(This started in an Instagram post)
Seems obvious now, I know! But it took me a while to realise the connection between the word Integration (one of my favourites, as anyone who has journeyed with me will know) and Integrity…
And finally realising it, further strengthened my already strong belief in the power and necessity of Integration - for everything we uncover in all our journeys in life (not just the psychedelic ones)…
So, we are all living and behaving in a particular way - as if the world IS a certain way and we ARE a certain way - based on our inherited and embedded beliefs (conscious and unconscious).
And then we uncover a deeper truth, a greater understanding, a more whole knowing of Self/the Universe (something the mushrooms are great at assisting in - often with massive shifts).
But then we return to our everyday routines and continue to act the same way because it is the comfortable discomfort we ‘know’… The path of least resistance - the safe and easy… Although with increasing dis-ease as the discord between our actions and our higher Truth grow…
For NOW we are NOT living in Integrity - we have not integrated this knowing into our life…
And that’s the work we have to do to honour the gifts we have uncovered…
And it takes time and patience and usually some sort of daily practice to embed it…
As I say after ceremony “now is when the hard work begins…” (but it doesn’t have to be heavy!)
Sure, sometimes the integration can’t help but happen spontaneously - huge shifts immediately happen in our lives to account for new knowings… People or work or behaviours fall away - you find yourself in a new way of being spontaneously… (Which in itself may well need integration!)
But all too often, we manage to slip back into unconscious ways of being - out of habit. We put those awkward and often uncomfortable revelations back “under the bed” and continue to play out the same patterns of behaviour - and that’s when the disconnect from our true alignment/authenticity happens…
And that’s dimming our light, creating painful situations and not ultimately standing in our truth…
And it’s ok that it is a process and that it takes time.
It is often a deep disruption of your known reality - a shift of some core truth that has formed who you believe you are for decades and is thus completely intertwined in how you perceive of/act in the world…
On a collective consciousness level, we are still integrating the knowledge quantum physics has proved to us (and all indigenous cultures Know) - for example the laws of coherence and the observer effect (if you want to know more about this listen to my podcast Embodying Spirit, episode 1.) When we truly integrate this knowledge, we will not need the Internet - because we will be able to access the “Omninet” of interconnected energy we are all a part of - to access any information or connection anywhere, anytime (as the Akashics have always known possible).
People say a psychedelic journey can be equivalent to 15 years of therapy - I say, ONLY if you do the integration work - otherwise it’s a trip to the stars to show you are more than just this… Which can also be life changing if you allow it, but most of us benefit from exploring the material, the findings and the implications of our discoveries more deeply.
It is not a quick fix- it is a lifestyle choice - it is a commitment to your highest self - it is anti-consumerist - it is slow healing - it is daily reminders to wake up to the full Truth of yourself/the Universe and explore it - it is living the Knowing that true happiness comes only from within, and so that’s the most sacred work to be done.
It’s the slow chipping away at the distortions you have inherited collectively and personally to re-member who you are at your core - in your essence - and learning how to be in the ever shifting authentic expression of that self, as you surrender to the processes you choose to “come home” to…
It’s about bringing it into more than just knowing cerebrally - how do we embody this new knowing?
How do we feel it in our bodies?
How do we allow its truth to be present in our daily lives?
How does it permeate our interactions and relationships?
How does it inform our choices and ways of acting in the world?
How does it bring us closer to aligning with our life’s purpose?
This can be big stuff when having huge epiphanies in psychedelic therapy…
Embodied Arts practices are key to allowing new knowing to drop down into our beings and lived experiences and therefore ultimately the reality we are manifesting.
They allow us to explore new ways of being - integrated; integral ways of holding this vaster Truth…
I always say after ceremony, that one of the reasons the world is struggling, is that we have forgotten we are all Artists - not as something to sell or get fame from - not within the Capitalist understanding of the word - but Artists because we can find embodied forms of expression to process our experiences in the world - in fact, we find great joy, connection, wisdom and peace in doing so…
Dance your journey - at home, round a fire, at an ecstatic dance…
Paint your journey - with hands - in mud - however works for you…
Make land art - mould clay - play with sand on the beach…
Sing to the forest - sing in the shower and the car - sing to open your heart to your ancestors and allow them to sing through you…
And if you set the intention to process a journey through any of the above - you will be amazed at what will come up…
This is why I also want to live in conscious community at Rainbow Moon, so that we can all support each other in these daily integration practices which allow us to grow gracefully into our new knowings, for most of us have lost the support of a conscious community around us for taking psychedelics or doing any big emotional/spiritual work.
So we have to create our own communities of support. That is also why we offer so many integration processes from conscious dance to voice activation to Emotion Yoga to the LOVER event and of course sound journeys, as ways to deepen somatic integration.
AND, as much as I am grateful for having accessed so many embodied modalities to support my Integration, NOTHING can replace the most basic and (for me) challenging practice of sitting with oneself in Meditation… This is, in fact, what all the physical yoga practices are traditionally training you to be able to do!
I will be forever grateful to psychedelics for showing me where 10000s of hours of meditation will get me without them! It gives me deep motivation to continue my meditation practice daily - it is where so much daily and unseen world integration happens… It is the central connection to the “Mothership” - the Oneness - consciousness itself - both through and beyond the body - as well as being the purest mirror of Self.
But there is another side to Integration, and one I was less focused on until more recently - and that is having one on one support in the form of some sort of therapist/coach/guide with whom you can fully unpack your journey…
I have been gifted a deeply talented heartfullness & wellbeing coach as a best friend, fellow psychonaut & colleague, and so I guess I was spoiled in my access to one on one talking - based integration work.
In their essay on psychedelic integration for the ALEF trust, Jorge Branco talks about exactly this need for both the somatic, daily practices AND the one on one therapy.
In indigenous Medexine work, the shaman sometimes warns against sharing your journey with others, however, in our society of hyper-verbal processing, it seems having someone qualified (be it through innate wisdom, experience or practice based qualifications) to soundboard with is vital.
If you are struggling with any kind of integration, psychedelic or otherwise, I cannot recommend Isabel Almeida enough. She can guide you through the process, as well as recommend those somatic practices to work with alone.
This month I am in Goa, India, retreating myself in a monsoon cloud, working on my Integrity… Daily practice… For everyday brings an opportunity to integrate my knowing further into my being…
Living in my integrity & Truth means highly valuing my music, movement, meditation practices and having dedicated time to work on Self, take rest and spend time in nature. So, that is my focus…
I also notice how important my conversations with Isabel are - as a sounding board and guide to help unpack what comes up in journeys mundane and psychedelic!
I think everyone would benefit from having a month to themselves to process themselves and where their at and have space to work on their life path skills and self-align with the revelations of their life over the last while… We all need space to integrate life - regularly!
Whilst here, I am also devising an online Somatic Psychedelic Integration programme, in collaboration with Isabel at Rewire by Heart (link/name will be posted when available).
It is designed for people going on a guided journey or journeying solo to have a structured and supported programme to prepare for and process their experience.
12 sessions (6 pre/6 post) mix sections on Mind, Medexine, Mystery & Movement, to create a container of somatic practices, meditations, guidance, journaling, practical preparations, reflections, ancient knowledge, woven cosmo-visions, grounding and processing tools. Through a series of videos, audios, text, interactive exercises and opportunites for deeper exploration, we aim to really hold people through, and expand their experiences of, their journeys.
We are super excited to launch this next year (2025), and I will offer it to all my ceremony participants.
Please get in touch if you would like to be out in the waiting list!
Our neural pathways are so engrained that it has to become an active process of rewiring somehow - without forcing or judging where we are at!
If we want to live in integrity with our highest Truth - if we want to grow into our best selves - if we don’t want to leave it up to fate to see if we’ll just shift spontaneously - then this is the ‘work’ to be done -
And it can be fun!
Get in touch if you need help integrating anything.
