Hello and happy September! If you're keeping up with the PS social media page you'll see there's lots of events planned for September including another Womxn's Group Ketamine Journey Session with Cardea Ketamine Space.
I was fortunate enough to attend the session back in April and I'm dedicating this blog post to tell you more about what you can expect from this session should it interest you.
First I have to say, I was waitlisted. And never did I believe in waitlists before until it worked, and I was able to partake on this magical experience.
So if you find yourself waitlisted, have some hope! It will work out✨
After getting pre-screened by a psychiatrist to ensure that I was able to take ketamine safely without any other psycho-related factors I received the drug in the mail which I was instructed to then bring to Cardea Ketamine Space.
I was actually running late to my session because trains in New York are super special on the weekend but when I walked in I felt calm and grounded.
Here is a panoramic shot of the space inside.
I was greeted by the host who walked me through to the main space and showed me my spot for the ceremony. Cardea provided blankets, a pillow, and eye mask for a more relaxing time. The layout provides multiple ways for you to experience the trip; whether you want to lie down completely or sit up, there were plenty of pillows to go around to ensure a comfortable position.
Before ingesting the ketamine, I got to know fellow travelers and did art activities that helped prime my mind into more of an open state, ready to take on more ideas. Doing art helps the brain to think more creatively and this activity certainly helped me feel more connected to my keta-mates.
Several volunteers were there to ensure a safe environment and to ensure that any need that we might can be met like going to the bathroom or needing to separate entirely to a different room. There was even a mental health specialist and social worker there in case of any bad trips.
Ketamine is administered through the nostrils and soon enough we were off to the races.
During my experience, someone was blasting Spice Girls so that's what started our session until the gentle soothing sounds of the sound bath lulled us deeper into the trip.
The start of the journey felt tingly, with a feeling that is physical more than mental. I never felt uncomfortable but the idea of a baked potato in tin foil often came to mind. I didn't question it. I don't question the random thoughts I have pre-tripping. And having only ever done shrooms in the world of psychedelics, I didn't know what to expect from ketamine so my senses were heightened in figuring out when I was in it.
The subtle sound of ticking made its way into my awareness. And this ticking was not like a clock, but a ticking that went back and forth rhythmically as if on a track
I'm the kind of person where if I sense something and cannot automatically identify it, I become unnerved. This happens with mystery smells from the fridge of something gone bad, to feeling a draft from a seemingly sealed room. I'm sure it's a survival instinct to need to know my surroundings. And this unidentified ticking sound was driving me mad.
I took a breath and allowed my mind to label what the sound could be.
The sound reminded me of those old school train station schedule boards that change tiles in flickers as it displays the various arrivals and departures of the train. It also reminded me of the sound of a machines counting bills. The more my brain could equate visuals with the sound I kept hearing the more at ease I felt
When suddenly my brain was thinking of things as quickly as the sound brushed through the air and soon enough I was using the sound to help me extract various memories from one specific topic.
K-pop - Images and memories of all the experiences with k-pop flashed before my mind's eye: summer camp dances, memes, shorts from YouTube, victory dances, k-bbq, drunken college nights that ended in karaoke...all memories I hadn't thought about in so long.
Cats - Flashed before me were a dozen or so memories of cats: from adopting my very own snowstorm kitty, to attending various cat cafes, to remembering the time a stray cat led me to her colony in "middle of no where Jersey".
Excited to harness this new fast flashback skill I went deep into my psyche to see what would pop up when I intentionally thought of deeper topics like Fear, Death, and Heartbreak.
Fear - thoughts that populated were images of drowning or being burned alive which I knew about. And within this exercise I was detached from the feeling of fear and was able to acknowledge it in an unemotional way. The takeaway was that I should learn to use fire and probably learn to swim sooner rather than later.
Death - thoughts and images of funerals came up, and all the rituals associated with death. I thought about the many ways we honor the dead, and how I hadn't visited many graves because of my lack of access to a car. I noted to myself that I should also learn to drive.
Heartbreak - scenes from my life played about my greatest rejections and disappointments, from fashion school to the multiple times I've felt unworthy, again there wasn't any emotion attached to it, just an understanding that this has happened and I've made it through fine.
What I unlocked from this treatment was mind bending, brain hacking, and I'm glad to this day, 6 months later to still have access to this skill. That skill, aside from being able to quickly and freely associate thoughts with random buzz words, is the the idea around emotional detachment.
Ketamine showed me a way to observe concepts in a cerebral way, one that allows me to study difficult topics and take away with it a way to move forward toward overcoming future challenges that relate.
After the active parts of the ketamine trip are over and we are called to reintegrate back into reality - I felt wavy - which is the only way I can explain it; I felt it visually, and as a buzzing vibration through me. And when I asked my fellow keta-mates if they felt it too, they agreed. I had a hard time standing up only because I was thinking about it too much. And when I saw others stand, I knew it was possible and only then was able to stand.
We were provided delicious snacks to get back to sobriety which is always a welcome way to come back to anything in my opinion, and were encouraged to share our experience. There was some crossover within the group which is cool and what I found to be a great benefit of doing this in a group setting.
The next Womxn's Group Ketamine Journey Session takes place on Saturday, September 23, 2023
If you want in, you're going to want to start this process early so that you can ensure that you pass the pre-screening, and that you'll have your supply by the time the event takes place.
If you can't make this round, there should be another before the end of the year. The best way to keep note is to subscribe to our newsletter!
As for that mysterious ticking sound, it turns out it was an EMDR light (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) used in therapy and I was the only one who heard it because I was lying directly underneath it. Maybe if you lie in the same spot, you'll unlock the same skill! Let me know if you do.
Here's a list of other events for this month taken directly from the gram
𝗪𝗼𝗺𝘅𝗻’𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗞𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘆 🌱😌 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟯𝗿𝗱, 𝟭𝟮-𝟯 𝐩𝐦🥣
𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 ✨🍄 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡, 𝟑-𝟓 𝐩𝐦👯
𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝘅𝗻’𝘀 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲🌙🧘🏽♀️𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝟕-𝟏𝟎 𝐩𝐦✨
Heads up: if you're going to the speed-friending, I'll be there! Spots are limited to 24 people so don't wait too long!
And if you are gonna be there, my name is Babs, I'm an astrologer and I can't wait to connect with you. Otherwise you can find me on instagram: @babs.cheung