Editor’s note: The following Q&A is one of several featured in this week’s Wellness, Part 2 issue.
Ehren Cruz is the founder of The SpArc, which offers transformational coaching and psychedelic facilitation. He speaks with Xpress about the benefits of psychedelics, misconceptions about his practice and music.
Why embrace psychedelics as an adjunct to life coaching?
Coaching is about helping people make the leap from surviving to thriving. The neuroplasticity that occurs with psychedelics can be pivotal in shifting mindsets and habits, opening one up to broader perspectives. Cathartic release and neurogenesis help people genuinely reconcile old, entrenched patterns to embrace the new with eyes toward the horizon. Psychedelics are not just for the unwell. For millennia untold, they have been used as powerful catalysts for self-actualization and personal growth.
What’s the most common misconception about what you do?
I’m not a psychedelic psychotherapist, although there are methods of deep listening, ethical stewardship and trauma-informed awareness that guide my sessions. I’m a psychedelic ceremonial facilitator: one who uses ancient ritual practices of sacred sound (rattles, gongs, bells, bowls, etc), scent (resins and woods) and holistic supportive practice (breathwork, meditation, visualization and affirmation) to create an ecosystem of empowerment, agency and transformation. This is framed with a powerful preparation, immersion and integration protocol.
What music is your favorite to listen to when guiding a psychedelic journey?
For years I produced festivals guiding thousands of listeners into ecstasies in carefully curated environments. I now use the same care in one-on-one and group immersions. My formula starts with subtle and tranquil music for relaxation, moves to bittersweet and nostalgic to facilitate remembrance and healing, lifts to tension release for catharsis and lands on euphoric triumphant to empower the journeyer onward. I love Poemme, Hammock, East Forest and Mardeleva in order of experience above.
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