From Ego-Centric to Eco-Centric: Changing Consciousness through Psychedelics - Dr Sam Gandy, PhD

There appears to be a growing disconnection between humans and their natural environments which has been linked to poor mental health and ecological destruction. A growing body of research shows that psychedelic usage is associated with enduring increases in nature-relatedness, or connectedness, post-experience. How and why does this occur, and what are the potential implications of this at a time of growing mental health and ecological crises? Nature-relatedness can be considered a measure of one's self-identification with nature, and it is associated with a broad range of measures linked to psychological well-being, while also being a strong predictor of pro-environmental behaviour. What shared overlap is there between psychedelics and contact with nature in how they can affect our mental state? And how can we maximise this synergy between nature and psychedelics to improve mental health? --- Dr Sam Gandy is a PhD ecologist, researcher and science writer, and has experience of working within the psychedelic field, as a past scientific assistant to the director of the Beckley Foundation, and as an ecopsychological coordinator and research assistant with the Synthesis Institute. Sam is a lifelong nature lover and has been fortunate enough to conduct ecological field research in various parts of the world. He currently works as a senior science writer for Wavepaths, and consultant for PsiClone, a company which has recently been granted permission from the Home Office to produce psilocybin in organic fungal form. He is also a collaborator with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, with a research interest in the capacity of psychedelics to influence our connection to nature. You can follow him on Twitter @SamwiseGandy. Links: Get our latest psychology lectures emailed to your inbox: http://bit.ly/new-talks5 Check out our next event: http://theweekenduniversity.com/events Dr Gandy’s Twitter: @SamwiseGandy