And the back story of how I became a facilitator and coach
I’m deeply grateful for the privilege of facilitating over 70 private psilocybin retreats in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
My experience with psilocybin started over 45 years ago when I took my first journey. Back then, there was no “dosage, set-setting, intention, or integration.” However, it was the most profound experience of my life - one that I still embrace after all these years.
The Back Story;
My young life was incredibly sad. By the time I was 19 years old, I experienced watching my son die, and the same night, our house was burned to the ground. A few years later, another house was burned to the ground. It was a few years later when I escaped from this mafia marriage, that I had my first psilocybin journey with a trusted friend.
My sister had given me a set of the Carlos Castaneda books about Don Juan and the Mazatec Indians of Mexico to help me envision a new path. The stories were all about vision quests with peyote and psilocybin mushrooms, so I was very open to “the learning.”
My friend and I went to a beautiful mountain lake. As we ate the mushrooms, I laid on the hot sand and melted into the earth, turning to water . . . I felt one with the whole universe and experienced a deep connection with all of life. I received profound “knowing” and saw the “beauty of death” – I received peace with my son’s passing. Thank You, Plant Medicine! Nothing else up until this experience had helped me heal.
I’ll never forget that day – it changed my young life as I journeyed forward into the unknown.
See the full back story HERE
Present Day
Over the last eight years, as psychedelics were being approved for studies and gaining legalization, is when I started receiving “the calling.” I was managing a large retreat property at 10,000 ft. up in the Colorado mountains, where beauty and spirituality run deep.
Retreat property
Often, Veterans with PTSD, anger, and depression would come to the property to rest and regain a reason to live. As we were in the wilderness, out of the city's hustle, they could be alone, rest, and help around the property. Also, some hard-core motorcycle gang members just out of prison were changing their lives and came there to be quiet and alone.
It was always a motley crew up on the mountain, but we all became like family.
I became good friends with most. As an “elder,” I was like the Mother they could talk to. I understood the military after training, living and traveling with the U.S. Parachute Team for world competitions. There was mutual respect, and through these situations is when slowly we had some psilocybin therapy nights.
Hearing about what we were doing, Tabula Rasa Ventures (an incubator program for startup psychedelic therapy companies) visited. Soon, I was admitted to their incubator program. But soon after Covid shut down all retreat properties worldwide, and this is when I left and came to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Thank you, Mexico, for keeping your doors open! I’ve been here for over four years and have been facilitating private visionary coaching using psilocybin for guests from around the world.
I’m often asked:
What will happen during my journey? Will I have a bad trip? What can I expect? All these questions are valid, but they cannot be answered by any facilitator. Truly, every journey is different because every person is different. Everyone has pain, trauma, and drama buried in their body. We’re complex creatures . . . but the psilocybin mushroom works with us. These precious teacher plants just know!
The most common experiences I witness as a facilitator
No one has an experience the same as someone else. We all have our individual personalities that experience the mushroom in different ways.
However, there are three somewhat surprising trends I can share.
Note: I work almost exclusively with those in their 50s—70s. They are highly educated and have had interesting, full lives . . .
I'm not good enough
About 80% of people I’ve worked with feel “I’m not good enough,” “ I do not deserve,” “I doubt my worth,” or just an overall feeling of low confidence. It's surprising as these guests have had super successful lives. But I also understand because I have felt the same way most of my life. It truly is “a thing.”
I see this as one of the top priorities for how we work to integrate ourselves after a journey.
Throughout my book Becoming Badass (my story of failures to successes), I discuss dealing with low self-esteem and not feeling worthy. If you would like to read it, you can get a PDF copy HERE.
Depression from lack of finding a new path or successful reinvention when needed
Another common feeling (as I work with mid-life into elder age) is the depression that many experience when facing life after retirement and the kids are gone.
And for veterans and those of us who have had super intense lives, when it’s over—well, this is one of the hardest transitions. Finding new passion takes deep thought and a substantial reset.
Finding your Next Chapter can start with a psilocybin journey. I see the psilocybin mushroom take people there . . . it's beautiful. There are so many amazing stories, but without question, it takes courage to move into new uncharted territory. Absolutely, the work starts after the journey.
Generational pain or love from current and past family situations
It's common that layers of family memories will be experienced. From trauma in childhood to incest to losing family members - grief can come up.
But also, the love of family members comes up, and those are beautiful experiences. (Like when I was healed by the death of my son. - -)
The painful memories are where the saying of having a “bad trip” usually lies. But I contend, is it really a bad trip? The psilocybin mushroom takes you where you need to go. And pain is certainly in everyone's life. To heal those experiences, we need to go deep and build a new foundation. So, these memories can be painful to experience, but without question, those who have had these difficult journeys always say they were glad they went through it. The relief is unquestionable – the healing starts here.
For deep pain, I believe psilocybin therapy can help in a huge way, as the mushroom - for sure, will take you where you need to go. With talk therapy, you can go around and around for years with no conclusion; with psilocybin, I guarantee it will break that cycle.
If you feel “the calling” to explore psilocybin therapy, I encourage you to take the next step. It just may be the instigator of something new and beautiful.
If you want to explore a psilocybin retreat with me, I welcome you to reach out via my Contact page and send me a note. We’ll set up a Zoom call to see what transpires.