Merkabah | Page 504 | INFJ Forum
Was just invited to give another lecture on Pain perception and Psychedelics with a dash of spirituality, lol.
Very flattering to be sought out!
Much love and enjoy!
I very much hope that the work that you and others are pioneering and championing here leads to this developing into a mainstream set of treatments for managing pain. I think those of us who don’t have a chronic pain problem tend to shut it off from our attention - it’s not an indifference but the way our minds instinctively go ‘there but for the grace of God ...’.

My wife has suffered from severe anxiety related somatic pain for over 40 years. If left untreated her anxiety combined with deep depression becomes utterly debilitating, the pain becomes intolerable and she becomes suicidal - even the slightest stimulation causes the pain to explode even further, meaning that she can’t distract herself. She’s very drug resistant - she’s on a cocktail of antidepressant and antipsychotic stuff that just about keeps her ok most of the time, but which has both physiological and psychological side effects. She’s had extended stays in psychiatric hospitals in four occasions over the years while the medics tried to get a grip on all this.

But here we are - survivors after decades with the problem. It has deeply affected our lives, for both good and ill, mainly the latter. It seems like a taste of hell to me sometimes, but like I say here we are still, and good has come out if it too.

The treatment you are championing sounds like it could be a way of not only helping someone like my wife to manage their illness but maybe to overcome it most if the time and live their lives in a fulfilling and normal way. I doubt it can help us of course because it would be hazardous to use it on top of the stuff she’s already completely dependent on, and we can’t take the risk of actually stopping her current meds which we know from bitter experience is suicidal disaster.

But if it can lead to an effective initial treatment for anyone developing this sort of problem, one that lets them live a normal life free of pain or the ongoing side effects of harsh medications, then you and the other champions of this approach are doing the work of angels.

I hope you are finding some peace and respite yourself. Sending you loads of good vibes <3.
 
I very much hope that the work that you and others are pioneering and championing here leads to this developing into a mainstream set of treatments for managing pain. I think those of us who don’t have a chronic pain problem tend to shut it off from our attention - it’s not an indifference but the way our minds instinctively go ‘there but for the grace of God ...’.

My wife has suffered from severe anxiety related somatic pain for over 40 years. If left untreated her anxiety combined with deep depression becomes utterly debilitating, the pain becomes intolerable and she becomes suicidal - even the slightest stimulation causes the pain to explode even further, meaning that she can’t distract herself. She’s very drug resistant - she’s on a cocktail of antidepressant and antipsychotic stuff that just about keeps her ok most of the time, but which has both physiological and psychological side effects. She’s had extended stays in psychiatric hospitals in four occasions over the years while the medics tried to get a grip on all this.

But here we are - survivors after decades with the problem. It has deeply affected our lives, for both good and ill, mainly the latter. It seems like a taste of hell to me sometimes, but like I say here we are still, and good has come out if it too.

The treatment you are championing sounds like it could be a way of not only helping someone like my wife to manage their illness but maybe to overcome it most if the time and live their lives in a fulfilling and normal way. I doubt it can help us of course because it would be hazardous to use it on top of the stuff she’s already completely dependent on, and we can’t take the risk of actually stopping her current meds which we know from bitter experience is suicidal disaster.

But if it can lead to an effective initial treatment for anyone developing this sort of problem, one that lets them live a normal life free of pain or the ongoing side effects of harsh medications, then you and the other champions of this approach are doing the work of angels.

I hope you are finding some peace and respite yourself. Sending you loads of good vibes <3.

Thank you John.
I totally understand and feel deeply for what you and your wife have endured.
I wish I could help your wife and potentially see if such a treatment with psilocybin could possibly make a difference for her.
Originally I sought it out because of my own debilitating anxiety that arose after becoming disabled and severely depressed.
My own lifelong depression was always treatment resistant...there has never been an antidepressant that has done anything positive for me whatsoever.
Usually it was only negative side-effects.
When the anxiety popped up and got to the level of not being able to speak to a bill collector over the phone without losing my breath...when it was a physical burning tightness in my chest that made me want to jump out of my skin I knew I had to do something.
Drugging myself with prescriptions let me sleep, but also left me drooling and worthless...and frankly the anxiety didn't really go away, it was still there under it all.
Finding this treatment was a lifesaver.
Not only was it effective when other medications had failed previously, but it was non-addictive, and wasn't something that one needed to take on a daily basis.
It really does change the way the mind behaves and responds to stressors and pain.
The anxiety left me...I regained my ability to meditate properly...it pulled apart my physical pain and emotional reactions to that pain - which made all the difference in dealing with it.
Where I used to be emotionally triggered by the constant physical pain, I now could see them and experience them as separate entities without one setting off the other.
When my pain gets bad, I no longer get depressed or anxious...and vice versa, when upset, my pain is not exacerbated.
Recently I've found out that both sides of my family have had extensive issues with depression and similar complications.
I knew that there were issues on my Mom's side but found out that my great grandmother on my Dad's actually was institutionalized for depression and it was this reason why they moved out to the west coast to have more sunshine for her benefit.
I can only speculate how all this was passed down along with whatever PTSD trauma my Father suffered from Vietnam.
I have mostly memories of me being sad and lonely as a child...of course there were happy times as well, but looking back I hardly feel it was a normal baseline.
The psilocybin treatment really does change the way your brain reacts to certain stimulus...chronic pain will physically alter the pathways in the brain and certain areas will become hyper sensitive and overreactive.
Basically running on a high-idle all the time.
Entheogens actually calm this same area of the brain down while also hyper connecting areas that previously had to pass through the malfunctioning areas to reach it's destination...bypassing the need to pass through the "dirty lens" of perception and forming connections around it.
These areas are also believed to be responsible for the seat of the ego...which is thought to be the reason why the dissolution of the self seems to occur during an experience.
This perception change though helps one break free of the self-centered trap of depression, anxiety, chronic pain, etc...not self-centered in the narcissistic way, but trapped by the negative sensations, thoughts, and reactions that leave little room for other people and make it extremely difficult to focus on things other than the suffering going on in their body and mind.
This all of course become further hardwired into the brain over time...it takes only 3 months of constant pain signals to hardwire into the brain and become something chronic in nature.
This can be reversed...but it takes ridiculous amounts of effort and time and support.
That is why things like psilocybin are so promising...it actually shifts the mind into a meditative state by the way it interacts with and binds to certain receptors in the brain.
It allows access to the subconscious without the ego-mind yapping and trying to run the show.
When acting in a normal fashion the ego is only trying to protect from further harm by avoidance and fear of consequence...but when taken to the extreme of anxiety or similar it becomes a state of its own destruction and suffering torture.
Mind you, it's not a magic bullet...it must be properly done in a therapeutic manner and dosage and followed through in proper ways to gain the most potential healing.
Unfortunately it doesn't work for everyone either...but it's shown a much higher success rate and lasting success rate than any drug out on the market.
The experiences can range from indescribable beauty and love that seems to permeate reality itself, to purging of painful emotions where your heart is breaking in two and tears flow freely for hours.
But after all is said and done, I've only seen positive gains from each experience.
Yes, for it to be effective she would have to taper down off her medications...that can be a terrible experience I know.
There are ways to do it though...people are beginning to micro-dose to supplement the antidepressants and then once clear, take a larger dose to "reset" the system so to speak.
There has also been considerable success with MDMA, which I myself am not experienced with...but those I know who have used it therapeutically find it a godsend.
It's quite sad to me really....the potential for these substances was known back in the early 1960's...but was made off limits due to political and social reasons.
And they are not for everyone either...certain mental issues do not do well...besides that certain personalities do not do well...someone such as Trump would no doubt not become a more peaceful and less egotistical person, but on the contrary would most likely find his ego inflated further (if that is even possible hahaha).
This is why you have people proclaiming to be shaman or thinking themselves to be something wiser than they really are.
It does in fact, turn up the volume of certain emotions...which can put you in touch with those that are elusive and difficult to reach by normal means, but it can have negative effects and prognosis's as well.
One must do their own self-work...those who think it will magically fix their issues are dead wrong...it's a tool, but like all tools, can be wrongly used.
One must already be dedicated to helping themselves get better.

I'm so sorry that she has had to endure the pain she has.
I know what that level of suffering feels like.
My hope for the future is this will become available in a therapeutic setting for those that truly are in dire need of help.
Please let me know if you ever want to talk about things in more depth...I'd be more than happy to message back and forth with you about it.
Thank you again for all your kind words toward me and thoughts on the subject.

I hope all is well currently...sending my love.
:<3white:
 
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View attachment 73026 ;) Sending you good vibe ju-ju. Hoping you're doing well.

Thinking love of you! and I hope you smile.

View attachment 73134

Love you brother..hope you are doing well. I think of you often and send you lots of good vibes

Thank you all very much...I was fairly busy last week and didn't feel I had the proper time to give everyone here.
Love you all back very much and sending you all my love and happy vibes in return!
:<3white:
 

 
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"The Mushroom Hunters"
by Neil Gaiman - read by Amanda Palmer with music by Jherek Bischoff


This poem was written by neil gaiman and read by amanda palmer for maria popova's “The Universe In Verse” event in 2017
(you can read about that here: https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/04...)
The brilliant team at creative connection in the UK hand-drew this animated video to accompany the poem,
and the music was composed and recorded by jherek bischoff.​
 
This is pretty fantastic...I always knew they were awesome birds!
Thoughts?
Enjoy!


Crows Are Capable of Conscious Thought, Scientists Demonstrate For The First Time

MICHELLE STARR
28 SEPTEMBER 2020
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-finds-crows-can-ponder-their-own-knowledge

crow-head_1024.jpg

New research into the minds of crows has revealed a jaw-dropping finding: the canny corvids aren't just clever - they also possess a form of consciousness, able to be consciously aware of the world around them in the present.

In other words, they have subjective experiences.

This is called primary, or sensory, consciousness, and it had only previously been demonstrated in primates - which means we now may have to rethink our understanding of how consciousness arises, in addition to reconsidering the avian brain.

"The results of our study opens up a new way of looking at the evolution of awareness and its neurobiological constraints," said animal physiologist Andreas Nieder of the University of Tübingen.

Consciousness is difficult to pin down in animals that don't speak.
It's the ability to be aware of oneself and the world around you, to know what you know, and to think about that knowledge.

It enhances problem-solving and decision-making - at both of which crows excel.

Primary consciousness is the most basic form of consciousness as we categorise it - awareness of perceiving the world in the present (and the immediate past and future). Primarily, it's been associated with the primate cerebral cortex, a complex layered region of the mammalian brain.

But bird brains are structured quite differently from primate brains, and are smooth where mammalian brains are layered.
So even though corvids - the bird family that includes crows and ravens - are incredibly smart, with cognitive abilities found in primates, questions remained over whether they could cross the line into conscious thought.

To find out, Nieder and his colleagues designed an experiment to test whether birds could have subjective experiences, and tested it on two carrion crows (Corvus corone).

First, the birds were trained to respond to visual stimuli.
They were shown screens on which lights were displayed; if the crow saw the lights, they were to move their heads to show that yes, they had seen something.

Most of the lights were clear and unambiguous, easy to see, and the crows reliably reported that they had seen them.

But some of the lights were a lot harder to spot - brief and faint.
For these, the two crows sometimes reported seeing the signals, and sometimes did not.

This is where the subjective sensory experience enters the picture.

For the experiment, each of the crows was shown roughly 20,000 signals, spread out across dozens of sessions.
Meanwhile, electrodes implanted in their brains recorded their neuronal activity.

When the crows recorded a 'yes' response to seeing the visual stimuli, neuronal activity was recorded in the interval between seeing the light and delivering the answer.
When the answer was 'no', that elevated neuronal activity was not seen.

This connection was so reliable that it was possible to predict the crow's response based on the brain activity.

"Nerve cells that represent visual input without subjective components are expected to respond in the same way to a visual stimulus of constant intensity," Nieder said.

"Our results, however, conclusively show that nerve cells at higher processing levels of the crow's brain are influenced by subjective experience, or more precisely produce subjective experiences."

The results confirm that subjective experiences are not exclusive to the primate brain - and that the complex layering of the mammalian brain is not a requirement for consciousness.

In fact, a second new study finds that the smoothness of bird brains is not indicative at all of a lack of complexity.

Using 3D polarised light imaging and neural circuit tracing techniques, biopsychologist Martin Stacho of Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany and colleagues characterised the anatomy of pigeon and owl brains.

They found that the cerebral architecture in both birds is strikingly similar to the cerebral architecture of mammals.

It's possible that similar cognitive abilities evolved independently in both birds and mammals, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution.
But it's also possible that our brains are more closely related than their differences can suggest.

"Our findings suggest that it is likely that an ancient microcircuit that already existed in the last common stem amniote might have been evolutionarily conserved and partly modified in birds and mammals," Stacho and his team write.

Nieder agrees with this possibility.

"The last common ancestors of humans and crows lived 320 million years ago," he said. "It is possible that the consciousness of perception arose back then and has been passed down ever since. In any case, the capability of conscious experience can be realised in differently structured brains and independently of the cerebral cortex."

This means primary consciousness could be far more common across birds and mammals than we've realised.

If this proves true, the next and possibly even more fascinating question is: do these animals also possess secondary consciousness?
Are they aware that they are aware?

The research has been published in Science.
 
@Skarekrow
I'm so glad you are still here and its so cool you've kept this thread going!

I'm very sorry to hear that you are still experiencing so much pain. But that is amazing that you are doing lectures and sharing information. All your time, research and critical thinking and open minded exploration is important and I'm glad its helping people.

That article you shared about anxiety, ptsd, depression and adhd was interesting. My daughter is experiencing all those at the moment and I know its because of life experience. I read a very useful book called 'The body keeps the score' that talks about ptsd and adhd as survival mechanisms. It highlights fight, flight, freeze and fawn as 4 possible survival responses to repeated trauma and how this can permanently change the brain. The author discusses a range of treatment modalities that are helpful according to his clinical experience including edmr, neurofeedback, ifs, yoga, mindfulness, movement, drama and mdma. My daughter is currently doing neurofeedback and it has made such a huge difference! The doctor and psychologist wanted to put her on antidepressants and ritalin which I could not personally be ok with. And after the neurofeedback therapist started to understand the pattern of her brain waves he came to the conclusion that antidepressant would definitely have made her symptoms of anxiety worse. I cant believe how remarkably effective its been but the major downside is that its very expensive and requires many sessions.

Im also seeing a therapist who is trained in 'the alexander technique'. Its focused on reconnecting mind and body which is important because i'm disassociated. I also really want to try neurofeedback and edmr.

I think I've self medicated and gone on healing journeys through my life using mainly weed, sometimes mdma and mushrooms and occasionally lsd. Ive stopped using these substances completely about 6 months ago because i committed to a specific kind of healing program and my god ive been in a world of pain. I do believe these substances have enabled me to cope with my trauma and pain for a long time as well as opened many doors to self discovery and healing. But I also think in my particular case it numbed me to things i needed to face and release from my life. I guess there is a time and place for everything and a big difference between use and abuse. That line gets blurred when pain and trauma make you want to curl in a ball and give up though. I've been prescribed antidepressants, valium, temaze and codeine. I havent touched the antidepressants and am scared to use any of other others but have had to on a few occasions. That shit is bad for my gut and my body and cbd and thc is not. I'm genuinely scared of pharmaceuticals and substances i can get addicted to and have withdrawals from. I really really want to have a smoke to ease my pain and go on a mushroom journey to get a deeper insight into my situation! But I'm trying this program where I really experience and accept and release my pain and trauma for a while to see if I can change some of my life circumstances.

Anyway...much love to you and blessings. You're an Angel. I hope today is a good day for you

And that article about the universe being like a neural network...absofuckinglutely it is!
 
Yooo hoooo @Skarekrow :D

Where you at?
Hoping you and the family are doing well.
Enjoy All Hallows Eve!
There is a rumor going 'round that this 2020 Samhain will be ripe with rich energy, not only the new, but ancestrial richness; may you all have a happy, healthy and fruitful new year. ♡
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I couldn't resist sharing this icy photo with you. The signs are all around us, ehe.
Take care♡
 
Found this on a reddit spirituality thread and has a lot on the usual topics if anyone is interested, loads of ebooks and it took ages to download it all 41.2gb of it.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18XvWPlOL4rMKSuu0aUGtGOqbi8Ozkyp-
Some fascinating stuff in here - thanks for the link. Not all on the usual topics either - I’d like to get a hard copy of the Sacred Mathematics book on this page

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobi...gAYNxmQDe-L4qstIKlf8tKSoZ?sort=13&direction=a