Using Psychedelics for Mental & Emotional Health
Hello Health and Wellness Seeker,
In the Self-Care Goddess Podcast episode #50; Chase Chewning an army veteran talks about his healing journey from emotional and physical injuries. Chase joined the army at the age of 17 and after 6 years of active service he had to give up his childhood dream of serving in the military due to a string of injuries that ultimately required him to undergo bilateral reconstructive hip surgeries. After learning how to walk again, twice, exercise as medicine and healthy lifestyle modifications became his passion. He explains how emotional traumas have a huge impact on physical injuries and how we can overcome those obstacles. I invite you to listen to this inspirational podcast and hear Chase courageously speak about how he propels his life forward and his advice on how we can too. Here is a snippet of some of the things we covered during this extremely insightful conversation.
Listen to my amazing podcast with Kashif Khan “Decipher YOUR Genetic Code For Optimal Wellbeing” on the Self-Care Goddess podcast episode #36 on the Self-Care Goddess Podcast.
3 Mindset Myths / Misconceptions
The ultimate goal in developing our mindset is to seek optimization & healing and share that with other people. Here are 3 mindset myths that we talked about in the podcast:
Myth 1: “If this modality and approach worked for them, then it’s going to work for me too”.
In our personal development journey; we seek to develop:
- a better mindset
- a more adaptable mindset
- a more resilient mindset
In this quest we oftentimes reach for whatever modality or practice we might come across on social media, assuming that we have something to learn from this person, whether that’s true or not. This approach to tackling the day or problems might seem like the path to success & happiness believing that if this modality and approach worked for them, then it’s going to work for me too. A lot of things will work for a lot of people. But when we don’t get the same results, as quickly or at all, the people we’re looking/ emulating/ remodeling from, it can be disheartening or even detrimental to our health. In life we have a choice, cognition, consciousness and awareness to choose how we want to approach a problem. We can stay in suffering, sorrow, heartbreak, loss, or we can choose to change our outlook and develop a way to take a step forward instead of staying stagnant. Understand your chronotype and know that each of us is a genetically unique snowflake so we have different things that are going to naturally work for us and remember that if something works for 90% of the population that does not mean it will work for you. You might be that 10% it does not work for.
How to Master Your Mindset & Create Your Dream Life Today? Listen to the Self-Care Goddess Podcast episode #5 with Dr. Sachin Patel on the Self-Care Goddess Podcast.
Myth 2: ““If all of the great performers are doing this, then I should be doing this as well”
Chase warns us not to get into the ‘grind and hustle culture’ which is get up at 4:30-5:00am and accomplish more than everybody else by 8am. It works in the short term as we have literally created more time to work. But working against yourself and biology may not be conducive for your energy levels, sleep health and recovery. Pay attention to your body and the actual results you’re getting or not getting because ultimately, we may feel worse for it. Stop trying to model what was working for other people and adopt this hardcore go-grind mentality. Honor your body first. Feed your mindset how you want to tackle the day, look at problems, successes and attitude because when we are at a higher physiological & biochemical state, we are better recovered, have restorative sleep, and more energy and focus. All these things in alignment lead to the best mindset instead of just trying to force a square peg in a round hole. We aim to personalize everything, not just nutrition, but lifestyle habits as well.
Do you know “How Yoga Can Help You Detox – Mentally, Physically & Emotionally”? Listen to the Self-Care Goddess Podcast episode #25 with Hitu Jugessur on the Self-Care Goddess Podcast.
Myth 3: “Subscribing to a strict routine – All In or All Out”
Seeking the best through extremity is the biggest fitness and nutrition misconception. What’s the best workout? What’s the best diet? What’s the best way I want to lose / gain weight? When we’re looking at an extremity especially in what we’re doing & eating, or what we’re not doing & not eating as if it needs to be all in or all out by following a hardcore diet most often the mentality is either only to be super slim or only be bodybuilding. According to Chase the more married we stay to a particular modality of, “I only eat this” or “I only work out this way”; then as we age and travel when new stressors in life come our way; if we do anything different it will innately work against us because we are becoming different people mentally, emotionally & physiologically. This is when people get discouraged because the same thing isn’t working as well as it used to, or even at all. Going extreme and/or eliminating a lot of things can work physically for us short term, but mentally and emotionally in the long term that restriction builds up and inevitably develops problems for 9 out of 10 people leading to a poor relationship with food causing eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia etc. Chase argues that when we’re living on polar ends of the spectrum we’re missing out on a lot of fun, joy, opportunity and experience. Our bodies & immune systems are made to adapt and evolve. If we’re staying in extremes, we’re missing the adaptation possibility.
The Connection Between Mental & Physical Health
“Where the mind goes, the body will follow”. In our pursuit of a better, healthier life, we primarily focus on the external and physical state. Most of us want to feel and look better. We start running, yoga and training with the physical self which is great and beneficial. However, we are just an external representation of the internal self. As much as we can or try & succeed in transformation physically/ externally, by getting bigger, leaner, stronger or thinner; whatever our external version of success looks like but the MIND is always there. Be aware of the mental and emotional transformation that is happening during all this physical transformation. Sometimes we may find that we are hitting a plateau or staying injured. This could be because of something going on internally. Maybe its high inflammatory markers, maybe omega three is very low, maybe it’s brain fog or really imbalanced hormones. A lot of things that we do, externally to try to optimize and change our life must be aligned to what’s going on internally or we could just be fighting against ourselves.
Chase was able to achieve a dissociative state with the help of psychedelic assisted therapy. A lot of people refer to this as “ego death”. This is when you’re able to detach the mind and the body conscious from subconscious and look objectively at yourself in a way that is not possible – like Self-Inducing an out of body experience. People who have had near death experiences talk about this a lot. This sort of integrative therapies have been key to help Chase overcome mindset challenges.
Take Home Message
Self-Reflection, mental and emotional health doesn’t always have to be trauma, it could just be an introduction of a new state of awareness about yourself, how you show up in the world, your thoughts and even realizing that you’re in control of your thoughts. We must learn to test and establish our own baseline and see how we feel after eating in a certain way or adopting a certain lifestyle habit. Pay attention to how you feel and compounding that is the best way to develop a routine. A personalized holistic approach is the best way to optimize fitness and wellness. Positive affirmations such as “I am healing. I am optimizing. I’m living fully unapologetically. I have gratitude” are extremely influential in developing a mindset that will propel you forward.
Check out Chase’s non-negotioables self-care habits that nourish her soul.
Connect with Chase: www.chasechewning.com | Instagram @Chase_chewning | Podcast: everforwardradio
I look forward to connecting with you and learning more about your story and your health and wellness goals. Schedule a FREE introduction call here.