The Four Steps: How Psychedelics Help Eating Disorder Recovery
The healing potentials of plant medicines for eating disorders lies in their capacity to support the expansion of our awareness…
…Acceptance that things are always changing, the realignment of what we truly care about and value, and a deepening into our unique embodiment.
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When we combine preparation support that focuses on connecting to the body, learning about the wiring of our own nervous system, establishing grounding resources and tools, and dedicating time to lean into an inspired intention, we can step into the journey space equipped and ready.
The better prepared and well-practiced we are before the journey begins, the easier it is to ride the inevitable waves of change and emotions (energies in motion) that occur when we embark on a journey with plant medicine or psychedelics.
I have been navigating my own eating disorder recovery journey for over 16 years and serendipitously was introduced to plant medicines a few years into my recovery (after receiving quite traditional eating disorder recovery treatment).
At the time, I didn’t know what to expect from these journeys and didn't know how these medicines could support my eating disorder recovery.
In fact, my intention for my very first psychedelic journey was to not look at my eating disorder. Fun fact: I ended up doing some quite deep recovery work but without realizing the nature of the work I had done years later!
However, over time I began to get a sense of the healing potentials of plant medicine - and to this day, I am still learning the about the diverse, magical and mysterious range of potentials.
Some of the important lessons I have learnt from psychedelic journey work include:
Pausing and softening
Trying on a new perspective
Regulating my nervous system
Acceptance and self-compassion
Exploring my body as a resource
Riding the waves of emotion and coming out the other side
These fundamental teachings have helped immensely in navigating the rigid tendrils of the eating disorder.
As many of you know, disordered eating is so much more than food, and as such the skills and resources (as mentioned above) that we add to support our path often needs to speak to the deeper layers that the body is communicating.
I have found sacred plant medicine allies to help me see these deeper, sometimes hidden, layers (individual, generational and collective) that need holding, tending and nourishment; with the greatest form of nourishment being love.
The great healing potential of psychedelics for supporting the healing of eating disorder or disordered eating comes in four key steps:
Expansion of awareness
Acceptance of change
Realignment of values
Deepening into embodiment
The mysterious beauty of plant medicines is that they help us move from a state of narrow focus and rigid thinking to a wider and more flexible way of thinking, leading to an expansion of our awareness.
We can see and think bigger, enable to gain fresh perspective and insights.
With this wider lens, we are reminded of the fundamental nature of life: everything is always in motion and always changing. We find acceptance to be with the change.
Seeing these ebbs and flows helps us be more at ease with our emotional landscape and gives the eating disorder part that wants predictability soften.
As things soften and the layers of hardness fall away, we meet the more vulnerable parts of ourselves - we reconnect with our heart space.
By residing in our hearts, we remember what our soul - not the eating disorder part - truly cares about and value. By aligning with our deeper values, we open up to living our authentic expression, following internal cues rather than marching to external rules.
As this begins take root, we start to feel more at home in our own skin. We deepen into our embodiment. Embodiment is where consciousness and matter intersect. In this case, our consciousness has a soft and receptive place (aka the body) to reside in.
How we feel on the inside matches congruently with how we express ourselves to the outside. Relating to ourselves from the inside out feels nourishing and energizing.
We discover it’s possible to trust the body and tor the body to trust us.
As the journey ends, we water these seeds as part of the integration process, continuing to pave the path of our ever-evolving transformation.
Photo by Samuel Isaac on Unsplash