Dear Friends,
Is there still value in knocking on a stranger’s door?
I put that question to our guest, Zee Cohen-Sanchez. She left graduate school in 2016 to work on the Bernie Sanders campaign, ran half of the paid field program on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s first campaign, and now leads National Ground Game, which organizes young voters on college campuses.
I am not a Democrat, and I am not a Republican, but I invited Zee to Mind Body Health & Politics because she believes change comes from people talking to people, so do I. After all, we are tribal animals.
I invite you to listen to our conversation.
Her organization is at nationalgroundgame.com.
Below, a practice for making contact with the people around you.
Today’s Practice: Say Hello
A simple thing to take with you from this week’s conversation.
Say hello to the people next to you. The checker at the supermarket. The clerk in the store. The person beside you in the elevator, or in the next seat at the theater.
Introduce yourself. “Hi, my name is _. What’s yours?”
Try it for a month, and see what happens.
Write back and tell me who you met.
Golden light,
Dr. Richard Louis Miller
Forthcoming New Book
Resources mentioned
National Ground Game — nationalgroundgame.com
The campus tour — unfuckamericatour.com
A note on working together
I offer a small number of one-on-one sessions for those who want to work with me directly.
This is not traditional therapy. You bring whatever is troubling you, and we practice the simple tools I have used with patients for six decades — ways of quieting the mind and easing anxiety that you can carry into daily life.
We go at your pace, and we work on what helps.
My Latest Book
The Adverse Effects and Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Medicines was recently reviewed by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies. I was honored by it. Read the review here.
A few words from the front of the book:
Dr. Richard Louis Miller is a true elder and wisdom keeper of the psychedelic community, and his credentials come honestly, through hard-won experience. In this book, he continues his role as an educator by sharing his knowledge of both the perils and the promise of psychedelic substances. The reader will find valuable advice on how to avoid pitfalls while realizing the maximum benefits from the thoughtful and safe use of these remarkable medicines.
— Dr. Dennis McKenna, ethnopharmacologist and author of The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss
Putting forth the adverse effects of these substances in readable form contributes to their understanding and separates psychedelic scientists from those who would cover over, or even hide, negative effects of pharmaceuticals.
— Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco
It’s the fifth book in my series on psychedelic medicine. You can find it on Amazon.
My Other Books
Freeing Sexuality: Psychologists, Consent Teachers, Polyamory Experts, and Sex Workers Speak Out
Integral Psychedelic Therapy (co-edited with Jason A. Butler & Genesee Herzberg)
Psychedelic Wisdom: The Astonishing Rewards of Mind-Altering Substances
Psychedelic Medicine: The Healing Powers of LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, and Ayahuasca
Master Your Mind: Practical Tools to Calm Anxiety, Silence Your Inner Critic and Stop Overthinking
