James Beshara, an angel investor and the founder of Tilt, a crowdfunding company acquired by Airbnb in 2017, used to drink seven. cups. of. coffee. a. day—a habit that landed him in the ER with a racing heartbeat of over 170 beats per minute for three weeks straight. That turning point in James’s life led him down a rabbit hole of research on coffee, caffeine and alternative ways to boost productivity and heal, a search that included plant medicine. In this Taboo Tuesday, James talks to Dr. Emily about his first experience with psychedelics, and the effect it still has on him today.

Staying emotionally fit takes work and repetition. That's why the Emotionally Fit podcast with psychologist Dr. Emily Anhalt delivers short, actionable Emotional Push-Ups every Monday and Thursday to help you build a better practice of mental health, and surprising, funny, and shocking conversations on Taboo Tuesdays - because the things we’re most hesitant to talk about are also the most normal. Join us to kickstart your emotional fitness. Let's flex those feels and do some reps together!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Follow James Beshara on Twitter and Instagram.

Learn more about Jame’s latest creation MagicMind

Read Jame’s book Beyond Coffee.

Listen to James’s podcast Below the Line and to his music. 

Read Michael Pollan’s book: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Thank you for listening! Follow Dr. Emily on Twitter, and don’t forget to follow, rate, review and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! #EmotionallyFit 

The Emotionally Fit podcast is produced by Coa, your gym for mental health. Katie Sunku Wood is the show’s producer from StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab, and featuring music by Milano. Special thanks to the entire Coa crew!

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:15) - James’s coffee habit - “I would feel like I can't get through the day. And it was through just this idea that my productivity and my to-do list is just one more stimulant away, one more coffee away, one more energy drink away.” 

(07:36) -  A whole new world of psychedelic healing -  “Psychedelics might be really beneficial. They're non-toxic. You can take them once and still see effects a year later, five years later, versus something like Prozac that you would need to take every day.”  

(15:29) - Trying psychedelics - “I was just like, ‘I'm getting on a river. I don't even care where it goes.’ The intention was let's freaking explore, go off the deep end and see what's out there again.” 

(18:41) - James’s first experience with ayahuasca - “Like someone was giving me permission to just be awestruck by everything.”

(22:33) - Creating new neural pathways with psychedelics - “The entire experience was, ‘You're going to learn to let go and go into the fear. And right on the other side of the fears is bliss. That is where heaven is, is right on the other side of what you're afraid of.’”

(25:43) - Psychedelics aren’t a silver bullet fix - “I think what the world really needs is to be empowered to do the long game work. And to know that you didn't come to your pain easily, you're not going to come away from it easily.”