Mindfulness and Psychedelics | Sacred Works is a six-week online course led by Galia Tanay. The course will be taught in English and translated into Spanish.
The course is designed to provide students with a theoretical and experiential understanding of integrating mindfulness practices and psychedelic states. Emphasis will be placed on critical thinking and a dialogical approach. Students will gain a basic understanding of mindfulness-based approaches currently being used in psychedelic research, as well as the potential shared mechanisms of recovery and growth that can be cultivated as individuals and as a society.
The course is divided into six sections, each exploring a different aspect of mindfulness and psychedelics. The first section, Coming Home to the Present: An Introduction to Mindfulness, will introduce students to the field of mindfulness, its development and assimilation, theoretical foundations and practical applications. The second section, Going Beyond: Psychedelics and Altered States of Consciousness, will examine existing views on psychedelics, the intersection between mindfulness and substances, and the history and practices of integrating meditation and psychedelics. The third section, There is no lotus without mud: the transformative power of compassion, will delve into the practice of compassion and self-compassion, and the intersection between psychedelics and compassion. The fourth section, Free the mind: ACT with psychedelics, will focus on acceptance and commitment therapy and its application to psychedelic therapy and research. The fifth section, Psychology of the not-self: decentering as a mechanism of change, will explore the concept of self and its relationship to change. The final section, Finding Our Song: The Integration Journey, will allow students to reflect on their personal process of integrating mindfulness, compassion, and psychedelics, and discuss the challenges that may arise along the way.
The last cohort started on February 16th, 2023.