Meno-Magic Mushrooms

My father kept big gallon zip lock bags of weed in our apartment, he called it “grass”. Not one but several, I don’t know what was up but I know I was hella confused when Nancy Reagan came to my school and balanced a baseball cap on her AquaNet head and said “say no to drugs”, what was “natural” became evil and deadly. It took me 30+ years, maybe even closer to 40 till I had the space to make sense of what was truly true. Now mind you mother has lived, so I witnessed a lot of experimentation, but I knew my limits and saw a lot of harm, reinforcing my negative perceptions. I couldn’t even smoke a blunt without someone turning into a moon, me becoming repulsed and my booty call becoming a, “Oh hell no. You’re gonna have to go” situation.

Fast forward to a lecture on sex therapy and psychedelics, because the learning never ends for me. Dee Dee Goldpaugh presented an amazing lecture not only on the basics of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting but the history, science, and uses for healing. This changed my life. I then read “How To Change Your Mind: What New The Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence”. There is this one part when Michael Pollan talks about midlife as the ideal time to start to experiment. Yes, that made so much sense, no shade to you Gen Y and Zs, but we have survived so much by midlife. We have fully formed brains that know what’s up or at least when shit ain’t right, of course, it’s time to experiment.

Now I am about to launch the second cohort of the Mistresses of the Menopausal Mind, which is a mastermind, and I can’t wait to bring an expert to talk about psychedelics and especially Psilocybin, because one thing we can all use is empathy toward our selves in this transition. I want to right the wrongs of the Reagans, in some small way, cause they fucked my family in so many ways.

I digress.

"Perimenopause is already a bad trip at times! Why would I choose to trip voluntarily?"

Perimenopause can make you feel totally out of control. Those you love are the worst people in your life. If your boss mansplains one more time or your wokest kid tells you how you fucked up, again. So why would you scramble what already seems to be a mess of emotions, well what science is coming around to knowing, is that if engaged in with thoughtful and knowledgeable guidance psychedelics can unscramble and bring clarity to the mind. Sure you can trip ovaries and come to deep inner knowledge but you can also engage in micro doses that bring a state of calm and direction.

Psychedelic Mushrooms and Perimenopause

Sure you can go portobello crazy, and eat Lion’s Mane all day and adapt to all the adaptogens, no shade to the nootropics that are popping up but I am talking about the fungi that are of the magic persuasion.

In her Medium post, Mindy Stern https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/microdosing-menopause-and-me-8b12515d9a81 tells her story of learning about perimenopause and her moods which were just getting worse. She discovered that although the anxiety and depression were bad they were not new. She tried all the things, like you may have, hormones, antidepressants, “lifestyle” choices and while some were great, others were not until she found psilocybin. Then she began to microdose, approximately once a week, then increasing to every 3 days. She didn’t trip, she wasn’t high, she was present, unrestricted (no brain fog), and less “addictive” urges ( think nighttime eating).

What about the hot flashes…

Well, let’s remember that hormones are a mind-body connection, or more specifically, the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian (gonad) connection. So for many folks, get these hot flashes, palpitation, and even ringing in the ears when we are thrown off. Maybe it is the mansplaining, or trying something new that gets you off your center, disrupts your nervous system, and causes you to tingle and get heated in all the wrong places. With that logic, as psilocybin changes the brain in positive ways, like reducing anxiety it would go to show that it may also help with hot flashes.

So...I should forget HRT and go straight for DRUGS?

Nope - just like hormone supplementation is not for everyone, neither are psychedelics. You know your body best, this is just more information to help you choose well.

Mindy Stern ends her piece by saying

Micro-dosing has moved me beyond existing to enjoying living and my god, I am so grateful to be alive. And not bleeding. (M. Stern, 2022)

Join the Mistresses of the Menopausal Mind if you are interested in learning more, connecting with an online community, and taking control of your menopause journey. We will come together over six months to increase your expertise, manage all stages of menopause, and increase your knowledge. There are also group sessions, expert training on subjects like psychedelics, sex, health, and beauty, private chat groups, and a 1-on-1 consultation with me where you can ask me questions about the mind, body, sex, energy, or purpose. Mistresses of the Menopausal Mind brings unique tools to add to the expertise you have.