1/8 TSP. PSYCHEDELICS AND 2 CUPS MINDFULNESS OF THE BODY

Written By Anjna Chauhan

In a 2022 interview Roland Griffiths compared psychedelics to meditation in the discovery of the mind, “If meditation represents a systematic, tried and true, course of discovery of the nature of mind, psilocybin and psychedelics represent a crash course.”  The symbiosis of psychedelics and meditation became part of America’s counter-culture movement in the 1960s as demonstrated by Ram Dass and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s popularity.  The collaboration between psychedelics and mindfulness meditation (“MM”) has re-emerged in the current psychedelic renaissance because of the utility of self-awareness and non-judgment—the two key components in MM—in a psychedelic journey.  Additionally and alternatively, because psychedelics disrupt the default mode network and upend repetitive patterns of thinking and behaviors, a MM practice can sustain the newly acquired adaptive qualities from a psychedelic journey.   


Because I recognized the fleeting nature of psychedelic experiences, I began a consistent “japa practice”—meditation with a mala—in 2017 after a 7-day Ayahuasca retreat.  I also began to live more mindfully.  For my daily activities like cooking, I honed my attention on grounding:  The weight of the knife in my hand as I chopped something, the aroma of what I was cooking, the color of a specific ingredient…and over time, I noticed I was living more fully in the moment and less in my thoughts.  


In her “Moving into Meditation” book Ann Cushman writes, “Your body is always right here, right now.  This transient mysterious body anchors you in the beauty or sorrow of each unfolding moment: the smell of pinon logs blazing in a wood stove, your grandmother’s frail hand in yours as you say goodbye.  And it’s only when you’re present for these moments that it’s possible to be intimate with your life.”  I developed a deeper appreciation of why mindfulness of the body is so important—when we are awake and alive in our bodies, we live life more fully.  Reflecting back on my life experiences that were the happiest or even bittersweet the common denominator was my ability to experience what was occurring through my senses—sound, smell, touch, sight—and to register the moment.    


I reflect back on our 14-year-old dog, Leo, that we put down in February 2023.  As he aged, I could feel him lose his muscle mass, I could see the luster of his coat change, and his back left leg twitch.  Witnessing Leo’s life cycle allowed our family to be fully conscious with his of end-of-life journey in a present and connected way and to assist us in making the determination that it was time for him to leave his body.  


Comparatively, when I consider moments that are difficult—when I am self-loathing, angry, or locked in judgment—the common denominator is my absence from the present moment and from my body—I live in my thoughts.  Living in thought is a commonplace occurrence.  As a society, we have established a mind/body dichotomy and historically it has helped us evolve as species by climbing the food chain, but inhabiting our bodies means a willingness to surrender to difficult emotions like anger, fear, or anxiety.  The mind/body dichotomy exacerbates as our technological and virtual society thrive through social media, email, artificial intelligence, gaming, and online shopping, etc.  When we live in thought or disconnect from our senses, we can experience fatigue and exhaustion, we can get stuck or blocked emotionally, or sometimes we learn to self soothe with unhealthy addictive behavioral patterns like overeating or drinking.  When we disconnect from our bodies and senses, we also disconnect from our heart and our body’s innate wisdom.   The primary goal of a mindfulness of the body practice is to reconnect to our bodies and inhabit our bodies fully remembering that emotions, thoughts, and perceptions are all experienced on a physical level through our senses.  


Tara Brach uses Joseph Campbell’s “circle of awareness” to demonstrate how an attuned consciousness allows us to inhabit our bodies more fully.  Campbell demonstrates our consciousness through a circle with a horizontal line going through the center of the circle.  Everything below the line is out of our conscious awareness and everything above the line is what we are conscious of.  As we deepen our attention, the line moves down bringing in more the light of awareness or consciousness.  Put succinctly, a mindfulness of the body practices brings to the surface what we've habitually pushed under. 


The inquiry then becomes ways that we can reconnect or come back into awareness with our bodies.  According to Jack Kornfield, psychologist and American Buddhist teacher, the three ways to establish a mindfulness of the body practice are the following:   

  1. Find an anchor.  This is one of the first elements used in a mindfulness practice, and this is individual to you.  The purpose of an anchor is to allow us to return back to our practice when we get lost in thought.  When (and not if ;)) you get lost in thought, you come back to your chosen anchor with ease and non-judgment.  Several years ago, when I was at a chanting retreat at the Blue Spirit resort in Costa Rica, musician Deva Premal said that coming back is a way of beginning again.  So, each time you leave, experience gratitude that your awareness brought you back to your practice.  The most common anchors are breath, sound, and touch points in the body.

  2. Body Scan.  The second element of a mindfulness of the body practice is a body scan.  The key element with the body scan is a systematic focus on different parts of the body and relaxing and softening to tension or habitual patterns of holding. The body scan brings us back to our bodies.  When our thoughts or emotions pull us away, our chosen anchors allow us to begin again.  

  3. Inquiry.  The third element of a mindfulness of the body practice is inquiry.  The inquiry begins with two questions:  

    1. What is happening inside me?

A brief body scan demonstrates where somatic tension is held and where our emotions are accumulated.  Examples may include your jaw, neck and shoulders, or hips. 

2. Can I be with this?

This question begins to develop a habit of staying with what we previously have been leaving. The more you ask those two questions and really delve in, the spaciousness and openness begins to develop around what is going on and brings a profound presence back into the body. 

In their 1964 book, psychologists Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert described psychedelics as a “chemical key” that “opens the mind, frees the nervous system of its ordinary patterns and structures.”  While sacred plant medicines have undoubtedly provided immeasurable healing and awareness, the spaciousness of my consciousness and the awareness of my imprinting was sustained through my MM practice and my mindfulness of the body practice.  For me, coming back into my body allows my heart to open which assists with forgiveness and compassion, both to me and my family.  If we were in a Dr. Strange movie, I would say that mindfulness of the body is a portal to wisdom.  Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “To be aware of your body is the beginning of self love.  When mind goes home to the body, the mind and body are established in the here and the now.”



Anjna Chauhan
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