Episode 3

Microdosing, Plant Medicine, & Integration with Tiffany Hurd

About This Episode

In this episode, Geri sits down with Tiffany Hurd, Microdosing Guide & Plant Medicine Facilitator. We explore microdosing with psilocybin and how to microdose to receive the most of your experience, the differences between microdosing and ceremonies, the benefits of working with a guide on your plant medicine journey, and the importance of integrating your psychedelic experience. Please note this episode was originally recorded on November 22, 2022.

Time Stamps

3:20 - Triggers: What they are and how they follow us.

6:17 - What is microdosing? What’s a plant ceremony?

8:11 - A little history on psychedelics and plant medicine

10:32 - Exploring different settings for psychedelic journeys

16:38 - What it’s like trying to describe your journey

19:05 - The importance of post-medicine integration

21:41 - Psylocibyn’s impact on the body and nervous system

28:44 - Accessing altered states of consciousness on your own

30:58 - What is an ego death?

35:07 - The Purge: Why do people vomit and poop during ceremony?

39:26 - Benefits of Microdosing with a Guide

About Tiffany Hurd

Tiffany is a Microdosing Guide and Plant Medicine Facilitator. She guides people through Microdosing journey's and Ceremonies to shift patterns, beliefs, anxiety / depression and overall step into your most authentic expression. She focuses on getting to the root of what mental blocks are holding you back by identifying habitual patterns and limiting beliefs that have been collected over time, and shifting them through nervous system modalities such as breathwork and somatic practices.

About Geri Paige

Geri is a leader in the art of personal freedom, working to create powerful catalysts for individual change and transformation. She is a nomadic entrepreneur, coach, and the founder of The Now Experiment. She is a creatrix with a degree in journalism and 15 years of experience as a professional content strategist and creator. Geri created The Now Experiment to help humans collectively reclaim what's ours - our freedom, time, energy, audacity, and all. You can find her on Instagram @geripaige.


Guest Links

Download a Free Mushroom Guide

Book a Free Microdosing Call (Client Interest)

Book a Free Ceremony Call (Client Interest)

Tiffany Hurd Instagram

Website

Facebook

 

Host Links

Abundantly Curious Instagram

Geri Paige Instagram

The Now Experiment Newsletter

Work With Geri

Transcript
Geri:

Hello everyone.

Geri:

Our guest today is Tiffany Herd, a micro dosing guide and

Geri:

plant medicine facilitator.

Geri:

She guides people through microdosing journeys and ceremonies to shift patterns,

Geri:

beliefs, anxiety, depression, and overall step into your most authentic expression.

Geri:

Tiffany also mentors, entrepreneurs, healers, and coaches who want to weave

Geri:

microdosing into their current work.

Geri:

She'll teach you how to work with plant medicine, how to guide people through

Geri:

microdosing protocols, and how to bring your medicine into the psychedelic

Geri:

space with reverence and integrity.

Geri:

Tiffany, thank you so much for being here today.

Tiffany:

Yes.

Tiffany:

Thank you for having me.

Tiffany:

I'm so excited to be here.

Geri:

So to kick us off, could you please share a bit of your background

Geri:

and what led you to where you are today?

Tiffany:

Yes, yes.

Tiffany:

Beautiful entry.

Tiffany:

So my background is the complete opposite of what I'm actually doing right now,

Tiffany:

but it's somehow synergized in a way that worked out really beautifully.

Tiffany:

So my background is actually in the medical device world.

Tiffany:

For about 13 years I was in high executive medical device positions,

Tiffany:

, working in the healthcare industry.

Tiffany:

So, you know, I kind of was living the lifestyle of climbing the

Tiffany:

corporate ladder and assuming that that was really gonna create success.

Tiffany:

That caught up to me.

Tiffany:

, I really experienced in those positions a lot of anxiety, a lot of just really like

Tiffany:

unresolved trauma that would resurface and show in relationships in life.

Tiffany:

It would just show all over the place.

Tiffany:

And so, not only was that really an accumulation of, my upbringing,

Tiffany:

but what was like the big trigger was the job that I was in and the

Tiffany:

unfulfilling career that I was in.

Tiffany:

And so, I ended up starting my own plant medicine journey.

Tiffany:

I actually started , with ayahuasca, just kind of dove right in.

Tiffany:

, and that was beautiful.

Tiffany:

I also was on medication and so, , I started microdosing I found microdosing

Tiffany:

about five years ago and I didn't really know a whole lot about it.

Tiffany:

There wasn't like a big wave like there is right now with in, in

Tiffany:

the psychedelic space with it.

Tiffany:

So I did a lot of research on my own and I said, you know what, I'm

Tiffany:

gonna try this and I'm gonna see if I can get off my medication and just

Tiffany:

see if it helps me with, you know, a variety of other things as well.

Tiffany:

And so I kid you not in about two months, I was completely off my medication.

Tiffany:

I was just like, wow, this opened up so much more for me

Tiffany:

than I actually anticipated.

Tiffany:

And so it just kept on going and going.

Tiffany:

And, you know, as I dove deeper into my plant medicine journey, , with

Tiffany:

microdosing, with larger ceremonies, , more with ayahuasca journeys.

Tiffany:

That deepened me more into just my passion and my purpose , and the work

Tiffany:

that I really wanted to do, which was not , the corporate industry that I was in.

Tiffany:

And so, it just kind of slowly started leading me more into that.

Tiffany:

Authentic truth.

Tiffany:

And I listened and I kept going.

Tiffany:

And next thing you know, I said, you know what?

Tiffany:

I'm ready to, to make this transition.

Tiffany:

And so I did and, I was working part-time, , with kind of

Tiffany:

starting to guide people within like the microdosing space.

Tiffany:

And then, , about a half a year into that I was like, you know what?

Tiffany:

Let's just make this full transition.

Tiffany:

And I did.

Tiffany:

And it's been a beautiful journey.

Geri:

You mentioned something that feels important, that your job was

Geri:

a trigger in a way, I feel like that's so many people's journey or

Geri:

it's resonant for them in some way.

Geri:

Can you speak more to that and how it was a trigger and what it

Geri:

felt like to move on from that?

Geri:

No,

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So, you know, I think the trigger for me at least, and, and I hear this pretty

Tiffany:

often with, a lot of people that I work with and just people in life in

Tiffany:

general, is that trigger will continue to.

Tiffany:

To kind of poke at you and persist until you really listen to what that is.

Tiffany:

And that's how it was showing for me.

Tiffany:

I kid you not, I jumped like I thought it was just the job, right?

Tiffany:

I'm like, oh, it's just the job.

Tiffany:

I'm not happy with this job.

Tiffany:

Let me leave this company and I'll just go to another company and I'll,

Tiffany:

you know, make more money at this.

Tiffany:

Position or whatever the complaint was at that time with that company that

Tiffany:

was creating quote unquote the trigger.

Tiffany:

And so I did that and I did it about five different times.

Tiffany:

Like, it's like a running joke, not anymore, but it used to be a running

Tiffany:

joke of I just bounced from jobs to jobs I started to really identify patterns

Tiffany:

within that experience of mine, and the same triggers would continue to show.

Tiffany:

So really that just required me to take a deeper look at, okay.

Tiffany:

What am I actually experiencing in my body?

Tiffany:

Where is this anxiousness coming from?

Tiffany:

Why am I having depression symptoms?

Tiffany:

Um, you know, where does this trigger, quote unquote, actually reside in my body?

Tiffany:

And so, , just doing deeper work within that really helped

Tiffany:

me identify what was going on.

Tiffany:

, and then that kind of created more of an opportunity to choose, okay, now that I

Tiffany:

have the awareness and I've identified the experience that I'm in right now.

Tiffany:

Where, where would I like to be?

Tiffany:

What would I like to experience?

Tiffany:

How would I like to feel?

Tiffany:

And kind of focusing my energy in those places too.

Tiffany:

Um, along with, you know, working with the medicine too, and it just

Tiffany:

kind of harmonized in a beautiful way to at least feel like I just

Tiffany:

had options of, of other things that weren't that particular trigger

Tiffany:

that I was in, if that makes sense.

Geri:

It does, and we're kicking off with such an important reflection,

Geri:

like your stuff follows you

Tiffany:

Exactly.

Tiffany:

Oh yeah.

Tiffany:

It'll like hunt you down.

Geri:

Yeah.

Geri:

Um, I mean, I packed up all my stuff and left Boston and

Geri:

moved , all over the place.

Geri:

Spent six months all over, and.

Geri:

It all, it all followed me.

Geri:

It all comes whenever we only shift the external and don't

Geri:

do any of the inner work.

Geri:

it's, it's not a complete transformation.

Geri:

And so as you found microdosing and plant medicine, I'm curious

Geri:

if you could provide the audience with a little bit of a background

Geri:

information about what it even is.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So, , we'll start with microdosing.

Tiffany:

You can microdose with a variety of psychedelics or a

Tiffany:

variety of, of plant medicines.

Tiffany:

, the ones that I work with and that I guide people, , through journeys

Tiffany:

with is, , psilocybin, so mushrooms and, , I recently started bringing

Tiffany:

in ayahuasca, so I have a pretty big.

Tiffany:

, history and experience of working with, with Ayahuasca, and she's been

Tiffany:

wanting to come more into my work.

Tiffany:

So she's, she's here, she's arrived.

Tiffany:

Um, but really, you know, microdosing.

Tiffany:

Essentially can be like defined as a 10th or a 20th of a normal dose of a

Tiffany:

psychedelic or a plant medicine substance.

Tiffany:

So it's perceptual meaning that there aren't gonna be, or there

Tiffany:

shouldn't be any, any psychedelic effects you shouldn't hallucinate.

Tiffany:

Um, it should be a really subtle experience that you practice consistently.

Tiffany:

Over a longer period of time versus an actual ceremony where

Tiffany:

that's a much larger dose.

Tiffany:

And that's a, not a longer period of time, but it's a shorter period of time.

Tiffany:

You know, four to eight hours essentially.

Tiffany:

So really the idea with microdosing is that you can work with this medicine, you

Tiffany:

know, consistently throughout the day.

Tiffany:

It shouldn't take you out of the task that you're doing throughout your day.

Tiffany:

In fact, it should really enhance the things that you're experiencing.

Tiffany:

Um, really the idea is that, you know, you can work through some belief

Tiffany:

patterns, some habitual patterns.

Tiffany:

Um, you know, your energy can increase, you can improve your mood.

Tiffany:

Anything from, Addiction, PTs, D depression, anxiety, stress, like

Tiffany:

there's, there's like a whole mental health aspect that it really

Tiffany:

can, can support and improve in.

Tiffany:

And then there also is like this whole side of performance and optimizing

Tiffany:

your health and your wellness.

Tiffany:

So there really is like an umbrella of a variety of, of how

Tiffany:

Microdosing can really support you.

Tiffany:

Um, and I see it being, you know, worked with and practiced with

Tiffany:

a variety of different things.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

And it's so interesting to me how in modern day there is a

Geri:

perception about mushrooms mm-hmm.

Geri:

In the common culture, and yet there's a history and a background

Geri:

of this medicine that is sacred.

Geri:

Could you share a little bit of the, the journey there?

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

The big thing that comes up is.

Tiffany:

Right now with like the psychedelic wave, right, the psychedelic renaissance,

Tiffany:

it's kinda like the third wave, , of what's taking place right now.

Tiffany:

I think that there's, there's like a reverence to be held with the medicine

Tiffany:

and you have a whole, um, you know, ancient modality of, of like indigenous

Tiffany:

that brought this medicine here.

Tiffany:

And so that's really anchored and that's really held in a reverent way.

Tiffany:

And so you can almost feel.

Tiffany:

The protection of the medicine in a way from, from the

Tiffany:

indigenous, rightfully so, right?

Tiffany:

It's, it's rightfully so.

Tiffany:

And so right now you're kind of seeing two angles where , that's existing

Tiffany:

and then, you know, big pharma and, and medical and things like that.

Tiffany:

So there's a lot of different.

Tiffany:

, flavors that are in the space right now.

Tiffany:

, but I think overall, um, with the amount of research that's being done

Tiffany:

right now or that has been done, that's out there through incredible sources,

Tiffany:

John Hopkins, like some really, really incredible, researching institutions.

Tiffany:

Um, they're, it's almost creating this like, This softness is, is what

Tiffany:

comes to mind of society, of viewing it in a new way, whereas it was

Tiffany:

viewed as drugs, and it was viewed as something that you know, was dangerous.

Tiffany:

Now it's viewed as a medicine and it's viewed as a healing modality that

Tiffany:

people are now really starting to see.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

And correct me if I'm wrong, but in the book, how To Change

Geri:

Your Mind by Michael Poland.

Geri:

I believe they were studying this, , decades ago and then they just

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Tiffany:

Exactly.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So this has been studied, I mean, decades and decades.

Tiffany:

The medicine, not just psilocybin, just plant medicine, psychedelics in general

Tiffany:

has been around for, thousands of years.

Tiffany:

, it was kind of just shoved under the rug through many different, reasons.

Tiffany:

So, you know, there's a lot that we can go into with that.

Tiffany:

But if you think of our society and, , you know, big pharma comes to mind and, and,

Tiffany:

you know, medications and wanting that to really take the forefront of, of just

Tiffany:

the way that our society is ran, , you know, plant medicine psychedelics,

Tiffany:

were almost viewed as a threat to that.

Geri:

Whenever you're microdosing or taking plant medicine, are there

Geri:

any differences between taking it, , with a practitioner such

Geri:

as yourself, , who's trained with it versus in a clinical setting?

Geri:

Like is there a difference with intention or comfort how would you describe those?

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So there definitely , is a difference between almost like a, a guided coaching,

Tiffany:

, route versus, a therapeutic setting.

Tiffany:

I really don't believe that one way better or not for, for either.

Tiffany:

I think it really depends on what's gonna best serve that individual and

Tiffany:

the healing that they're desiring.

Tiffany:

So, for example, there may be.

Tiffany:

You know, an elderly woman who has been struggling with depression for

Tiffany:

many, many years, she may do a lot better and feel a lot more safe and

Tiffany:

relaxed in a setting with the actual licensed therapist in a clinical

Tiffany:

setting where, you know, if something, God forbid, were to, were to happen to

Tiffany:

her, , she's in a clinical setting where somebody can come in and monitor and.

Tiffany:

Like hand, all hands on deck.

Tiffany:

That's not to say that a coaching facilitation, , you know,

Tiffany:

trauma-informed certifications experience, like all those types of

Tiffany:

amazing qualities to have, couldn't serve in the, in the same capacity.

Tiffany:

It's just gonna be a different experience.

Geri:

Hmm.

Geri:

I love being surprised whenever I ask questions because I thought for sure, I

Geri:

don't know where I picked up this story along the way, but I, I was thinking

Geri:

that being in like a safe, intimate, I don't know if sacred is the right word

Geri:

or not, maybe more intentional, , sort of environment might be preferable for

Geri:

some people over the clinical, but, What you're saying is really eyeopening.

Geri:

So in terms of like the experience, what are the things that will impact the

Geri:

experience that you have, let's say in a ceremony, for example, leading up to it

Tiffany:

Mm.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Beautiful.

Tiffany:

And also just to touch on that too, like just as much as it may be, uh,

Tiffany:

impactful or more supportive for someone in a clinical setting, I.

Tiffany:

It's the same in a ceremonial experience.

Tiffany:

Like I know for me, I am so much more connected in a ceremony with music,

Tiffany:

and there's music in clinical settings too, but it's just more of like a

Tiffany:

shamanic, , indigenous, , experience versus, you know, a clinical office,

Tiffany:

which still might be a comfortable setting of course, but just two very

Tiffany:

different, different experiences to have.

Tiffany:

So, , I just wanted to share that piece too.

Tiffany:

But in terms of leading up to either, whether it's a ceremonial

Tiffany:

facilitation experience, , or it's a therapeutic setting, there are

Tiffany:

very much so commonalities with the preparation process that goes into both.

Tiffany:

There's a, there's a phrase in the psychedelic space set and setting,

Tiffany:

and that really is a huge part of.

Tiffany:

Of preparing for the experience.

Tiffany:

Um, this also goes for microdosing.

Tiffany:

It's not just larger doses as well.

Tiffany:

Um, I, I believe it's just psychedelics, plant medicines overall.

Tiffany:

And so set and setting is really, you know, what is like your

Tiffany:

mindset going into the experience?

Tiffany:

Are, are you grounded?

Tiffany:

Are you clear on what your intentions are for what you want to receive

Tiffany:

and move through and experience throughout the actual journey?

Tiffany:

And then the setting is, It is really like, what is your environment?

Tiffany:

And so again, that's what we talked about with the clinical setting.

Tiffany:

Like that environment will be set up in a particular way for the

Tiffany:

person to land and arrive and feel safe so that they can have an, you

Tiffany:

know, have an experience with that.

Tiffany:

And then the same goes with, ceremonial experience.

Tiffany:

They're gonna walk into a setting that is set up for that.

Tiffany:

Experience for them to arrive in that.

Tiffany:

And so, , that alone, you know, that drives the experience

Tiffany:

along with your intentions.

Geri:

It's interesting you stopped on intentions.

Geri:

I've had one shaman led.

Geri:

Ceremonial

Geri:

journey with psilocybin and I went in with intentions and then she just gave me what

Geri:

she wanted to, which was what I needed.

Geri:

So I'm

Tiffany:

Yep.

Tiffany:

Might not be what you want, but it might be what you need.

Geri:

exactly, so I'm curious to know what your experience has been with that

Geri:

in terms of whenever you go in, , what do you often find that people leave with?

Tiffany:

Mm.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

That's a beautiful question.

Tiffany:

You know, I.

Tiffany:

I

Tiffany:

often see people, especially people that are new to, to working with, with

Tiffany:

the medicine in a, in a larger , dose, in a larger, in an actual ceremony

Tiffany:

experience is they, they kind of walk away with an experience of, I had no

Tiffany:

idea that that's where I was going.

Tiffany:

I had no idea that this is where we were going tonight.

Tiffany:

And it's so funny that I, that I hear that so often because, You

Tiffany:

know, especially being new to it.

Tiffany:

For those of, for those of you that are listening that are new, you're going to

Tiffany:

do all the research for the most part.

Tiffany:

You're gonna read the books, you're gonna listen to the podcast, you're

Tiffany:

gonna listen to other people's experiences and their journeys.

Tiffany:

And because there's usually this layer of.

Tiffany:

Fear going into it because it's new and, and you have no idea

Tiffany:

what you're really walking into.

Tiffany:

, you're going to look for things to relate to, so you're like,

Tiffany:

oh, that might be my experience, or I might have that experience.

Tiffany:

And so I see that really often with people that I work with, is they, they

Tiffany:

kind of feel like they have an idea of what they're walking into, but because

Tiffany:

it's such an individualized journey and experience, it's always never that.

Tiffany:

It's always just their own and they're always so surprised by it.

Tiffany:

So that's , One part of it.

Tiffany:

Another part is, is peace, like inner peace, inner freedom, inner joy, and

Tiffany:

just really walking away with, with a sense of feeling more in their bodies

Geri:

Mm

Tiffany:

is really what I, what I witness.

Geri:

mm That's beautiful.

Geri:

It's making me think of how I felt after my journey.

Tiffany:

taking you back to your.

Geri:

it is, it was in 2020.

Geri:

It was in the summer of 2020.

Geri:

Yeah.

Geri:

And it, , I tell people it was the worst and best experience of

Geri:

my life at the same time, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Geri:

I haven't yet felt called back to it just yet, but I know that I will again.

Geri:

, it's interesting, whenever I try to, and my shaman even told me this, he's like,

Geri:

whenever you try to explain the experience to people, it almost loses some of its.

Geri:

It's magic, for lack of a better term.

Geri:

And I found that afterwards, I tried to be like, this is what I felt, this was the

Geri:

experience.

Geri:

And without having exp it was ineffable.

Geri:

And without having experienced it, people were just like, oh, cool.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Geri:

Um, so how do you feel about that in terms of expressing

Geri:

the actual journey itself?

Geri:

What have you found?

Tiffany:

I love this question and thanks for sharing that.

Tiffany:

There's a lot that I believe that you get to just be with and you get to

Tiffany:

just hold, it's yours and it's sacred.

Tiffany:

, a lot of people may not understand or relate to what that experience

Tiffany:

might have been for you.

Tiffany:

And so, I'm a big believer in one integration.

Tiffany:

Like that's a non-negotiable and we can talk about that in a moment.

Tiffany:

, But that's a huge, huge piece to, to incorporate after a large

Tiffany:

journey, even with microdosing.

Tiffany:

Another part to bring in with that is, Is creating a safe container of who you're

Tiffany:

actually sharing your experience with.

Tiffany:

I'm a huge advocate to share with people who have worked with the medicine before.

Tiffany:

You're gonna relate on a completely different level.

Tiffany:

So especially if you're sitting in a group, , ceremony.

Tiffany:

Connect with those people.

Tiffany:

So in , group ceremonies for me, I connect everybody together.

Tiffany:

We're connected, we're having integration calls, we're connecting and keeping

Tiffany:

that alive because there's a certain, uh, magic and a certain potency that's created

Tiffany:

in those ceremonies that you share.

Tiffany:

And so you can relate.

Tiffany:

It's safe, you've journeyed together.

Tiffany:

That's a huge, huge safe space to really continue to share

Tiffany:

and process and integrate.

Tiffany:

I think to just be mindful of who you're actually sharing with and, and that person

Tiffany:

may be someone that you love and trust.

Tiffany:

It could be a family member, it could be your partner who's never journeyed.

Tiffany:

It might still, create more, I don't wanna say a, a trigger, but it

Tiffany:

can create like, um, I can't think of the word, but not detrimental.

Tiffany:

Something along the path of that where, They just might not understand, and it

Tiffany:

might kind of pull you back and confuse you a little bit and can create a whole

Tiffany:

different experience, um, than maybe the, the groundedness that you were in before

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

That's really helpful and I'm gonna carry that forward with

Geri:

me and my next experience.

Geri:

I feel like I'm in a different place now, but

Geri:

at the time, my initial reaction or response was to like go

Geri:

on a psilocybin campaign.

Geri:

I'm like, you don't understand.

Geri:

Like this is amazing.

Geri:

You know?

Geri:

It's almost like I saw this sun for the first time and I'm like, there's this

Geri:

thing that exists and it's so beautiful.

Geri:

, Tiffany: and you're, you're so,

Geri:

is so huge because you're, you're so open and you wanna go share.

Geri:

And so something else that I'll see often too, that I actually didn't

Geri:

mention that's, that's coming in right now is, , people witness, , The

Geri:

truth , of what they wanna step into, such as if you're entering the ceremony.

Geri:

And, um, again, this might even show with microdosing, but I see it with larger

Geri:

dosages is, you know, , if you're not really happy at your career or if you're

Geri:

relationships a little rocky, , it, it can obviously improve , in certain ways

Geri:

and you can have a different belief around that and how you're viewing it.

Geri:

, but for the most part, I see it kind of doing the opposite, and people

Geri:

will walk out and they're like, all right, I'm quitting my job, I'm

Geri:

getting outta this relationship.

Geri:

And I'm like, hold on, let's at least wait like a week or two.

Geri:

To integrate and, and land the ship before you start making these,

Geri:

these big life decisions because you're in this like, magic, joyful,

Geri:

open, I can take on whatever I please kind of mentality at times.

Geri:

Um, we really, we really get to ground it and then make a decision from that place.

Geri:

Is that part of what you mean by integration?

Geri:

Just like grounding and sitting with the ripple effects of the experience?

Tiffany:

Yeah, exactly.

Tiffany:

And, and really, taking the things that really stood out to you in the

Tiffany:

experience that , you wanna make changes with or, , whatever that may be.

Tiffany:

And creating like daily actionable steps to, , really.

Tiffany:

Ground it and integrate it.

Tiffany:

So it's almost like, you know, if for example, if maybe you were unfulfilled

Tiffany:

at your career and you sat in ceremony and then you really received.

Tiffany:

, that this was not the career that you, that you should be in.

Tiffany:

Rather than jumping, jumping into that, how can you start setting yourself up each

Tiffany:

day to slowly make the steps to make those changes versus just radically making it?

Tiffany:

That's gonna feel a lot better on your nervous system.

Tiffany:

That's gonna feel a lot better of a transition for you.

Geri:

You mean it's better to slowly make changes than lighting a match

Geri:

and burning it all down at once.

Tiffany:

Burn it down.

Tiffany:

Sometimes you gotta burn it down, but sometimes that's a

Tiffany:

lot, that's a lot on the body.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

I've burned a lot of things down and, and no regrets, but it, it

Tiffany:

def there definitely could have been a softer approach at times.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Geri:

Uh, you mentioned the nervous system and I, I saw that on your Instagram

Geri:

and your website that microdosing is related to the nervous system.

Geri:

I was wondering if you could speak to that a little bit more and help us understand

Geri:

maybe what's happening on the body level.

Tiffany:

Mm.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So with microdosing , I love to weave in and nervous system focus

Tiffany:

and nervous system modalities.

Tiffany:

Through the breath, through body awareness, through some slight body, you

Tiffany:

know, embodiment, movement, , whatever it is that the human needs to, to move

Tiffany:

whatever they're, they're working through ground, whatever they're working through.

Tiffany:

When we're microdosing or you're working with psychedelics or you're

Tiffany:

working with plant medicine in general, What's really happening in

Tiffany:

the brain is, is the actual psilocybin, we'll, we'll talk about mushrooms.

Tiffany:

Is it's creating new neural pathways.

Tiffany:

It's creating new neuroplasticity in the brain, and so really

Tiffany:

what that is allowing are.

Tiffany:

New patterns to be interrupted, new patterns to be created because

Tiffany:

as humans, especially, , through childhood, we see certain things that

Tiffany:

we believe we attach to those beliefs.

Tiffany:

Things affect us that we carry into our adult years.

Tiffany:

Um, everyday life

Tiffany:

We have certain habitual patterns, we have certain beliefs, and when there's

Tiffany:

something that we maybe wanna shift or work through to create a healthier

Tiffany:

way of living or a healthier, way of viewing something um, sometimes we can

Tiffany:

be stuck in that same thought pattern.

Tiffany:

And so this is why I love to work with psychedelics, is because it almost

Tiffany:

interrupts that, that thought pattern.

Tiffany:

And allows a new opportunity to create a new one, and it kind of

Tiffany:

just shifts gears within the mind and the body, and so there really is.

Tiffany:

A, a window of opportunity to work with when that happens.

Tiffany:

That's why I really love the guided approach, especially with microdosing,

Tiffany:

because I'm able to help you see when that's actually happening,

Tiffany:

and then I'm able to help you learn how to actually work with the

Tiffany:

medicine, work with those windows of opportunities so that you can really

Tiffany:

receive the most out of the journey.

Geri:

I love that.

Geri:

And for anyone who hasn't seen this on video, it's so cool to Google neural

Geri:

pathways growing and reconnecting online.

Geri:

I mean, this is, this isn't just like talk, like this actually

Geri:

happens in your brain and it's so cool to see it physically happen

Tiffany:

Yeah, it's pretty wild.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

And to even witness it, right, like of course I'm not in the person's

Tiffany:

brain while I'm guiding them on the journey, but you know, I

Tiffany:

energetically feel like I am at times.

Tiffany:

But to witness, even just a week of working with people, sometimes

Tiffany:

it, you know, you really feel the and and see the shifts that quickly.

Tiffany:

And it's like you can witness just the things just rewiring and

Tiffany:

changing and they're like, Oh, I'm now viewing things this way.

Tiffany:

Or, oh, you know, I used to feel incredibly anxious or, you

Tiffany:

know, would have panic attacks or whatever the experience is.

Tiffany:

That's going back to the nervous system out of body experiences and so, working

Tiffany:

with the medicine to soften that and then also bringing in the guided approach of.

Tiffany:

When I am experiencing anxiety or when I am experiencing fear, stress, whatever

Tiffany:

that is, obviously my nervous system is in a, , sympathetic experience.

Tiffany:

How can I bring it back into a calm, grounded, parasympathetic, , experience?

Geri:

Yes.

Geri:

Something that's always so fascinating and I like to, to bring up.

Geri:

On these, , interviews is kind of the overlay of, the emotional

Geri:

body, the physical body, then there's the spiritual and.

Geri:

One of the purposes, or explorations, of this podcast is to see how

Geri:

these things coexist rather than thinking that they're divisive.

Geri:

Or if one thing is scientifically proven, it's not spiritual, or if

Geri:

it's spiritual, it's not science.

Geri:

, what has your experience been with like the spiritual side of this and

Geri:

how it relates to what's happening in the body or that we've explored?

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Tiffany:

I'll start with psilocybin because it's grown in the earth because

Tiffany:

it, it comes from the earth.

Tiffany:

That alone is creating a certain reverence of spirituality , that

Tiffany:

people tend to connect with.

Tiffany:

, so that's kind of one piece that I see take place really often and

Tiffany:

then, and, and myself included.

Tiffany:

Then there is a altered state of consciousness that you experience

Tiffany:

that, connects you to something beyond.

Tiffany:

You.

Tiffany:

So that may be God, that may be, , a higher self that may be

Tiffany:

divine intelligence, like whatever resonates and connects with you.

Tiffany:

, I tend to see that happening quite often.

Tiffany:

And so again, those are two, I like to say like not out of body, but External

Tiffany:

experiences outside of you in a way.

Tiffany:

So to your point, how do you bring that into the body and how do you

Tiffany:

kind of create that harmony or that alignment is through integration, is

Tiffany:

through, um, body awareness practices, you know, self rituals, um, in my

Tiffany:

opinion, to really hone everything in.

Geri:

I know we're not specifically discussing consciousness

Geri:

and I, so I'm not sure

Geri:

if you'll have a, a response or ideas on this or not, but I'm wondering, as I've

Geri:

explored this a little bit, I'm not sure that the researchers have identified the

Geri:

seat of consciousness or where it lives, how it's connected to the physical body.

Geri:

Have you read anything about this?

Geri:

Do you have any things that you've explored or identified in this area?

Tiffany:

You know, I, through my own just rituals and practices, I can drop

Tiffany:

into a higher state of consciousness.

Tiffany:

For me, I'm able to ground into like connecting to my guides,

Tiffany:

connecting to the divine.

Tiffany:

The divine can be viewed as God.

Tiffany:

The divine can be viewed as earth, planet, the divine can

Tiffany:

be, , a psychedelic substance.

Tiffany:

It's whatever, in my opinion, can.

Tiffany:

Help you arrive and connect in this state of safety trust and something

Tiffany:

that might be guiding you beyond what your physical body can guide you into.

Tiffany:

And so it's like this, this safety that you can land in.

Tiffany:

Um, and that might look really different for a lot of different people.

Tiffany:

, that happens to be my experience of what I can speak on with,

Tiffany:

consciousness, , I obviously, you know, experience it happen in larger

Tiffany:

facilitations , of ceremonial work too.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

Yeah.

Geri:

That's such a mystery, which makes it so

Tiffany:

There's so much to go into.

Tiffany:

And , Joe Dispenza comes to mind, right?

Tiffany:

Of course.

Tiffany:

Of like you and, and, , imagining your future self and what your

Tiffany:

future self is experiencing.

Tiffany:

And, you know, almost like this manifestation of approach of,

Tiffany:

of you and the physical body now witnessing the physical future self.

Tiffany:

, I've done some of his work a little bit.

Tiffany:

Um, some people love him, some people don't connect with him.

Tiffany:

But it really is gonna be, what do you resonate with that that helps you get to

Tiffany:

that place, if that is of interest to you.

Geri:

Yeah, absolutely.

Geri:

And I, I mentioned Dr.

Geri:

Joe almost every episode and I was like, I'm not gonna do it this time.

Geri:

I'm not gonna do it.

Geri:

And

Tiffany:

Yeah, and I, here I go.

Tiffany:

I brought it

Geri:

I love it.

Geri:

No, I'm so happy you did.

Geri:

I mean, it's just like a boomerang.

Geri:

Um,

Geri:

he's, it, it's, it's completely fascinating work.

Geri:

And to be honest, I had an experience in deep meditation that really resembled.

Tiffany:

Mm.

Geri:

Plant medicine.

Geri:

The plant medicine ceremony that I did in terms of what I created,

Geri:

just actually by myself within my

Geri:

body with no substances.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Tiffany:

I love that, that you bring that up

Tiffany:

So accessing states , of consciousness too, through breath

Tiffany:

work, you can also access that.

Tiffany:

It's not just through a plant medicine or a psychedelic journey by, like you can

Tiffany:

absolutely access that place on your own.

Tiffany:

That's the power of our bodies.

Geri:

medicine, have you been able to, if this isn't too personal,

Geri:

have you been able to access states without any plant medicine?

Tiffany:

100%.

Tiffany:

Yeah, 100%.

Tiffany:

And they're just, they're different journeys.

Tiffany:

There's been times where some, I wouldn't necessarily say, you know,

Tiffany:

feel deeper and more expansive than, working with plant medicine.

Tiffany:

They're just two different experiences and, you know, sometimes , you don't

Tiffany:

wanna go on a large, four hour journey.

Tiffany:

Sometimes , you want to just be able to breathe and, and not have a substance

Tiffany:

that's, , guiding you into that state.

Tiffany:

, there's something really powerful about being able to arrive there through your

Tiffany:

own breath and your own body awareness.

Geri:

I just got chills because it feels like the plants are

Geri:

teachers showing us what's possible.

Tiffany:

Exactly.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

They're, they're powerful allies.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Geri:

it.

Tiffany:

I love it.

Geri:

I just went to the dentist this morning and now

Geri:

I'm like remembering who I am.

Geri:

I'm like, oh, yes, I am a powerful conscious creator.

Tiffany:

Oh my God, yes.

Tiffany:

Ah, there's nothing like a good teeth cleaning either.

Tiffany:

That's like, that's one of my favorite things to do actually.

Tiffany:

There's a fun, well, uh, a few people that are listening to this will actually

Tiffany:

crack up at this, that I know, but there's a fun fact at my dentist and I have a

Tiffany:

lot of like, trauma from the dentist at a young age, but now, now we're like in

Tiffany:

a great relationship with the dentist, but I get my teeth cleaned twice a year.

Tiffany:

And I have a record at the dentist of the most cleanings with that

Tiffany:

dentist, and I was like, yes, I will take that award all day.

Tiffany:

But it's actually a really hysterical, fun fact about me.

Geri:

That's amazing.

Geri:

something I wanted to bring up was this concept that I've heard brought

Geri:

up a lot whenever you start talking about plant medicine, especially

Geri:

ayahuasca, which is ego death,

Tiffany:

Ego death.

Tiffany:

Okay.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Geri:

you about ego death?

Geri:

Is it something that I, see a lot of people almost seek it as

Geri:

like it's the goal, the end goal.

Geri:

What are your thoughts on this?

Geri:

How it relates to plant medicine?

Tiffany:

So Ego death, ego death, ego death.

Tiffany:

So the question is, , like, people desire to seek that, and that almost

Tiffany:

seems like the goal that people wanna arrive in is, is an ego death.

Tiffany:

So ego death.

Tiffany:

Believe is, is really letting go, releasing, shedding what

Tiffany:

really doesn't serve you.

Tiffany:

And so that may look like if you're somebody who has a lot

Tiffany:

of control in your life, right?

Tiffany:

Needs to control things, , those are certain patterns and certain beliefs and

Tiffany:

certain ways of being that, , Might not really work for the way that you wanna

Tiffany:

live your life based on what you've identified and what you're experiencing.

Tiffany:

And so having an ego death, if we relate that to a large ceremony dosage amount,

Tiffany:

, will typically show as somebody being really fearful of entering the experience.

Tiffany:

And not surrendering to it.

Tiffany:

So gripping really tight or needing it to be a certain way or, um,

Tiffany:

trying to control the experience versus resting in it and allowing the

Tiffany:

medicine to work through you, to shed those parts of you that, um, you've

Tiffany:

actually arrived here to, to explore.

Geri:

it.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

That's a really beautiful explanation and definition of it.

Geri:

, I've seen, perspectives of it as almost being like the eye sort of dies and

Geri:

you're just like, you're, you're blended.

Geri:

You're one with everything, and yet there's so much value from having an eye.

Tiffany:

Mm-hmm.

Geri:

from like letting that part of self live on, and so I love

Geri:

what you've shared there with that.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Geri:

There's something that I have witnessed that I'm just curious about, no

Geri:

judgment in it, but sometimes I see people who have done like 1920 plus, ayahuasca

Geri:

ceremonies and My perspective is that they're very like ethereal, like they're

Geri:

in the clouds and perhaps not as grounded.

Geri:

Is

Geri:

this, I don't wanna ask is this good or bad?

Geri:

Cuz I know there is no good or bad, but what are your thoughts on whether

Geri:

this is something that you might wanna ground from or is it a perfectly

Geri:

healthy place to be in?

Tiffany:

Yeah, that's a good question.

Tiffany:

There's so many different ways to answer that.

Tiffany:

I.

Tiffany:

, what really wants to come through the strongest and the loudest is always

Tiffany:

coming back to, you know, what are your intentions, your goals, your reasons for

Tiffany:

continuing to sit in another ceremony.

Tiffany:

Um, you know, there can be a lot of, quote unquote, like spiritual

Tiffany:

bypassing where, you know, you are sitting in ceremony, you're receiving

Tiffany:

a lot of, the downloads and the things that you wanna move through.

Tiffany:

There's a lot of healing that might be taking place, and that's a particular.

Tiffany:

Like, , medicine magic consciousness that you're in that can feel really

Tiffany:

amazing at times, although there is death portals that you, you may

Tiffany:

also experience in the same breath.

Tiffany:

, but for the most part, it, it ends up being a positive journey,

Tiffany:

, depending on how you look at it.

Tiffany:

And so a lot of people can, can want to stay in that experience verse.

Tiffany:

W first go through that experience and then integrate it.

Tiffany:

So point being is one, what are your intentions?

Tiffany:

What are your intentions?

Tiffany:

What are your intentions?

Tiffany:

Why are you continuing to sit in ceremony?

Tiffany:

And two, have you actually created the spaciousness to integrate that

Tiffany:

particular ceremony that you just sat in, and the things that you witnessed

Tiffany:

and the things that you experienced and the knowledge that was , offered to you?

Tiffany:

Or are you just.

Tiffany:

Jumping into the next one and not holding that integrity and that reverence for

Tiffany:

the medicine in yourself to actually, , implement and apply the things that

Tiffany:

you're sitting in ceremony for.

Tiffany:

So that's how I would, I would view it from those two angles.

Geri:

Thank you for that.

Geri:

I'm gonna bring this to a lighter, more earthly topic, which comes up almost

Geri:

every time I bring up plant medicine.

Geri:

What would you say to the people who feel blocked around trying

Geri:

plant medicine in ceremony?

Geri:

Because they don't want to poop or vomit.

Tiffany:

Okay.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

So that would, uh, that would be more so an ayahuasca ceremony.

Tiffany:

Um, I don't really see it happen again, it depends, but I don't, I very, very rarely

Tiffany:

have I seen it happen in, in a psilocybin.

Tiffany:

Ceremony.

Tiffany:

So for those of you where we're gonna focus on not wanting to poop or vomit

Tiffany:

in, in ayahuasca ceremony, um, yeah.

Tiffany:

So I would, I would love to offer that, that might be a slight little control

Tiffany:

tactic of wanting to control the journey.

Tiffany:

Um, that's like , one topic that might not be as light as this one.

Tiffany:

Um, but let's keep things light.

Tiffany:

What that is, . , the release of that, the purging, , actually

Tiffany:

is such an amazing release.

Tiffany:

And so releasing in Ayahuasca, like what you're gonna read is vomiting,

Tiffany:

pooping, but releases are also laughing, crying, yawning, sneezing,

Tiffany:

uh, coughing, if I haven't shared that.

Tiffany:

Um, little hums like whatever the body wants to, create as a release.

Tiffany:

That's how it's gonna show.

Tiffany:

And so, , That release is how I like to explain it.

Tiffany:

A release of the medicine, collecting all the things that are not serving you.

Tiffany:

All the things that you're holding, the weight, the pain, the old stories,

Tiffany:

the trauma, , the physical pain, the mental disturbance, like whatever

Tiffany:

it is that you're experiencing, it's collecting it throughout your entire

Tiffany:

body and it's releasing and, and giving it back to the earth so you

Tiffany:

actually don't have to hold it anymore.

Geri:

What a very different way of thinking about those two

Geri:

uncomfortable purging mechanisms

Tiffany:

And you know, of course our physical conscious human selves are,

Tiffany:

especially for those of you that do not like to purge in those ways, , there can

Tiffany:

be a lot of like shame around, you know, purging in front of other people, or there

Tiffany:

could be, , a lot of resistance to like, I just do not like purging, vomiting.

Tiffany:

Um, You actually end up having a really different relationship with it.

Tiffany:

Once you are in in ceremony, it actually isn't as as bad, , as

Tiffany:

you might anticipate it to be.

Tiffany:

I will say that again lightly because sometimes it can be, again,

Tiffany:

I can't speak for just one way.

Tiffany:

, the medicine's gonna do what the medicine's gonna do.

Geri:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

And with that in the same breath, I'm a big believer in what

Tiffany:

I've witnessed in, in ceremonies is, you know, if you're not ready to go

Tiffany:

on a deep, deep, deep journey, the medicine might not take you there.

Tiffany:

It, it might allow you to receive what it believes she believes

Tiffany:

you're ready to receive and what your body and your nervous system

Tiffany:

can actually handle in that moment.

Tiffany:

So, um, that happens very often too.

Geri:

that's good to know that there's some, maybe

Geri:

some plant respecting the true

Tiffany:

Yeah, some plant recycling and not everybody purges.

Tiffany:

Like there's, there's sometimes like, you don't purge and, and you

Tiffany:

in terms of vomiting or pooping, like you may purge in the other ways

Tiffany:

that I explained or that I offered.

, Geri:

I remember, a point in my psilocybin journey where I felt like

, Geri:

nauseous and I was like, oh, gotta go.

, Geri:

And my shaman, I think they asked me, um, what do you want to release?

, Geri:

Like, what do you, what do you not love about yourself?

, Geri:

Or something like that.

, Geri:

And I remember pausing and going, I think I love myself.

, Geri:

And then the nausea went away.

Tiffany:

Oh my God.

Tiffany:

Interesting.

Geri:

So what is something that everyone at home could do today

Geri:

if they wanted to explore or learn more about plant medicine?

Tiffany:

Yeah, so, , researching if, if you do desire researching, if you're

Tiffany:

desiring to work with psychedelics or plant medicine in general, I highly

Tiffany:

suggest starting with microdosing.

Tiffany:

It's a beautiful way to enter.

Tiffany:

And enter the medicine space to get familiar with the medicine,

Tiffany:

a new substance in your body.

Tiffany:

Um, so that can look a variety of ways.

Tiffany:

You can just do your research.

Tiffany:

There's a lot out there.

Tiffany:

, you can find a guide, you can find a mentor, which I highly suggest,

Tiffany:

so that you can really receive the most out of the journey.

Geri:

Great.

Geri:

And could you share a little bit more about your work

Geri:

and how you support people?

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Thank you.

Tiffany:

So, , my work is, I'm a microdosing guide.

Tiffany:

I'm a plant medicine facilitator.

Tiffany:

Like I shared, I guide people through microdosing journeys, with

Tiffany:

psilocybin and with ayahuasca.

Tiffany:

I also facilitate both of these medicines as well.

Tiffany:

Um, within the microdosing journeys, I also at times

Tiffany:

incorporate ceremonial cacao, which is another beautiful medicine.

Tiffany:

, again, very gentle, very heart opening and expansive.

Tiffany:

, so what this looks like is, is usually a six week journey with microdosing where,

Tiffany:

, I'm guiding you through the protocol to.

Tiffany:

Help you really receive the most outta the experience in your time with the medicine.

Tiffany:

And so why I love a guided approach is because some of the most common questions

Tiffany:

are like, where do I source the medicine that's trusted, that's in integrity.

Tiffany:

, how often do I microdose, you know, in terms of the days,

Tiffany:

how long do I microdose?

Tiffany:

, you know, the actual.

Tiffany:

Dosage amount, what?

Tiffany:

How much do I consume?

Tiffany:

And so there's like that whole piece that I love.

Tiffany:

And then another piece is, you know, a lot of people will research that

Tiffany:

microdosing is gonna create, Uh, motivation and inspiration and,

Tiffany:

and all these things, which it can, and it does for the most part.

Tiffany:

And there's another piece to it that comes in where, , you may be a lot

Tiffany:

more emotional and you know, because it's resurfacing things that maybe you

Tiffany:

haven't taken the time to take a look at.

Tiffany:

And so that's where I love the guided approaches because we will have those

Tiffany:

weekly calls to support you with that.

Tiffany:

And then that's where, you know, the nervous system regulation

Tiffany:

and the breath and the.

Tiffany:

Mind body awareness practices come in and support you in, in moving those things.

Tiffany:

And again, like I said, really receiving the most out of

Tiffany:

your time with the medicine.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

, you've shifted my perspective from thinking microdosing was

Geri:

just like how you get creative and the healing was only in ceremony.

Geri:

It sounds like that six week container is where a lot of healing can happen

Geri:

and transformation can happen as well.

Tiffany:

Exactly.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

I take a very much so coach, mentor, , therapeutic approach to it.

Tiffany:

And so I don't just share this because it's, it's the work that I do, but

Tiffany:

what I witness and the people that I work with is really incredible shifts

Tiffany:

and healing and expansion, and it's really beautiful to witness and all

Tiffany:

the time, I'm just so humble and so grateful to be guiding this work.

Geri:

And we're grateful for you cuz we need more of this.

Tiffany:

Thank you.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Geri:

We're dancing everyone.

Geri:

You can't see us, but we're dancing.

Geri:

Uh, how, how can people connect with or follow you after the show?

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

You can follow me on my Instagram.

Tiffany:

It's at Im Tiffany Herd.

Tiffany:

Um, you can check out more of my work on my website, tiffany herd.com.

Tiffany:

Um, and those are really the two main platforms that I use.

Tiffany:

You can also sign up for my newsletter, which the link is.

Tiffany:

Uh, in my Instagram, you can download a free microdosing

Tiffany:

intentional guide that's there.

Tiffany:

Um, that's really supportive, especially if you're desiring more

Tiffany:

of just like a self-guided practice or just wanna get more informed

Tiffany:

and educated about microdosing.

Tiffany:

Where to start, how to begin the journey.

Tiffany:

Um, that's an, an amazing resource for you.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Geri:

Thank you.

Geri:

And last question that I ask everyone, if you could leave our listeners

Geri:

with one message, what would it be?

Tiffany:

With one message would be, Hmm.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

If you're desiring to really work with the medicine, um, I believe that

Tiffany:

that's a nudge from the medicine.

Tiffany:

I believe that when the medicine is ready to work with you, it

Tiffany:

has these beautiful, energetic.

Tiffany:

Ways of finding you and, and to really listen to that call.

Geri:

Mm.

Geri:

Thank you so much, Tiffany.

Geri:

So happy to have you.

Tiffany:

Yeah.

Tiffany:

Thank you so much.

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Abundantly Curious
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Geri Paige

Geri is a leader in the art of personal freedom, working to create powerful catalysts for individual change and transformation. She is a nomadic entrepreneur, coach, and the founder of The Now Experiment. She is a creatrix with a degree in journalism and 15 years of experience as a professional content strategist and creator. Geri created The Now Experiment to help humans collectively reclaim what's ours - our freedom, time, energy, audacity, and all. You can find her on Instagram @geripaige.