Rich Americans & Celebs Are Tuning In But Not Dropping Out: Venture Capital Gets Spiritual With Ayahuasca And Other Psychedelics

After recent declarations by Aaron Rodgers on how his experience with ayahuasca and ‘shrooms helped with his career and improved his life on all levels possible, investors Suzie and David Stadnyk came out and shared their own experiment with the hallucinogenic. 

They were both typical businesspeople for all of their adult lives, but when they hit 60 they decided to take a trip, a psychedelic trip that is, which would bring them closer to a “more spiritual” state. And they apparently loved the results. 

“I was always very anti-drug and my brain is my moneymaker so I didn’t want to mess with it. I am an engineer, but things became clear when I took it and the dots just connected,” said David Stadnyk.  

The chosen spot for the Stadnyks' first experience was the Rythmia retreat in Costa Rica where the spent a week eating healthy food and four nights taking ayahuasca under medical supervision.

David said the first trip was the best night of his life. “I met the soul I lost as a child and we had a conversation, and I’m really not like that. There were shaman dogs there and one came over, stuck out this very long tongue and said, ‘You are OK, you know’ … It was a wonderful, beautiful experience. I was floating and thought, ‘If I need to die it should be now because I don’t think I could feel any better.’”

Suzie added that retreats are “the best environment” at which to try ayahuasca, as there is help available from trained healers in a controlled setting. 

Indeed, well-healed east-coast trend setters are traveling to South and Central America for luxury ayahuasca or magic mushrooms experiences. They are also getting legal ketamine-assisted therapy right in New York. 

Recent public discussion by people as diverse as Rodgers, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Frank Ocean and Luke Rockhold as well as Christian Angermayer, the German billionaire who founded a mental health nonprofit are all pushing the envelope toward acknowledging the benefits of psychedelics. The Aurora Institute, held a St.Tropez “evening of discovery” of the science behind psychedelics and invited Queen Latifah, Cameron Winklevoss and Robbie Williams. 

Psychiatrist Dr. Lea Lis recently opened the Hamptons Insight Center, which offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, noting that traditional pharmaceuticals like Prozac and Zoloft “can be a Band Aid, but psychedelics have offered the new frontier of mental health.”

Lis's patients are a combination of locals, finance professionals and entertainment types. “Psychedelics have hit the zeitgeist and this is their cultural moment,” she said.

Psychedelics are definitely trendy. A vast spectrum of people are diving into the experience. 

Those in their 40s, 50s and beyong for whom psychedelics was not part of their  college or young-adult experience are now tuning in but not dropping out. 

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.