The minute I arrived at the Mycomeditations, I was immediately struck by the elegant beauty of the properties that are all part of the Mycomeditations retreat experience. Soon after arriving, I met several Jamaican Nationals and quickly felt a very strong connection to them and those connections became deeper as our week progressed. The buildings themselves were perfect Caribbean getaways, older homes but very comfortable and functional. Great open spaces in each of the homes that open to sweeping panoramas of the Caribbean!!!! .

I have had the opportunity to experience food from many different countries and at some of the world's finest restaurants. The fragrance of Jamaican cooking wafting through the area in late afternoon was beyond description and I can honestly say that Jamaican food is now among my favorite foods and it is possibly my very favorite food.

I honestly cannot convey how important my fellow retreat guests became to me as the week progressed. The education and professional backgrounds of my fellow attendees was astounding. The truth is, I felt many of them were truly brilliant people and far more importantly, they were and are good human beings. This, like many other experiences during our retreat was truly not anticipated but so appreciated.

Arriving at Mycomeditations was the result of many years of awareness and study regarding the potential benefits of certain types of psychedelic therapies for a variety of mental health maladies. Many of these maladies have profoundly impacted my profession so I have always looked for emerging therapies that might ameliorate the suffering of others. My experience during this retreat was personally transformative and transcendent and I will return I gained much insight and understanding concerning some of my struggles.

Saving probably the best for last!!! Eric Osborne and the team he has put together at Mycomeditations was one of the most impressive groups of people I have ever been associated with and over a 40 year career, I have been exposed to many "teams." These folks placed our safety and comfort as their #1 priorities during our stay. The insights, compassion and empathy displayed by these wonderful folks was something to behold.

Eric Osborne is the consummate professional with a very deep understanding of the utility of this form of therapy and I could not imagine a better guide and teacher. He and his lovely wife Courtney have truly created a magical place where miracles do happen. If my children did their own research and decided on their own that they wanted to participate in this therapy, I would trust Eric and his team with the health, safety and welfare!!!! I guess that says it all!!!!

After 28 years of panic attacks, followed by more than 30 years on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds, I DID IT! Wowzer! I've got to be one of the most tightly wound people on the planet and I DID IT! Hard internal work, but oh, so worth it. For me, this was therapy on steroids. Not experiencing as much fear as usual. Very safe place with lots of love. Still have lots of internal work to do, but this was a giant step for me personally. It was hot and humid so come prepared for that.

I attended the 22nd – 29th June 2019 Mycomeditations retreat in Treasure Beach, Jamaica with two good friends (we all came from the UK, where we live). I have a certain amount of experience with psychedelics, but my two friends had literally never taken any drugs other than alcohol in their lives.

I’d listened to Tim Ferriss interview Michael Pollan (who wrote “How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics”) and Stan Grof (pioneer of using psychedelics for psychotherapeutic purposes and inventor of Holotropic Breathwork) and was keen to try psilocybin therapeutically. However, I’d also realised the critical importance of set and setting and so was very keen to go to the best place I could find.

I looked at some places based in Amsterdam - psilocybin truffles are legal there and it is much closer to us. But from my reading and previous experience of ayahuasca and holotropic breathwork I was keen to go to a place with a minimum of two dosing sessions – and preferably three (so that the first one could be lower to judge potential difficult reactions). There is such variability in the psychedelics - even in the same person taking the exact same dose in the exact same setting - that I think the chance of not getting some sort of “breakthrough” is too high in single (or even two) dose retreats.

I also liked Mycomeditations’ no nonsense website and the background I read about the founder (Eric Osborne) in the Guardian newspaper in the UK. I told my friends (who largely went with my recommendation re: the place) that it seemed pretty close to the “ideal” design of retreat in terms of length, dosing, etc. I still think that after our retreat.

My friends, Sarah & Laura, were referring to our upcoming retreat as the “trip of a lifetime” – which left me a little worried their expectations were so high there was a real chance of disappointment. Fortunately I needn’t have worried. I would describe our actual experience (and we all felt the same) as either meeting – or even exceeding – even that high bar!

Shortly before we left for our retreat we came across Psychedelics Today’s withdrawal of support and endorsement for Mycomeditations (on the Psychedelics Today website). I contacted Mycomeds to ask about that and was immediately offered a pre-retreat call with Eric to go over any concerns. I don’t really know the real reasons why Psychedelics Today took this step, but I particularly wanted to mention it in my review, in case there is anyone reading this who is worried by that and may not go because of it.

Our experience was that the set up was excellent. All of the people we dealt with at Mycomeds were efficient, friendly and very caring. All the way from lovely Doreen (owner of the basic accommodations and cook), Athena, Courtney and the facilitators Matt, Dan, Rushien, Zoe and Nikisha (the resident nurse). And Eric, the founder and ringleader provided a sort of comforting (as he’s so clearly experienced), positive, non-comformist energy that just topped the whole thing off perfectly. But I can see that if you come from a more standard, “white coat”, conformist medical background it might make you uneasy. However, we all loved it and thought it was pretty much perfect!

There were eleven of us on the retreat and six facilitators / sitters for each dosing session (including Eric and Nikisha, the nurse). Each time some of the sitters also dosed (at lower amounts) except for Nikisha and and at least one facilitator. I think this might be another reason people / organisations like Psychedelics Today might feel uneasy (again, as it doesn’t “fit” with standard medical practice). But I’ve now been on three ayahuasca and this one psilocybin retreat - and at least some of the facilitators dosed along with the guests at each place. I am now literally 100% certain this is significantly beneficial. Things happen in these group psychedelic experiences that I don’t think our western model of the world can explain properly. There seem to be important interactions and support that occur that need the facilitators to be able to enter the psilocybin and (and ayahuasca) “space”.

All three of us had profound and healing experiences at some point during our week and we’d all like to return in the future. If you’re reading this review and considering going on a Mycomeditations retreat, I urge you to go!

If anyone would like to contact me I’d be very happy to discuss Mycomeditations with anyone thinking of going – and also provide proof of who I am, that I went when I said I did and that I paid full price for my trip and flew out from the UK in a group of three.

Please contact Mycomeditations and ask for Andrew B’s contact details from the 22nd – 29th June 2019 retreat. I will give them a copy of this review so they know they may get contacted and I’m happy for them to give out my details. I think Eric and Mycomeditations are doing very important work and I’ll take great pleasure in providing any support I can.