any herbs that heal the mind like psychedelics but are not hallucinogens nor are scary?

are there any herbs that heal the mind like psychedelics but are not hallucinogens nor are scary? ones that remove trauma and fear but at the same time are gentle and not crazy like say ayahuasca.

St John's Wort is reported to help. Chamomile is not scary!

Peyote falls, I think, into the scary category. "Indian pipes" or "ghost flowers" are reported to help pain sufferers, not by making the pain go away but by making the patient more detached from the pain so it bothers them less.

Before beginning any medicinal therapy for mental health, herbal or otherwise, I recommend giving the body a few weeks of early bedtime, regular exercise, sunshine on the face in the morning and a healthy whole food diet (minimal caffeine and sugar) Even though these are pretty basic health needs, many people don't get them.

thanks for the info. also are there herbs that bring up repressed memories and emotions so they can be consciously dismissed?

I think that rather than looking for an herb for this, you may want to think about breath work, meditation, working with a counselor of some kind. What makes psychedelics and other drugs seem scary is that they can be. Those experiences are intense, and while I think they can be very beneficial, I also think hallucinogens need to be approached with real care, and with an openness to have that loss of control, which can be very difficult for some personalities.

Combined with relaxation and meditation techniques, I would look at herbs that support the nerves and nourish the system, and perhaps some of those used for anxiety. Also, you may want to look into Bach's flower essences. I don't have a lot of experience with those, and they may seem a bit woo-woo to many on this site, but some people swear by them.

Matu Collins wrote: Chamomile is not scary!

I'll second that opinion. I like to add chamomile to bedtime tea blends. It can help unwind the most stressful of days.

Wesley johnsen wrote:are there any herbs that heal the mind like psychedelics but are not hallucinogens nor are scary?

Hi Wesley,
In short, I would say no. Not even close. I think that psychadelics are so tranformative because they enable our minds to think in ways previously impossible. Which can be a very scary thing. The mind unleashed can go in an infinite number of directions, some of which are not exactly pleasant.

At times, our mental healing can occur in a way that is painful or terrifying, but ultimately transcendent and unbelievably profound. I believe absolutely that psychadelics can be deeply healing, and at times they are supremely inadvisable. Psilocybin, ayahuasca, and mescaline are powerful beyond imagination, and should be handled with the utmost care, respect, and preparation.

Other herbal tools, like chamomile and st johns, are very much safe and gentle. Comparing them to ayahuasca or psilocybin is like comparing a tricycle to a supersonic jet. Chosing the right tool for the job depends entirely on what the job is.

good luck! wishing you well-

salvia divenorum is a hallucinogen but it can be taken at a dose too low for any psychedelic effects to be felt and still be helpful. I have done it with a dose high enough to have hallucinogenic effects although I prefer the term entheogenic and while it was intense it was very fast. I have never done anything else. Salvia is also legal in much of the united states. I keep thinking about trying it at a very low dose for the healing effects without the hallucinations.

not an herb but tryptophan is an amino acid that helps me a lot and might be worth looking into.

and the last thing is float tanks or isolation tanks. I have found them to be very healing and therapeutic. people do sometimes hallucinate in them but if that is happening and you don't like it all you have to do is open the door and let some light in. You either have to have your own float tank though or find a place that has them and rents out time in them. I no longer 'float' because it is too expensive to pay per session and the nearest places are too far away from me. I someday will build or buy one but I need to have a building with space for it first. my house is too small to have one inside it.

when I did salvia I chose to chew leaves and the taste was awful but wow after I am not sure how long I was chewing leaves, maybe 15 minutes things got really intense and I was no longer at all in touch with 'reality' it was very fast though and I noticed a huge change that lasted for a long time. It really helped me intensely. I have not wanted to deal with the taste though so have not done it again except for tincture which is not the same. I need to get some plants I guess.

After years of experience in my youth with various hallucinigens and now introspectively viewing that period of my life from the vantage point of middle age I see that the psychedelic experience was a fiery illusion made falsely realistic by the overwhelming effect of the drugs . There is nothing from those addled years that I now hold firmly in my psyche as constructive or life changing . Real change came from day to day solving of personal issues the hard way and the accumulative effect of doing so year after year . Those are the changes that took and provided a foundation to heal the mind {which will continue to need healing daily all ones life} . So , with that being said : Chamomile can help , especially when one sits and shares a cup with a freind or mate discussing issues that need resolving in a commited and open hearted interactive relationship .

I have a lot of friends (including my husband) and a lot of acquaintances who did find using hallucinogens very helpful and I have a friend who gets debilitating cluster headaches but he discovered that if he does psilocybin he is headache free for at least a few years. when the headaches return he does it again and they stop again for a while. before he discovered that he really was unable to live his life. he couldn't drive a car, couldn't do much of anything. So for some people these drugs are very helpful. everyone is different though. what is good for one person may not be good for someone else.

Mad Dog Skullcap

In a small-scale double blind, placebo-controlled study, blue skullcap had anxiety-reducing effects in 19 volunteers.[5] S. lateriflora, along with reducing anxiety, significantly enhanced global mood without a reduction in energy or cognition,[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutellaria_lateriflora

Yogic breathwork. Agni sara, bhastrika, kevala kumbakha, kabalabhati, nadi shodana. Many of these can be done while performing postures. Or standing or seated.

When I was researching chinese herbs I found several that were described as being used by monks to aid in meditation. Reishi mushroom was one of them. I can't say definitively as I didn't drink it regularly enough, but it seemed to lift me into a really nice balanced place. This site has has a lot of information...

http://www.yahwehsaliveandwell.com/pages/singleherblist.htm

Have you tried Holy Basil (Tulsi)? I use it in tincture form, but it has a pleasant taste. It causes no "head change" in me. It is an adaptogen. You might look into astragalus, too.

It likes the same care and conditions of culinary basil, so I can grow it here.

Wesley,

It seems like your question (and the responses to it) has two sides: what, if any, natural preparations can allow someone to face (possibly repressed?) trauma without it being terrifying, and what herbal treatments can help to heal the mind, presumably from fear, anxiety, and perhaps depression.

To the first, I agree with Adam. I think it's less about the strength of the drugs though- if the approach you're taking is to confront trauma, it is going to be a traumatic process. Even if no drugs are involved at all, confronting personal trauma is super scary. It's also something that in my opinion shouldn't be undertaken alone- as someone who has been in a similar situation and has used both conventional and far more traditional methods, (ie shrinks and shrooms), I find that talking to someone, having at least one person who is there for the whole journey, is incredibly helpful. I also learned to respect and appreciate that it is a journey. For me that meant a lot of work. It still means a good amount of work, come to think of it!

To the second question, all of these recommendations are great! I found that st john's wort, skullcap, astragalus and occasional vitamin supplementation works well for me. Sometimes this part should come first- it helps to make sure you're well equipped to tackle the kinds of challenges presented by working through one's issues. Matu's suggestion to take care of the body, get plenty of rest and sunshine in the morning to help stabilize and reinforce your natural rhythms and wellness is also great advice imho.

May your road be pleasant and your mindscape all your own!

That is an interesting thread! It seems that there is not much in between the strong psychodelics and say chammomile tea. Furthermore there are the legal troubles like salvia is forbidden here.
You want a plant which can be seafely used but produces an effect- something like a dream which tells you something.
And there are more and less sensitive people too.