Plant medicines, Breath-work — the key to unlocking our real power?

Get out of your way, the world beckons and distracts you, the thieves of attention.

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’ve invested in personal development for many years, which is a direct link into my professional development. Let me come right out and say it. I’ve tried it all, and I love all of it. Meditation & mindfulness, intuitive coaching, authenticity in leadership, retreats, 1:1 calls. Then there’s the plants: Ayahuasca & Psilocybin, a direct connection to Source (call this God, the Universe, the One, Oneness, Spirit). And then there’s breath-work. If it’s an opportunity to delve deeper into my Being, I’m there.

Before we get started:

1. These experiences are deeply sacred spaces for me; they’re not recreational. Intention, presence and the creating a safe, quiet and ritual space is essential. I won’t trust just anyone to guide me. It’s that sacred that I do my homework, I ask questions, I connect deeply. During almost every experience, I’ve met God.

2. While research suggests promising mental health benefits, this article chronicles my own personal experiences, perspectives and research - nothing here should not be taken as advice medical or otherwise.

All of this is work is done so I can live a life from the inside out, a full life led from authenticity, so that at any time, I can return to my core. The ‘work’ grounds me into a sense of place, of connectedness, of meaning, all of which the world outside does everything to take away from us.

In our full and distracted lives, it's easy to lose touch with our Being. External voices constantly clamour for attention, keeping us trapped in superficial roles and constructed identities. Ancient practices offer paths back to the sacred self hidden beneath the many intricately constructed layers. Psychedelic medicines and conscious breathing invite us to peel away the ego and reconnect to our true nature and purpose.

Plant medicines like ayahuasca and psilocybin provide glimpses into vaster realities. As Terence McKenna says, psychedelics are "cultural options that shatter the cultural programming," and, “Psychedelics can dissolve cultural conditioning and accelerate the development of imagination and creativity”. By temporarily dissolving the illusion of a fixed self, we reveal our interconnectedness; we taste the infinite potential dwelling within, we see God. Barriers drop, allowing our suppressed Being to emerge for self-acceptance and for healing.

In a world asking you to consume, so it can consume you in return, the deep exploration of self and the uncovering of who we genuinely are is the ultimate act of rebellion.

Explore uncharted inner territory, surrendered to whatever awaits. Traversing the psyche's shadowy jungles can be challenging, even terrifying, but with proper guidance (from someone who’s experienced to guide), we gain self-knowledge as our egoic armour softens. We can re-emerge feeling more love toward ourselves and toward others.

Modern science is affirming psychedelics' therapeutic value for depression, addiction and trauma. Research shows psilocybin can "open a window" of neuroplasticity allowing more flexible thought patterns to take root, quieting the harsh inner critic, calming the monkey mind. fMRI scans reveal psychedelics can temporarily reduce brain area activity linked with depressing rumination. People report lasting boosts in openness, creativity and wellbeing.

But peak experiences are simply glimpses into new dimensions, dimensions that we can’t see with our eyes, only with our hearts. Taking insights and applying them to our daily life is where the magic is. Healing mandalas and vision boards mean very little if we don't actualise our wholeness. As philosopher Alan Watts cautioned, “Once you get the message, hang up the phone.” Psychedelics let us glimpse our divine nature, but living it takes daily practice, it takes rigour and it requires consciousness — again, the most rebellious act we can make in a world that seeks to consume us, is to become fully present and conscious as the thieves of attention knock on every door and window.

Conscious breathing is vital for the integration of insight. While psychedelics unveil reality's infinite realms and layers, breathwork can also do this, and it also grounds us in the present moment. We breathe constantly and unconsciously. Turning attention to its rise and fall of our breath keeps us anchored in our bodies. Observing each breath pair slows our thoughts. The mind stills, allowing us to listen to the murmurs of our soul.

When we're calm and present, intuition whispers guidance. Sometimes intuition whispers and as with Ayahuasca and Psilocybin, sometimes the intuitive hits are just that — a Hadouken punch to the soul. Unlike the fighter games, these gut punches are always delivered with love and meaning, the delivery of these messages are to ensure that our actions align with our values, not to external pressures. Responding mindfully reduces suffering for ourselves and others. Conscious breathing lets us embody the revelations of the journeys undertaken.

Breathwork also provides direct spiritual connection; I can vouch for this. In ancient cultures from Greece to Tibet, breathing techniques were sacraments revealing the sacred self. The Sanskrit word for breath and spirit are identical: prana. Regulated breathing taps the parasympathetic nervous system, inducing peaceful and highly receptive states. As the breathwork facilitators work their magic, stillness ensues and our constructed identity dissolves and the connection to the dimensions that we can’t see with our eyes.

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." - Carl Jung

Modern science confirms breathing's profound effects. Studies show yogic breathing balances the autonomic nervous system, reducing inflammation and stress. MRI scans reveal that breathing can synchronise brain networks, a marker of advanced meditation states. I’ve practised breathwork a number of times now; the depth and the flow of breath creates an electrical current and it’s visceral; studies show it’s measured as brainwaves on an electroencephalograph. Conscious breathwork helps us enter incredible frequency states, akin to deep meditation or a journey with plants.

In our sped up world, we don’t think about our breath until we feel strained or anxious. When our breath is laboured, so too is our spirit. To open fully, our lungs need to expand freely.

Breathword and plant medicines unite in ritual to reveal our true divine identity. Psychedelics dissolve limiting stories thrust upon us by the world. Breathwork anchors us in the present, letting our inner wisdom shine. Their synergy strips away fiction, exposing our core essence.

Yet inspiration without disciplined embodiment is pointless. Once glimpsed, our sacred nature has to be nurtured through practice; that’s what is referred to as integration.

Integration is fucking hard work, but it’s worthwhile fucking hard work. Not only do we shed layers of identity that aren’t ours to own, we also zoom back into current reality and are forced to take stock; is that thing serving me? Is that person aligned? Am I my best self when I’m in this crowd? Have I shown up in my full power?

Breath by breath, we recreate ourselves and our world.

Our crowded world needs people ready to heal humanity and the planet. Yet being of service to the world can only happen by tending our inner realms. Appreciating our intrinsic worth lets our gifts shine freely. Renewing our nervous system through breathwork renews our energy for engaging skilfully with all life.

Breathwork, plant medicines and meditation alone can’t sustain an awakened life. Returning to mundane reality (yes, it’s mundane when the kaleidoscopic journeys into other realms fades), we need to go from insight into action. Integrating your visionary knowledge into practical work.

Embrace the whole, not just the glimpse. Embrace the magic and find it in the mundane moments. Make each breath, step and act a prayer of progress. Channel inspiration into endless service. Reflect this boundless light shining within outwards. Be a prism of possibilities, a kaleidoscope of love.

The temple was never lost, only masked. Breathe freely again in this living sanctuary called Planet Earth. Embrace life and all its quirks, ups, downs, swings and roundabouts.

Tap into a reality that you can’t see with your eyes. Because once you see it, you’ve seen God. And when you see God, you realise it was you all along. God looking back at you, through you at God.

We’re at a precipice; what world do we choose to create? Or do we sit back and allow the world around us to create a reality that we know we could have altered.

Shall we?

(If you’d like to meet Meditation coaches and Breathwork practitioners, happy to have a chat)

With love,
Charbel

AI generated image: Here’s the prompt I used (from the poem below) “All that we see or seemIs but a dream within a dream.”

Dream Within a Dream, by Edgar Allen Poe

”Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?”