The Psychedelic Ripple
Psychedelic Waves
You don't have to be a scientist or a psychotherapist to see how psychedelics are making huge waves through the media and minds of advocates. Not only are they showing great promise in helping people with diverse problems in the field of psychotherapy. Also, neuroscientists seem to be flabbergasted about what these compounds can do to our brain activity. It has, for example, the possibility to open up the critical period of the brain again, which is a very interesting reaction these compounds can induce.
The so-called critical period (CP) in neuroscience is the time window when each sensory brain region is more sensitive to changes and adaptations. This time window is usually formed in the first years of a lifetime.
Afterward, it sort of gets shut down to adults and these CPs don't seem to occur anymore, at least not in a sober state. This is where psychedelics come in. The binding of the molecule structure of psychedelic compounds has the probability to open up these critical periods again. As an adult, it can be quite interesting to have these CPs opened up since it creates the possibility to change perceptions of how we think, feel or act.
Most psychedelics work on our serotonin neurotransmitter, which is responsible for modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes.
More specifically, 5HT2A is the active serotonin receptor that psychedelics bind to and open up very different brain activity compared to what we are used to.
Some of these compounds even have the ability to disintegrate the default mode network (DMN, is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering) among other activations. During this disintegration of the DMN, there is a magnificent increase in communication between brain networks that are normally highly segregated. Thus brain activity gets a massive boost.
Several universities have started to do clinical trials and test the reach of these compounds, and it sure is extensive. The potential for positive effects on the human psyche seems to be endless.
So extensive that it is going to be a gradual process of testing, integrating, and writing down outcomes that will create a statistical database that can be used for a variety of reasons.
This database is going to be very important to see how people react to specific compounds and serve as a base of knowledge for further development in the future.
This process is going to take years to get a good understanding of what psychedelics can do to human behavior. But if we work together as a community of advocates I believe that the usage of psychedelic plant medicines is going to serve as a catalyst for better human behavior.
The Ripple Effect
A ripple effect occurs when an initial disturbance to a system propagates outward to disturb an increasingly larger portion of the system, like ripples expanding across the water when an object is dropped into it. This natural phenomenon can be applied to our social structure, since it works in very similar ways.
If you have for example a simple act of kindness, it will affect those who are close to you. In turn, the people you did affect directly will affect other people in their own proximity and so on.
This process is exponential and it can reach much more people than you can comprehend. Therefore I think this ideology is something to keep in mind at all times. At first, it creates small changes but has the potential to get momentum and expand further in an immeasurable way.
You could say that your own actions are unconsciously impacting the world around you. But if we, as humans, are aware of this social phenomenon and consciously act upon it, to spread good energy so it can be useful to other people. Shifting perception on this matter can and will change human behavior for the better.
The system itself will change drastically. So even though you might think that you are insignificant in a vast world where so many people live, actually the opposite is true.
Spreading diverse acts of kindness, compassion and love is going to result in more good energy that is being generated by other people. And therefore it is very important to believe and embody this ripple effect ideology and implement it to create positive ripples in our society rather than negative ripples cause they act in the same way. Being positive creates more positivity and being negative creates more negativity inside the body and mind.
Rather than victimizing yourself for feeling depressed, anxious, or having low self-esteem, try to break the vicious cycle and transcend yourself into a better person altogether. It won't just help yourself feel better but others around you as well. Believe it or not but the world needs your help!
The Psychedelic Effect
The effects of psychedelics are quite extensive, to begin with. But there seems to be an underlying essence of how these compounds make people feel.
But let's stick to the most commonly reported effects psychedelics have on our bodies, minds, and general well-being altogether. Since pharmacological determinism seems to be fundamentally flawed, anthropologists have shown that one type of psychedelic compound may have different effects depending on the set and setting of the user. Next to that, different cultures may have different outcomes. Getting a really specific description of what a psychedelic compound will do to you is very hard since so many factors have to be taken into consideration.
Many of these compounds are experienced as a feeling of connection, love, and compassion towards ourselves and one another. Several testimonials about people who encountered the connection to nature back again. This interconnectedness is something the world desperately needs. To evolve beyond these ideas of individualism or separatism that we tend to take for granted. And start to think, act and feel as a global consciousness. I firmly believe it is going to propel humanity into our next state of consciousness and transcend our current way of human behavior. It is a new phase in the evolution of humanity, that as a species, we are ready for.
The ancient civilizations of the past have been using these compounds for thousands of years spread out over the entire world. They knew already back in those days, the sheer amount of power psychedelics can provide. The Mayans even predicted there would be something huge coming up in 2012, but the media seem to have interpreted this prediction as the end of the world was upon us. Rather than the end of the world, I think they were referring to a global shift in the consciousness of humanity. If you think about it, you can see it is already happening. People start to stand up for their rights and realize that our conditioned minds are trapped in the grasp of society.
Humanity’s potential is much more far-reaching than we can comprehend. There is this notion emerging that nothing is impossible, but I am possible. Taking on this perspective has endless possibilities and therefore we are slowly but surely breaking the boundaries of seeing reality as we observe it. Cause there is much more to life than merely what we can observe with our senses.
There are sounds we can’t hear, colors we can’t see, auras we cant observe and all the energy around us seems invisible. But it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Knowing this, there is much more to life than we might think.
Psychedelics can be used as a tool to show us these new perceptions of life and change our behavior and thinking patterns massively. Although it is very unpredictable what a certain compound is going to show you, your own mindset will shape the “trip” by itself. But there is always a valuable lesson to be learned from these sacred medicines.
For now, these compounds are generally tested on people who have various psychological problems, but I believe they can reach much further than that. Psychedelics do have the potential to even make perfectly healthy people see the world from another point of view.
“Reality is only limited, by your own imagination”