Navigating Altered States of Consciousness Talk & Workshop

On July 21st and 22nd, renowned author, researcher, and 'Catch the Buzz' Patch columnist David Jay Brown, and psychotherapist Meriana Dinkova MFT, will be speaking and teaching in Santa Cruz.

On July 22nd they will be leading a workshop together at the Pacific Cultural Center about navigating altered states of consciousness, and on July 21st they will be giving an introductory talk on the subject.

In their talk and workshop Brown and Dinkova will offer some basic and more advanced psychological techniques for navigating the shamanic landscape, healing past traumas through self-metaprogramming, and optimizing the spiritual treasures that can be gained from a fruitful psychedelic journey or shamanic experience.

Altered states of consciousness can be experienced in many ways. Some of the common ways of experiencing them are shamanic journeys, dreams, breathwork, entheogenic journeys, ecstatic sexual experiences, and moments of high stress or intense emotion.

Through lecture, interactive sharing, and experiential exercises, Brown and Dinkova will empower your inner shaman and enrich your psychonaut toolkit.

Workshop:

Where: Pacific Cultural Center; 1307 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, California 95062
When: July 22nd, 1:00 to 7:00 pm
Cost: $100, if prepaid online by the evening of the 21st, at: www.merianadinkova.com/events, $125 at the door

Introductory talk:

When: Saturday, July 21st, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Where: Pacific Cultural Center; 1307 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, California 95062
Cost: $20 (you can prepay and reserve your spot on www.merianadinova.com/events)

Drawing upon ancient techniques from different cultural traditions, the latest scientific research, and a bounty of personal experience, David and Meriana will provide a psychological and spiritual toolkit for the 21st century psychonaut. 

The workshop will cover valuable strategies for learning how to deal with difficult inner conflicts, and how to avoid common emotional and mental pitfalls that can lead to more limiting experiences, so that one can get the most out of a psychedelic adventure.

David and Meriana will be discussing how the boundary-dissolving properties of an altered-state experience can be used to help transform unhealthy habits, establish new patterns of behavior, and create designer personalities in accordance with our highest visions. 

For more advanced students, the workshop will address different techniques for navigating the shamanic realms that extend beyond the human body and the physical world, beyond time and space, into what has been commonly referred to as "hyperspace."

There will be an in-depth exploration of how to recognize opportunities for deeper experiences in hyperspace, and what the proper etiquette is for communicating with the vast array of non-human entities that one is likely to encounter there. 

The presenters:

David Jay Brown is the author of The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality, to be published by Inner Traditions in 2013. He is also the coauthor of four bestselling volumes of interviews with leading-edge thinkers, Mavericks of the Mind, Voices from the Edge, Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse, and Mavericks of Medicine. David is also the author of two science fiction novels, Brainchild and Virus, and is the coauthor of the health science book Detox with Oral Chelation.

He holds a master’s degree in psychobiology from New York University, and was responsible for the California-based research in two of British biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s books on unexplained phenomena in science: Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and The Sense of Being Stared At. David’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Wired, Discover, and Scientific American, and he is periodically the Guest Editor of the MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) Bulletin. David writes the popular weekly column for Santa Cruz Patch called “Catch the Buzz,” about cannabis and psychedelic culture in Northern California, and in 2011 he was voted “Best Writer” in the annual Good Times “Best of Santa Cruz” poll. His news stories have been picked up by The Huffington Post and CBS News. For more information about Brown's work see: http://mavericksofthemind.com/

Meriana Dinkova is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MTF Lic#45696) and Life- and Relationship Coach in private practice in SF. For the last 16 years she has studied and practiced a variety of experience- and mindfulness- centered, meditative and therapeutic methods involving the connection between spirit and body and the ways our attention influences our experience. For more info go to http://www.merianadinkova.com/