Exploring the Intersection of Positive Neuroplasticity, Expanded States of Consciousness, and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
By Fleet Maull, Ph.D.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the intersection of positive neuroplasticity, expanded states of consciousness, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. These three areas offer unique perspectives and approaches to personal growth, healing, and transformation. By exploring their connection and overlap, we can gain valuable insights into how they inform and enhance one another.
Positive neuroplasticity (the central theme of our recent Rewiring Your Brain Summit) focuses on how our brains can adapt and change in response to positive experiences and practices. It is a convergence of positive psychology and neuroscience, aiming to optimize psychological functioning, overall health &well-being, and life performance. This field emphasizes shifting our focus from pathology to optimal psychological functioning or thriving, uncovering strategies to improve our lives and cultivate positive mental, emotional, and spiritual states.
One notable figure in positive psychology is Rick Hanson, who has explored the intersection between positive psychology and neuroscience. Through his influential books, such as "Buddha's Brain" and "Neurodharma," Hanson highlights the profound connection between positive neuroplasticity and positive psychology. He emphasizes the importance of cultivating positive emotions, reframing experiences, and developing a positive outlook to reshape our neural architecture and promote lasting positive traits and benefits.
The field of neuroscience has made significant advancements in understanding the complexities of the human brain and its relationship to the mind and consciousness. One remarkable finding is the concept of neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to change, restructure, and adapt based on our experiences. While the plasticity of the adult brain is less pronounced than that of young children, it remains fluid and malleable throughout our lives. Techniques that increase neuroplasticity can reshape our neural architecture in positive ways, supporting the healing of traumas and attachments wounds, post-traumatic growth, overall well-being, and even optimizing life performance, happiness, and longevity.
Positive neuroplasticity focuses on cultivating positive states that can transform into enduring traits within our neural networks through practice. Temporary mental experiences, such as waking states, dream states, emotions, and moods, are referred to as states, while enduring traits like those measured by various personality tests are more fixed and require deliberate effort to establish or modify. By actively engaging in practices and techniques that support positive neuroplasticity and cultivate positive states, we can create an inner momentum that sustains these positive mental, emotional, and spiritual states and over time transforms them into lasting traits. This process leads to changes in our neural architecture, promoting a lasting and enriching experience of these positive states and traits.
There are various techniques that aid in cultivating positive neuroplasticity. For example, gratitude practice, such as keeping a gratitude journal, has transformative effects. By focusing on the things we are grateful for and evoking feelings of gratitude, we can shift our mental and emotional states from resentment or entitlement to gratitude. Positive affirmations, consciously creating and repeating positive statements, allow us to cultivate desired mental and emotional states, and even influence physiological responses.
Mindfulness and compassion practices have also shown great efficacy in increasing neuroplasticity and cultivating positive states and traits. Simple acts of focusing on the body or breath have profound effects on emotional balance, cognitive control, and immune response. Additionally, self-compassion practices reshape our internal landscape, promoting self-empathy and positivity, and influencing our neural architecture to support well-being.
Visualization practices, similar to mental rehearsal, are employed by high-level athletes to optimize performance. By vividly imagining their routines and activities, they gain a winning edge. These techniques, among many others, allow us to cultivate positive physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states. Through repetition and practice, states transform into enduring traits, reshaping the neural architecture of our brains and enhancing our quality of life.
The exploration of expanded states of consciousness (the focus of our April 2023 summit) is another area that offers profound insights and transformative experiences. These states can occur within our normal waking reality or transcend it in the form of non-ordinary states allowing us in either case to access heightened states of openness, awareness and perception. They provide a shift from constricted states, characterized by fear, self-protection, withdrawal, avoidance, or even aggression, to a more expansive and receptive state of being.
Expanded states of consciousness have been accessed for millennia through various practices such as meditation, inner work, concentration techniques, and contemplative practices. They can also be induced through intensive breathwork, peak performance activities leading to flow states, and even near-death experiences. Shamanic and plant medicine traditions, as well as psychedelic-assisted therapy, music, chanting, movement, ecstatic dance, and drumming, are other avenues that facilitate expanded states.
These states offer profound healing, transformative experiences, and shifts in our worldview. They can help heal trauma and attachment wounds, open us up to a deep sense of interconnectedness, and reduce our identification with a limited, separate self. Instead, we shift our identification to a broader field of consciousness, embracing concepts like Gaia consciousness, where we recognize our inseparability from the energetic matrix of life.
Engaging in expanded states of consciousness often leads to a profound sense of intimacy and safety in our connections with fellow human beings and the natural world. We begin to perceive the aliveness and intelligence present in what we once considered inanimate matter. These experiences can profoundly alter our worldview, expand our self-awareness, and shift our understanding of life and death. By diminishing the fear associated with mortality, expanded states foster changes in self-awareness, expand our concept of self, and enhance creativity, problem-solving, and visionary thinking.
The field of psychedelic-assisted therapy (the main topic of our last October summit and of our upcoming second annual event this coming October) has recently gained recognition as a legitimate field of medicine and therapy, showing great promise in addressing persistent forms of human suffering.
While the use of psychedelic substances in modern psychotherapy dates back to the 1950s, it faced significant legal restrictions in subsequent years. However, thanks to organizations like MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) and dedicated individuals like Rick Doblin, the field has experienced a resurgence. Clinical trials with substances like psilocybin and MDMA have shown compelling results in treating severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.
The impact of psychedelic-assisted therapy on individuals' lives was evident at the MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference, where combat veterans and first responders shared their transformational experiences with psychedelic-assisted therapy or ceremonial psychedelic use. Many of these individuals, who had previously struggled with PTSD and suicidal ideation or even attempts, have gone on to form organizations dedicated to healing other veterans. These stories highlight the profound value of psychedelic-assisted therapy in addressing mental health conditions.
Interestingly, individuals from traditionally conservative backgrounds, such as law enforcement, the military, and politics, have shown an openness to explore the realm of psychedelic-assisted therapy, especially because of the demonstrated benefits for veterans suffering from PTSD. Their involvement brings a fresh perspective and fosters broader acceptance and understanding of these transformative practices. It is a testament to the remarkable potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to transcend political and ideological boundaries and unite diverse individuals in the pursuit of healing and well-being.
Psychedelics provide one pathway to accessing expanded states of consciousness, but it's important to note that such states can also be accessed through various traditional methods like meditation, mind training, breathwork, music, dance, and shamanic practices that don't involve plant medicines. Stan Grof, one of the pioneers in the field of psychedelic research, made significant contributions to the development of alternative therapeutic approaches. In the early 1970s, when psychedelic research was suppressed and made illegal, Grof found himself at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. He had been working with body-centered techniques to facilitate trauma release, and during this time, he stumbled upon the power of intense breathing exercises. This led him to further explore and develop a technique known as holotropic breathwork, which allows individuals to access profound expanded states of consciousness.
It is crucial to approach these practices with self-education, humility, and curiosity, consistently questioning our assumptions. When it comes to psychedelic medicines, caution and safety are paramount. Working with well-trained guides and therapists who can create a safe environment is essential. While some individuals may choose to explore psychedelics outside of clinical or therapeutic settings, it is crucial to prioritize set and setting—our mindset, the people we are with, and the environment in which we engage in these experiences. Safety, thoughtfulness, and a sense of the sacred must guide our approach. It is also important to respect indigenous cultures and traditions that have held plant medicines for millennia by valuing the principle of sacred reciprocity.
It is worth noting that expanded states of consciousness have the potential to reshape the neural architecture of the brain. By entering profound expanded states free from the limitations of the self-structure and constant self-referencing, we can relax the parts of the brain associated with the ego and personality. Spending time in these states can lead to neural restructuring, supporting the ability to return to these states and providing insights and healing opportunities.
In conclusion, the emerging landscape of positive psychology, neuroscience, expanded states, and psychedelic-assisted therapies provides incredible opportunities for personal growth, healing, transformation, and connection with ourselves, others, and the natural world. Moreover, these modalities have the potential to catalyze planetary and social healing on a broader scale. As individuals engage in these practices, their newfound awareness, empathy, and interconnectedness can ripple out into the collective consciousness. This ripple effect has the capacity to foster compassion, unity, and a deep sense of stewardship toward the planet and all its inhabitants. By nurturing our individual well-being and embracing these transformative approaches, we contribute to a more harmonious and sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.
