The Path Inward: A Beginner's Guide to Psilocybin Mushrooms

oran: Konnichiwa and welcome everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm your host, Oran Brazington, and this is the Authentic Truth Podcast. A couple things before I get started. If you would please take a moment to like, rate, follow, and share the show to others, it would be greatly appreciated and will help you stay up to date on new and upcoming episodes. as well as help me spread these important messages to others. I'm also making video for the show from here on out. So it is also available on YouTube. So please subscribe if you'd like also. YouTube listeners out there, feel free to check out my other episodes. I just started doing video but I can without hesitation. Assure you that the other episodes that I made that don't have video are real gems as well. I did my best to create this podcast to inspire others, not to just entertain. In a world where people are longing for real meaning and purpose in their lives, is the very reason I do and get to do this. Every episode is custom-tailored to shed light. On topics most of us struggle with. I struggled for close to 30 years on all of the topics I have covered so far, which is why I'm so passionate about it. I just decided one day that I'm not going to live my life that way anymore. I just decided one day that I'm not going to live my life that way anymore. This episode is about using the power of the earth's medicine, psilocybin. To heal and grow. This is a beginner's guide written by an advanced user. Me. I'm not going to talk about this with arrogance, but with a humble tone and voice to a subject few have a lot of answers to. I'll do my best to explain the science and facts of the miracle known as. I'll do my best to explain the science and facts of the miracle known as magic mushrooms or psilocybin and how it can transform your entire life for the better and can help you to get sober and stay sober from alcohol, as well as free you from pharmaceutical mental health drugs as well as potentially cure, as well as potentially cure anxiety and depression symptoms. I'll start with a brief backstory and then we will jump right into it. I'll start with a brief backstory and then jump right into how I I'll start with a brief backstory and then jump right into how I began this walk to I'll start with a brief backstory and then jump right into how I began this walk to deep inner freedom. Let's get started. We all get the opportunity each we all get the opportunity each and every day to make an important choice. Do we continue in the direction we are currently going? Or are we going to change paths and choose a whole new trajectory? Or are we going to change paths and choose a whole new trajectory in our lives? In my mid-30s, this echoed numerous times very in my mid-30s, this echoed numerous times very loudly, and I contemplated it often. My girlfriend at the time made me see a very strong female counselor. Which was my first and only time going to therapy at this point in my life, even though I so desperately needed it. I tried as hard, I tried as hard as I knew how to enact drastic change, but kept hitting roadblock after roadblock. I tried journaling, small stints of sobriety from alcohol. I was at my wit's end. And consume books and podcasts about becoming a new and better person to find this change that I so desperately needed and wanted. This desire for growth drove me to try some powerful things. I struggled with sleep and needed melatonin every night to even catch a rare. I struggled with sleep and needed melatonin to even catch a rare glimpse of rest. My career was very stressful, so finding peace and connection was seemingly impossible. I tried meditating, but found that was next to impossible as well, as I could not turn my mind off for the life of me or even quiet it for that matter. I lived completely in my head, which reflecting back today caused me a massive amount of suffering and deep pain inside. My relationships were falling apart, and I became a stranger to most of my family. Those who really knew me back then could attest that I was just a mere shadow of a person and a man. I was desperate and needed guidance, but it felt like I lived in a prison. And I later came to and I later came to the deep realization that I had created it. And was the only one with the master key to freedom. I spent many nights crying myself to sleep, begging the higher powers that be to help me and give me guidance. My thoughts of suicide were a weekly occurrence. And I would not have cared if I got in a car wreck and died headed into the and I would not have cared if I got into a car wreck and died headed into the job. I would soon later find I had completely outgrown. I had a I had ex I had experimented with suicide and psychedelics. I had experimented With psilocybin psychedelic mushrooms, a few times as a rebellious kid, and had strong experiences, and even one that was so strong that it scared me so bad I stopped messing with it for almost 10 years. I read books by Terence McKenna, who deep dived into this topic and is a pioneer on the entire subject, as well as his brother, Dennis McKenna. Dennis Holds a PhD in botanical sciences from the University of British Columbia. I read a book by Terence that stated psilocybin had powerful effects in changing a person's thoughts and mind itself, as well as help the user almost eliminate their anxiety and depression with a strict therapeutic use protocol. I'd read about therapists using this powerful stuff to help patients have amazing. Life-altering breakthroughs to overcome PTSD and severe trauma. And I craved that as much as I needed the air itself. Terrence and Dennis supported and support this information. Dennis is still alive, and Terrence sadly passed away in the year 2000. Their books and podcasts inspired me to try their methods. Their books And podcasts that they appeared on inspired me to try their methods. Terrence was a strong advocate. Terrence was a strong advocate of taking very large doses. He coined heroic doses. He coined heroic doses, which he stated many times had the best healing effects in his strong and very educated opinion. Dennis supports. Dennis support Dennis supports this and states on a podcast. I heard Dennis supports this and states on a podcast I heard with him and Jordan Peterson that a heroic dose can have the same effects as an ayahuasca ceremony if done correctly. Let's start with the basics. This stuff is extremely powerful. And should be researched and read heavily about before taking very large doses. This stuff is extremely powerful and should be researched. This stuff is extremely powerful and should be researched and read heavily before taking very large doses. Start small and by small, keep it under two grams. Go by a scale and be very vigilant in the amounts that you choose to consume. You can take small doses and hang out at the beach. Or go to a concert or event and you will have an amazing time. And I recommend that you do so. Do not consume and operate a vehicle or mix with alcohol or marijuana, please. Mixing it with other substances muddies up the profound effects. The best part: no hangover, and you will often feel clearer headed than the day before. Something alcohol Absolutely cannot attest to. Be cautious, but enjoy them in small amounts. Microdosing has massive effects and benefits that can help your brain carve new neural pathways by creating neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change, adapt, and reorganize itself throughout your life. Neurons that fire together wire together. Microdosing helped me get off of my SSRI medication after twenty-three years. I have an episode I have an entire epi. Microdosing helped me get off of my SSRI antidepressant medication after 23 years. I have an entire episode about how to come off of them safely in the I have an entire episode about how to come off of them safely in the episode titled The Courage to Feel Again. Check it out. It has great advice on how to start weaning yourself off of the doses, as well as states the common side effects of staying on them, as well as how dangerous the side effects of withdrawal can be if not done with a professional's guidance. Back to the subject again. Back to the subject Back the subject at hand. I watched a few documentaries about this compound from Paul Stamitz and other world renowned researchers on the subject of psychedelic mushrooms and the unique properties and effects of them. In a few shows that I watched, they said the experiences can be calm and mild, and with larger doses can be so that it ⁓ that it can be and with larger doses can be so profound that it can be akin Can be so profound that it can be akin to a near death experience or as powerful or more so than than the gift of bringing a ⁓ experience or as powerful or more so than the gift of bringing a child into this world. As a quick side note, buy the best ones you can afford. I'd stick with penis envy or a cross strain of them. If you have access to better ones, then that's great. Experiences if you have access, if you have access to ones that are better than that, that's good. Great experiences stem from excellent genetics. And ones that are grown for quality, not quantity. Anyone can grow them, but few can grow truly amazing stuff. You want the most powerful ones you can get. I knew I needed this and was willing to jump in head first. Words of caution before we go any further. What I did was extreme, and I want you all to be careful with this stuff, as it is not to be trifled with. It should be encountered and experienced with deep respect and reverence. I I'd say ⁓ I'd say I was and am a very experienced user. I went into it even though it scared me to death at times. This episode is about how to start and eventually get up to the bigger doses and experiences to attain the massive benefits therein. It is all about set and setting with this stuff. Do it in a safe place such as your home or in a cabin in the forest or desert. Only do it with people you trust that are calm and won't trigger you with anger or other upsetting rhetoric. There are practicing and licensed facilitators doing this work worldwide. So reach out to one of them if you want to jump right into it. Here is a key to doing very large doses that in my experience help me have monumental breakthroughs in my path to becoming a healed person, man, and human being. Heroic doses are five grams plus and should be approached with deep humility and respect. Disrespecting these big doses will cause you to potentially have a terrible time and may cause you to become incredibly upset as well. And may cause you to become incredibly upset as well. And may cause you to have. Disrespecting these big doses will cause you to potentially have a terrible time. It may and may cause you to become extremely upset. After a lot of experience, you can shift out of a bad experience. After a lot of practice, you can shift out of a bad experience with focusing on your breath and feeling your heartbeat to ground yourself. I did all of my journeys alone in a dark room, laying down in the darkness and putting my AirPods in, with relaxing meditation music to soothe and calm me. This is key. Dark room with calm music. Start by relaxing and just let the medicine do its work. The best advice I can give new users is to just flow and become entirely consumed by it. Imagine floating in a strong river. If you fight the current, you will drown. So just go with it. Even if it gets very dark, it is showing you what you need to see. These glimpses are often the things that are holding you back in your life. Look at it as the universe in creation is look at it as the universe and creation itself showing you what you need to let go of and deeply embrace it. Letting go is key to any serious. Letting go is key to any serious growth. Letting go is key. To any serious growth in life. Lean into this strongly and with courage. Taking big doses to watch the walls melt or watch a scary movie is disrespectful to this powerful substance and will keep really meaningful insights far away from you. This therapeutic approach that I am talking about is how I made gigantic leaps forward. Let's continue. I'll share one of my first profound experiences on this incredible stuff. I was 35 and took a heroic dose of five grams, give or take. I laid in bed and listened to some amazing Solfeggio meditation music set at 4:30 set at 432 Hertz. And was soon so at peace. The visuals were incredible. As I laid there with my eyes closed. That is very important. Eyes shut. It is a beautiful experience to behold. You are witnessing the majesty of divine consciousness itself. It was incredible. Hours later I felt uncomfortable and even very anxious. It was so unfamiliar and was a bit scary, if I can be honest. I wanted it to stop, but knew that there was no off switch. I was in it, and all I could do was experience it. I decided to grab my fan. I decided to grab my fan, which I to this day cannot sleep without, and had it blow a calm breeze across my face as I laid in my dark room, which helped calm me. Curled up into a fetal position, I curled up into a fetal position and just focused on my breathing. Breathing in and breathing out. Then the unimaginable happened. The medicine, in all of its sacredness, I can assure you that it is very sacred and ancient, as mushrooms are all. As mushrooms are older than most life on earth, and some of the biggest mycelium growths ever recorded are considered by science as the largest living organisms on earth as they can be up to 3.7 miles square in size. The medicine took my life. At this point in my life, every day was painful, and to be able to finally free myself from it, I accepted the invitation. Dying is easier than falling asleep, I discovered. As I laid there, I slipped past the veil of something spectacular and magnificent. I felt the bliss I had never experienced before or even remembered. I felt absolute. Peace itself. I cried, tears of joy, as it sung to my very soul. Imagine that in our human form, imagine that in our imagine that in our human form you are a 16-ounce cup of the ocean. When you enter what I am talking about, you are poured back and you are the ocean itself. I was whole again at that moment, without lack or imperfection. I had no wants or desires because in this death this deep remembering, because in this death, this deep remembering, I was complete in each and every way. It sung to my very being. I was peace itself. Then I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, life itself had such a brighter, crisper appearance. I was speechless. I felt lighter than I could even have remembered. I felt lighter than I even I felt lighter than I could even remember. The definition of fluidity itself. I knew I had experienced something amazing. I had a I had attained I had attained my first ego death. An ego death is a profound psychological experience in which an ego death is a profound psychological experience in which a person's usual sense of being is separate. Your sense of who you even are Are dissolved into the divine ether itself, into the divine ether itself. Boundaries, obstacles, and limitations that we so often place upon ourselves can disappear entirely, temporarily, and in some instances stay dissolved forever, stay dissolved forever. Giving the witness of the experience a sense of clarity. They have only giving the witness of the experience a sense of clarity they have only dreamed of or imagined in deep thought or meditation. I was so happy I could have ran down the street and yelled to the sky to celebrate. I knew I had done something spectacular. I got my first real glimpse of what actual growth was. And it was glorious. In the words of one of the smartest men to live in our lifetime, Carl Jung, who was a groundbreaking Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, who studied the mind, dreams, and consciousness itself. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. End quote, in order to truly live, you have to be willing to die a few times. I strongly agree that the cost of a new life you are chasing is I strongly agree that the cost of the new life you are chasing and longing for is your old one. You simply have to let go of the rope you are so strongly clinging to. True growth is very scary. And yet, people will cling to a life that is tragic and devoid of much meaning and purpose. The thought of letting go of it terrifies us. But why? Just as a snake sheds a skin, we must let go of our past versions of ourselves to more fully step into a more balanced and fruitful life hereafter. Clinging to material things or relationships that are bad for us. Is the old way of thinking. Is the old way of thinking. I'm writing and speaking these words to talk about a new way of thinking. That so many that so many That so many pioneers write books about. The time to grow is here and now. Don't wait for the perfect opportunity to start because a hard fact that I learned the hard way is there never will be one. Is there will never be one. Starting is key to everything worthwhile, and personal growth is no different. You just have to start. Psilocybin and other powerful plant medicines are not an instant end all to suffering. After you experience something otherworldly or profound, take it as an opportunity to start cultivating the means to a new you and a completely New life. You can close this chapter of your life and past. You can close this chapter of your life and past to finish the book. And then you will have more tools to start an entirely new book and story altogether. I have grown so much with I have grown so much. I have grown so much with the dozens of powerful experiences that I have been fortunate. To have, since I have faced the challenge of doing 20, since I have faced the challenge of doing 20 or so heroic doses myself, I don't even recognize the old version of me anymore. For example, I'm still me at my core. I'm still at my core, the true essence of Oran But rather than Oran 2.0. ⁓ I'm currently Oran 20.0 This the way. Here is another profound experience I saw in a good friend of mine. Here is another profound experience I saw myself in a good friend of mine. My friend ⁓ My and ⁓ my and on my friend and on one occasion. My co-worker, who struggled with alcohol, who struggled with alcohol, who struggled with alcohol and his self-image, was very overweight. He was a happy, go lucky kind of guy. But I could tell his mind itself was cloudy from drinking and poor lifestyle decisions, and poor lifestyle decisions. We worked together. And he was sadly fired after he made a major mistake on a critical piece of equipment, on a critical piece of equipment that we were installing when I was a Union pipe fitter. He was not present or focused, and it cost him his job, unfortunately. Fast forward two years, I went to his house to visit him. I went to his house to visit him and had not seen him since our untimely. Passing. Our untimely parting. I was shocked at what I witnessed. The chubby kid I knew was gone. He lost a hundred and forty pounds and was utterly unrecognizable. I could tell instantly, I could tell instantly that he was as sharp as a tack as well. I was so surprised. I was so surprised I had to ask him about what happened, and I was just dying with curiosity. His answer? He started microdosing mushrooms and taking small doses. And taking small doses completely, and taking small doses, and this completely transformed his body and his mind, and it completely blew me away. I could tell he was very present, and his tremendous growth really inspired me. This is the kind of change that I'm addressing. This was nothing short of a miracle, and I'm so grateful I even got to witness it. Our mind. Our store our growth and stories are very different. But I hope this inspires those of you that are brave enough to ponder reaching. But I hope this inspires those of you that are, but, I hope this inspires those of you that are brave enough to ponder reaching for a new beginning in your life. This powerful substance has the potential of profound healing if done correctly. My friend and I's stories are very different, and that's for a great reason. I needed the more powerful experiences so I could let go of deep. resonating shame, anger, and guilt that plagued me for decades. It felt like I was carrying it felt like I was carrying around a backpack full of stones that I just could not put down. I tried to outrun it and drink it away, but it was always there until it almost completely destroyed me. Until it almost completely destroyed me. In retrospect, it did destroy me. My friend needed smaller amounts to reinvent himself and did a marvelous job at doing so. This stuff is not an instant fix for most. Oftentimes it brings a heavy awareness to what needs to be addressed, and is a clue there is a massive amount of and is a clue there is a massive amount of work to do to integrate it properly into your life afterwards. This is how you start the process. Alcohol will keep you stuck and depressed because it is just that, a depressant. You will not achieve growth if you drink heavily. Psychedelics, on the other hand, help you heal and grow as a human being to eventually find and keep a more love-filled, meaningful existence that you can be proud to call your own. I created this episode to be a beginner's guide at starting your walk and journey. At starting your walk and journey forward. I have seen and experienced things with this amazing stuff that to this day. have me at a loss for words. I haven't taken them in years because I believe the last time that I did them was a because I believe the last time then that because I believe the last time that I did them was a great time to start, was a great time to stop and start putting in the work to creating the dream life that I the dream life that I am currently blessed to live. Having a life I'm excited to wake up to every morning is something I wish every person on earth could experience. That's why after year, that's why after years of putting off writing a book on this. That's why after years of putting off writing a book on this topic or creating this very episode to address this subject in great detail had to come to an end. The world and human. The world and humanity itself are at a point. The world and humanity itself are at a point now where it is time that I share this. So people can have a roadmap of how to do it correctly and responsibly. Many need deep healing in the world, and it is my humble hope and dream that this insp and it is my humble hope and dream that And it is my humble hope and dream that this inspires and helps you to do so. I believe in each and every person listening and watching this. The effects are real. The power is real. And the hype is everything people have made it, and the hype is everything people have made it out to be, and then some. It is also extremely important to approach this with the deepest amount of gratitude. Be grateful to be alive for your kids, for the very air that you breathe. Doing this stuff and not being grateful will keep profound experiences from happening to you. I have witnessed this myself. Gratitude is extremely powerful in all forms. Gratitude is extremely powerful in all of life. I cannot emphasize this enough. Your excuses of doing great things are just the lies your fear has sold you. Be bold and walk each and every step you take with pride and purpose. Our job in life is to give life a resounding meaning and fulfillment. If you need help visualizing, If you need help visualizing and achieving your goals and dreams, and seek for guidance and direction in attaining them. As an important caveat to this episode, I also run my own personal mastery coaching business and can help you create your life. And can help you create and can help you recreate your life by giving guidance in the difficult journeys. Some of you in the difficult journeys, some of in the difficult journeys, some of you are now in the midst of. I can help guide you on making I can help guide you on making monumental change and growth. I'll leave all of my info in the show notes and would love to connect with you, even if you just need to hear a kind voice and some words of encouragement. To help aid in instilling hope in yourself. Be brave, believe in yourself, and this is the authentic.