how we share and psychedelic retreats
Hi there, I hope you are well. I want to write some reflections on sharing thoughts and feelings with others and also a little about psychedelic retreats.
What is the right thing to do?
I spend a lot of time of that question. It's a quagmire, a lake, an ocean of possibilities. I'm interested in healing here; ourselves, the world - thought. we make the world through our thoughts and so often we're focused on what's wrong. We can't help it. So when we focus on trying to fix what's wrong are we actually helping anything or are we just focusing more on the problem?
From a personal point of view I have learned that when I focus on what I consider to be my problems they only seem to get bigger. I spent many years working in local food and the experience was great, but the environmental 'issues' we were working against just seemed to be getting bigger. What we were doing, however, was creating culture, doing something worthwhile that connected people and made a difference to people's lives. Inspired by the mess we make, we want to make things better and sometimes that's just about creating better things.
I am all for distracting myself from mess and creating an alternative. Nothing speaks to this more than the inner world. I know there's a lot of mess 'out there' but it's 'in here' we need to begin. Our minds are often completely run by worry and anxiety and caught up in the 'fixing' mentality, not liking who we are or what we have going on within. This equates with not liking what's happening in the world and what we're doing to it. Inner world, outer world, one reflects the other.
To connect with our inner world we need to keep it simple. Pay attention to breath, sit in silence in the natural world, be aware of what's happening in our body. Worry and anxiety have never fixed anything. Only being with the reality of our experience.
Can you feel your feelings?
Would you rather not be a burden on people with your issues? Is it just easier to say you're fine than actually telling people how you feel? In our society I see that so often people want to show they're 'fine', whilst others will only expect 'fine' or 'good' - anything else is seen as self-indulgent. We don't have time for others' problems - the hurt, the sadness - things that they obviously carry around with them. Sometimes people get stuck in a rut and we may be worried that they will become a burden through feeling stuck and complaining. I certainly know the feeling of bottling up how I feel because I don't want to burden others with my sadness. I also know the feeling of not wanting to listen to others' stuff because I can barely hold my own.
Freedom begins with exploring our feelings in a safe space - through various therapies, learning mindfulness, learning to feel our feelings, to become familiar with what we're feeling rather than being scared of it. Then perhaps we will be in a better place to support each other, when we see that everyone struggles and suffers sometimes and that it's actually fine. We don't need other people to fix our problems, we just need to share and listen and to be heard with openness.
Psychedelics
I recently came across a UK based organisation, who are offering psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands. I want to recommend them as I have become familiar with some of the facilitators and I know they are bringing powerful healing work to people. Psychedelics are a big part of my healing and connecting process and I want to recommend their use in safe spaces such as this. There are hundreds of studies proving their effectiveness in making a big difference to conditions like depression, trauma and the malaise of disconnection that people are feeling at this time. Please have a look and if you wish for an experience in safe hands, this might just be for you https://psychedelicnetwork.org.uk/psychedelic-retreats/
Thanks for reading and I wish you freedom and connection in your life.