In this season 2 opening episode of The Trip Lab, I return from maternity leave with a deeply personal exploration of how psychedelic experiences mirror one of the most profound transitions in a woman’s life: motherhood.

From the sudden crash of postpartum hormones to the full dissolution of identity and the slow reconstruction of self, I reflect on how becoming a mother felt strikingly similar to a psychedelic journey — raw, disorienting, expansive, and sacred.

We dive into the neuroscience of hormonal transitions, ego death, and neuroplasticity — exploring how estrogen, the Default Mode Network, and maternal brain remodeling all connect to the psychedelic experience. We also examine the often-overlooked wisdom of the menstrual cycle, the energetic sensitivity of pregnancy, and why the womb may be one of the most powerful maps for understanding transformation and healing.

This episode is for anyone curious about the intersection of psychedelics and the feminine — whether you’ve given birth, are hoping to one day, or simply want to understand how cycles, hormones, and identity shifts can open portals into deeper layers of self.

Topics include:

• Postpartum as ego death and rebirth
• Estrogen, neuroplasticity, and the psychedelic brain
• Psychedelics and the Default Mode Network in women
• Hormonal cycles and their influence on medicine journeys
• Ancestral wisdom, womb intelligence, and the sacred feminine

Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a hands on diagnostic and treatment modality that DOs learn in medical school. You may have seen the DO (rather than MD) after your doctor's name and never really understood what that meant. We dive into the difference between MDs and DOs and talk all about what osteopathic medicine is in this episode.

Many OMT treatments actually mirror what a yoga practice can do for you as well. Whether we are talking about the poses (or asanas) creating simultaneous activation and relaxation... or even the connection to the breath the augment healing... there are connections everywhere.

This podcast  is also available in written form (with supplemental pictures and diagrams) at www.drmaryellawood.com. 

In this episode we will take a deep dive into one of the leading causes of the global burden of disease-- hypertension, or high blood pressure. We will go over the pathophysiology, learn how hypertension develops and why it is so bad for the body. 

After understanding the root causes, we can then better understand how our traditional pharmaceuticals, lifestyle interventions, and holistic integrative therapies work to treat this disease. ... and SPOILER! Holistic approaches turn out to be MORE effective than drugs to treat this one. 

If you want to see another disease or disorder in this series, shoot me an email at [email protected].

Today I will be introducing a new 'deep dive series' on The Trip Lab. We are going to be looking into the most common medical conditions to really understand what is happening in the body and how they develop. With that understanding, we can better understand how our treatments work-- including pharmaceuticals and surgery as well as integrative therapies like herbal medicine and mind-body medicine. 

To start this series, we will look at how this divide between 'modern' medicine and 'alternative' medicine came to be. Why do we call western medicine the gold standard and ancient eastern approaches alternative? Well-- big pharma played a role. Take a listen if you want to learn how and why.

This episode is going to be a high level overview over all of the primary causes of anxiety and depression, and integrative approaches to treat them.

Anxiety and depression is a lot more complicated than just writing a script for sertraline or recommending therapy. These disorders definitely have a psychological component that can stem from chemical imbalances in the brain... but other causes include nutritional deficiencies, inflammation and adrenal fatigue, poor sleep hygiene, not exercising enough, improper use of medications or underlying medical causes like hormonal fluctuations or imbalances, thyroid disorders and anemia.

We will dive deeper into these causes and go over traditional medical approaches as well as evidenced-based complementary treatments like psychedelics, nutrition and mind-body medicine.

Also in this episode I introduce my NEW professional website where you can learn about medical services I will be offering at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern in Chicago, IL. Additionally, I am now offering yoga & meditation classes, spiritual practices like tarot and astrology, and a whole lot more. Check out my website at drmaryellawood.com.

This course is a preview of an upcoming course I am developing called 'Integrative Approaches for Anxiety & Depression.' In this course we dive deeper into what is discussed in this podcast, break down the science in an easy to understand more, look at more specific treatment options, and help you understand YOUR body and your personal  mental health journey. The course also works well as a crash course for healthcare providers that want to learn more about integrative medicine treatment options that they can prescribe to their patients.

Website: drmaryellawood.com
Instagram: @drmaryella
YouTube Channel: Dr. Mary Ella
Podcast Instagram: @thetriplabpodcast

Today we interview UCSF psychiatrist Emily Willow, MD. She has a robust career in psychedelic medicine and has worked on clinical trials using MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine. Currently, she has a private practice where she does ketamine assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic integration therapy.

We chat all about her experience using these different psychedelic compounds, and the benefits and cautions of each depending on what each patient is trying to heal. We also discuss cognitive liberty and the idea of using psychedelics to explore your consciousness without the need for a psychiatric disorder like depression and anxiety.

Dr. Willow and I also both use Tarot cards as a tool to explore your consciousness through an archetypal lens-- so we discuss different ways to do this. I also include a little bonus at the end of the episode about tarot, and specifically we look at one card that generates most of the misconceptions about Tarot.

Connect with Emily Willow, MD
Website: www.emilywillowmd.com
Instagram: @EmilyWillowMD

A Trip Lab Thought Experiment: We will dive into an alternate reality where psychedelics can be used by anyone to explore their consciousness and place in the world (without having a mental health disorder like depression to make it legal).

Find out how psychedelics can help you understand the complex topics of quantum physics, string theory, the illusion of time and parallel universes.

We will also discuss exciting new research papers looking into how psychedelics have been proven to increase creativity both in an artistic and scientific discovery setting.

Last, we will see how psychedelics have shaped religions throughout the world and time-- from Christianity to Witchcraft.

Mentions:
- Psychedelics as potential catalysts of scientific creativity and insight
- Spontaneous and deliberative creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure
- 'Dancing Naked in the Mind Field' by Kary Mullis
- 'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' by Carlo Rovelli
- 'Reality Is Not What It Seems' by Carlo Rovelli
- 'The Order of Time' by Carlo Rovelli

Email me at: [email protected]
Follow The Trip Lab on Instagram @thetriplabpodcast 

We chat with Dr. Mark Braunstein about how he pioneered a new path in psychiatric care using cannabis, ketamine and psilocybin... in addition to integrating wilderness programming, exercise, diet and spirituality to treat depression, addiction, anxiety and trauma. He dives deeper into how cannabis works in the mind and the different ways he prescribes this to his patients. We also chat about the future of cannabis and psychedelic medicine-- both seeing it as an exciting opportunity to treat psychiatric disorders but also molecules that need to be taken with great care.

Mentions:
Sustainable Mycelium 'Leather' - Mylo Unleather
Dr. B's recommended CBN: Maven Hemp

Reach Mark Braunstein, DO:
Instagram @thecannabispsychiatrist
Reconscious Medical

Chronic low levels of inflammation is linked to at 8 out of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. This, along with chronic stress, causes premature aging, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer and a lot more.  This episode dives deeper into how this process happens... and what you can change in your diet to combat it. 

This episode rounds out our discussion on inflammation and stress, following episode #6 all about adaptogenics and the HPA access (endocrine stress response) and #7 all about mind body medicine and your autonomic (neurological) stress response. 

Mia Cara Cosco is the Creative Director of Psychedelic Salons. She has 10 years of experience in psychedelic medicine advocacy and has a really beautiful take on these plants and fungi as medicine.

We chat all about the work that she does holding space for people to experience psychedelics, as well as creating spaces to merge social venture capital with artists, business people, leaders and visionaries.  Mia is passionate about 'democratizing cognitive liberation' with psychedelics and has a very humble, artistic and intentional approach to doing just that. We also discuss microdosing and how she incorporates many different psychedelics into her life that way.

Get in touch with Mia:
Personal Instagram: @miacosco
Psychedelic Salons Instagram: @psychedelicsalons
YouTube Channel: Mia Cosco
Website: miacosco.com