general sense of well-being
Expert take: There’s no scientific evidence on the physical benefits of LSD. But advocates claim that microdosing the psychedelic enhances their function, creativity, and energy. If that’s the case, these benefits can translate into athletic performance, says Mager. Anecdotal examples date back to the ‘70s when Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis famously threw a no-hitter while high on acid. (It was the first and only no-hitter game of his career.) “He had his peak performance while on a psychedelic,” says Mager. And it’s not just the pros that could feel these effects: “People report peak capacity while on substances,” says Mager. Users usually microdose with around 10 micrograms (mcg) of LSD. They’ll cut a 100mcg paper into 10 strips, or dilute a drop of a 100mcg-per-drop liquid with nine drops of water. As with all unregulated drugs, Mager cautions that microdosing isn’t an exact science. “People should be careful.”

*From the article here:

ATHLETES GUIDE TO LSD DOSE TO BOOST PERFORMANCE - Furthermore

Why High Performers Are Taking Tiny Hits Of LSD, Mushrooms, And Cannabis. Here's What The Experts Have To Say.

furthermore.equinox.com

 

[mr peabody]

Treatment of post-concussion effects*

by Phil Rosenthal | Chicago Tribune | 23 Nov 2020

Retired Chicago Blackhawks enforcer Daniel Carcillo says it took a mind-blowing drug to save his brain — and his life.

“It was the most amazing experience,” Carcillo says on the latest edition of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” set to debut at 9 p.m. CST Tuesday on HBO and HBO Max.

Carcillo, who sued the NHL over his concussion-related injuries, is among the former athletes on the program extolling the benefits of psychedelic drugs in helping him cope with aftereffects of brain trauma.

The research in this area, correspondent David Scott notes, is “embryonic but intriguing.”



“Real Sports” opens its segment with Carcillo in the Peruvian jungle, where under supervision he would receive a potent psychedelic cocktail brewed from ayahuasca, a drug that’s illegal in much of the world.

Carcillo’s nickname as a player was “Car Bomb,” which he attributes to “being a psycho on and off the ice and being totally unpredictable.”

The winger played three of his nine NHL seasons with the Blackhawks and was part of their 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup championships.

Twice he led the league in penalty minutes and paid a price well beyond what the refs meted out.

Carcillo had seven diagnosed concussions. Unofficially, he says, the number was in the hundreds before he retired in 2015. The damage followed him off the ice.

“I was spiritually, mentally and physically dead inside,” Carcillo says on HBO, rattling off a series of debilitating afflictions such as “light sensitivity, slurred speech, headaches, head pressure, insomnia, impulse-control issues, short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss, concentration issues.”

Things were so bad, he says he began eyeing the beams in his home ominously and contemplating suicide.

But Carcillo contends the ayahuasca, which had him communing with his long-dead grandparents, was transformative in ways traditional medicine, therapy and psychotherapy have not been.

“I do not suffer from any of those symptoms any longer,” he says.

His wife, Ela, backs up Carcillo, saying he’s a changed man.

“It’s amazing,” says Rick Doblin, a researcher and advocate of the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. “But, yes, he has rewired his brain, and because there (are) new pathways he’s built in his brain, it lasts.”

Doblin concedes the psychedelics are neither a cure-all nor risk-free, but he says “benefits are often substantial.”

There are other voices in Scott’s report, other anecdotes shared. No experts with conflicting views are heard, however.

“I’m just trying to look for more peace, more peace of mind, less suffering,” Carcillo says.

Later, he adds, “I’m living my best life by far.”

*From the article here:

Daniel Carcillo, the former Chicago Blackhawks enforcer, tells HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ that psychedelic drugs helped him battle post-concussion effects

Retired Chicago Blackhawks enforcer Daniel Carcillo says the hallucinogen ayahuasca helped save his brain — and his life. “It was the most amazing experience,” Carcillo says on the latest edition of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” set to debut Tuesday night on HBO.

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[mr peabody]

Karate instructor, John Casey was due to have spinal surgery until he discovered CBD.

Karate master avoids spinal surgery thanks to CBD

by Joe Roberts | Cannabis Health News | 15 Dec 2020

Suffering from acute back pain, John Casey was ready to undergo major spinal surgery until he started taking CBD two weeks before the procedure. He is now back to his active lifestyle – and still hasn’t had to go under the knife.

The 51-year-old from Dover lives with spinal stenosis, a condition which causes bone to grow inside the spinal canal, applying painful pressure on the nerves.
He was diagnosed with the condition three and a half years ago with the pain becoming progressively worse and harder to manage over time.

John lives an active life. As a carpenter by trade and karate instructor in the evenings, his diagnosis came as a blow and caused major disruptions to his life.
His karate teaching became near impossible and he also experienced difficulties playing with his band, as singing caused pain throughout his pelvis, groin and legs.

“I really struggled,” John says. “It was really hard for me to carry on doing that kind of physical activity with my back locking up."

“I became very grouchy and down and it was getting to the stage where I couldn’t demonstrate [karate], and I couldn’t do my private classes. I was really struggling to turn up. It was difficult just walking the dog with my partner, I was hobbling around.”

As recommended by his doctor, John underwent spinal epidural injections a total of four times, which involved general anaesthetic, injections up through the spine and two days off work for recovery.

The first procedure was a big success, giving John three and half months of relief from the pain. Unfortunately, the following three procedures had less and less of an effect. The fourth and final injection gave him only a few days of respite before the pain returned.

“I don’t moan very easily but this pain was really, really getting me down to the point where I thought I need to have spinal surgery. I couldn’t carry on living with the pain.

"Being an active person, it was really destroying my life. It was the last thing I wanted but I decided that I had to book it in.”

John was introduced to CBD by a friend who was looking for a product for his wife who had recently undergone a leg amputation.

At this point, the pain was debilitating, and John was ready to try anything. Despite his scepticism about cannabis-based products, he ordered Canaxen’s 16% CBD oil and started taking the supplement just two weeks before his surgery.

“I was getting the pain every day and it was sometimes hard to walk. I took the first dose at midday and took a second dose under my tongue at about six o’clock before I finished work. I felt great,” he says.

“At first, I thought it must just be a coincidence, but then the next day there was still no pain. It was so much better than any of the epidurals I have ever had.”

John went to see his surgeon two weeks later and spoke to him about the effects that CBD was having on his body. He decided to cancel his operation.

Unfortunately, John hasn’t been able to return to his old karate training routine, however he still teaches regularly and is able to live without pain.

“CBD has given me a pain-free lifestyle,” John says.

“If I go and train, the pain comes back because I’m moving around a lot and pivoting the hip. I can do it for a couple of minutes before it affects me then I’m back to square one and the CBD won’t mask that. But it does take the pain away from my day-to-day life doing my job and teaching.”

John adds: “Who knows if the pain will return in the future, but at the moment, my body’s happy and I’m not in pain.”

Case Study: Karate master avoids spinal surgery thanks to CBD

Suffering from acute back pain, John Casey was ready to undergo major spinal surgery until he started taking CBD two weeks before the procedure. He is now back to his active lifestyle – and still hasn’t had to go under the knife. The 51-year-old from Dover lives with spinal stenosis, a condition...

cannabishealthnews.co.uk

 

[mr peabody]

Can microdosing make you a better athlete?

by Michelle Janikian | Playboy | 6 Nov 2020

Psychedelics aren’t just for raves and therapeutic trips. A group of open-minded athletes are breaking ground in the gym with the help of these magical drugs.

When most of us think of psychedelics, the last thing that comes to mind is increased energy, focus and range of motion while working out or competing in sports. But in microdoses that are as little as one-twentieth of a full “tripping” dose (around 3 grams of mushrooms or 120 micrograms of LSD), athletes are taking psilocybin mushrooms and LSD out of the woods and into the gym to enhance athletic performance and take their training to the next level.

In 2018, strength and conditioning coaches D.J. Murakami and Tom Mountjoy began pairing their daily movement practices with microdoses of psilocybin mushrooms. They were blown away by the results they experienced: more energy, confidence and flexibility in their workouts, plus the sensation of getting lost in time while working out. After sharing their personal experiences with each other and their tens of thousands of Instagram followers, Murakami and Mountjoy formed The Emptiness Lab, an online community for athletes around the globe to share their microdose-and-training experiences. The group quickly evolved into an amateur research study of nearly 20 athletes who microdosed to enhance their workouts. The eclectic group of yogis, endurance runners, weightlifters and personal trainers provided weekly self-reports on their performance, mood, sociability, libido and other more traditional athletic metrics such as strength and flexibility.

One of their main findings was a decreased fear response on microdose days, which led to advancements in their movement practices. Murakami says that when our bodies approach their limits, we feel pain—our nervous system is threatened and needs to tell us to stop.

“What the microdose does is allow us to explore around the fringes of that [threatening] range of motion,” says Mountjoy. A tiny dose of mushrooms can give these athletes more freedom to go further. Then on non-microdose days, they can continue to use the muscle memory of that new range. “From an athletic perspective, it could be huge for athletes that are looking to push those last few centimeters or milliseconds or whatever it is in their sport,” Mountjoy says.

Lifting this fear response during training has other benefits as well, especially when it comes to skill acquisition. Mountjoy says athletes already have a high level of body awareness when it comes to their own sense of balance and coordination, but many get stuck in their heads when trying to learn the mechanics of a new skill. Microdosing can put them more in tune with their bodies, allowing them to access a “flow state” where things come together more naturally than a step-by-step process. “So [a new skill] doesn’t really have to be learned or trained in a regimented, theoretical, mechanical way. It can be presented to someone based upon what intuitively makes sense. They are given an opportunity to play with it themselves in that flow state,” says Mountjoy.

You see microaggressions in facial expressions, body, movements, breath, the sound of their feet. You can just be there and absorb all of it—and react to it properly, or before it’s even happening.

Pursuing a flow state is a popular reason people microdose, whether they’re athletes, artists or programmers. The concept of a flow state, where mental chatter quiets down and you can become absorbed in a task for hours without noticing the time go by, was first recognized by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1975. While the mechanism is still quite mysterious to researchers, high doses of psilocybin and other psychedelics have been shown to reduce activity in the “default mode network”—the brain’s future planning and self-referential thinking center. Scientists aren’t certain about whether microdosing has the same default mode network effect, but a 2019 study on microdosing found participants experienced “significant reductions in mind wandering,” which the authors wrote could “reduce distractibility and increase capacity to focus on the task at hand”—two of the most important components of flow.

Yet finding a flow state via microdosing remains extremely dose-specific. While the optimal “subperceptual” microdose for boosting athletic performance varies among individuals, the effect is meant to be extremely subtle. McCall and Murakami both describe microdosing around 0.1 to 0.25 grams of psilocybin mushrooms for their workouts, sometimes slightly more depending on the activity. (An average recreational dose is closer to two or three full grams.) Mountjoy recommends starting low, around 0.115 grams, and working up from there. Doses higher than 0.25 grams or so can throw training goals out the window, especially when it comes to routine tasks like repetitive workouts. This is the main reported negative side effect from athletes when they accidentally take more than a microdose: Their concentration and coordination can quickly go from optimized to impaired. But for some, beginning to trip slightly is a small price to pay for athletic gains.

“You have an uptick in all your senses and you can see better, hear better and smell better,” says UFC fighter Ian McCall, who has microdosed psychedelics to improve performance. “You feel like the world slows down.” While some of this could be due to the placebo effect, a 2019 study found microdoses of LSD affected individuals’ perception of time, perhaps contributing to microdosers’ ability to lose themselves in flow more easily.

McCall says microdoses allow him to tune into his mixed-martial-arts opponents on a higher level.

“When you’re in that flow, absorbing information, analyzing things and studying your opponent, you see microaggressions in their facial expressions, body, movements, breath, the sound of their feet. You can just be there and absorb all of it—and react to it properly, or before it’s even happening.” Interestingly, this increased awareness is in line with findings from a 2018 study that found that microdosers score higher on tests of “wisdom,” which the researchers defined as "the ability to consider multiple perspectives when facing a situation, be in tune with one’s own emotions and the emotions of others, and feeling a sense of connection and unity.” This begs the question: Could microdosing give athletes all these advantages in the split seconds needed to win a competition?

Since retiring, McCall has developed—with the help of his partner Irena Marin and other mentors—the “McCall method,” a holistic approach to life-coaching designed for high-level athletes and performers. It combines microdosing, meditation, breathwork and “psychedelic integration” so athletes can be the best versions of themselves in and out of competition. To McCall, it is much more than just microdosing to enhance athletic performance. Many athletes in the UFC and beyond struggle with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the possible symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), McCall says. They also must juggle the confusion and difficulties of being young, famous and paid to not only beat people up on a world stage but also to cause off-stage drama to boost ticket sales. The McCall method focuses on the athlete’s emotional, spiritual and physical healing, so when it’s time to compete, they don’t crumble under the pressure.

Similarly, since NHL star Riley Cote retired in 2010, he’s been researching, advocating for and experimenting with treatments for the “collateral damage” he says his professional sports career inflicted on his brain and mental health. Cote tells Playboy he began microdosing psilocybin about four years ago, as both a performance optimizer and a tool to help with TBI in the long term.

“Microdosing has really helped me with increased focus, sustained energy and awareness. I just feel more present,” Cote says. “Overall, it’s been an amazing tool to help optimize my mental health.”

This goes far beyond a cool-sounding workout fad. When it comes to psilocybin for TBI, advocates like McCall and Cote are willing to risk their reputations to grow more awareness around the issue, and scientists are now looking to confirm anecdotal experiences with empirical evidence. Unlimited Sciences, a nonprofit psychedelic research organization, aims to collect data on this subset to try to improve the quality of life for those struggling with the symptoms of traumatic brain injuries, including suicidal ideation, depression, rage and memory loss.

Unlimited Sciences recently teamed up with Johns Hopkins University (one of the leading U.S. institutions looking into psychedelics’ safety and clinical potential) to survey folks in the “real world” who are using psilocybin outside a clinical context. Del Jolly, co-founder and director of Unlimited Sciences, explains they hope to expand their survey collection to focus on specific groups of users, especially athletes and others with TBI. Since a 2018 study found that psychedelics can help promote neural plasticity in rat models, there’s been a lot of interest in psychedelics for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and now TBI and CTE. Plus, with recent findings that microdoses of LSD promote levels of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor plasma—a crucial component of neuroplasticity—both Jolly and McCall say there are already a lot of athletes who microdose, hoping to improve their brain health.

Many athletes and other microdosers stick to a regular microdose regime, usually either the Fadiman protocol, which is to microdose every third day for about six weeks, or the Stamets protocol, which calls for five days of microdosing (in combination with supplements) and then two days off. However, the long-term safety of these protocols has yet to be determined.

Matthew Johnson, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and one of the most widely published psychedelic researchers, says more research needs to be done on chronic administration of psychedelics before claims can be made about microdosing’s safety or efficacy. He explains that psilocybin, LSD and even MDMA have agonist activity effects on the serotonin 2B receptor, which is the same type of activity that got a drug called fen-phen pulled from the market in 1997 because people were dying from heart-valve problems. Johnson also says that at certain doses psychedelics can increase pulse and blood pressure, which could theoretically prompt a cardiovascular event when folks are working out hard.

“We don’t know that [these side effects] are happening at [micro] doses,” says Johnson, “but that’s part of the point. We don’t know the dose effect curve, no one has worked this out.”

McCall, Murakami and Mountjoy are aware of these potential risks, and Murakami and Mountjoy say they microdose for about six weeks then intuitively take a few months off before starting another cycle to try and mitigate any negative side effects.

Of course, there is also the issue of psychedelics’ legality: No matter what the dose, psilocybin, LSD and other entheogens are still classified as Schedule I substances in the U.S., meaning the federal government considers them to have high abuse potential and to lack any medical value. Despite this, psychedelic decriminalization initiatives are becoming more common, with Oregon and Washington, D.C. voting to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms and other plant medicines just this week. With the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and other anti-doping agencies declining to test for psilocybin or LSD (and athletes concerned about the effects of TBI with few other options), the reasons to expand clinical research into psychedelics at all dose levels continue to mount.

Can Microdosing Make You a Better Athlete?

Psychedelics aren’t just for raves and therapeutic trips. A group of open-minded athletes are breaking ground in the gym with the help of these magical drugs

www.playboy.com

 

[mr peabody]

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Psychedelics in Sports​

David Scott explores the history and medicinal benefits of using psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD, depression, and anxiety in athletes.

 

[mr peabody]

Retired UFC Fighter, Ian McCall, joins PSYC CEO on Psychedelic Spotlight*

Global Trac | 7 Dec 2020

The Psychedelic Spotlight podcast released recently on Spotify and Apple, features an exclusive interview with retired MMA and UFC fighter, Ian McCall, on the heels of his appearance on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble.

In the podcast, PSYC CEO, David Flores, speaks with McCall about his path to recovery from PTSD and his addiction to painkillers through his mindful integration of psychedelics along with a more holistic approach to his daily life. The episode also chronicles the stories of other retired professional athletes who, similar to McCall, have discovered healing and long sought-after peace of mind through the use of psychedelics following their careers participating in high-impact sports that subjected them to brain injuries and trauma.

“Ian’s story is an inspiration,” said Global Trac Solutions, Inc. CEO, David Flores. “I applaud HBO for devoting a segment of Real Sports to the healing powers of psychedelics, and for shedding an important light on the very serious trauma and mental health conditions that far too many retired professional sports athletes suffer from. I really believe that this feature on HBO is yet another example of the emergence of psychedelics within mainstream society. Features like this are a very solid demonstration of why I remain encouraged over the legitimate path I believe psychedelics have to become a full-fledged industry and a viable treatment option for some of society’s most prevalent mental health conditions.”

The Company contends that the Real Sports episode is just one in a growing number of features released over the last several months by some of the more prominent news networks in the US, including special segments from CBS’ 60 Minutes and CNN’s “This Is Life” which each highlight the encouraging healing potential associated with psychedelics.

“We here at PSYC remain determined to expand the conversations around psychedelics and help normalize the tremendous power these substances hold,” Flores said. “There’s never been a more critical time to have these conversations and we applaud Ian for speaking out about his experience and for the fantastic healing resources he is offering through the work he is involved in with The McCall Method.”

*From the article here:

Following Appearance on HBO’s Real Sports, Retired UFC Fighter, Ian McCall, Joins PSYC CEO on Psychedelic Spotlight Podcast

Psychedelic Spotlight Demonstrates Continued Emergence as Digital Media Leader Within Psychedelic Industry Through Exclusive New Content LAS VEGAS, NV,...

www.globenewswire.com

 

[mr peabody]

5 athletes who healed with psychedelic therapy

by Jennifer Walker-Journey | Psychedelic Spotlight | 29 Dec 2020

Researchers say psychedelics like ayahuasca, psilocybin, ketamine, ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT prove so beneficial to professional athletes because they have the ability to heal. The sacrifice athletes of high-impact sports make to succeed goes beyond the personal and physical. Researchers have found that repeated head blows and concussions can have detrimental long-term effects on the brain—headaches, dizziness, forgetfulness, insomnia, anxiety, depression, aggression, and in some cases, the desire to kill oneself or others.

According to a 2018 study published in the journal Cell Reports, psychedelic medicines can actually increase connections between neurons and essentially rewire the brain. These structural changes suggest that psychedelic drugs may hold the secret to repairing circuits in the brain that cause mood and anxiety disorders.

“People have long assumed that psychedelics are capable of altering neuronal structure,” according to David Olson, assistant professor in the departments of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, who led the research team, “but this is the first study that clearly and unambiguously supports that hypothesis.”

Conventional mental health therapies have offered little help. But a growing number of professional athletes are finding the path back to a better life with a more unconventional therapy—psychedelics. These five athletes are leading the way in psychedelic therapy.

Dan Carcillo

Daniel Carcillo sat across from Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel a changed man. The former professional hockey player’s reckless abandon in the rink earned him the nickname Car Bomb. He was quick on the ice, but even quicker to throw punches at his opponents. During his 10-year career, he was diagnosed with seven concussions but believes he suffered at least 100 more.

The trauma to his brain had a lasting effect. He suffered from light sensitivity, slurred speech, headaches, head pressure, insomnia, impulse control. He felt overwhelmed with angst. Medication and psychotherapy didn’t help. At times, he felt so hopeless that he’d sit in his truck and contemplate how he could kill himself. He turned to ayahuasca for help.

Carcillo’s experience is not an isolated event. Former NFL star Kerry Rhodes told Gumbel he battled similar symptoms and feared he was suffering from early signs of CTE, the degenerative brain disease that dozens of former professional football players and players of other contact sports have suffered from as a result of repeated concussions. As with Carcillo, ayahuasca transformed his life for the better.

Ian McCall

Former UFC fighters Ian McCall and Dean Lister shared similar stories with Gumbel about how psychedelic medicine helped quell their mental anguish and addiction to drugs and alcohol so they could live more fulfilling lives. They hope to “pass it forward” to other former UFC fighters struggling with their own demons.
How Psychedelics Helped Riley Cote

Riley Cote

Former professional hockey player, Riley Cote, a.k.a. the Enforcer, was no stranger to psilocybin mushrooms. But in a Cult Culture testimonial he says he used them “without understanding of their therapeutic and medicinal properties.”

After retiring at 28, weighed down by deteriorating mental health and addiction issues, he headed to a clinic in Jamaica, a place he called a “safe container.” There, his psilocybin trip was guided by a group of “true healers.” He realized the mushrooms could heal his mind and improve his mental wellbeing. “It just takes a little courage to step outside the box and trust in Mother Nature’s beautiful gifts she has blessed us with,” he said. Now, 10 years later, he has a whole new perspective on life.

Lamar Odom

Former NBA star Lamar Odom credits ketamine and ibogaine for saving him from a debilitating addiction to drugs. He began using due to anxiety and past trauma. His psychedelic intervention was featured in the film, “Lamar Odom Reborn,” directed by Mike “Zappy” Zapolin.

Mike Tyson

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson credited his journey back to the boxing ring at the age of 54 with 5-MeO-DMT. During his trip, he said, “the medicine told me to get into shape.” On Nov. 28, 15 years after his last fight, Tyson faced off with Roy Jones Jr., both rejuvenated and 100 pounds lighter.

5 Athletes Who Healed With Psychedelic Therapy

Some of the world's top athletes have used psychedelic therapy to overcome addiction, depression, and other mental health issues.

psychedelicspotlight.com

 

[mr peabody]

UFC looks into study on psychedelic drugs as potential therapy for fighters

by Marc Raimondi | ESPN | 13 Jan 2021

The UFC is looking to get involved with research into psychedelic drugs as a therapy for fighters' brain health.

The promotion has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University about its psychedelics studies with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues, UFC president Dana White told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.

"We're diving into that," White said.

UFC senior vice president of health and performance Jeff Novitzky told ESPN that the interest came from a segment from HBO's "Real Sports" last month. Novitzky said White gave him a "directive" to look more into psychedelic research and he has been in contact with Johns Hopkins over the past few weeks.

The UFC has been a key funder of a professional athlete brain study being conducted by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, contributing another $1 million last week. Novitzky said the promotion could look to be a benefactor toward a psychedelic study with the added possibility of recruiting current or former UFC fighters to be part of the research.

"Dana said, 'Hey, find out what this is about,'" Novitzky said. "To see if it does help with some traumatic brain injury, addiction, mental-health problems. We want to be on board and we want to be first."

Johns Hopkins is the nation's leader in research on the therapeutic effects of psychedelics such as psilocybin (mushrooms) and LSD. The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research gained regulatory approval from the U.S. government in 2000 and has produced more than 60 pieces of peer-reviewed research.

Currently, psilocybin and other psychedelics are classified by the U.S. government as illegal Schedule I drugs, defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no medical uses.

However, views on psychedelics are changing. Oregon legalized psilocybin in a vote last year.

"Our research has demonstrated therapeutic effects in people who suffer a range of challenging conditions including addiction (smoking, alcohol, other drugs of abuse), existential distress caused by life-threatening disease, and treatment-resistant depression," states the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research website.

Former UFC flyweight contender Ian McCall has been working with psilocybin and athletes and has taken part in a study with Johns Hopkins, he told ESPN's Michael Rothstein last year. McCall said he has already had discussions with the UFC.

"When you go into a cage, when you go into a ring and you fight and even football, you're giving and receiving PTSD and no one wants to talk about it, but that's what's happening," McCall said. "Your trauma is stored in your tissue, so you're actually giving and receiving PTSD while you're in there and that's a big reason why I work in psychedelics, to try and fix those exact things. We need to take care of these athletes a little better, just like we need to do with vets."

Novitzky said he has spoken to athletes who have experimented with psychedelics such as ayahuasca, and those who have struggled with addiction or mental health have said the drug has been extremely helpful. The UFC exec said he's not sure on a timeframe on when the promotion could do something in the psychedelic field, but that the desire is there.

"We want to do it the right way," Novitzky said. "We want to get all the government approvals if we're going to do something. We want to figure out how we're going to recruit fighters. Unfortunately, it's not something that happens overnight. But Dana has basically instructed me: 'Hey I want this looked into. Bring me some potential avenues we can be involved.'"

White said, like with the UFC's participation in the brain health study, there is a desire to look more into potential therapies for fighters with brain issues. UFC veteran Spencer Fisher opened up about his health problems, including lesions on his brain, in an interview with MMAFighting.com that was published Tuesday.

"He's not the first and he's definitely not gonna be the last," White said of Fisher. "This is a contact sport. Anyone who has ever done this is dealing with brain issues. It's part of the gig."

UFC looks into psychedelics in brain health study

The UFC has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University about its psychedelics studies with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues.

www.espn.com

 

[mr peabody]

Combining movement and microdosing: Athletics, Exercise, and Flow

by Liz Zhou | The Third Wave | 9 Dec 2020

Microdosing psychedelics is a great way to experience the benefits of plant medicines without plunging into a full-on visionary journey. By consuming only a portion of a ceremonial or recreational dose, you can infuse a heightened sense of joy, clarity, and awareness into your everyday activities.

Psychedelic medicines enhance well-being by facilitating the natural flow and release of energy throughout the body. This process of energetic alignment is similar to the effects of physical exercise. Given the benefits of both movement and plant medicines, what might happen when these two modalities come together? Microdosing while exercising holds tremendous potential as an integrative and optimized approach to health.​

GET IN THE ZONE​

The “flow state”, first coined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, refers to a mental state in which one is fully absorbed by the task at hand. This feeling of enjoyable, energized focus is an important aspect of any movement practice or athletic endeavor, as it enables you to get “in the zone”, quiet mental chatter, and follow your body’s intuition. Psychedelics have been shown to induce flow states by enhancing focus and decreasing mind-wandering.

The power of psychedelic-induced flow was at play when Pittsburgh Pirate’s pitcher Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in 1970. Ellis was under the influence of LSD at the time of this impressive feat and later recounted, “I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the [catcher’s] glove.”

According to a new microdosing study, those who combined psychedelic microdoses with a regular yoga practice reported higher absorption levels than control groups. Absorption refers to one’s ability to enter altered states of consciousness and experience enhanced awareness, focus, and concentration. In other words, individuals who engaged with both yoga and microdosing were more likely to feel “in the zone.”​

ENHANCE PERFORMANCE​

Microdosing boosts performance across a broad spectrum of physical activities. In an informal research study, for instance, a group of nearly 20 individuals representing a range of disciplines—from yoga and endurance running to weightlifting, personal training, and beyond—noted the effects of microdosing on their physical performance. They reported benefits such as increased sensory awareness, coordination, and concentration.

In an article published by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), athlete and journalist James Oroc describes the role of microdosing in the culture of extreme sports, such as skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, surfing, and skateboarding. “According to the combined reports of 40 years of use by the extreme sports underground, LSD can increase your reflex time to lightning speed, improve your balance to the point of perfection, increase your concentration until you experience ‘tunnel vision’, and make you impervious to weakness or pain,” Oroc wrote.

Microdosing increases cognitive flexibility and function, translating to quicker response times and better decision-making in sport settings. Additionally, psychedelic medicines play a crucial role in managing fear: one study found that regular, low doses of DMT administered to rodents enhanced fear extinction, echoing the results of another study in which psilocybin microdoses helped reverse fear conditioning in mice. These findings have important implications for human athletic performance: microdosing may help people overcome the fear associated with novel physical challenges, leading to continual progress in the sport.​

HEAL INJURIES​

Athletic endeavors can leave individuals susceptible to severe injuries. Microdosing facilitates recovery and awakens the body’s natural inclination toward health. Former mixed martial arts fighter Ian McCall is an advocate for psychedelics’ healing potential, especially for traumatic brain damage that commonly results from combat sports and other life experiences. Now retired from the professional fighting arena, McCall dedicates his life to psychedelic integration and coaching services for high-level athletes.

“Whether it’s toxins, drugs, whacking your head on things, subconcussive blows, loud music—everything can build up plaque in your brain. They always thought there was no way to fix that, but there is,” McCall said. “Psychedelics do that. They fix that.”

In a study of over 1,000 individuals who took regular microdoses of LSD across 18 months, among the many positive health benefits reported was the alleviation of symptoms of traumatic brain injury. Retired National Hockey League player Daniel Carcillo found that microdosing psilocybin healed the traumatic brain injury that he sustained from repeated concussions on the ice rink. “I take a microdose of psilocybin, every third day, to promote neurogenesis,” Carcillo tweeted. “I’ve never felt better.”​

MANAGE PAIN​

As the saying goes: no pain, no gain. This is especially true in the athletic arena, where a healthy tolerance for discomfort correlates with continual improvement and acquisition of skills. The more pain we learn to endure (while still staying within the range of physical safety), the stronger and more resilient we become.

A study found that people’s pain tolerance increased while under the influence of low doses of LSD. Participants who had consumed a microdose were able to submerge their hands in cold water for significantly longer than those given a placebo. Given that psychedelic consumption leads to higher pain thresholds, those looking to explore their physical edges in the athletic arena may benefit from a microdosing regimen.

Now may be the time to discover how microdosing can help you optimize your performance and enhance your endurance.

Combining Movement and Microdosing: Athletics, Exercise, and Flow - Third Wave

Microdosing psychedelics is a great way to experience the benefits of plant medicines without plunging into a full-on visionary journey.

thethirdwave.co

​