Danae Jensen: Before the Medicine

Ross Tayler (00:00)

Hello, I'm Ross Tayler, your host and guide for Sacred Sundays, a space to slow down, tune in, and return to what's sacred within and around you. I'm also a life coach walking alongside those who are ready to come home to who they actually are. These conversations are part of fulfilling that purpose, a collective exploration of what it means to live in connection with the sacred. Some weeks you'll hear a sound-based offering to open the space. Other times we'll simply begin in conversation. However it unfolds, this is an invitation into presence, connection, and the beauty of the unseen. If these conversations find you, please subscribe, rate, and share so others can find their way here. Pour a cup of tea, settle in, and let's begin.

Ross Tayler (00:46)

Today on Sacred Sundays, our guest is Danae Jensen. Danae is a healing guide who helps people feel better through plant medicine. From her line of herbal teas with guided rituals to deep healing with psychedelic-assisted therapy, Danae draws from the modalities of transpersonal hypnosis, internal family systems (IFS), somatic regression, and symbolism interpretation to guide her clients through their layers of consciousness, so they can release emotional burdens, rewrite limiting stories, and align with their soul's true path. Danae is passionate about helping others live a life of fulfillment, with emotional freedom, joyful embodiment, and empowered self-trust. Welcome, Danae, to the podcast. So, so good to meet you.

Danae Jensen (01:30)

Thank you, Ross. It's so good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Ross Tayler (01:34)

You're welcome. I'd love to start by talking about your connection to plant medicine and psychedelic-assisted therapy. What would you like to share about that, considering there might be people out there who have no idea what it is? As a matter of fact, I met someone this week who said exactly that. They were like, what is that? I've never heard of that.

Danae Jensen (01:55)

What is that? Yeah, exactly. What is psychedelic-assisted therapy? Psychedelic-assisted therapy can refer to many different things. There are many different psychedelics that are used these days for healing. I work with psilocybin, which is magic mushrooms. So what that looks like is we prepare for a magic mushroom ceremony, and then we spend a day, one session, in surrender to the magic and the medicine, and then integration afterwards. So it really is just one session with the medicine.

Ross Tayler (02:30)

Okay. I actually have my own personal background of working with psilocybin. I did my first journey, I think, in 2017. I did it in the forest with a friend, very intentionally, and it was a very impactful experience. It brought me to places that I had explored through the mental realm, but it brought me into the body, and into these metaphoric visions that showed me things I had never considered, and brought me to a core belief that was so powerful to identify. Since then, I've done lots of group sessions, and I've led a couple of people through one-on-one, very informally, very supportively. And I think it saved me thousands of dollars in traditional therapy.

Danae Jensen (03:17)

Absolutely. And the way you described it there is absolutely perfect, because so many of us have a lot of the information that we need. We can read self-help books, we can go to talk therapy, but there's a real disconnect between mind and body, right? That mind-body dissonance. Myself too, I was holding all of this self-help and empowerment information in my mind, but I was completely disembodied.

So when I did my first healing journey with psilocybin, that's exactly what happened. It was like the mushrooms opened the door, and 10 years' worth of self-help just came crashing through and landed in my body all at once. And you're right, that core belief that you find, it often is just, this is who I am, and this is how I need to take care of myself. It's so simple, but so profound.

Ross Tayler (04:04)

Yeah. And it makes me think, I'm assuming we all have different ways of interpreting and experiencing the experience. But for me, it shows me very metaphorical images, so there's some interpretation that's required. I'm curious how you find that shows up for people. I think we live in a culture that is somehow disconnected from metaphor. So do you find that individuals are challenged by that, and how do you support them through it?

Danae Jensen (04:37)

Well, Ross, I love that. I'm such a dream geek. I do dream analysis as one of the major ways I work with clients, and synchronicity interpretation as well. So the symbology and the metaphors that come with the medicine are so insightful. But you're right, we're disconnected from it collectively, and most of us do not know how to interpret the symbols.

I use a mythopoetic kind of analysis, which means everything that comes up is a part of you. When I'm analyzing dreams, every dream character is a part of you, every structure is a part of you. Same with synchronicities when I'm interpreting them, and same with the metaphors that come up in plant medicine. So I like to take a back seat and let the client know that we all have a personal symbology, and then there's also collective symbology, right? Your interpretation of what you're experiencing is correct. You are the expert in you. But if there's a place where the client is stuck, where we're not really sure, or they're having a hard time interpreting, I can offer suggestions on what the collective symbology might be.

But sometimes it's just very clear to me, and there's a cycle that people often go through. For example, one client saw a volcano, and this volcano was erupting. I knew that it was representing her being. But as a guide, it's not my place to tell her that. So I'm holding it there, and we go through the whole day surrendered to the medicine. And by the time her healing journey was coming to an end, flowers sprouted out of the volcano. And she had that aha: that's me. That's me. I just grew, and I just bloom. It was so beautiful to witness people seeing themselves in that way.

Ross Tayler (06:40)

Yeah, I love that.

The other thing that comes to mind when I've talked to people about psilocybin is that a lot of people have used it recreationally, and some people talk about having had a bad trip. Perhaps you can share what's different about doing mushrooms recreationally versus doing them with intention for healing. What does that look like, and what makes it different?

Danae Jensen (07:07)

You're right, it's absolutely a different experience. Mushrooms work so well with the power of our intention. So if we're going camping with some friends, and we consume some mushrooms while camping, and we're happy with where we are and what's going on, we're likely just to have a good time with our friends, right? Feel some connection, and hopefully just have a good, fun experience.

If the setting is not what we want, or if we're not in the right mindset, then we might have a bad experience recreationally as well. A bad experience is often resistance to what's happening. We weren't prepared to meet what is coming up, so we're resisting it. Or there's somebody in the group who triggers or activates something, and creates a challenging situation that we really didn't intend on facing, because we just thought we were going to have a good time camping with our friends. So that's usually what happens with these bad trips.

And then in healing, it's so different, because as soon as you make the commitment to heal with psilocybin, as soon as you say yes to it, the divine unfolding begins immediately, way before you eat the mushrooms. Everything starts coming to the surface weeks and weeks before. So when you're in ceremony, everything is right there at the surface, ready to be attended to. And it's highly emotional, and you're expecting it to be emotional. You're willing to meet the intensity. You're willing to have the transformation. So there's a lot less resistance. But still, if there is resistance, hopefully you have a guide or a friend, or some internal resourcing even, to move through it, to stay with it, and to collect the diamonds that you find through the challenging time.

Ross Tayler (08:52)

You're right. I've done journeys by myself, intentionally, setting up the space and having music, and there can be a lot to process, a lot that comes up, almost to the point of too much sometimes. But I've always trusted that there's also something happening that is beyond my ability to process. I believe that psilocybin is actually rewiring us. It's actually changing us from the inside out, and it continues on after you've done your ceremony. So it's a fascinating experience when I think back on all the journeys I've done and the different energies. And I love what you're saying about the ceremony starting before the ceremony. I've definitely had that experience.

Danae Jensen (09:40)

Yeah. And you're right, it does feel like rewiring, for sure. If we allow it.

Ross Tayler (09:49)

Why would this be important for someone, to go down this road? What is it that's available to us that perhaps isn't clear and tangible?

Danae Jensen (09:59)

The answer to that, I would say, goes back to the mind-body dissonance. Anybody can embark on a psychedelic journey and receive wonderful benefits from it when it's done with intention. But the people it benefits the most are the people who are really stuck. If you're feeling stuck, frozen, numb...

I was deep in depression for many years. I suffered with depression, and nothing helped, even though I was seeing a doctor and going to therapy and journaling and reflecting and doing all the things. I spent the majority of my adult life that way. And it wasn't until the plant medicine, until those doors opened, that I could see all of the things that were causing the detrimental patterns, including myself, including how I was getting in my own way. So plant medicine is beautiful, especially for people who have tried it all and are almost out of hope. It offers a new avenue, and it offers real relief from the suffering, especially when there's a lot of space for integration.

Ross Tayler (11:11)

And you also bring to the table some very powerful modalities that must work very nicely alongside the process you're guiding people through. What would you want to say about things like IFS and hypnosis, and how do they blend in for you?

Danae Jensen (11:31)

I use hypnosis to prepare people for ceremony. For the past five years, I've been using four hypnosis sessions to prepare people. First of all, it teaches a person how to get out of their mind and into their body, because hypnosis is a very relaxed state of being where we have access to our subconscious mind. And the subconscious mind pretty much is the body. The body and the subconscious mind are tied together. Everything we hold in the subconscious lives somewhere in our body.

It also re-establishes a baseline of self-trust, because often we've learned not to trust ourselves anymore. We've abandoned ourselves so many times that we're now looking for external cues and external validation. We're outsourcing our power a lot. So we need to have a baseline of self-trust before we sit with the medicine.

The hypnosis also starts to excavate and bring things to the surface. I like to think of it a little bit like clearing house. I do what's called decloaking in hypnosis, which is basically drawing out loose threads that are just in our system and don't really serve us anymore. They're old patterns, old limiting beliefs that we don't really need anymore. They're not attached to anything, but they're still hanging on. So we get rid of all of those. Then we also start to pull things to the surface that are still attached, but don't really need to be. Those are the things that get attended to in ceremony.

And then there's another hypnosis that helps us open up to higher wisdom. I say higher wisdom. It could be your own higher wisdom, your spirit guides, any energy that supports and guides you, so that you are grounded and open before ceremony. And this is all working through hypnosis, so it's subconscious.

And then internal family systems is so powerful. I love it so much, and I'm so happy that I came across it and am able to use it with clients, because it really helps to remove shame. I think that's the biggest thing about it. It's no longer, I am depressed, and I'm doing all of these things, and I have this inner conflict that I can't quite figure out, and what's wrong with me? It's like, no, no, no, we all have this. There's a part of you that wants this one thing, and there's a part of you that wants this other thing. Can we find a way for those two parts to communicate with each other? Can we find a way to access our inner healer, which internal family systems calls Self energy, in order to hold both of those parts with compassion and curiosity, so that they can work together and our whole system can work in harmony? It's so powerful.

Ross Tayler (14:07)

Yeah. One of the things you just said really struck me, based on some of the experiences I've had. I'll just say that I've done hypnosis, and I did it because it was the only way to get past my... I don't know, I'm pretty clever in my mental realm. What I love about hypnosis is that it kind of goes in the back door, and there's nothing you can really do about it. You can't work against it. You can't hide, I guess. So I found it really helpful for going underneath, to the things that need to be worked on, without my intellect blocking the experience.

And I love what you said about our inner knowing. What did you call it? The inner healer. We're so focused outward. We're so focused on external things and external results, and on pleasing others in a lot of ways. And yet we have this wisdom inside that, if we give it space, will do what needs to be done. I think that's one of the things I've experienced in psilocybin journeys, that I get to connect with that part of me in a powerful way. Maybe that's what's speaking to me and showing me these things. And it's all connected to something much bigger. But I get to hear that voice instead of having it be suppressed, because my experience has been that the inner whisper just waits. It's quietly waiting for a time when it can speak.

So much of what we talk about on the podcast with guests is slowing down and turning inward. These two things. That's something we're missing in our culture, big time, I think. And I think that's why we're struggling a lot, because we've lost that connection to our inner healer.

Danae Jensen (15:55)

I 100% agree with you. That's why we're struggling a lot. Absolutely. And you're right, internal family systems pairs so well with psilocybin for that exact reason. That is what you're accessing when you go into a psychedelic healing journey. You're accessing your Self energy. And that's why I have such a dedication to preparing for the journey. I feel that if you go into a psychedelic ceremony with a critical mass of Self energy, you'll have a much deeper and more profound experience. You're going to have access to your Self energy no matter what, but the more you have, the better things go.

If you don't have much access and you go into ceremony, what happens is you spend a lot of time grappling with the parts that are raising their hands and asking for attention. So you have to spend this precious space attending to those, when you could actually do that ahead of time. You don't need to do that with the mushrooms. You can spend more time cultivating Self energy, and allowing that Self energy to actually transmute and transform your inner system instead.

Ross Tayler (17:15)

Yeah, that's an interesting perspective, for sure. And I guess it also brings up the integration piece. I've observed over the years that we live in a busy world. We're leading busy lives. We take a weekend to go and have an experience, and then often we just go back to our everyday. So integration is an important piece, and taking the time to do it in a structured way. I'm assuming that's part of what you support your clients with. What would you like to say about that integration piece?

Danae Jensen (17:48)

Yes, integration matters a lot. I often think of it like childbirth. There's a lot of attention put on actually birthing the baby, but then you have a baby to raise after. And that's integration. It's like, okay, now you're different. Now you're a different person, and you have to integrate this into life.

In the psychedelic world, there's a critical period that's talked about a lot, which is the two weeks after ceremony. It is critical to have supports in place and to have a plan. It's a great time to change behaviors and to instill the new habits you want. But to me, integration really takes a year, and is a lifelong process. Always. So those two weeks are critical, yes, and I stay with my clients for those two weeks, for sure. Then we move into more of a monthly touch-base cycle, which is integration and manifestation. Because to me, there's no difference between manifestation and integration when they're done with soul and intention. In ceremony, you learned who you are. You learned what you need. You have all these insights about how to live a life that's more aligned. So why wouldn't you want to manifest that? You go out into the world and you want to manifest the soul-aligned life. Well, that's just integration, right?

And I talk a lot about courageous honesty during integration. Courageous honesty is becoming more and more authentic, and it's a layered, cyclical pattern, because we have to undo all the conditioning, and we have to keep combating the conditioning that's bombarding us all the time. Courageous honesty is being very honest with ourselves, asking, what is the important thing that's on my heart that I want to say? And then being able to say it out loud to the people around you, in a way that is kind and compassionate. That is the quickest way to alignment. If your courageous honesty breaks something, then that thing was meant to be broken. And that's how the external world cracks to align with you.

Ross Tayler (19:54)

Yeah. That courageous honesty piece is interesting, because I feel like a lot of us, myself included at times, though I feel like I've really stepped over that in a big way, have to be prepared for what comes next. Courageous honesty makes me think of boundaries. When we set a boundary and hold it, we get to see the response. And if the response is unkind, then that unkindness has always been there in some shape or form, but we haven't allowed it to be realized. So courageous honesty is huge, saying the thing that needs to be said instead of suppressing it.

The medicine shows you these things. You're reminding me of some of the experiences I've had. There was a theme that would emerge in the group sessions I did, of needing to go to the bathroom. And of course, the setup beforehand was, do what you can to not go to the bathroom, just because of the impact on the space. If you don't have to go, don't go. Don't leave the space unless you have to. And I would have so much struggle around getting up, making noise, disturbing the space, and taking care of myself. It would come up over and over again. And it took me a while to realize that this was the medicine showing me what is actually happening, because in my everyday, the volume is low, but in the ceremony it gets amplified. So self-awareness is key, to be able to notice it and go, this is something I need to work through. It's not about the discomfort. It's about the lesson. And it's interesting how easily it could be missed.

Danae Jensen (21:31)

You're right. And it's funny that you say that, because going to the bathroom is a big thing in psychedelics, in my journeys with clients, and it was for me too, in my own. That's actually how mine started. I had this feeling of, I have to get up and go to the bathroom, but I don't want to, and do I really need to go? Maybe I don't, right? That whole idea. I was very disembodied at the time, so I wasn't used to listening to my body, and I wanted something else to happen. But as soon as I sat up to go to the bathroom, I actually just started bawling my eyes out instead.

And it's the same with clients. I had one client who was doing exactly that. I don't think I really need to go, but maybe I do need to go, and I'm so comfortable... And I'm watching her go through this process, like, your body is telling you something. This is the process of becoming more embodied, and listening to what our bodies are asking for.

Ross Tayler (22:21)

Yeah. I'll share the deeper layer of what unfolded with that theme, because it was quite profound. The next layer of it was, try not to leave when a song is being sung. In the ceremonies I went to, there was singing happening, so there was the conflict of having to go to the bathroom and not leaving during the song. And I really had to go. Finally the song ended, I went outside, had the pee of a lifetime, looked up, and there was the moon, directly in front of me. And I was like, the feminine.

What I realized, as I somehow pieced it together, was that as a kid, I was scared to leave my room and go to the bathroom, because of the conflict that was often happening in the house. So I wasn't able to exercise that sense of self. That was the deeper layer that came out. But it took a while to get there, and I don't know how I would have gotten there without the medicine.

Danae Jensen (23:17)

Right? You're right. Because of the metaphors. It's so beautiful. Like you said, you went out and saw the moon, and realized, and were able to piece it together. And that's exactly what happens. I often say it's divinely orchestrated. The greatest creative minds could not come up with the things that happen in ceremony.

Ross Tayler (23:38)

No. I work with people one-on-one, and I could not create those kinds of experiences for people in a session in that way.

Danae Jensen (23:47)

No. And the way they flow, and the way things come up at just the exact right, perfect time.

Ross Tayler (23:52)

Yeah. Another thing I've noticed with the medicine is that it lifts the veil. There have been some times after ceremony, when I guess the medicine was lingering, that I went out in public, and the absurdity of the world was front and center. Another example I use is watching TV. If you watch something on TV, you can tell people are acting. It just lifts the veil. What have you noticed about that piece, and what would you add to it?

Danae Jensen (24:24)

Yeah, I hadn't thought much about that, actually, Ross, so I'm going to think out loud here. I do understand what you mean. I'm so privileged to be here on Quadra Island, which is a very interesting place to be. There's access to a lot of wilderness, and it's a small community. I know my friends and neighbors, and the people who live around me. And I don't watch a lot of TV. But the absurdity of life... I think I'm at the point now where I'm always seeing the absurdity of life, right? Everything is kind of silly. Why are we doing any of the things that we're doing?

And now, you're right, the veil's been lifted, and we still have to live in this world. What I like to do is, there's some personal empowerment in choosing not to buy into it, while still having to live through it. It's the idea of shining your light brightly, and courageous honesty again, and being more authentic. Because we're not going to get anywhere collectively as a society until more of us are being more authentic more often, shining our lights brightly, even when it disturbs somebody. Setting those boundaries. Letting people have their emotional reactions. Letting the absurdity of the world become more and more obvious to everyone, by showing the opposite of it. How would you like things to be? What does a harmonic future look like, compared to the absurdities we're living in right now?

Ross Tayler (25:55)

And you just brought up something fascinating, a little bit of a left turn. I did a ceremony two weeks ago with ayahuasca, and the theme that emerged the day before, when we did a pipe ceremony, was exactly what you just said: shining our light brightly. I'd love to have you speak to that more. What does that actually look like for someone? I know that in my own life, I've been in environments that were trying to suppress that, in ways that were hard sometimes. So to actually take that space and shine our light... I know it's a way of being. I know it's about connecting internally to what is right for me, and all of those things. But I've also noticed that for many people, that's so far off in the distance, or hard to grasp. So I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

Danae Jensen (26:49)

I have so much to say about it. The light that we're shining is the medicine the world needs. All of us shining our light is the medicine the world needs. And I would go so far as to say that it is that Self energy I was referring to, shining through us. So we're being our most divine selves. That's not to say we're not being human, because we're still being human. We still have all of the parts within us, doing all the things and living this human life. And it doesn't mean we're happy and joyful all the time, either. It means we're authentic, and we're authentic with compassion and truth. And so we're shining.

But the thing is, you're right, a lot of us are so far away from that, and disconnected from it, because we're taught not to shine our light. We're actually taught to be how people want us to be, instead of how we actually are. So there's this idea of shrinking, or dimming, or what have you. But that's no good for anybody, other than the people who would exploit us.

And shining your light triggers people, too. If you're a person out there shining your light so brightly, other people around you who haven't gotten there yet are going to be triggered, as they should be. We want them to be triggered, because that's how they eventually decide to do their own inner work and their own healing, so that they shine their light brightly too. We have to let people feel uncomfortable, and not like us, and be put off by our joy and our bliss and our happiness and our purpose and our fulfillment, or even by how we express sadness and grief and all of those things. You can still shine brightly while having a hard time. It just takes truth, it takes compassion, it takes courage. It's medicine, and it's the medicine the world needs.

Ross Tayler (28:38)

I was listening to a podcast with a fellow who's a polymath. His name's not coming to me right now. He expressed that mathematically, we all have a unique numerical representation of who we are, which speaks to that. In other words, we are all unique. We all have a mathematical number. That really spoke to me, because whatever that is, and whatever it expands out to, it explains our uniqueness. I think we're all here to shine that uniqueness and really embody it. And that means we have to work through all of the distortion we received in order to get there.

I think relationships are the doorway to a lot of that, and when I say relationships, I mean every relationship. The person you connect with at the store. Everyone is a relationship that we're working through. And we also see ourselves in every relationship, if we have the awareness to do so. When we have a reaction to someone, we're seeing the distortion, and it's right in front of us. We can easily point the finger at that person and make them the problem, but we're seeing ourselves. I think that's actually a core way of working through so many things. And yet it's hard to really digest that truth, because it's so much easier to point outwards. We're seeing that in a big way in the world right now. And yet I believe it's all for the highest good. Not to go down political roads, but yeah.

Danae Jensen (30:00)

Yeah. It goes into the absurdity of it again. And we're not meant to do this alone. We're not meant to do this alone. We can't all be our best, truest selves all of the time, because we live in a wounded world. We live in a wounded society. So we need each other. We need to be able to lean on each other. We need to be able to see the truth in each other. We need to be able to hear the rhythm of each other, to see the mathematical equation of each other, definitely.

And the absurdity of it... when you do psychedelics, there's this feeling of oneness, right? So the absurdity is that we are actually all one, and we're all experiencing this life in a unique way, to contribute to this consciousness. So of course the highest good of all is for all of us to be as authentic as we can, and to shine our lights as brightly as we can, and to be as true to ourselves as we can, because that's the point of this individual being an individual in the first place.

Ross Tayler (31:02)

Yeah. I've had so many moments throughout my journeys... I find it's hard to give words to these experiences. I really believe that spirit has a deep sense of humor. There have been moments where I just laugh at it all, and I can see in the medicine that all these things we place such importance on are also not important. There's this duality. I remember once being shown this idea that everything is a beautiful problem. There's the light and the dark, these two things that are interconnected, and you have to have both. You can't have just one. There's so much beauty in that, but there's also so much pain. It's so fascinating to look at, and it's been a big theme of some of my journeys. And underneath that, it's all kind of a joke, too. I don't mean to minimize or disrespect the experiences we have in our lives, but there's that element as well, which is so interesting. I felt it profoundly.

Danae Jensen (31:59)

Yeah, I agree with you. It is hard to put into words, but there is so much humor in it all. I agree, spirit has a really fascinating sense of humor. Sometimes in ceremony you can see it, and it's hilarious, right? I don't know if you've ever experienced a bliss moment, but in these bliss moments, you're so elevated above it all that you have the 10,000-foot view, or whatever, and you can see it, and it's just hilarious. It's like, oh my god, what this is. It's so hilarious, what is happening. And how we take it so seriously. That's often the most hilarious thing of all, right?

Ross Tayler (32:40)

Yeah. I wanted to ask you about the tea and the rituals that you share.

Danae Jensen (32:46)

Yeah. So I have Soulful Sips, which is organic herbal tea. There are six blends, and they all come with a guided ritual. It all started when I was already making tea for friends and family and neighbors, and I was also guiding healing circles. I have a little driftwood dome here on Quadra Island. And it occurred to me one day that the healing journey I was facilitating mirrored one of my blends of tea perfectly, in what I would call the energetic constituents of the tea. So I started using the tea in ceremony in the Driftwood Dome.

And then I decided one day, you know, I can't serve everybody here on Quadra Island. So I recorded the rituals and put a QR code on the back of the bags of tea, and now they're available in stores across Canada, so people can have their own at-home experience. I have one right here. I know there's no video for your listeners, but this is Anchor and Alchemy, and it's also what I'm drinking. It's holy basil, rose, and elderflower. For me, this one is heart-opening. It's mindfulness, it's grounding, it's connection to spirit. The ritual track that comes with it is a little mini healing session, about 20 minutes, with an opportunity to pause and journal. It uses the modalities I work with, including internal family systems, to anchor into the moment and then alchemize any challenging things that are coming up in a person's rich inner world. So I think of them as low-barrier, at-home, deep soul care, accessible to everybody.

Ross Tayler (34:27)

I love it for two reasons. Part of what you said was kind of the impetus for this podcast, that idea of just pausing. Originally, these were supposed to be 20-minute sessions of just being able to pause. And of course, they became so much more. But I really like that you're giving people the opportunity to have that experience, and to have something physical and something supportive. It's quite brilliant.

Danae Jensen (34:54)

It's been so fun. I've had so much fun making them. It came together so naturally. You just get into that flow state, right? So that's how I know it's right and it's working. And they've been very well received. I've been making tea for four or five years, but I just launched Soulful Sips in November, and I'm in 16 stores across seven provinces. So they're so well received. I think there's a craving for those sacred moments, these little digestible moments of stillness and inner reflection. And I also think there's a craving for low barriers. Not everybody can take time out of their day to go sit in a group setting. You can do this any time of day, in the morning or late at night, and you get to journey with the plants as well. The herbs in the tea tie into the guided ritual, so you get this full, immersive experience.

Ross Tayler (35:54)

And I think that's key. I think we're all looking for experiences that are different from the mundane, everyday things we're focusing on. Our attention is being pulled off to the side in so many ways.

Danae Jensen (36:08)

And we're fighting it, right?

Ross Tayler (36:11)

Yeah. So to be able to have that experience, and even just to pause... I have that all the time. I've got a lot of balls in the air and lots of things I'm working on, and I have to catch myself: wait, just stop. Just stop. Before we started this podcast today, we paused for a moment, and it can be so nourishing. So you're giving that experience through the teas and the guidance. I'm not surprised that it's being well received.

Danae Jensen (36:36)

Right. And now the key is for people to actually do it. For people who buy the tea to actually scan the QR code, download the ritual, and sit and take some time out of their day to do it. That's one of the reasons I launched my membership. I have a membership called Deeply Steeped. You can be an adored guest in Deeply Steeped, which is free, and you get lots of things, like free shipping on the tea. And then if you want to go deeper, you can become a devoted guest. A devoted guest gets access to weekly plant spirit circles. We join live, like this, and I guide the group through a longer plant spirit circle with the tea. There are also lots of other opportunities to connect, but the plant spirit circles are really the heart of being a devoted guest in Deeply Steeped. It's been lots of fun to start.

Ross Tayler (37:31)

That's great. And how long have you been facilitating groups, in that way or in other ways?

Danae Jensen (37:37)

I'm just starting online, but I've been facilitating groups for about five years.

Ross Tayler (37:41)

Okay, amazing. And you said women's circles, right?

Danae Jensen (37:44)

They're not just women's circles, but it's mostly women who come.

Ross Tayler (37:46)

Okay. I facilitate groups as well. What would you say is the power of groups?

Danae Jensen (37:55)

The power of groups. So often people show up and they're like, I don't even think I should be here today. I'm in such a bad mood. I'm having a bad day. And it's like, perfect. That's why you should be here today. That's why I'm so glad you came today. Because you don't have to put on a mask. You don't have to perform. You just show up as you are.

I introduce circles as sacred space. The first thing I say is, when you pass over the threshold, now we're in sacred space. That means you are accepted as you are, however you are. And sometimes people start crying just at that. Just to know that however messy you're feeling, that's okay. Your mess is welcome here. However cranky you're feeling, it doesn't matter. That's welcome here. You don't have to be in this perfect mood, or put on a mask to pretend you're in a good mood. Be miserable. That's fine. We can hold you.

So I love the power of the group for that support. And also the way the energy changes and morphs. It's like in the psychedelic journeys, with the metaphors we're talking about. Sometimes the co-creation of the experience is really interesting. We don't just regulate to each other, but the thread of the theme that happens within the group is often very fascinating too.

Ross Tayler (39:18)

Yeah, I just got chills as you said that, because I've experienced that so many times, both as a participant and as a facilitator. There are so many times when those threads show up, and people show up with the same themes, and you have people who needed to hear what the other person said. And I think that piece you said about being able to show up as you are speaks so nicely to everything else we've been talking about. It's like, what? Are you serious? I can actually fall apart here? I can actually be held here? It's so unusual to have that experience.

Danae Jensen (39:55)

Absolutely. And you lead men's circles, right?

Ross Tayler (39:57)

I do, yeah.

Danae Jensen (40:00)

I imagine it's even more unusual for men to be able to show up and fall apart.

Ross Tayler (40:05)

It is. The thing I notice the most is that a man will show up and share his deepest, darkest story, because he feels safe to do so, and thinks he's the only one who has had that experience. And I'll ask the question, how many other men in the circle can relate to what was just said? And everybody puts their hand up, and that man is like, what? I thought I was alone.

Danae Jensen (40:25)

It's amazing.

Ross Tayler (40:26)

It's amazing. We're not meant to go through this alone, and I think that's part of what the plant medicine teaches us. We are connected. We are part of something much bigger than we realize. And we've forgotten. So all of these things help us get back to that experience, to get back to that truth in some way or another.

Danae Jensen (40:45)

Absolutely. And there are some differences between men and women, in how they show up and the challenges they face. I think it's so important for men to have a sacred space to go to and share these things, because I think men feel more isolated than women do in this aspect.

Ross Tayler (41:06)

Yeah. And I appreciate you asking the question, or pointing us here, because I feel like for men, it's even harder to show up in some ways, for all sorts of reasons. I feel like I'm always walking this line between how much ritual to bring in and how much not to bring in, because just showing up, just walking through the door, is so hard. Just saying yes is hard. And I can forget that, because I've been sitting in circles for 20 years. I love it because of the power of it. So I have to blend that balance of making it safe, and also making it accessible, while at the same time having impact.

Over the years, I've seen a lot of men not come back. They come once, and then they don't come back. That always guided me to ask, okay, how can we do this differently? What is it that's being asked? And the big thing is to have a closed group, so that it's the same men consistently for a period of time, rather than a drop-in group where it's always changing and trust is always being assessed.

Danae Jensen (42:08)

Right. Closed groups are my favorite to facilitate, too. I do think it's easier for women to just show up, and they feel safer sharing in the first place.

Ross Tayler (42:18)

And for so many years, in the circles I would go to, whether they were shamanic circles or sacred circles, I would be the only man, for years. So I got some insight from those experiences. You're right. Even though there's a different way of interpreting trust, it somehow comes quicker, because women can have that relationship with each other if it's there.

Danae Jensen (42:40)

I think also, just generally speaking, women have an easier time trusting the healing process in the first place. We're allowed to. We're allowed to do that. There isn't the same societal narrative of shame around vulnerability for women that men have to grapple with. If you're starting from scratch, the first barrier is even feeling safe to be vulnerable, right?

Ross Tayler (43:12)

Sure. Brené Brown said it really clearly at one point, in one of her videos: vulnerability, for men, is weakness. Bottom line. Until it's not.

Danae Jensen (43:18)

Yeah. Until it's not, right? Until you do it and move through it, and find where it's safe, and then it's such a strength.

Ross Tayler (43:27)

Exactly. So what would you like to let the listeners know about how they can find you, and where they can buy your products?

Danae Jensen (43:36)

Absolutely. My teas are available on my Soulful Sips website, and they ship across Canada. I think I can still ship to the US, but I'm not quite sure about tariffs right now, so I don't know.

And then I have my psychedelic-assisted therapy work. I take one client a month. What that looks like is we work virtually for preparation, and then you come to me here on Quadra Island and stay on my property for two or three nights for the ceremony. Then we go back to integration virtually.

But for people who are wanting to embark on psychedelic-assisted therapy, maybe as a solo journey, or who are going abroad for ayahuasca or to a clinic for ketamine, it doesn't really matter which medicine, I have my program called Before the Medicine. It's the hypnosis I talked about, paired with teachings for our conscious mind, the hypnosis for the subconscious mind, and workbooks to integrate it all. That's on my Ecosophy Wellness website, under preparation. I'm working on Before the Medicine right now. Enrollment is open, but the content will be available October first.

Ross Tayler (44:37)

Excellent. I'll link to all of that in the show notes, so people will be able to access it easily. And I always like to close with the same question, so I'll ask you that question. What is one simple way that someone could connect with the sacred today?

Danae Jensen (44:53)

Oh my goodness. Just go lie on your bed and stare at the ceiling for five minutes. It's really so easy. Just go lie on your bed, stare at the ceiling for five minutes, check in with your body and yourself, and see what comes up. The sacred is right there.

Ross Tayler (45:07)

That's very cool. I have not heard that one yet. I love the uniqueness of all the answers to this question. That's so accessible. Thank you.

Danae Jensen (45:16)

You're welcome. Thanks so much.

Ross Tayler (45:18)

You're welcome. Well, Danae, it was great to have this conversation. I think we covered some good ground, and I really appreciate your energy and all the things you're doing in the world. Thank you for making the time for this conversation.

Danae Jensen (45:29)

You know what, right back at you, Ross. I'm so glad we connected, and I'm so interested and fascinated and happy to hear about the work you're doing in the world too.

Ross Tayler (45:38)

Thanks so much.

Thank you for joining us on Sacred Sundays. I hope something in today's offering spoke to your spirit, stirred something true, or simply gave you a moment to breathe. If this conversation resonated, please subscribe, rate, or share. It truly helps this work reach the people who are meant to find it. Until next time, may your day be slow and sacred.