How to Change Your Mind: Psychedelic Science

Michael Pollan (Change Your Mind); Ananda M., Dhr. Seven, C. Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (May 15, 2018)

.

Base of consciousness=heart

It's a #1 New York Times bestseller! From the acclaimed author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, this is a brave and brilliant investigation.

 

It looks into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs -- and the spellbinding story of Michael Pollan's own life-changing psychedelic experiences.

When he set out to research how ENTHEOGENS like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief.

They can be used to help people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book.

But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third.

So began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists.

Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s.

That's when a handful of psychedelic promoters inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism.

Electric Kool-Aid Acid, man. Thanks, CIA.

By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world.

 

The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic [psyche = mind or soul, delic = making] drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives. More