METHODOLOGY
"In the beginning, two spirits roamed every soul. One was Love. The other, fear. Fear, being restless and insecure, mutated into two other spirits, supremacy and inferiority. Both of these would inhabit every human soul and space, forever. Waiting. To be fed."
This text by Dr. Jaiya John touches on the very essence of human suffering, and human potential. The two opposing forces within ourselves (our souls) and in the external world.
In my view, all of our inner work - with our without - psychedelics comes down to acknowledging these two spirits, of Love and fear, and choosing to feed the hungry spirit of love. Over and over again. In as many ways as we can. This is our work. Our calling.
So, when asked what I do, or how I work. The short answer is: I am in service of Love.
I facilitate a process where you will gain self-awareness, self-understanding, but above all increase your capacity to love. And to be love.
This duality of two oppossing forces—once you've discovered it and experienced it, you can't unsee it. It has powerfully shaped my view on life and reality, and inspired my practice as a psychedelic support guide.
The body says Yes and No.
From 2019-2021, I studied kinesiology as a part of my Holistic Coaching certification. This is the biofeedback method that demonstrates the body speaks, and it always gives a clear yes or no to your questions. Or energetical circuitry is designed to respond positively (flow) or negatively (block) to any emotion, statement, number, and material substance. This can be a tremendous help in knowing our past, present and future; in understanding our emotions; and in choosing wisely when it comes to navigating themes such as health, relationships and career.
Book tip: Power versus Force | David Hawkins
Creating heaven over hell.
I love indigenous wisdom keepers, because they are great storytellers. Through story telling, wisdom is able to transcend generation upon generation. From the famous Toltec shamans Don Miguel Ruiz , I learned that in life, at any point we have a choice: choosing love or fear. Choosing freedom or remain in conditioning. Creating more suffering or creating heaven on earth. They say: Even if you feel the parasite inside you, you can still choose to live in heaven or hell. You can take control of your own dream, having the power to change your life if you don’t enjoy your dream, and following no leaders but yourself.
A Toltec, says Ruiz, is wise, wild, and free. Toltecs possess three types of “mastery”: “Awareness” (being aware of our true nature), “Transformation” (changing and freeing ourselves from old conditioning), and “Intent” (practicing unconditional love, which is the true nature of life itself).
Book tip: The Four Agreements | Don Miguel Ruiz
Tibetan buddhism.
From an early age on, I was captivated by the Dalai Lama as the spiritual and political leader of a nation in exile. I admired him for being so kind and compassionate, endlessly curious, and guided by strong principles of non-violence and compassion. Learning from him and other great lamas and buddhist teachers, I came to understand more about duality and non-duality. Our reality is that we are interconnected beings, sharing the same essence of love, with a powerful capacity for cultivating compassion and wisdom. And we sharing the same capacity for worries and fears; caused by the same innate sources of suffering. Namely, we strive for happiness by clinging to, grasping for and holding on to the wrong things: beauty, youth, money, romance, shiny objects, promotions, vacations. However, these are impermanent. Seasons change, children grow up, we all grow old and eventually die. Buddhism teaches us to seek longlasting happiness by acknowledging that everything is impermanent, except for our essence. We can experience our essence and (through meditation and mindful living) cultivate compassion and wisdom for ourselves and all living beings.
Book tip: Becoming Your Own Therapist | Lama Yeshe
Parts work.
We are not just one person, one self, but a multitude of 'selves'. You have probably heard of the Inner Child; representing our needs to be loved, to be seen, to be heard and to be understood. To feel safe to be free and be yourself without shame, fear or responsible for others than yourself. We can also identify parts like the Inner Critic, Inner Judge, and Inner Rebel, which I'm sure are pretty self-explanatory. When doing inner work, it can be very helpful to identify which 'parts' are most present in our day-to-day life. When we are looking to change our behaviour, ask ourselves questions like: 'which one is driving the bus?', 'is this the ideal person for that job?', 'are there any parts that I would like to be (more) present but that are now hidden or unknown?'. I have come across parts work in my Psychotraumatology training (2024 -) and my Voice Dialogue training (2021). Voice Dialogue is a beautiful conversational method that is entirely focussed on learning what each part has to say.
Stress, burnout and trauma recovery.
When under high stress, prolonged stress or when experiencing threatening (physical, emotional or mental) we call it trauma, and when this happens, the survival mechanism of our body kicks in. This survival mechanism is very clever and efficient; it puts our brain and body in a state that gives the highest chance to survive the threat: fight, flight, and if these are not possible: freeze or fawn. This is decided in a split second, and it's not a conscious choice. It's the brain and body's natural reaction to abnormal circumstances. So, when someone is under stress or trauma, the brain functions differently: the alarm bell goes off, activating a high alert state, while functions such as memory, learning, sensemaking, emotional processing, and speaking abilities can be disrupted or even completely shutdown. It disrupts our nervous system, which takes care of regulating alertness, activity, relaxation, rest, and digest. Stress, trauma, and burnout can be isolated events but oftentimes they are an ongoing circumstance, lasting for months or years. And even after the threat is gone, the physical disruptions and disregulations can remain present. That's where the saying 'the body keeps the score' comes from.
Body-oriented trauma recovery is: relearning what safety feels like in our body. Building the capacity to feel safe, secure, connected and supported with others as the foundation. This will help us become resilient: able to navigate triggers or challenges if they arise, and access our inner resources when needed. This can't be achieved through talk therapy alone, because although we understand perfectly what happened and why, the body responds to triggers in ways we can't seem to control. It's the body that keeps the score, and therefore the nervous system needs to 'retrain' through somatic experiencing. Here, experiencing means: using the senses, noticing, moving, connecting with others, imagining, and bypass the thinking mind through art, music, drama, and nature connection
This subject is 100% universal: in our lives, we have all experienced stress, anxiety, grief and other challenging emotional states in response to what happened to us. What happens to us when we are under the age of 7 can be especially impactful; since young children are not yet capable of self-regulating, understanding the situation, and seeking support. Knowing what a regulated nervous system feels like and learning how to regulate, is a skill for life.
Book tip: When the body says no | Gabor Mate