Welcome to an enlightening masterclass that pushes the boundaries of traditional approaches to women’s health and delves into a revolutionary realm: the world of microdosing psychedelics for women’s health.

Dr. 1Drea Pennington and Dr. Jill Stocker are both leading experts in the field of women’s health and psychedelics. Together they will guide you on an exploratory journey, shedding light on how these potent substances can be harnessed to enhance female sexual desire, address menopausal health issues, bolster emotional intimacy within relationships, and foster self-love and body acceptance.

In this masterclass, you’ll discover:

1. The potential of microdosing psychedelics in enhancing female sexual desire, pleasure, and satisfaction

2. How microdosing psychedelics might specifically help address sexual health issues related to menopause

3. The role of psychedelics in enhancing emotional intimacy and communication within relationships

4. The power of microdosing psychedelics in fostering body acceptance and self-love

We invite you to join us in this groundbreaking exploration of women’s health, intertwining modern science with ancient wisdom. This is not just a masterclass; it’s a transformative journey designed to empower you and inspire a new perception of women’s health and wellbeing.

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:01.180] – Dr 1Drea

Welcome. Welcome. It is so wonderful to be here again. We are live talking about women’s health and psychedelics. I am your host today, Dr. 1Drea Pennington. I’m super excited to be sharing the stage with a very dear friend and colleague, Dr. Jill Stocker. I am excited to see you all here today. If you’re watching on the replay, you can type into the chat #replay. Today, our masterclass is on psychedelics, sexuality, and self-love. We will be exploring the role of psychedelics in enhancing female sexuality and emotional health. This session is really designed to shed light on the promising world of microdosing, psychedelics, and more specifically, its potential implications for female sexual health, and emotional wellbeing. As we navigate through this topic, we will be exploring the intersection of psychedelics, sexuality, and emotional intimacy. Our aim here is to delve into the current research, anecdotal evidence, and the potential mechanisms at play, all while fostering a safe and open space for discussion and discovery. Now, we recognize that every woman’s journey is unique. So whether you are experiencing changes in sexual desire or pleasure, or you’re facing challenges that are related to menopause, or maybe you’re just simply curious about new avenues for enhancing emotional health and intimate relationships, this Masterclass is for you.

[00:01:40.060] – Dr 1Drea

Over the course of our time together, we will demystify the concept of microdosing, psychedelic, products. We’ll explore the role, as I’ve mentioned, but we’re also going to talk about body acceptance and self-love and how exactly microdosing might actually help women to navigate these aspects of their lives. The beauty of this Masterclass is not just about acquiring knowledge, but possibly in transforming that knowledge into empowering insights. As we journey through this session, I encourage you, keep an open mind, embrace curiosity, and maybe even actively engage in the vibrant learning of this community that we’re about to create. Without further ado, we will begin this exciting exploration into the world of female sexuality and microdosing. You’re in the right place if this is what you came to learn about. As I mentioned, I am going to be joined by my esteemed colleague and partner in empowerment, Dr. Juicy Jill, Stocker. Here’s some interesting factoids. This is really wild. Dr. Jill is really like my soul sister. We have so many things in common. We were born within days of each other in November, and we are also medical doctors. We are both certified in age management, medicine, and hormone optimization and we both trained in ketamine therapy.

[00:03:18.750] – Dr 1Drea

But what’s also interesting is that we took different paths to get there, but we have a very somatic orientation in our work. Me with being a certified acupuncturist with Chinese medicine and Dr. Jill with osteopathic medicine. She is also a compassionate inquiry practitioner, and I am certified in MDMA and psilocybin. Jill, thank you for joining me.

[00:03:49.740] – Dr Jill

Thank you for having me. I’m so excited about this. I’m so excited to share with the world. It’s been amazing being on the journey together with all the idiosyncrasies. I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that everything is perfect timing and divine alignment, and we’re sharing that knowledge with the people that are ready to hear it. I’m excited.

[00:04:13.290] – Dr 1Drea

Indeed. It has been a fun journey. You and I have literally journeyed together. That has been our motto over the last several years, sitting in ceremony with psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca. It’s been a journey, right? Over the last six years.

[00:04:33.500] – Dr Jill

Yes, we have been the portals. That’s also been one of my mantras lately is I am the portal and embracing the gifts that we have. Our body has this inherent wisdom, and sometimes all the experiences that we go through are for us, so then we can share those things with the world.

[00:04:56.100] – Dr 1Drea

Yeah. Well, I’m super grateful for you being on this journey with me. In particular, it’s also been fun because when I first started microdosing, psychedelics, and I was telling you because you are my hormone doctor, you said, You should really be blogging about this. I was like, No, I don’t want people to know. But over time, I’ve realized that I can’t not share these benefits because it has been so profound in my life. I thought what we can do is maybe tease up today’s agenda. We’re going to be talking about psychedelics and female sexuality. We’re going to really explore the role of psychedelics in enhancing emotional intimacy and relationships. This is a completely new area of research. There’s not actually a lot of research out there. There’s some speculation, there’s some anecdotal stuff, and we’re going to look into that. In addition, we want to look at microdosing psychedelics for body acceptance and self-love. You’re in the right place. If this is of interest to you, we are super happy to have you here. I thought it would be useful for us as we get started to delve into explaining and understanding some of the gifts and the challenges in female sexual health.

[00:06:25.690] – Dr 1Drea

Obviously, female sexual health is a multifaceted topic. It encompasses several dimensions of a woman’s life. But some of the things just to hone us in for today, we’re going to be talking about sexual desire, which is the interest or the drive to engage in sexual activity. We’ll also explore sexual arousal. That is the physiological response to sexual stimuli and even fantasy. Then there’s satisfaction. That’s the fulfillment or the gratification that one derives from sexual activity. Jill and I have spoken before about the ability to achieve orgasm, which is considered the peak of sexual pleasure. We need to talk about that. I don’t think there’s enough talk about female orgasm. But in particular, when we’re looking at menopause and other health conditions for women, we also want to talk about pain-free intercourse. Not having pain during sexual activity is super important. Then we’ll also explore body image. You and I have talked a lot about decreasing libido. We know that changes in hormone levels can lead to a decrease in sexual desire. What else are you seeing in your practice around libido?

[00:07:44.980] – Dr Jill

Oh, well, so many of the things that you were talking about, I was like, Oh, yeah, we have to go in there. I really think what you touched on brought up something. I think this goes back to very early on as far as our development as women and what that looked like in our family and if that was celebrated and if there was body shaming going on. Certainly in today’s access to social media and body shaming culture, that’s a whole other thing for the youth. But what that looks like growing up, were you able to fully express yourself in all ways, not just sexually, but did you have a voice? And I think that’s so important because if you’re shut down then and you’re not fully liberated, then that’s something you’re going to carry through. And I think a lot of women don’t realize until they are perimenopausal or menopausal that they actually deserve to enjoy intimacy. And so often people talk about the orgasm, which, yes, is wildly important, but it’s also about the rightfinding the waves of ecstasy and feeling whole body fulfillment and connection. And if you have no idea what that looked like, if you had no model of joy and ecstasy in your life of actual being allowed to have pleasure of any kind, not just sexual.

[00:09:20.570] – Dr Jill

That’s something that unlocking that key is important. I think that’s something that we talk about a lot as well as with trauma-informed medicine is bringing that piece in. What are the beliefs around libido? And so being able to talk about it in that way. But I have found that even being a female myself, when I would ask other women, How is your sex drive? They’d say, Oh, it’s okay, or it’s fine. But they didn’t really have a connection to it. And then once I asked more detailed questions as far as if there was any vaginal dryness or if they were able to have the intense orgasms that they once had, or if it was just like a little muffled orgasm, or if they had to concentrate really hard to be able to have one, or women who were multi-orgasmic were barely able to have one. And once I started asking those questions, there was first the silence of, Oh, my gosh, we’re talking about this. And then I would see the wheels turning and the women would actually think about it. And usually towards the end of the conversation, they would say, Actually, now that you’re talking about it, I carry lube everywhere I go.

[00:10:34.280] – Dr Jill

I’m not able to have an orgasm. I don’t feel sexy. Again, how they feel in their body. Then what I started finding was, with the trauma work that we both do is the amount of womb trauma that a lot of women were carrying from if they had any type of female surgeries, C-sections, hysterectomies, history of miscarriages, abortion, sexual trauma, early sexual trauma, everything was getting stored there, and then that ability to release. That was definitely affecting people’s sex drive as well. But then obviously, as our hormones decline, which starts as early as our 20s and 30s, then our testosterone is one of the key components for libido, but not the only hormone that’s involved with that because vaginal lubrication is affected by estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid. So it’s really important to have that whole symphony of hormones working together. And then the mental, emotional, physical component of it and really putting it all together. So I do see that that declines significantly as people age. And they put that on the back burner as that’s not the most important piece. But that’s such a big message. I’m a big proponent of listening to the messages our body sends.

[00:12:02.480] – Dr Jill

That’s one big message. That is important. Sexual health and vitality is important until your very last breath. It’s a sign of inner vitality and wellness. And so taking the body shame away, the shame about actually enjoying pleasure and connecting. It is a way to connect with your partner as well. I do see that declining. And when people are waking up inside, it’s translating to their entire life. It’s not just about having the orgasm and having great sex. They are more present in their body and alive for their life and for their children and for their career and themselves. And they’re able to just move differently in their body. It’s really unlocking something for them. Then adding psychedelics is just a whole other thing that we’ll be exploring as well.

[00:12:54.580] – Dr 1Drea

Yeah. What I’m hearing that I think we need to double-click on is it’s not just about your hormones. For a lot of us, we recognize, of course, the hormones are going to dip as we age and you might see symptoms like we talked in our last Master Class about menopausal symptoms or PMS or PMDD. And those things, of course, if you’ve got symptoms, that’s going to make you less likely to engage in sexual activity. But that trauma piece that you’re talking about is also important because even if you correct all of the hormones, if you’ve still got stored messages around sexuality being wrong or bad or that you don’t deserve pleasure, then that’s going to impact you, right?

[00:13:39.790] – Dr Jill

Absolutely. Then the other thing, as far as feeling good and feeling alive emotionally and mentally and how that is involved with connection. There was a study that showed that women who were pre-menopausal had no previous history of major depressive symptoms. As they entered the perimenopause state, they became twice as likely to develop major depressive symptoms. They also, when they were not optimized, when they were going through that perimenopausal time, they had a difficult time going through any type of life transitions, whether it was divorce, job or career changes, the kids going off to school, death in the family. And so optimizing the hormones affects not just the internal health and vitality of the woman, but it affects everything in her reach as well.

[00:14:34.390] – Dr 1Drea

That’s overall resilience, what you’re talking about. It’s like, yeah. Super critical. I want to just give a recap of some of the material that we covered in the last Masterclass. For me, in particular, I remember seeing this study by Leah and her colleagues and their colleagues, and they found that people that microdose psychedelics reported improved emotional health and wellbeing. And soThe thought is that microdosing psychedelics could potentially enhance sexual satisfaction. Let’s talk about it. I see my camera is not working over here. Let me get myself… Let me get myself back on camera, ladies and gentlemen. All right.

[00:15:24.440] – Dr Jill

I think it’s also important to recognize that while there may not be a lot of studies that we know about, we all are studying. We are all students. And we are sharing this information with other people, with other practitioners is a way of creating networks of people who then we can plug into a study. But it doesn’t mean that there’s no data out there that we’re not seeing tons of patients who are having benefits of this. And yes, of course, we always want to make sure things are safe. But I think it’s important to share the knowledge as we get it as well, especially with hormone optimization, wasn’t even something that was taught in medical school. We really were just taught to treat the number instead of the person and their process and their symptoms. I think it’s important to be sharing this information. And yes, when there are studies to share, share those as well. But just because there may not be a lot that we can find, there’s a ton of information out there, including what we share at all the conferences and all that clinical data.

[00:16:40.480] – Dr 1Drea

Absolutely. When we are talking about microdosing, psychedelics, we mentioned in the last Master Class that what we’re talking about is taking a fraction of a typical therapeutic dose of a psychedelic substance, which a microdose is small enough to not have any hallucinogenic effects, but it could still provide potential benefits for mental and physical wellbeing. We talked about psilocybin in our last class, which is derived from what we call magic mushrooms, the Psilocybin, of which there are more than 200 fungi that make psilocybin, a microdose of psilocybin is typically from 0.1 to 0.3 grams. That’s 100 to 300 milligrams of dried mushrooms, which corresponds to about five to 10 milligrams of pure psilocybin. When we look at LSD, for example, a microdose is typically five to 10 micrograms. We talked about mescaline. I don’t know many people who are microdosing mescaline, but it’s said to be around 10 to 50 milligrams. We also talked about ketamine, which is a synthetic. It is an anesthesia. This dissociative anesthetic does have psychedelic properties. I’ve heard from some of my colleagues in the United States who mentioned that microdosing from 10-30 milligrams is something that’s happening. Just note, we are not condoning the use of any illegal substances or off-label use.

[00:18:15.330] – Dr 1Drea

We’re just sharing what we found. When we talk about microdosing for menopausal or menstrual wellbeing, we’re talking about addressing some of the common symptoms. When we talk about mood regulation, there are studies that show that microdosing could enhance mood and reduce anxiety. That, of course, is useful for people with PMS or PMDD. If we look at pain perception, we’re looking at anecdotal evidence, again, but preliminary studies are indicating that low doses of psychedelics may have analgesic properties, which could potentially reduce menstrual pain. If we look at cognitive difficulties, we’re talking about enhancing creativity, focus, and even problem-solving abilities. And as Jill mentioned, it could be a slight improvement in mood. So all of these are things that we’re considering. But today, we’re going to look again at what we’re finding in anecdotal reports, potential mechanisms at play, and then we’ll get into how you can join us. Together, we’ll be at Omega. I thought it would be interesting because many people are curious to know what are the potential mechanisms at play. Psychotics are also known to enhance sensory perception. That may improve pleasure during sexual activity. We often hear people when they take a macro dose, whether that’s psilocybin, LSD or ketamine or ayahuasca, they’re actually experiencing all sorts of physical sensations.

[00:20:01.520] – Dr 1Drea

The idea here is what if a microdose helps you turn on your senses? As you know, Jill, in my book, The Organism Prescription for Women, the whole 21-day program in that book is all about tuning back into the sense of feeling again. Because like you said, some women have been become numb, whether that was through abuse or surgery or just being single, they just numb out. What if we could actually enhance sensory perception? That’s one of the concepts there. We talked about reduced anxiety, but also reduced inhibitions. If psychedelics could potentially lower inhibitions, that might allow women to be more open and more present during their sexual encounters. Improved mood, of course, it goes without saying. For those women who say, I’m just too depressed to have any sexy time, what if microdosing could help you in that area? I think the other one that’s a little more obvious because we have studies around this, we know that macro doses, and some are reporting that microdoses of psychedelics increase empathy and connection. If you’re feeling more empathetic, you’re feeling more open and more connected to your partner, that could certainly improve relational dynamics and sexual function.

[00:21:26.550] – Dr 1Drea

I mean, of course, all of these are very intriguing potential benefits. More research is really required so that we can understand the safety, the efficacy, and also the dosing. For many of us, you don’t know what is going to happen to you until you actually get to experience. For me, I found that for the clients of mine, I live in France, and I work out of the Netherlands for psychedelic retreats and individual ceremonies. In the Netherlands, it’s psilocybin truffles, and they’re completely legal. One can obtain microdosing supplies, and that’s where I first had some microdosing supplies. I found that for me, there were a couple of things right off the bat that I noticed besides the creativity and focus. I could just crank through my creative day without batting an eye. I also noticed over time that I was less irritable and I had more equanimity. I was more even keeled. Even when things would normally irritate me, when I started microdosing, I found that I didn’t have that same edge. These are the things that I’m excited about.

[00:22:45.550] – Dr Jill

Yeah. I mean, so many good things that you touch on there. The thing that resonates for me because I do have that nerdy brain, just like you do, where I really like to understand the concept of what’s happening and why. And some of these things, we don’t have the exact data we’re still searching for. But our colleague and friend, Robin Carhardt-Harris, and his paper, The Entropic Brain, really spoke to me in that with psilocybin, and particularly, it is unplugging that default mode network, which is like that looping that we get into. And how do we get out of that? And so many people don’t have a skill set to even get to that. And that can be through yoga, meditation, breath work, and everything. But sometimes we need more. And that’s something that I found to be very helpful for myself and for other clients, for other patients who have done microdosing on their own in places that are legal. But it does disconnect us from that default mode network of our looping thoughts of how we were raised and just how things should be. I think, particularly coming out of COVID, women, since we’re gearing this more towards women, have really taken on the load of the entire family, the entire matriarchy of they work and they cook and they take care of the kids, and they do all the things.

[00:24:28.340] – Dr Jill

But the one thing they’re not doing is they’re not in their body. And so not just the trauma of big T trauma, but the trauma of everyday life of like, I’ve got to shut that part of me down because I have these people to take care of. And I can’t feel that. And then what happens is you can’t feel anything. And so the unplugging allows you to get out of that loop so that you can actually feel what’s going on. And so the two particular integration and techniques that I’ve either been trained in and also researched more of is the internal, and you’ve been trained in, is internal family systems and then the compassionate inquiry. And both of those are really getting into that somatic work. And then I’ve also done the somatic experiencing, which is ultimately let’s get back to the body. What am I feeling? And sometimes it’s just so shut down, so numb that it’s like, I can’t feel anything. And so by unplugging that default mode network, it allows people to access those parts. And I can say sometimes people will know that they’ve got an issue, but they have no idea how to access it.

[00:25:48.520] – Dr Jill

And just face-to-face talking about it can be more triggering. The MRIs have shown that people actively going through trauma versus just talking about their trauma. Traditional, cognitive, behavioral therapy can be just as traumatizing, retraumatizing. The talking about it is not good, but the feeling of it is where we need to get to. Sometimes just talking with somebody, I can see the deer in the headlights, I can see them, shallow breathing, moving, darting eyes, shame, and it’s too much sometimes. And so with the microdosing, I try and teach people self-inquiry as well, so they can have tools when they’re alone, they can start to unplug that default mode network and actually do some self-inquiry like, What is this part of me that is hurting? This stomach pain or pelvic pain. A lot of women have a lot of peri-menem hazle women have this neck and shoulder pain. And I know that’s something that we share as well. Our parts share that. And it’s the weight of the world, carrying the weight of the world. Not just our own personal world and then the collective, but our generational trauma, too, we’re carrying that. It helps with self-inquiry processes as well.

[00:27:09.270] – Dr Jill

People can really get into their body in the comfort of their own homes. It’s best to have a guide guiding you through how much to do this, and then also to have somebody to help with the integration process of what does this all mean? How do I even put any of this together? I have no words for it. So I think all of those things are so important. And I’ve seen results with microdosing of psilocybin and ketamine. I don’t have – Do you.

[00:27:40.380] – Dr 1Drea

Mean together? Or you’re saying just those two?

[00:27:42.690] – Dr Jill

No, separately. Yes, separately. And I know that facilitating couples therapy with with low and and high MDMA is in the literature. I don’t have any experience with with that. I would extrapolate the same might be true with either low dose ketamine, because I have been in ketamine group sessions, and I’m aware of ketamine group sessions a lot for veterans. And they seem to do really well because of the parts concept. Our parts recognize each other. So when you can do the low doses in a group setting, say, with a group of perimenopausal women, one person starts sharing everybody else’s parts that have gone through the same thing that they’re not able to actually verbalize, they recognize it. It. And becomes this co-regulation that happens and like, Oh, it’s safe to talk about this stuff. Because that’s one big thing, too, is we’re all so shut down and there’s so much shame about this stuff that’s happening to our body, and there’s no one to talk about it. But the moment that was the message for me, the moment I first shared with a patient, my personal experience of my first dose of of taking was I literally felt like I woke up to my life.

[00:29:04.050] – Dr Jill

And her eyes got wide and she’s like, Oh, I felt so alone. That was before the spiritual awakening and the parts work and the trauma and everything. But I recognized, Oh, that’s my path. I share and then your part recognizes and it gives you permission to share what’s going on as well.

[00:29:21.770] – Dr 1Drea

Which is exactly how we connected. It’s super cool that despite having all these things in common with our training and background, we actually met when I was doing a Facebook Live, sharing a bit of my story and opening up about my experience with depression and after having my daughter. That’s how Jill and I connected for the very first time. But I want to come back to the body acceptance because there are anecdotal reports. There is some research that suggests that psychedelics, even in microdoses, can shift our perspective towards towards bodies. It can actually help to foster a sense of acceptance and appreciation. When we look at the research that shows that some users experience self-transcendence and interconnectedness, these are these lofty terms that we see with psychedelics, but they can help us to accept the body as it is rather than focusing on all of these societal ideals or how we wish we looked or how we wish we weren’t aging. I think that that shift in perspective can really help to alleviate some of the body image concerns and promote a healthier relationship with one’s physical self. As you know, Jill, I will be co-facilitating a retreat in the Netherlands with Jessica Lagaud, and she and I will be doing a discussion and interview next Wednesday.

[00:30:52.810] – Dr 1Drea

So stay tuned for that, where we’ll really dive into body positivity. But I think when we think about self-acceptance and self-transcendence with psychedelics, it’s normally talked about in having a macro dose where people just have this awakening where they realize, Oh, my God, I’m so much more than my body. I’ve been so obsessed. I’ve been so fixed. And I don’t really have to be that way anymore.

[00:31:18.710] – Dr Jill

I think you’re spot on with that. The connection to our body is so key. And it’s having that pause to be able to do it during my my catamene I loved how they described it as being almost like a snow globe effect. You have a snow globe and you shake it up, and then everything settles a little bit differently. So instead of that ingrained path path my body doesn’t look the way that it’s supposed to, or my life doesn’t look the way it’s supposed to, it is creating this neuroplasticity, these new neural networks, which is the fresh powder powder over here. Settled, and now we can start moving differently. And I think that’s so important is to incorporate the movement and the breath. I know you do a lot of breath work training as well. And it’s literally moving the the moving the energy to get those neural pathways, not just in the brain, but we have three brains. We have our brain, and then we have our heart brain, and we have our gut brain. For me, I store a lot of my trauma in my gut. And so when that’s off, I can feel I’m holding my breath.

[00:32:34.220] – Dr Jill

I can have changes in bowels. And ultimately, that holds 80-90 % of our dopamine and serotonin receptors, which is our happy hormones. And so really connecting. Well, how do we connect with our body? People are thinking, I’ve got to run. I’ve got to do this. Sometimes it is literally just being in the bath and being still with yourself and like, What am I feeling? And what does this feel like? Like? It is movement. For me, I connect with dance and different types of dance just moves energy for me. So there’s no right way to connect with the body. And sometimes you need help connecting with the body. I just did a somatic experiencing work, and I felt like I had this cage that my body was just in for my entire life. And it just finally got broken free so that I can move freely and all those limiting beliefs as well. So I don’t think there’s one recipe for each person. It really has to do with what each person’s story and how it presents and everything. And ultimately, that inner guide, that inner knowing that says like, This is what I need. Because I always talk to people about whether it’s microdosing or actually going through a full journey, you have to be called to do that.

[00:33:57.160] – Dr Jill

I would never just recommend that to somebody. I think that’s so important for us as practitioners that are traditionally trained to start giving people permission to listen to their body because there’s so much medical medical gas out there. I’ve been medically gaslit. I’m sure you have. It’s still being perpetuated. We need to, as practitioners, say it’s imperative that you listen to your body. It’s sending you these messages.

[00:34:29.020] – Dr 1Drea

I find that for me, when I’m working with people who are beginning a microdose regimen, we start with a lot of breath work, guided guided and imagery, and then journaling to start really creating that relationship with the self, with the unconscious, with all these different different because you’re going to find your path in. Maybe it is movement, it’s body, maybe it’s the breath, maybe it’s through journaling. It could be through some ecstatic process. But I find that when we do that and we can start to investigate, like you’re saying, some of the limiting beliefs, some of the things we’ve been holding, it facilitates conversation if you are working with a therapist. I never recommend that people do this completely in a vacuum. So whether you’re joining a group for integration circles or working with a coach or a therapist, it’s ideal because you can resolve a lot of the past conflicts, but oftentimes, you’ll have an an epiphany, then it’s in the talking and restructuring your thoughts and your relationship to self, relationship to others that the next level of breakthrough can happen. I also want to mention that you can join Dr. Jill and me at Omega Institute in upstate New York.

[00:35:50.230] – Dr 1Drea

We will be there in September, September fourth through the eighth. I will play a little video in a few moments. I also want to open up for questions if there’s anyone out out there like to type into the chat a question. But yeah, I’m excited for our workshop, embrace your feminine power, which there are no psychedelics at that event, I should let you you know, we will be doing a lot of experiential work with breath and movement and meditation and being in the beautiful nature that is Omega Institute.

[00:36:26.840] – Dr Jill

I’m super excited for it.

[00:36:28.990] – Dr 1Drea

Yeah. It’s a long time coming. We’ll do it in New York this September. Embrace your feminine power. That is only for women, I should remind you. One of the things that I think is interesting, I mentioned this in the last masterclass, is when you look at mechanisms of action. We’re talking about for psilocybin, for example. We know that it’s enhancing neuroplasticity. We know that it increases BDNF, that that neurotrophic factor. There’s this thought that it can help with cognition, especially if you happen to experience brain fog around your periods or in the perimenopausal phase. But what’s interesting, and I shared this last week, in my case, I was put on on hormones for menopause right around, I guess that was just before I started microdosing. But when you look at what Estradial does, for example, which improves cognitive function, Estradial also increases BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. When I think think for me, is it possible that I had this additive boost? It wasn’t just the psychedelics, it wasn’t just just it was them together. Again, we need more studies to actually see, but these are some of the mechanisms of action that we we do know each of these various molecules.

[00:38:02.200] – Dr 1Drea

Then also for me, in my case, when you put me on on I noticed that I slept so much better. I I through the night, I wake up more more refreshed, and so I find that with microdosing, I just feel like I’m amped. Not amped in energy, but my cognitive function is amped. What I’m saying is we don’t necessarily have to look at microdosing, psychedelics, dysfunctional disease, alone, it’s not one or the the other. Some women, hormone therapy may not be for them. I actually also heard from one of my colleagues in the US, they were saying they’re having a hard time, her patients are having a hard time finding physicians to actually write their prescriptions for for I knew that was a problem in the UK. There’s so many UK doctors because it’s not part of the national health health system, NHS isn’t covering drawing labs or getting people on hormone replacement therapy. But it’s something that I think everyone should explore if you are in that age range. What do you think?

[00:39:10.290] – Dr Jill

Well, you know what I think. We’ll tell the people what to do. I will share because this is something near and dear to my heart is being a traditionally trained physician, a family doctor who was that doctor that interrupted at 11 seconds, put you in the box box I had to take people off of their hormones because the Women’s Health Initiative had just come out when I finished my training and put them on antidepressants and then go through my whole journey of being in private practice, having been misdiagnosed with PMDD myself when it was clearly hormonal, and then found this field. The same symptoms that are used to diagnose as a traditional physician to diagnose depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or mood disorder, and ADHD are all the same symptoms of hormone imbalance and trauma and/or trauma. And so it is so important to really get clear on your entire history and be able to share all of that with your practitioner so that you can get a full rounded view of what’s going on instead of an an in the diagnosis and just be put on an antidepressant. And so as far as my hormonal awakening, that led me to exploring more.

[00:40:41.410] – Dr Jill

And that’s what I find in my patients, too. They wake up to their lives because now they’re feeling better. They’re not having these symptoms of anxiety, depression, worthlessness. Who am I? I’m a shell of myself. I don’t recognize who I’m looking at in the mirror. All of these things to, Oh, I want to to go my my dream, I want to explore this and and that, I want to be in my body now. And so that’s where the microdosing and the macrodosing is helpful for facilitating that and getting people to work together with all of their parts and pursue their passions. So I think it is that combination of plugging in the hormones. This is always at people’s pace, too. Sometimes it’s opposite. Some people have been doing the and then they’re like, Oh, I think I need to do my hormones now. There’s not just one size fits all. Then the other other part research is with blood sugar and inflammation, and now they’ve called Alzheimer’s disease type three diabetes. Ultimately, we know inflammation is at the base of all diseases. Diseases. And causes inflammation? Trauma, stress, suboptimal hormone levels. That’s where, again, again, think we want that quick answer of like, Oh, it’s just this one thing that we have to do.

[00:42:06.210] – Dr Jill

It’s the Estradile, we need to do that, and then everything’s good. It’s really about understanding the whole structure. Structure. And each person is dynamic. What you need need is not what you’re going to need in five years. Years. As you travel through things to your body and having somebody that can help you integrate all these life processes as well.

[00:42:27.300] – Dr 1Drea

I’m glad you bring up the anti-inflammatory piece because there was a study in 2014 by Sabo and colleagues where they said that there’s evidence that suggests that some psychedelics may have anti-inflammatory properties. Since inflammation is linked to, as you mentioned, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, mood disorders, pain, the anti-inflammatory effects that we might see with psychedelics could contribute to improving women’s health. Again, we have to look at further studies here. There’s definitely the call for more research. But it’s pretty interesting because it will, I think, stimulate more people to think broadly and and holistically than just chasing after one neurotransmitter to tweak or one hormone to tweak, we can look at an overall holistic picture of a woman’s health.

[00:43:22.410] – Dr Jill

Absolutely.

[00:43:24.040] – Dr 1Drea

We, of course, need to talk about safety. It’s our priority. Before anyone would come to you and seek out ketamine in the US or travel with us to do psilocybin in a legal location, we definitely have to talk about safety. There is not a lot of data on safety with psychedelics because there haven’t been any randomized, placebo-controlled crossover studies. Most of what we’re seeing out there is anecdotal, folks who are doing citizen science, which is still valid. We need anecdotal reports. I think as we gather more data, we probably make the case for having a bigger study. But it’s important to note that for some people, when microdosing psilocybin, for example, until you’re figuring out your right dose, it can make you feel a little edgy or a little anxious. So if you are already prone to anxiety, you might want to be mindful and cautious there. We don’t have the same overblown high blood pressure that we see when you have a macro dose of psilocybin, but it’s still something for you to take note of. It’s interesting because most of us avoid people who have a bipolar diagnosis with mania. People who are slightly on that manic side would probably not be advised to sit in a major psilocybin ceremony because it might push you over that edge into mania or unlock other psychiatric challenges.

[00:44:59.020] – Dr 1Drea

But I’ve I’ve actually studies out of Copenhagen at a university where they actually were treating people with bipolar and mania with psilocybin and having positive effects. But again, these are the precautions that all of us are always talking about. It’s always recommended to start at the lowest possible dose. Start low, go slow as you’re adjusting. If you have any major health challenges, whether that’s heart or other interactions with medications, it’s really ideal for you to connect with someone who is well-versed in psychedelics and healthcare so that they can help you adjust as you need to.

[00:45:42.690] – Dr Jill

I think the other piece is anybody with an addiction, it actually can be… There are studies to show that it can be helpful with addictions, but then there’s the other side of the coin that with a previous addiction, you’re not supposed to engage in any mind altering substance. So it really, I think, is a bigger discussion between the person and the practitioner. And also even with bipolar diagnosis, because, again, having trained and diagnosed and treated people with that in the box diagnosis and also now having more information about how trauma presents. And also depression, a lot of times people are labeled with depression, and that’s actually just the predominant effect that is being shown. So if you suppress that, their mania may come come and that would be the bipolar. But again, it’s rethinking this whole system of, maybe those are parts of the person, and this is all trauma that’s being activated. But that’s where the different schools of thought, the traditional thinking of in the box, here’s this diagnosis diagnosis versus, I do know people who treat people with bipolar, who have had a bipolar episode, schizophrenia is another one that is pretty much taken out as well.

[00:47:18.130] – Dr Jill

And then blood pressure, especially with ketamine, can raise blood pressure. It doesn’t disclude you from doing that, but it’s something that needs to be monitored during the session and things like that. So.

[00:47:30.120] – Dr 1Drea

I definitely feel like originally I thought ketamine would probably be great until I found out how many people were abusing ketamine, and especially during the pandemic, when people could use these mail order things where they get ketamine delivered to their home and maybe they sit in a supervised session, but people could stockpile or sell or or share, ketamine does have addictive potential. It is really important for people who who are processing trauma or have addiction to make sure you’re doing this in a facilitated way. I would never recommend that, free-flying on your own. We did get one question come in.

[00:48:11.230] – Dr Jill

Can I just say one thing? Yes. I think it’s also important to note that when people, because there are a lot of people doing these underground retreats or home journeys with with people. With any psychedelics, set and setting is so so important. The mindset that you’re going in to like, are you just wanting to check out of what’s going on, which is a lot of what people are doing? Or do you have a specific intention to work on a specific trauma? But the people that you’re surrounded with, not just the people you’re surrounded with, but your guide. Do you feel a disconnect? Disconnect? Or may be somebody going through something that you’re going to pick up on things when you are in that altered consciousness. We’ve been in retreat retreat where there was a large amount of people, and there was collective racial trauma that came up. It was amazing. For people who have not done a lot of journeys, that might be really traumatic as well. If you go into your first ceremony at a friend’s house and you’ve got people that who knows knows We have these masks that we all wear. They’ve got their stuff together.

[00:49:23.380] – Dr Jill

Who knows what’s in them? But also, who knows what’s in their family tree that they’ve not yet yet uncovered? Collective trauma, the generational trauma. It’s so important to really listen to your body like, Oh, I don’t feel safe. Safety is so key with any of these things. You do want to make sure that you’re in in safe setting, the no driving. But even with… There There a lot of people doing at-home ketamine sessions too. That’s such an important thing, especially if you’re dealing with anybody with sexual sexual to make sure that they have a safe area. Even if their partner is in the house, that might not be safe. Safe. So all these things that really need to be considered as well. Well.

[00:50:11.940] – Dr 1Drea

Yeah, were bringing up so many many things We know that in a macro dose, you’re going to have your defenses lowered. If you are already an empathic person, it’s going to be your empathy or your ability to feel other people’s stuff is going to be heightened. When you bring up racial trauma, trauma, interviewed Sarah Reed and some others in this space around the potential for doing harm if you’re not sitting with a facilitator who has cultural competency and awareness because you will pick up things that you no longer have defenses against, like microaggressions. You’re spot on there. We only have a couple of questions in our last few minutes here. Launa asked, Can microdosing help with aging skin skin during That’s a question I have never had. I will throw it to you. My initial thinking thinking we mentioned the anti-inflammatory effects. The other thing that people notice when they microdose is they tend to have a healthier lifestyle. It’s easier for them to embrace healthier eating, to exercise when before it might have been more difficult. Difficult. So overall improvement in your diet, your regimen, your sleep, of course, is going to impact the skin.

[00:51:32.990] – Dr 1Drea

But I don’t know that you would notice -.

[00:51:35.840] – Dr Jill

I will say yes. Okay. I will say yes. I don’t have the clinical research. I do have plenty of plenty as far as patients, colleagues, connections, colleagues, that we hold trauma in our body and in our face, so much trauma in our face. So it’s so beautiful to witness to the faces of trauma. So what they look like before a journey, whether it’s a full journey or just a microdose versus what they’ve unleashed. And that can actually be without microdosing. There’s the different modalities that we have. I have this chair that we’ve talked about that reduces inflammation, the shift wave chair. We can put that in there for people that are… But people’s faces completely change when they have a journey because they’re releasing all of the tension from there. So ultimately, and all that trauma that you’re holding is causing inflammation. So that’s ultimately going to improve the uptake of all of your hormones. So testosterone, growth hormone, estrogen, thyroid, and ultimately going to plump you up because those things dry you out, they cause loss of collagen. So if you’re enhancing the absorption of that, and even in the gut, because we’re holding, and this is all anecdotal, like I said, but I have seen it in patients, we hold trauma in our gut.

[00:53:11.950] – Dr Jill

So if we have inflammation there, we’re leaking out. So leaky gut, we’re leaking out all of our hormones, vitamins, and nutrients. So if we heal that gut trauma, then we’re absorbing all of that, regardless of if you’re getting exogenous hormone replacement therapy as well. But the But by itself is going to help with all of that. And I have seen the differences in people’s faces for sure.

[00:53:36.980] – Dr 1Drea

All right. So there you have it. That’s something to check on. Makes total sense. So sense. Also asks, What hormone would you check in a perimenopausal woman? My PCP only wants to check the two main ones. So estrogen and what’s the other one? Other asks. Launa asks.

[00:53:57.050] – Dr Jill

Yeah. So the how we are trained as physicians and as a society is what’s my number. And it’s really about getting away from that. So it’s not about what level to check. I mean, there’s a whole symphony of hormones to check, but it’s also about knowing what your story is, what your symptoms are, and what your goals are, not just healthcare, but personal and professional. And so putting all of those things together. And it’s not just about checking it, but having practitioner who knows how to interpret it and what to do with it. Because most practitioners, traditional primary care doctors, which again, I used to be that person, I would say, Well, it’s in the normal range, so you’re normal. But that normal reference range, the way that was derived was we just took a sampling of the population in America, the average overweight, unhealthy overweight, fall somewhere in there. We developed We curve and this bell this bell that’s what we should shoot for. It doesn’t mean they feel they feel function well. So it’s really about getting away from that and having somebody that can check those check those not the person in front of me is the most important thing.

[00:55:15.460] – Dr Jill

If that number is perfect and you feel awful, I can look at, well, there’s an absorption issue as far as you may have some leaky gut. There may be some other thing going on as far as trauma. There may be a nutrition issue, so many other things. Other things. Important to have all of those pieces together.

[00:55:33.380] – Dr 1Drea

I love that you’re bringing in the symphony because it’s not just targeting estrogen or progesterone. In age management, we’re looking at all of them. Jill mentioned growth hormone and testosterone. When you’re looking at this bell curve and your regular PCP is going to say, even if you’re at the low end or you’re under that curve, they’re going to say, Well, you’re normal. Their reflex to treat and, of course, knowing how to how to might not even hit it. I get this all the time. People will say, Oh, yeah, my doctor ordered the labs and said I’m in the normal range. Yet, like you said, I still feel like crap. I’ve got brain fog. I’m not sleeping well. I’m putting on weight. My mood is awful. You actually have to make sure that sure physician and hopefully and hopefully your There are more physicians in America who are getting trained in functional medicine and hormone optimization, but you’re more than a number. Well, wow, we are already at the top of the hour. This has been a fun conversation. Hopefully, this has at least opened up your curiosity to explore this with someone who is knowledgeable and tuned into psychedelics and hormone optimization and looking at your entire life.

[00:56:47.600] – Dr 1Drea

Thank you, Jill, for being with me. I appreciate that.

[00:56:51.080] – Dr Jill

Thank you for having me. It’s been amazing. Yeah. Amazing.

[00:56:53.310] – Dr 1Drea

Yeah. Have to do this again because I’m sure after this post, we’ll get more questions coming in. If you registered for registered for you will get some resources via email and references. And I’m going to give us a little plug for our Omega.

[00:57:10.500] – Dr Jill

Our Yes.

[00:57:11.010] – Dr 1Drea

Here we go. Watch this. We are excited to invite you to an experiential retreat at Omega Institute called Reclaim Your Feminine Power.

[00:57:21.730] – Dr Jill

For healing and empowerment. In this.

[00:57:24.540] – Dr 1Drea

Retreat, we will be giving you tools and group sharing, breath work, breath work to help you reclaim the energy that you may have lost due to surgery, trauma, giving birth. And it’s an exciting way for you to connect with other women in a safe space.

[00:57:43.620] – Dr Jill

I’m super excited about this. It’s going to help empower you in all aspects of your life: personal, intimate, professional. You will reclaim.

[00:57:54.360] – Dr 1Drea

That wild. Including your financial empowerment. And as Jill always says, the womb is the home of our creativity. It’s our feminine power. It’s that shakdi flow.

[00:58:06.680] – Dr Jill

So you will learn how to operate from your womb and not your wound.

[00:58:11.840] – Dr 1Drea

So join us.

[00:58:20.990] – Dr Jill

Awesome. I love this. And you know what? I also have… This is new, is new, perfect, but I have an upcoming masterclass in the next month that you’ll be on as well. That is That is and optimization and expanding your vision andcareer-life path. Are going to add not just the hormone optimization, but the microdosing component, because I really do feel like that is we’re expanding consciousness, and it’s expanding your capacity for creativity and blasting through all those limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs. Was just a reminder in there because it’s all related. It impacts all areas of life.

[00:59:13.120] – Dr 1Drea

That’s awesome. Sweet. Well, consider me a part of it. I can’t wait to explore it. Well, you know, my whole world is about empowerment and conscious evolution. I have found that at the age of 52, I am more on fire stepping into this next chapter of my life and what I’m doing in my career and hosting retreats and working with people. I know that there is this rich potential that we all hold, male and female. Why not blast through, limiting beliefs and old paradigms? Old paradigms?

[00:59:48.660] – Dr Jill

Bring it on. That one’s for both men and women because I actually treat both men and women. And women. The past couple of weeks, I’ve had specifically a couple of men that men like, You know what? I’ve been on this hamster wheel doing this traditional thing, and I want to go do this, but I need to know how to go from here to there. To there. Is a very clear path to do that. Do that. A need that we can help empower more people to follow their vision.

[01:00:18.600] – Dr 1Drea

Awesome. I love it. Well, there you have it, my friends. You can join us in another Masterclass. If you’ve signed up for this one, we will email you about it and give you the resources. Next week on Tuesday, May 31st, May 30th? Yeah, the 30th, I will be co-hosting a conversation with Jessica Lagarde from Women on Psychedelics. We will be specifically talking about psychedelics and body positivity, how to embrace the body that you’re in. We’ll give you some more insights on our psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands, where it is completely legal. The first retreat that we’re doing together is for women only. In the fall, we’ll have another one for men and women. Hope that you can join us. Thank you, Jill. It’s always a pleasure to connect with you. We’ve even gone over time. We’ve got some thanks in the chat section, people.

[01:01:10.190] – Dr Jill

Thanking you. Of course, we went over time.

[01:01:13.750] – Dr 1Drea

It’s how we do. All right, my friends, thank you so much for tuning in. If you have questions, send us an email, and we will see you at the next one. Bye for now.

[01:01:23.870] – Dr Jill

Bye.