Our Latest Research, Insights, and Opinions

There can be a strange moment after success. For years, the direction may have felt clear. Build the career. Grow the company. Take on more responsibility. Keep going. Then the goal arrives, and the question becomes less about what comes next professionally and more about what comes next personally. That is part of what Behold…

What happens when Indigenous knowledge keepers, Western researchers, therapists, lawyers, facilitators, advocates, and people who work directly with these medicines all enter the same room—not necessarily to agree, but to listen? World Ayahuasca Forum 2026: Many Worlds, One Shared Conversation By Sarah Lynn Thomas Co-CEO – Behold Retreats World Ayahuasca Forum 2026 | Girona, Spain…

As psychedelic medicines move rapidly from traditional communities into clinics, research institutions, retreat centers, and new systems of care, an important question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: What happens to the knowledge, people, cultures, and relationships from which these medicines come? Decolonizing psychedelic healing does not necessarily mean rejecting Western clinical practice. It can…

Paul Schrader’s Ayahuasca experiences in Costa Rica reportedly helped inspire his latest creative project, The Doors of Perception. At 80 years old, the acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter behind Taxi Driver is exploring how radically changing perception can influence the way we understand ourselves, creativity, and the world around us. According to an interview with Deadline,…

An athlete can spend years learning how to push through discomfort, stay disciplined, and keep moving toward the next goal. But what happens when the goal changes? For some athletes, that question arrives after retirement. The structure that once defined daily life disappears, and with it can come a deeper question about identity, purpose, and…

The word trauma carries a great deal of weight now. It gets used for events that reshape an entire life, and for days that simply went badly, and somewhere in between the meaning has blurred. So what actually is trauma, and how do you know whether you are carrying it? In a conversation on the…

Aaron Rodgers is in the headlines once again and we are constantly proud of his continuous work in the silence. This time it's not a ceremony in the jungle. It's reported contract terms with the Pittsburgh Steelers that would give him offseason time for a darkness retreat instead of a standard team program, as he…

Short answer: research into plant medicine and longevity suggests that Psilocybin and Ayahuasca may act on several biological mechanisms of aging (cellular lifespan, telomere length, neurogenesis and chronic inflammation). Almost all of that evidence is preclinical, and no human trial has yet shown that plant medicine extends lifespan or healthspan in people. Key Takeaways: Plant…

Most people wondering why they repeat the same patterns have spent serious time trying to understand them. They know where it started. They can trace the logic. They have had the breakthroughs. And then they watch themselves repeat the pattern the following week anyway. There is a version of self-awareness that helps. There is also…

Microdosing vs Full Ceremony is a question many people ask when first exploring Plant Medicine. People often lump all of this under one word, though microdosing and a full Ceremony are different tools for different jobs. Knowing which one you are actually after saves a lot of confusion. Microdosing: the nudge Microdosing means taking small,…

Plant Medicine reaches people who are already thriving, too. Some of the most powerful experiences I have witnessed came from people who were doing well and wanted to go further. They came whole, and they came reaching. If you are a high performer, you have probably felt the wall. You can out-think most problems, and…

Two worries come up more than almost any others before a first Ceremony: crying in front of people I just met, and the part people call purging. Emotional release in Ceremony often raises questions and uncertainty, so let me speak plainly about both, because knowing what they are tends to soften the fear. Tears, laughter,…

There is a particular kind of person I meet at almost every retreat. They have done more work on themselves than most people do in a lifetime. Therapy. Books. Modalities. Years of honest, courageous effort. Still wonder why you still feel emotional pain despite everything they have done to heal. And they still carry an…

People often ask me whether a retreat is meant to replace therapy. Here is how I see it after years of watching both work: they are two different doors that open onto the same house. Two different doors Therapy tends to move through understanding. You talk, you analyze, you make sense of your story piece…

When most people hear the words "Plant Medicine Ceremony," they picture something recreational. A party, a trip, a loss of control. The reality is quieter, more deliberate, and far more useful than that, especially if you are standing at a crossroads in your life. I am Danny, and I have spent years sitting with people…