Cultivate Your Wisdom as an Integration Professional. Join 13k+ subscribers to Red Things on Tuesday. Every week, you'll get a small, curated collection of music, tips, and psychedelic insight on how to move through this ever evolving psychedelic space.
If You Think You Can Fly, Take Off From The Ground - Red Things on Tuesday
If you think you can fly, take off from the ground.This is just psychedelic safety 101. This was one of our ground rules when we were teenagers. Simple, to the point. Effective. But, as a psychedelic culture, we learned this the hard way. Jay Yarnall jumped out of a window on STP in 1966. He thought he could fly. A friend of mine knew him and told me, "That was the guy the stories were about. He thought he could fly." Jay ended up paralyzed. Even still, he spent his life making some very wonderful and otherworldly music until his passing in 2013. Link. The same is true for the spiritual path. Take off from the ground. Remember the earth, remember your body. The chakra system is a useful map. Seven psychic centers. This isn't the place for an entire treatise on them, but the first one relates to the earth, basic stuff, body stuff. Survival and fear, and what it means to feel safe and calm. It's the foundation, the ground upon which everything else is built. It's the beginning of the spiritual path. This is why it's associated with Ganesha, the Lord of Auspicious Beginnings. Sometimes people on the path can end up top-heavy. Forgetting that we are here to have a human experience, they want all of the spirituality and none of the materiality. They lose their connection to the earth. They might become ungrounded, spacey, or confused. Odd ideas might proliferate. Anxiety or paranoia might follow. They might not take care of themselves very well or become estranged from their lives and relationships. Instead of actually being present, they end up disconnected. I was very lucky. When this happened to me way back when, I had an excellent yoga teacher. She spent the year smooshing her hands into my feet like they were clay, "These are your feet," she would say, asking me to notice them. "Breath into your feet." With her hands and my breath, we dragged my spaced-out consciousness back into my body. And that's where I try to keep it. in my body, my guts, my feet. Kind of like when people ask, "What would Jesus do?" or even, "If you get confused, listen to the music play," I often wonder, "What would I think about this situation if I could feel my feet on my ground?" I'll take a few breaths into the earth, and sure enough, I get a better answer. These are the kinds of conversations we have in our member's group, The Golden Road. The Golden Road is a container for people dedicated to their psychedelic practice. We offer a curated collection of tools and skills for both personal and professional development, and plenty of time for coaching and mentorship. The Golden Road is a place to embrace the medicine you already carry within you. Here's the link to learn more: https://tam.zone The Tam Integration Coaching Training ProgramCoaching Training starts February 3rd and runs through the end of June. You'll learn how to work with polarities, paradoxes, and mysteries. You'll sit in the silence and the weirdness until it feels like home. You'll delve into your mind, and the minds of your classmates, and come out kinder and wiser for it. The program offers a wide range of tools & coaching models that give you the framework you need to make use of your gifts.
Training Modules include:
Learn More Here: https://tamintegration.com/psychedelic-coach-training/ Join Our Info Session on January 12th at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern In Person Meet upsBerkshire Psychedelic Monthly Meetup. Saturday, January 10th, 2-4pmOur theme for January is Psychedelic Renewal. I (Daniel) will lead a short talk and experiential practice around integrating 2025 and preparing for 2026 with grace and intention, openness and hope. Then we will have plenty of time to share, commune, and network. Hosted by Daniel Shankin, Cassandra Purdy, and Michou Olivera This event will be held at Sweetgrass Botanicals at 635 Laurel Street in Lee, MA 01238 This event is by donation, everyone is welcome. Please pre-register here: The February meetup will be February 21st, 2-4pm and will offer a talk by Michou Olivera. I'll be in Philly that weekend Second, Join me for the first annual: Philadelphia Yoga and Wellness ConferenceFebruary 21st at the Ritz Carlton on Broad Street. A full day of yoga and wellness with a bunch of my old friends from my hometown. I'll be offering a Meditation for the Journey workshop, focusing on embodiment of intention. I'll also be moderating a panel discussion called "How Wisdom Moves: Lineage and the Student-Teacher Relationship.” Featuring Mahan Rishi, Elane Yuen and Pankaj Sharma. I'm looking forward to having some time to practice with long-time colleagues and associates, and hopefully, you! Register here! https://www.philadelphiayogaconference.com/ Wish I Could Fly Sol Rising A Shot to the HeartPure Light The Golden RoadThe Golden Road has evolved into a wonderful group of practitioners. The wonderful people who show up share not only their journeys, but the journeys of those they steward. It's become a place of learning, support, accountability, and peer review. Folks are learning some things from me, but they are also learning from each other. We all face unique challenges as we work in this space, and it's great to have a place where we can bring them for non-judgmental feedback and reflection. You're invited. Click here to join! DisclaimerNothing in this email should be considered medical or legal advice. We're not suggesting that you break any laws or do anything dangerous. This email is offered as education and entertainment in the spirit of harm reduction. Consult medical and legal professionals if you have questions. Sometimes, there are affiliate links in this email. It helps support this project. Thank you! |
Tam Integration
Cultivate Your Wisdom as an Integration Professional. Join 13k+ subscribers to Red Things on Tuesday. Every week, you'll get a small, curated collection of music, tips, and psychedelic insight on how to move through this ever evolving psychedelic space.
Dust off your integration one more time, make it shine The boy jumped in bed at 630 this morning. He curled up under the covers and didn’t say anything. I rubbed his back for a moment and then sat up, taking the opportunity to meditate. I like when we get a chance to sit quietly together, it doesn’t happen much. He’s energetic. The nervous system experts love to talk about co-regulation. About how vibing together is a great practice. That’s how the morning started, just vibing and breathing....
Integration is the Bridge Between Vision and Reality Our Psychedelic Visions rarely survive first contact with reality. Sometimes, in our journeys, we have grand visions and ideas, amazing plans for the future. However, more often than not, they melt away when the light hits them. Sometimes we expect the seas to part for us like we're Moses. Or that, like Kevin Costner, they will come if we build it. Rarely is this the case. The world doesn't owe it to us to make our sacred mission easy. Some...
When In Doubt, See if There's Something You Can Relax - Red Things on Tuesday This is one of the best pieces of advice I've gotten from a psychedelic guide, "When in doubt, relax." When I'm upset, something is tight. When I'm in conflict with someone, or myself, something is tight. When I'm ruminating, perseverating, or looping uncreatively, something is tight. There is a tension in my body that I can literally use as a barometer to determine if my thoughts are helpful. If it's tight,...