Can Magic Mushrooms Reconnect us with Nature?

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Can Magic Mushrooms Reconnect us with Nature?

Throughout my life, I’ve found myself in moments of peace and oneness in nature. The 8,000 trees at Wellesley College gave me stability, courage, and connection in moments I felt the loneliest. The foreign desert landscape of Joshua Tree National Park reminded me of being wrapped in a blanket crocheted by my grandma. The crisp air, looming fog, and iconic Redwoods of Big Sur felt like the source of all life and love in the world. When I think about what matters most, I find myself back in these moments, existing in an often isolated place but filled with the sense that everything that ever was and ever will be was there all at once. I’ve felt the most at home in moments in the natural world—not when nature was the backdrop but when nature was the occasion and presented the opportunity to slow down and tune in.

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Jellyfish, Stardust and Nicodemus: Decoding the Spiritual in Psychotherapy

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Jellyfish, Stardust and Nicodemus: Decoding the Spiritual in Psychotherapy

There’s a saying in my profession that more therapists are comfortable talking about sexuality than spirituality. If so, then I’m in the minority. I don’t care to know what goes on in your bedroom, but I do care what goes on in your soul. Interestingly, the same pattern of spirituality as taboo seems to play out among those seeking therapy. While the word “spirituality” has become more mainstream, individuals’ personal spiritual experiences and their willingness to talk about them (unlike their sexuality) has not. Often when I ask someone to tell me about their spiritual life, I hear, “I’m not religious,” or “I was raised Catholic but don’t practice anymore,” or “I’m culturally Jewish.” Even if I ask a general question on an intake form, such as “Is your spirituality or faith life important to you,” more often than not it is left blank.

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From Despair to Hope: Psychedelics and the Pursuit of Human Flourishing

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From Despair to Hope: Psychedelics and the Pursuit of Human Flourishing

If you've chosen to read this, you may be among the millions of people across the globe curious about the use of psychedelics as a potential intervention in addressing mental health challenges and fostering human flourishing. Some have dubbed the resurgence of interest (and the accompanying hype bubble) as a psychedelic renaissance. For all that is being said about it in academic journals, popular media, social networks, and around dinner tables, we are still at that uncomfortable place in the scientific process where we have more questions than answers. Hopefully, the nine minutes you invest in reading this piece sheds some light into the fascinating world of psychedelic-assisted therapy (or PAT) and fans an ember of knowledge in your inquisitive mind.

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A conversation on awe with Dacher Keltner, PhD

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A conversation on awe with Dacher Keltner, PhD

Dacher Keltner, PhD., is a researcher and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches and runs the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory. He has studied intrapersonal characteristics and functions of emotion and now focuses on how positive emotions, such as awe, compassion, desire, and pride shape an individual’s relationships, physical environment, and sources of pleasure. In this interview with Dr. Keltner, we spoke about the science of awe and about his latest book, Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life.

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