Metta bhavana is an ancient Buddhist meditation practice that aims to cultivate the emotional virtue of loving-kindness, known as metta. I have previously explored the benefits of metta meditation for depression, as well as the potential pitfalls of the practice. I would like to return to the benefits of this form of meditation again, specifically…
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Challenging experiences are always a possibility when using psychedelics. These may occur after a string of several positive and glowing experiences, but they can occur the first time as well. Essentially, the risk of them increases when there is a lack of attention paid to set and setting – that is, everything you bring to…
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Psychedelic integration refers to the process and goal of taking insights, lessons, visions, perspective shifts, and emotional breakthroughs from a psychedelic experience and applying them to one’s daily life in a positive way. This can encompass our attitudes, worldview, mental health, career, relationships, lifestyle, and so on and so forth. This process of incorporating meaningful…
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The intersection between philosophy and mental health is a broad topic, and in one essay I gave some examples of how certain philosophical positions may impact mental health, as well as emphasised that this line of causality – adopting a worldview and then becoming depressed – is not so easy to establish (the direction of…
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Willoughby Britton, a licensed clinical psychologist, is doing important research into the dangers, or dark side, of meditation. She is also the founder of Cheetah House, an organisation that provides information and resources for those experiencing meditation-related difficulties. In a paper published in Current Opinion in Psychology, she points to evidence indicating that too much…
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