Holistic Healing with Psilocybin: A Non-linear Path to Liberation for those Dedicated to Going Inward
In a world often conditioned to seek quick fixes and linear solutions, true multi-dimensional healing remains a sacred and layered process ~ one that unfolds on its own timeline, in spirals and seasons. I’m referring to holistic healing on an emotional, psychological and spiritual level. And often, when we heal multi-dimensionally, diseases, physical ailments and chronic pain also dissipate. We are not separate parts stitched together ~ we are an intricate, living tapestry of physical sensation, emotional memory, mental patterning, and spiritual essence. Each layer of our being communicates with the others, often in subtle yet profound ways. When we suppress emotional pain, for example, it may manifest in the body. When we neglect the spirit, the mind may become fragmented, rigid or anxious. True healing occurs when we honor the multi-dimensional nature of who we are ~ recognizing that liberation ripples through all layers of our being ~ from the denseness of our tissues to the outer layers of our energy body. This is the path of holistic awakening, where no part of us is left behind.
For those courageous enough to go inward, to meet themselves in the depths of their psyche and soul, the journey can be profoundly liberating. Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in sacred mushrooms, has emerged from the shadows of stigma to become one of the most potent catalysts for such inner transformation. Long revered in Indigenous and Shamanic traditions, psilocybin is now being studied and increasingly recognized in Western medicine for its ability to support healing from trauma, depression, addiction, anxiety, and existential suffering.
There is a sacred beauty in the messiness of life ~ in surrendering to the spiral, the mystery, the nonlinear rhythm of healing. This is a fundamental part of being human. My own journey has traversed the structured halls of clinical psychotherapy and the luminous landscapes of ceremonial medicine. And what I’ve come to know deep in my bones is this: it’s not about choosing one or the other. Wholeness lives in the both/and. The most authentic, powerful leaders I’ve met are the ones who embrace their multi-dimensionality, shedding society’s pressure to fit into a neatly defined box.
In this era of rising curiosity and interest in psychedelics, we are witnessing both possibility and great responsibility. There is tremendous value in research and ethical frameworks ~ but sacred fungi and plant allies cannot be confined to synthetic replications or quantified outcomes alone. Their medicine is ancient, relational, and deeply intelligent. Indigenous and mystical lineages have honored these spirits for thousands of years, holding ceremonies rooted in reciprocity, reverence, and integration. As modern science meets this ancient wisdom, we must remember that true healing is not a one-time event ~ it is an unfolding. A becoming.
As a bridge between the clinical and the ceremonial, I believe we are being invited into a new paradigm of healing ~ one that restores the power within. For too long, the dominant model has placed authority outside of the self: in the doctor, therapist, the diagnosis, the prescription. But this is shifting. And after nearly two decades in the healing space, I’ve witnessed that even those trained within the system ~ doctors, therapists, clinicians ~ are yearning to break free from the rigidity of linearity and rediscover the liberation of intuition, soul, and sacred embodiment. My work is being sought out to offer trainings to doctors and practitioners in the medical system so root cause healing can prevail as a predominant lens.
In this post, I have the honor of sharing the story of Meghan Bayersdorfer, an amazing human who has walked this path of sacred healing with great courage. Meghan lived a successful and joyful life, growing up with a loving family, meeting her beloved husband, Jordan, in college, then graduating from Vanderbilt in 2004 with a degree in Economics. After graduating college, Meghan went to Ireland to bartend at McMunns, her family’s business, when she remembered that her dad said to find a job that aligns with her passion, so she got certified as a sommelier. A miscarriage shifted her priorities and awakened her desire for motherhood. She left the wine world, earned a Master’s in Early Childhood Education ~ stretching a two-year program into four while navigating the depths of addiction ~ and completed it while pregnant with her son, Locke. Though she taught briefly, it was yoga that ultimately found her. She became a certified yoga instructor only to have the pandemic reroute her again ~ bringing her home to begin what she now calls her most important work: healing, becoming a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and soul she was always meant to be. Her path led her deeper to excavate what was underneath the surface. Meghan’s journey teaches us that nobody is immune to shame, depression, ancestral trauma and how it all manifests.
For her, the addiction emerged to cope with discomfort, escape, and to numb the negative voices in her head. It was respite until the cycle became more and more maladaptive. Now, sitting across from me in my healing center in 2022, she was ready to begin her true path of liberative healing, ready to target the root cause of her addiction. Through our work together, rooted in intentional psilocybin ceremonies and dedicated preparation and integration work, Meghan’s experience illuminates what it truly means to surrender ~ while reclaiming agency, power, and wholeness. My husband and I founded a healing and transformational process called The Method™ which includes transpersonal psychology, energy medicine, meditation, vibrational sound therapy, neuroplasticity approaches, and plant medicine. In each session of The Method™, there are embodied practices, cognitive exercises and journaling prompts that systematically take the client deeper into their process of subconscious excavation. Through this work, Meghan was able to transmute the shadow of her shame which was the perpetuator of severe addictive patterns that she had developed to escape inner pain and discomfort.
When Meghan came to me in 2022, she was at a soul-shattering crossroads. After seven treatment centers, fourteen detoxes, and over a decade navigating alcohol addiction, depression, and suicidal ideation, she was ready to embrace a completely different path. Throughout our time working together, she’s shared over and over how in her gut she always knew that the conventional treatment center path wasn’t going to work for her ~ and many times ~ the experiences at these addiction treatment centers perpetuated the shame she already carried within. This shame was both Meghan’s and not Meghan’s. This is the truth of ancestral patterning. Her maternal grandmother passed by suicide and there has been a strong shame-based stream that runs through Meghan’s maternal line. It landed within her to be healed for the ancestors who walked before her and the ones who will walk after. This shame was the root of her alcohol addiction.
She describes her first psilocybin ceremony as “terrifying” and that she didn’t know if she would come out of the experience. During this first journey, Meghan met her shadow ~ aspects of her ego that were subconsciously lurking beneath the surface ~ shame, fear, and unworthiness. She says, “I thought I was stuck in hell…but I came out, and they couldn’t take me down. It sparked something in me.” Meghan’s dedication continued, and she stayed with the psilocybin work, going into multiple ceremonies during our work together. Some led her back into the shadow for deep transmutation, others were cosmic and expansive. This is why debunking the myth of “the bad trip” is essential as psychedelics emerge more into the forefront. You can’t hide from the medicine as it will reveal what’s present in the psyche ~ so creating a safe, sacred container of integrity is key. It’s through the entropy of our shadow disintegration where we become regenerated and renewed if we choose to take ownership of our process ~ then, we can authentically emerge into the light.
Meghan’s journey was anything but linear. There were times where we had to pause our work because she was back in the addictive spiral. But she would always come out, reemerging from her cocoon again, ready to get back to work. Each session, each ceremony, continued breaking down those old neural pathways connected to shame and unworthiness, creating space for new belief systems to take root. Meghan dedicated herself to The Method work, allowing her warrior spirit to continue guiding her back to what she knew was real and true ~ her relationship to her soul, the sacredness of the medicine, her love of family, the power of this inner work, and the reclamation on her yoga mat.
Meghan has lived at the extremities of life sharing, “I’ve been homeless. I’ve slit my wrists. I’ve drunk bleach chased with vodka. I’ve tried to hang myself with my robe belt. I’ve tried to disappear ~ but I’m still here. And I’m grateful. All those past versions of me ~ the demonic ones, the drunk ones, the ones behind the dumpster ~ they still live in me in some ways. But they no longer run the show. I’ve made it to the other side not because I’m perfect but because I finally live for me. And for me, healing didn’t look like abstinence. It looked like self-trust. I couldn’t have done it without other women holding me ~ Lena, my daughter, my friends ~ women saved me.” Meghan goes on to share about breaking generational patterns through healing ancestral trauma, “Why didn’t my grandmother have someone to talk to? Why didn’t my mom? Why didn’t I?”
Meghan is a potent embodiment of what can unfold when we suppress our emotions, our true selves and our voices out of ancestral shame and silencing ~ and she is an example of what’s possible through the liberatory process of root cause healing. Meghan liberated herself through the courage to continually go inward, to face her shadow and to take radical responsibility for her own path, her choices and her outcomes ~ which is key ~ as the shift from victimhood into authentic empowerment is always a threshold one must pass through on the true path of healing.
Meghan shares that:
The Method allowed me to transmute the shame, guilt, fear, and sadness that I carried surrounding traumatic life experiences into foregiveness, grace, compassion, and love. The Method reminded me of my strength and resilience and revealed to me that my story is medicine and my purpose is to share it. The Method truly renewed my human spirit and helped me save my soul. Plant medicine helped me clear the way for all of the new information that yoga was revealing to me. It revealed truths that I had buried in such darkness. I went from someone who prayed daily for today to be my last day to someone who says daily ~ and usually out loud ~ what a life! And I mean it in the best way ~ even on the worst days.
Meghan now lives each day with passion, vitality, and a renewed purpose for being alive. She’s a certified reiki master, inner alignment coach, neuropsychophysiologist, and is Y12ST certified (yoga for 12 step recovery). Meghan is ready to continue sharing her story with the world because she now realizes that her journey ~ one of great darkness and liberating light ~ is powerful medicine.
Meghan loves to connect with others on their healing and awakening journey! You can contact her at mcmunnmh@gmail.com and on social at @mmbayersdorfer
If what you’ve read here resonates, there are a few ways to explore this work more deeply with Lena:
Concierge Medicine - A personalized journey with Lena, blending modern science and ancient practices to support deep healing, transformation, and human optimization.
The Legacy Current - A Sacred Business Mentorship for Luminaries Building Enduring Impact
Luminary Path Activation Session - A private 90-minute immersion to align your power, purpose, and prosperity.