The Intersection of Psychedelics and Climate Conservation
In a 2017 study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, it was determined that “experience with psychedelics predicts pro-environmental behavior through an increase in nature relatedness.”
In spirit of Global Climate Change Week, I would like to discuss the intersection and interconnectedness of psychedelics with climate conservation and the responsibility we not just feel, but hold as members of this growing and nuanced psychedelic community with this sensation and phenomena of a heightened nature relatedness.
Nature relatedness is the connection an individual feels to nature. It is a facet of the phenomena of interconnectedness. The NR-6, is a 6-item scale which measures our relationship, connection or disconnection to nature. It is proven that those with significant psychedelic experiences have a higher scale of nature relatedness and because of this feel a greater call to protect and conserve it. Psychedelic experiences are often characterized by their mystical qualities, which include: (1) sacredness, (2) noetic quality, (3) deeply felt positive mood, (4) ineffability, (5) paradoxicality, and (6) transcendence of time and space. It is this connection to the sacred that allows us to deepen our felt sense of interconnectedness with our fellow beings and the natural world.
It is no coincidence that we see mass mental illness, geopolitical tragedies, and climate crisis unfolding before us in unprecedented ways.
We have never seen such widespread destruction due to humankind’s expanding greed for the earth’s natural resources and in turn, backlash in the forms of natural disaster, wildfires, and mass animal extinction. In recent years, there have been record breaking ocean temperatures. We’ve seen snow fall numbers dwindling, water tables dropping, and aberrant weather systems such as hurricanes hitting the West Coast. Our wildlife faces ecocides from every direction. The Amazon is being deforested at alarming rates. Our topsoil is disappearing, pesticides are prevailing, and our water sources are being replaced with microplastics. There are floods wiping out portions of our countries, sometimes caused by wildfires, other times by deforestation, but almost every time as a direct result of human impact.
I would like to make it clear that this is not the sole fault of the individual, but a gap that widens with each decade between society and nature. It is a mass disassociation. To be bold, I have witnessed psychedelics awaken, heal and reinvigorate the unique and complex individual by the hundreds in completely different but unanimous ways. I have witnessed that it is possible to reconnect, to construct new meaning, and reach for new answers to the same old problems.
For some, like the Psychedelic Research And Training Institute (PRATI), the focus on healing the human and natural systems is built into their ethos. Their purpose is restoring the connection to the Sacred: Self, Community, Nature, and Spirit. Their vision centers around people thriving in right relationship to the natural world. You cannot heal the individual without the collective, which includes our planetary health. The two are inextricably connected and dependent on one another.
It is no coincidence that we see mass mental illness, geopolitical tragedies, and climate crisis unfolding before us in unprecedent ways. There is a collective “othering” that is widening the schism between our self, other, and the world. Rosalind Watts, PhD, created the Watts Connectedness Scale as a way of measuring our relationship to self, other, and world, which has informed part of my healing framework that focuses on reconnecting our love of self, other, and creation.
There are theories that mushrooms produce psychedelic compounds as to not appeal to insects which would feed off them, but to communicate and enlighten other beings around them. Mushrooms are the great connectors of our kingdom. They are not plant or animal, but can produce compounds that allow for communion and connection to all of nature beyond words. There is much philosophical and mystical debate as to why they appeared in nature in the first place. If psychedelic mushrooms are naturally occurring, is it so far-fetched to believe that their purpose intertwines with ours? That their function could be to connect us to nature and hence, preserve and care for the same land they thrive off of and protect in the mycorrhizal network?
If psychedelic mushrooms are naturally occurring, is it so far fetched to believe that their purpose intertwines with ours?
There are many incredible groups domestically doing beautiful work incorporating nature into psychedelic journeywork. These include the Ecodelic Therapy Collective, ReWild Medicine, Tiffany Sauls, MD and her nature-based therapies (a fellow PRATI alumni), and many more.
For indigenous healers and medicine people practicing within their cultural, religious, and sacred containers, nature is not something that needs to be intentionally interwoven into the work. Nature cannot be extricated from the medicine – it is the medicine and everything around it. The medicine comes from nature, your journey is in nature, and you commune with and connect with nature and it’s Spirit guides. I know this firsthand from my experiences sitting with Ayahuasca in Peru with Shipibo healers. The deep and mutual respect for human and nature that is engendered from indigenous medicine work is a reminder of what it feels like and means to be in right relationship with the world.
I have been an environmentalist since I was a kid. In fact, I think we are all born environmentalists and some of us are eventually programmed out of our love for nature. Kids know – they get and understand the magic that nature gives us. I’ve always loved animals, adventured outdoors, studied Marine Biology and was a dive instructor before pivoting to medicine. I switched to a plant-based lifestyle after realizing that my choices are a declaration of my values. I value living beings, I value our living systems, I value reducing suffering, I value nature, I value being in right relationship to those around me – animate and inanimate. There is so much to be done at the individual and governmental level. It can feel disheartening or overwhelming that we are a trajectory of self-destruction and annihilation, but it is never too late to change. It is never too late to reflect on our choices and see how we can start to move the needle even 1% to ease our impact on our planet. To show it some love. To give back what it has so freely given us – the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the ground that holds us, the spaces we play, and the beauty we marvel.
Florence Williams talks about the healing powers of nature in her book, The Nature Fix. We know from Blue Mind that those living near water tend to be happier, live longer, and feel more connected to the planet. With a planet that is 71% water, I think it is telling us concretely that it wants to be loved and needs us to be connected to its life force. If it’s been a while, pick up these books and spend some time outdoors. You may be surprised at how you feel, what clarity comes, and how nature can create a sense of regulation and groundedness.
Having green space and a connection to nature to augment and support psychedelic journey work is an important consideration. The Oasis is a lush garden with a heart-shaped labyrinth that we’ve created at The Sanctuary. We host our ketamine and sound bath offerings in our Atelier, which looks out into our garden space. There is a deep sense of relief being close and connected to nature. Green spaces offer multitudes of health benefits from improved mental health, regulation of our nervous systems, and enhanced wellbeing. If you are looking for a green space, a chance to connect with nature, we have the means to support your journey with a nature-related focus.
Psychedelics & Culture
There was a cosmic sigh of frustration that swept California like the Santa Anita winds this October when Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 58, which would have legalized the personal possession and therapeutic use of psilocybin, psilocin, mescaline (not from peyote), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT).*
**Prior to hitting his desk, the original bill included 5 natural psychedelics, including iboga, which was stripped from the bill. I don’t necessarily disagree with that move due to the concern of cardiac toxicity and lack of infrastructure needed to support the best possible outcomes. For those unfamiliar, iboga is a West African shrub that originate from the Bwiti tribes of Gabon. The psychedelic compound (ibogaine) can last 36 hours, is one of the most potent psychedelics to combat many forms of substance addiction, and in rare cases can cause death due to QT-prolongation leading to Torsades de Pointes and ultimately cardiac arrest. In the current state of the psychedelic movement, which sometimes feels like the wild west with regards to oversight and safety, I think this was probably a safe move for now. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been long before we would have seen a wave of California-based Iboga companies offering telehealth DIY Iboga treatment. All joking aside, there are an estimated 265 people a day who die from a drug overdose, which is roughly the equivalent of Boeing 777 falling out of the sky every day! For comparison, there have been 33 deaths related to ibogaine in the published peer-reviewed literature over the last 20 years.
With Canada and Denver making incredible strides on the psychedelic frontier, it was a shock and blow to the professional psychedelic community that California, thought to be a progressive state, would indeed fall behind. The reason being, a lack of regulated framework with consentient “dosing information, therapeutic guidelines, rules to prevent against exploitation during guided treatments, and medical clearance of no underlying psychoses.” The takeaway here is that we must have a medicalized pathway to make psychedelics accessible or legal.
For one, who is to say that the medicalized pathway is going to be superior to any of the other many pathways that are currently available?
This is disappointing and frustrating for many reasons. For one, who is to say that the medicalized pathway is going to be superior to any of the other many pathways that are currently available? Yes, I think there should be greater safety, research, and information disseminated for those working with psychedelics, but I certainly don’t think the medical community with its ignorance and illusion of truth is the gold standard. Indigenous community have been practicing with these medicines, many of them legal already within their respective countries, sacred lands, or religions. The underground community has been practicing with many of these compounds in fashions similar to indigenous lineages, through the apprenticeship model and passing down of knowledge and wisdom. There is no one-size fits all model for healing, given the abundance of suffering and trauma in the world. I do not think that decriminalization and self-administered journey work is the best approach to healing, but I also don’t think that we can create a regulatory prohibition on accessing consciousness. Many people wanting to explore non-ordinary states of consciousness are looking to connect to the sacred, explore psychospiritual concepts and mystical states, and tap into creativity. People tired of the toxic effects of an alcohol-obsessed culture are turning towards microdosing and sub-therapeutic doses of psychedelics to engender connection, community, and consciousness. There are so many benefits apart from introspective healing work where decriminalization could have been an answer to the ennui of life.
Facilitators, patrons, and hundreds of trauma survivors were ready for this much needed and anticipated legal and sociopolitical shift, but it seems that the state of California itself wasn’t prepared for the aftereffects of decriminalization. According to The California Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Education, the state currently lacks plans for, “the appropriate public education campaigns, safety protocols and emergency response procedures.” In other words, Governor Newsom played it safe, kicking the can to avoid doing any real progressive work. The power of the veto is swift and mighty, which is making the “psychedelic renaissance” look a lot like psychedelic colonialism.
The sad fact is that despite the pace at which psychedelic medicine is growing, California’s government and leaders are simply not keeping up. This could have been a move towards opening multiple tracks to access, equity, education, and destigmatization, but instead it was more of the same uneducated and misinformed rhetoric. There are countless organizations, thought leaders, scientists, harm-reduction services and educators, doctors, therapists, and advocates who could have easily helped provide the infrastructure – education, campaigns, protocols, and emergency response procedures – necessary to pass this bill. In the meantime, we are left with the same constipated bureaucracy and a detrimental belief that the government “knows best.” Perhaps at some point, they will take a lesson from the psychedelic experience and attune themselves to the voices around them. The people are speaking, but are they listening?
