Happy 75th Birthday, LSD!
75 years ago today, Albert Hoffmann accidentally created LSD while trying to find a way to stimulate the respiratory system. Riding his bicycle home on the world's first acid trip he realized "one's own reality is by no means something fixed but something ambiguous. There is not only one, but many realities, each comprising a different consciousness of the ego."
Since that fateful day, the world has been growing more curious of experiencing and learning from these different states and realities - especially the attempt to shed our personal ego and grow spiritually. But can we attain these existential experiences without psychoactive compounds?
New healing trends today prove we can. From sensory deprivation tanks and holotropic breathwork to sound healing and deep meditation, there are many ways people are tapping into sober psychedelic states. Whether it's for physical ailments, relaxation, spiritual experience or plain curiousity, people are seeking what lies beyond the consciousness of our mind's ego and perception.
Read my in-depth experience about my first float tank experience below, published by Tourism Saskatoon HERE.
Relaxing in a sensory deprivation tank at Float Now in Saskatoon.
Energy worker Tristan Montoya leading shamanic breathwork above the volcanic waters of Lake Atitlan
At our Momentom Collective Artist Residency at Eagles Nest Retreats in Guatemala we've been offering weekly shamanic breathwork and sound healing. I can say that I've tapped into the same out of body experiences and DMT realms often experienced with ceremonial psychedelics - using simply breath! Intention and being able to commit and surrender to the process are definitely essential for the experience.
Meditation and sound healing have also brought me to some incredible places and headspaces. In my discussions with shaman and medicine women around the world, they always tell me that sound is essential to help transcend spiritually (and to fully utilize plant medicine like the icaros songs during ayahuasca ceremonies). Modern science is proving that all the universe and consciousness is on a micro level is vibrating energy. So it's through sound resonance and our internal frequency where we'll most likely to find our connection with our highest self and the greater whole.
A mayan mural depicting personal transcendence at Eagles Nest Retreats in San Marcos
Of course, sometimes to attain a sober psychedelic state you have to fake it 'til you make it! That might mean dressing up like everyone is tripping bullocks and have a Mad Hatter's Psychedelic Tea party like we did for the Fall Fashion shoot for Solar Opposite Festival Clothing. You don't have to ask me twice to pretend to be a mad hatter!
Or maybe there was some method acting addititves involved...?
Watch the video below and decide yourself :)
Whichever way you can tap into your highest self, inner child or reach a new perspective to attain gratitude for his beautiful reality we live in, do it with a smile and a deep breath!
Happy LSD Day everyone!
Tu Amigo,
-John
A hand drawn insert from my book:
Tales of the Modern Nomad - Monks Mushrooms & Other Misadventures.
To learn more and dive further into the wild and colorful journey of my global psychedelic experiences (like ayahuasca in the amazon, peyote in Mexico and mushrooms in Indonesia), order your hardcover or ebook HERE. Your support is greatly appreciated :)