Anyone who knows me intimately knows that my faith lies in nature. I believe all the answers we seek for liberation, connection, health, purpose, and healing can be found outdoors.

Not many people know what I’ve been up to these days. It’s been a long time since I posted a blog. Maybe you know that I’ve quit my desk job and am in school, studying to be an Addiction Treatment Counselor. I’m excited about this work, but it isn’t the complete picture. I am also ready to come out with another important piece of my journey.

3 years ago, when Lilith and I found ourselves stuck in the US, unable to use our return ticket home to Bali, I developed a trauma response that resulted in dissociative memory loss. Trauma can often act like a brain injury, and in my case, I was finding myself ‘coming to’ while driving or taking a shower, unaware of how long I’d been dissociated. My time in Sonoma County was riddled with this struggle. My doctor ordered an MRI.

I have been studying grief and trauma responses for many years now, so while waiting for insurance to catch up, I dove into my own research. In my Rolodex of mental-health mentors, I found Paul Stamen who spoke of the powers of Lions Mane for neural pathway regeneration. Memory loss is often a component of grief. I have been prescribing Lions Mane to people for years. A deeper dive took me to Paul’s research on microdosing psilocybin in conjunction with Lions Mane. Anyone looking at the research on microdosing will predictably find themselves reading the work of Dr. James Fadiman, the world’s (arguably) leading authority on psychedelic research and the man who coined the term ‘microdose’. I discovered a masterclass co-taught by Dr. Fadiman through the SF Psychedelic Society. In this masterclass, I was taught protocols and appropriate strains and dosing for administering microdoses. So, I started making my own medicine. By the time my referral was approved for my MRI, my bouts of memory loss were over. My brain scans were normal. I spoke to my neurologist about my journey, and he confessed: he also microdosed. The word is out.

So, what next? It’s been 2.5 years since my journey with microdosing began. To be honest, maybe only half of the time I have been studying this medicine have I been consuming it. Unlike pharmaceutical medicine, the goal of Earth-based medicine is not to continue to need it. I take it off and on -following my own protocol- enjoying the therapeutic effects and heightened self-awareness, which continue to astound me.

Alongside my traditional education, studying substance abuse disorders, I’m excited to announce that I recently enrolled in the first-ever cohort of Microdosing Facilitators to be trained by Dr. James Fadiman (among a team of therapists, indigenous teachers, mycologists, microbiologists, addiction specialists, neurologists, and pharmacologists). My passion remains for Grief Work, however, grief takes many forms and there are many modalities for working with grief, microdosing being an excellent tool. Incorporating this medicine in Grief Work will allow for neural plasticity, creating openings and receptivity for acceptance and possibility. This training will enable me to ethically and legally support others in their curiosity, education, preparation, and integration journey with microdosing psilocybin medicine. I will be trained to identify contraindications, support others in weaning off of SSRI medication as well as other addictive substances, and develop bio-individual protocols. I will complete my certification in November, celebrate with a long-overdue trip to my beloved Bali, and return ready to hit the ground running as a Certified Microdosing Facilitator and Grief Support Specialist.

Whew.

It’s been a long time since I have shared a solid update. Life is busy and full, but I hope to keep you posted on this specific journey. That’s all for now.