Psychedelic Work

The earth has entered a new epoch – one defined by significant shifts in our consciousness. Massive changes are underway, and they’re unrelenting. They must be. Life as we have known it is not sustainable. For those awakened to this evolutionary shift, you’re likely tracking this with a curious and open heart. For those not yet aware, this can be a time of great angst, even fear, because all that we have known, is ending. There is no resisting this…these are the heaves and groans of a dying paradigm.

What’s required…
is deep healing that focuses squarely on how we relate to ourselves, to the feminine, to society, and to the natural world.

The map
To assist us, many ancient and novel practices are being employed, perhaps re-created, and certainly resurrected. Psychedelic medicines are one such guide. They are designed, it seems, for these very times. These incredible plant allies show us where we have work to do. They take us in hand, and lead us into the depths of our psyche where we begin to see “what’s there?” What wounds lay unresolved and festering in the underworld? What parts carry the burden of our injuries? What lives in the shadows? And, what light awaits our discovery…because we are all of it. The medicine makes this known to us.

Through this work, we learn how to shift our perspectives and open our defended hearts once more. We learn to soften, to surrender, to cry, to laugh, and to love our fragmented self back into wholeness. And sometimes, we’re guided into mystical realms where we touch the grace that is this life, and we remember that love is all that matters. And we are sustained. 

Scroll down for a full list of offerings.

The practice
Indigenous peoples have worked with sacred plant medicines for centuries. “Magic” mushrooms, Cannabis Sativa, Ayahuasca, Peyote, Ibogaine, 5Meo-DMT…all are given to us by the natural world. They are potent healers and teachers that deserve respect. Native cultures have always understood this. Their reverence for these sacred plant allies birthed ancient ceremonial practices that serve as containers, enabling journeyers to travel into realms of deep healing and consciousness expansion. To desacralize this practice risks diluting our connection to the spirit of the plant – and its the essence of the plant that makes it so potent.

The Centre for Medicinal Mindfulness (CMM) in Boulder, Colorado understands this. Their adoption of a transpersonal and alchemical approach to this work has birthed a sacred practice that is deeply ceremonial and  non-appropriating. In 2023 I completed training with CMM, becoming a Credentialed Sitter and Guide Cannabis Assisted Breathwork Facilitator. For more information on the Centre for Medicinal Mindfulness and their training program, see: https://medicinalmindfulness.org/.

Today I work with Cannabis as a legal psychedelic. When used mindfully, with clear intentions (set), and in the safe container of a ceremonial space (setting), Cannabis can be a potent somatic psychedelic with capacity to release deeply held trauma from the body. My work as a sitter and guide is supported by a background in transpersonal psychology, Transformational Coaching, shadow work, mindfulness & compassion practices, Hakomi training, energy practices, and most recently, potent explorations involving the divine/ feminine principle and dark goddess.  These have been ideal primers for this work.

The offerings
NOTE: All participants are required to bring their own medicine to journey experiences. Details are reviewed during the intake process.

ONE: Psychedelic Prep & Integration Coaching (PPIC) 
PPIC augments my work as a Transformational Coach. It focuses on clients who need help preparing for a sacred plant medicine experience, as well as those who have journeyed and need help integrating what they’ve experienced. Intention setting helps to create a container for the experience, whereas integration helps to process and make meaning of insights gained. This is where true healing becomes possible. To arrange a session or a free Discovery Call see Contact.

TWO: Cannabis-Assisted Meditation NEW*
This powerful offering employs a low or psycholytic dose of a cannabis edible in combination with a guided meditation practice, and an integration activity. The “soul loosening” quality of a psycholytic dose helps clients to access repressed material  from their personal unconscious (primarily), and to integrate insights as a simultaneous process – a potent hallmark of this experience. Sessions are conducted in small groups. See Workshops and Retreats for details. If 1:1 work is preferred, see Contact.

THREE: Psychedelic Cannabis Circles
Virtual circles are offered monthly.
See https://neumacentre.com/classes/ for Sampler experiences.
To learn more about psychedelics see https://neumacentre.com/foundations/ for the Foundations course.

FOUR: Breathwork Circles NEW*
Circular breathing practice done with awareness and intent, creates a state of charged equilibrium in the nervous system. Awareness becomes altered, and we gain access to a transpersonal or higher state of consciousness where insights and new perspectives become available to us. This breathwork offering is modelled after CMM’s Cannabis-Assisted Breathwork (CABW) practice (see below). Sessions are conducted in small groups, in-person and online. See Workshops and Retreats for details. If 1:1 work is preferred, or if interested in CABW, see Contact.

Cannabis-Assisted Breathwork IN BRIEF*
This powerful practice combines Cannabis and Breathwork for an enhanced psychedelic experience. This combination of modalities is a powerful means of deepening into the work of healing and self-discovery. Journeyers are guided throughout this process in a safe and supported container. Offerings can be virtual or in-person. To arrange  Contact Denise.

FIVE: Workshops & Retreats
1) The 9 Gates Project features a Cannabis Circle (CC) as an integration element. See: https://express.adobe.com/page/hdA8Nrfn5c8Wq
2) Sacred Plant Medicine Ceremonies are central to women’s retreats and healing circles. See Workshops & Retreats for details.

As other medicine options come online, offerings may expand. To date, training with Therapsil (Canada) has initiated the process of working with psilocybin as a medicine for end-of-life-care. This option is not currently available for bookings.

The Medicine
Reframing Cannabis
Cannabis Sativa has been a maligned medicine for decades. Instigated by the “war on drugs”, she became stigmatized despite centuries of use as a potent healing agent. The work of Daniel McQueen at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness is serving to dispel this fallacy. Through the efforts of this organization, Cannabis is returning to her rightful place as a sacred somatic plant medicine.

For those with a history of recreational Cannabis use, working with the spirit of Cannabis Sativa in a ceremonial context tends to transform how the medicine is received. The openings can be profound, with even the most seasoned user often surprised by the potency and capacity of Cannabis for deep healing. For more details on the benefits of Cannabis see “Is cannabis a psychedelic?” written by Emma Stone of Leafly: https://www.leafly.com/learn/psychedelics/is-weed-a-psychedelic

Sitting and Guiding: The basics
What is Psychedelic Sitter?
A sitter is someone who stays in contact with another person’s process while they are fully immersed in their journey, ensuring safety and holding space. As a sitter, I’ve been trained to use my nervous system to help co-regulate journey space for travelers, remaining grounded, calm, and resilient throughout the session.

What is a Psychedelic Guide?
Guide work by contrast, involves helping someone go deeper into their experience and so, more engagement can be expected during the journey. A sitter allows what’s emerging, to emerge. A guide helps the traveler to do something they wouldn’t do without support. This is achieved through use of a specific skillset that serves to deepen and enhance the experience.