Aaron Rodgers has sensationally revealed that ‘hundreds’ of NFL players have asked him about his psychedelics consumption, claiming that he’s sat ‘in ceremony’ with teammates as the Jets quarterback continues to praise ayahuasca at a conference.
On Wednesday, Rodgers, 39, attended the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver, Colorado, where he opened up on his experiences with ayahuasca — a sort of psychoactive and entheogenic brewed drink traditionally used both socially and as a ceremonial or shamanic spiritual medicine among the indigenous people living in the Amazon basin.
The infusion causes altered states of consciousness, often known as ‘psychedelic experiences,’ which include visual hallucinations and altered perceptions of reality.
‘I’ve been fortunate enough in the last few years to be able to sit in ceremony with teammates,’ said Rodgers, a 2011 Super Bowl (XLV) champion and four-time NFL MVP.
‘I’m telling you, it is radically life-changing and it’s wild to be in a locker room and look over and just know, like, I’ve been in the maloca [an ancestral long house used by indigenous people of the Amazon] with you, guy. It’s pretty special. It changes the dynamic, for sure.
Jets QB Aaron Rodgers participates in a talk with Aubrey Marcus at the Pyschedlic Science ’23
‘And in the process, like I said, there’s been hundreds of NFL guys who have reached out. […] It’s been really really fun to be able to connect with these guys who’ve done this work or was fascinated by it and want to learn more about it.’
Rodgers went to appear grateful and ‘thankful for those opportunities’ because to him, ‘it just changes the dynamic when you’re in a room with somebody, you’re in a huddle with somebody, on a team with somebody, you’re talking, and like man, I’ve been there with you and that’s my brother.’
Speaking to Aubrey Marcus – the founder of Onnit, a ‘globally disruptive brand based on holistic health,’ and an advocate for psychedelic medicine — Rodgers vowed to give his support to the legal integration of serotonergic hallucinogens in modern-day society.
‘We have the opportunity to change the conversation by dispelling these archaic myths about the dangers of them or the negative side effects or whatever might be and start to share the actual wisdom and truth about it,’ said the Jets’ newest field general.
‘It’s a permission slip for other people to stand up, talk about their own experiences, to join in and to dive in and to learn about it. And I think that’s how we move this conversation forward, is more people to be out there, comfortable talking about their own journeys. Their spiritual journey, their medicine journey, their ceremonies.
‘So we can bring this to people who need it.’
Rodgers first spoke up on his experiences with ayahuasca on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast in August 2022, before appearing on the Joe Rogan Experience later that same month, to talk about the benefits he received from the psychoactive drink.
He claims that the use of psychedelics can help beat depression by teaching people to love themselves.
‘[…] When you dissolve ego, the amount of love that you can give back to yourself and then other people, it takes away, for me, so much judgement of myself and others, so much separation between myself and others.
‘The greater sense of connection was overwhelming when I kind of came out of that and got back to ”reality,” or whatever. It’s like ‘oh s***, now here’s the integration.” Here’s me in a different form. Here’s my reflection that I see of myself and you, and we’re all f***ing connected in such a deeper way.’
Over the last year, legislators in Colorado have pushed for the decriminalization of the use of psychedelic mushrooms. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has also backed of the study of psychedelic drugs for PTSD in U.S. military veterans, according to The Texas Tribune.
More to follow…
