Just a quick note as I’m writing from Thailand (Chiang Mai specifically, in the north of the country). It was a long trip – between 4 flights and hefty layovers – 27 hours worth. I’m here physically but tired and discombobulated having landed late yesterday and flopping at a simple and clean little hotel near the airport. I tried everything to sleep (including breathing, counting backwards from 100 and even the podcast “Sleep with me.”
The intersection of science and spirituality can be elusive – as a lot of answers offered by spirituality are often dismissed by science. So while science is busy doing the heavy lifting of proving how the brain responds to psychedelics, spirituality offers its own intriguing, otherworldly perspectives. In this video, I want to introduce you to the work of a psychiatrist whose journey through both science and spirituality led to some astonishing insights.
“I am so stressed, I am stressed all the time!” Miguel lamented.
“Can you tell me more about what that means?” I ask. “Would you say you’re anxious or fearful about something?”
“I don’t know,” he says shaking his head, “I’m just really stressed!”
Miguel is typical in that he uses the word “stress” as a place holder for what he’s feeling – because he doesn’t have the language to apply to what he’s actually feeling.
Back in the day, anxiety was the wallpaper and furnishings of my mind. I (somehow) soldiered through, but living in anxiety was a way of life for me. I’d panic in social situations, I’d worry about upcoming events (that paranoid feeling of suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence or justification), and I’d ruminate – focusing on repetitive thoughts of catastrophe.
I’m still sick as I write this – well maybe more high than sick since I took a WHOLE gummy to sleep. But now, I have a little energy and strength to focus and sit up. Until the sleep kicks-in. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Last week I hopped on a plane to Holland to attend a 3-day psychedelic science conference.
What’s been coming up for you lately? Are you ruminating or obsessing about something that you can’t seem to shake? Well, I have some good medicine for that. We just completed my latest 30-day masterclass course on how to manage your difficult emotions. With that in mind, I want to share this practice with you – it gets to the heart of what’s knocking loudest on your head.
I often get letters from folks sharing their experiences and asking questions. This correspondence can offer spectacular insights and musings that answer questions that many others have on their mind. So I’m sharing this one with you today…
I have a friend who by any measure of success has “made it”. He’s an acclaimed authority in his field; he makes good money and others clamor to work with him.
Yet, he feels as if he’s never caught-up. As a perfectionist he’s nose to the grindstone working nights and weekends but seldom claims victories.
Are there shades of this in you? If so, you may have a form of depression, what’s called cold depression, that’s the opposite of what we normally imagine depression to be.
If you caught my recent video, you know that I was planning on getting my first tattoo at age 68. Even though we’re living in a “tattoo age,” I had to think long and hard about, first, getting one, and then, what would it be?! It’s now a done deal… and I have pictures to prove it!
I wrote this some time ago for, I guess you could say, “Mother’s Day for the Rest of Us.” I hope it brings you solace.
Next week, I’ll be telling you about my brand new “old lady” tattoo, but since Sunday is Mother’s Day I wanted to share this with you. Let me know if you can relate.