Selected transcript excerpts

These short excerpts are lightly edited from the recording's captions. Watch the full replay for context.

Dr. Dingle Spence on the preciousness of life

12:39

At some point we're all going to have to disappear. But in the meanwhile, how do we live in the preciousness of life, in the gratitude?

Abbie Rosner on elderhood

15:00

We look at elderhood not just as an extension of our youth, but as a distinct period in life where we ask these big questions. Who am I? Am I living my most authentic life? Do I have unfinished business?

Dr. Dingle Spence on the facilitator's role

32:40

We're not there to fix you at all. We're there to accompany you through it, and that may be holding your hand, giving you a hug, sitting with you, taking you out into nature.

Christine Caldwell on what she hopes people take away

45:35

Helping people understand their own relationship to death and dying allows them to live more fully in the present, with psychedelics as one tool.

Questions this replay answers

What is mortality anxiety?

Christine describes it as more than a fear of dying. A serious illness can bring physical strain, anxiety and fear of the unknown, a loss of purpose and role, guilt or unfinished business with family, and questions about what comes after.

Do I need to be unwell to come on a Beckley Retreats program?

No. Dingle describes guests who come at turning points in later life, such as retirement or an empty nest, and wants to move away from the idea that only people with a diagnosis can benefit. Every applicant still goes through screening and a suitability consultation.

Why can the first session be hard?

Grief, anger and old pain can surface, Dingle explains, and some guests say afterwards that they don't want to do it again. With support from the facilitators and the group, most step back in for the second session, and many say it helped them understand the first.

Where does Beckley Retreats run its programs?

Only where psilocybin is legal: Jamaica and the Netherlands. Read how our program works.

Questions to reflect on

• What would you want to do, say or resolve while there is time?
• What does elderhood mean to you?
• How might you live differently if you held impermanence a little closer?

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