Travisty

I know I'm a little late to the party but as someone who has done Ketamine, more specifically (esketamine) usually around 84 mg nasally, around 50 times now I'd like to chime in. Personally I have had quite a few awakenings on Ketamine. I actually wasn't so much trying to it's just been an added benefit. I started Ketamine as an alternative medical treatment for treatment resistant depression, which it has done wonders for and after many months started having awakenings on it. I've had a lot of no self awakenings and what I would describe as pure nothingness. Very similar to a Buddhist description of awakening. My most recent treatment though I finally had a full on God realization awakening, infinity, whatever you want to call it you know what I mean. What I like about ketamine is it is gentle and easy compared to traditional psychedelics. You easily slip into a deeply meditative state and lose touch with your self and body. Effortlessly because you pretty much can't do anything other than just sit there and relax. There aren't distracting visuals or thoughts usually like with traditional psychedelics, at least for most people. You also seem to have control unless you take a really high dose. I sometimes was able to break out of awakenings in the past when I felt I wasn't ready in that moment. Only this last one did it not go away when I freaked out a bit. I'm glad it didn't because once I got through what I'd call the "come up anxiety" it was amazing. It offers a unique and interesting experience that is worth at least trying if you ever get the chance and are in the right head space for it. It's also probably easier for most people to source compared to something like 5meo Dmt. Just make sure to test for impurities like with all substances. I think if you're a person who has trouble letting go or freaks out on psychedelics Ketamine might just be a good starting point and way to ease yourself into awakenings like I did. Don't write it off until you've tried it a few times and if you do I recommend getting an eye mask and listening to meditation music during the trip. Also have your feet touching the ground while you sit in a chair being grounded helps in my experience.

I think what's more important is getting proper nutrients. Everyone is different and there is no one size fits all diet. You need to experiment and learn to listen to your mind and body to discover what works best for you. In general though cutting out processed foods and sugar as much as possible will do more for you than anything else. Also just drinking enough water (quality water I might add with as little added chemicals as possible) is a huge first step for many. I would recommend the book, "How to Eat Move and Be Healthy" by Paul Check as a good starting point. The man is a genius when it comes to holistic health. He looks incredible for his age. Eating meat isn't immoral really because if you think about it it's part of survival. Many animals have to hunt to eat or they will die that's just a fact. What is immoral is the factory farming you mainly see today which produces sick animals with poisoned meat. Personally I am pescetarian and eat little to no dairy. I have found that's what works best for me. Unfortunately the ocean is very polluted though so sourcing good fish is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive. The main benefit to being vegan is cost. To truly eat meat that could be considered healthy is extremely expensive in most cases.

I think viewing children as an investment is the wrong attitude to take. If you want children it should be because you feel that is your life purpose, you shouldn't have them hoping to gain something from it in the future. You also should be capable of unconditional love since that is the most important thing a child needs to grow up and be functional. Not just unconditional love for them but also yourself and others. Biggest pro is it can be a very rewarding process that makes life about something larger than yourself. Biggest con is you are brining someone into this world without their permission and even if you do everything right their life could still end up being filled with pain and suffering. I think the most moral way to do this is adopt a child that is already here and needs a good home. I wouldn't personally have my own child when there are so many are in need of a good home as a result of their parent's unconscious actions. I think there is a lot of ego involved when someone only wants a child if it is their own genes. Just know once you have that child your life as you know it is over and your life now becomes mainly about providing for them. It's the biggest decision you'll ever make in your life so don't take it lightly like most people unfortunately do.

Hey everyone! This is my first time posting here but I've followed Leo's content since the early days. I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here but I want to share my story with some potentially like minded individuals and see what y'all think. In 2014/15 I was heavily into self improvement. I was doing all the the stuff they recommend. Meditating all the time, eating really clean, reading lots of good books, watching quality content, and just in general trying my best to be a good person in the world working my butt off. I was the happiest I had ever been and was very at peace with myself and the world. Life felt magical and amazing. Then I got hit with depression seemingly out of nowhere for no apparent reason. I became numb and lost the ability to feel any emotion, good or bad. I lost touch with reality and ended up hospitalized because I wanted to end my life. At the time the only thing I could think of was maybe it was a so called "dark night of the soul". After getting help I slowly began to get back to how I was before but something had changed. It was like something inside of me died. That spark I had once had for life was gone. Now I find myself here many years later, a shell of my former self. Healthy habits replaced with toxic ones. I struggle to be optimistic. I find it harder to be compassionate. Harder to accept the suffering and difficulties of life. I've regressed and it kills me. I know what I'm missing out on since I've been to that place of self actualization but I struggle to get myself back to that place. I can geniuenly say I've tried my best at times but my mental health issues still always seem to linger. It doesn't make sense to me this all would have happened when I was living such a healthy life style before. I'm very worn down from fighting for so long. I struggle to get the fire lit inside of me that I now need to pull myself out of this hole. Not sure what to do. I feel overwhelmed and hopeless. I lack meaning and purpose in my life now but my depression has been making it very difficult for me to find it again. As a last aside I would like to add that I have been and currently am getting professional help for my mental health issues. Thank you for your time!

@mememe Hey thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your warning. I'm only here to get different perspectives and gain from them what I can. I can filter out anything not useful. I have been thinking about a sort of health retreat or something of the sorts. I have enough money saved to do a small one somewhere. Maybe someone here has some they recommend? I have been working on much of what you have said and it definitely has been helping and I'm better off now getting good rest, exercising, and living in line with my values more. I started my journaling habit recently. Next is to get my meditation practice back to daily and for longer.

@Blackhawk That's alright. Thank you for responding regardless.