In another welcome step towards the demystification of psychedelic medicine, Aaron Rodgers, one of the most recognizable names in the National Football League (NFL), opens up about his use of ayahuasca and psilocybin (magic mushrooms).
The Green Bay Packers quarterback, in conversation on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast, discussed mental health and how the use of psychedelics has assisted his personal journey of healing.
“To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is that of self-love,” Rodgers revealed in the interview.
“That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself. It’s only in that unconditional self-love, that then I’m able to truly be able to unconditionally love others. And what better way to work on my mental health than to have an experience like that?”
The four-time NFL MVP suggests that his most recent two MVP accolades – achieved back to back in 2020 and 2021 – might be partially attributed to his use of psychedelics, as the star quarterback discussed his use of plant medicine in the off-season preceding both of these award-winning seasons.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I really don’t. I don’t really believe in coincidences at this point. It’s the universe bringing things to happen when they’re supposed to happen.
There’s signs and synchronicities all around us at all times if we’re awake enough to see them and to take them in and to listen to our intuition when it’s speaking to us or pounding us in the head saying, ‘Hey dummy, wake up, this is what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Why is Aaron Rodgers Discussing Psychedelics So Significant?
When sportspeople talk, we listen. Moreover, dialogue around male mental health is still in its relative infancy.
High profile figures such as Rodgers – especially one who plies his trade in the most macho of U.S. sports – openly discussing matters of the mind, not only helps to destigmatize archaic pre-conceptions of prohibited plant medicines, but perhaps more importantly, will help men around the world to not see mental health struggles as a weakness.
In the United Kingdom, suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50.
In 2020 the United States recorded over 45,900 suicide related deaths: an average of 130 suicides per day. In the same year, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention estimated that there had been over 1.2 million suicide attempts.
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