Why Silicon Valley is Obsessed with Microdosing

Primary Topic

This episode delves into the rising trend of microdosing psilocybin, particularly in Silicon Valley, highlighting its perceived benefits on performance and mental health.

Episode Summary

In this compelling episode of Money News Network, host Nicole Lapin explores why many in Silicon Valley, including prominent tech figures, are turning to microdosing psilocybin—commonly known as magic mushrooms. The conversation with guest Peggy Van de Plassche, a former banker and venture capitalist turned microdosing advocate, reveals insights into how microdosing is believed to enhance creativity, reduce anxiety, and increase productivity. Peggy discusses her personal journey with microdosing and its integration with other wellness practices like meditation and journaling, aiming to provide a holistic approach to mental health and cognitive performance.

Main Takeaways

  1. Microdosing is touted for improving cognitive function and emotional well-being without the high of larger doses.
  2. Silicon Valley's interest in microdosing is part of a broader trend towards biohacking for enhanced mental and physical health.
  3. Legal landscapes for psilocybin vary, with places like Denver and Oakland decriminalizing its use.
  4. Combining microdosing with other practices like journaling and meditation can amplify its benefits.
  5. Despite the controversies, there's a growing acceptance and scientific interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.

Episode Chapters

1. Introduction to Microdosing

Peggy Van de Plassche discusses the basics of microdosing, including its benefits and the typical regimen. She emphasizes its subtle yet impactful role in improving mental health and productivity. Peggy Van de Plassche: "Microdosing helps reprogram the brain and body, enhancing focus and memory without noticeable impairment."

2. The Science and Safety of Microdosing

Exploration of the scientific backing and safety considerations of microdosing, comparing it to traditional medicines and addressing common misconceptions. Peggy Van de Plassche: "Microdosing is safe, non-addictive, and has been used as a performance enhancer in the tech industry for decades."

3. Legal and Social Implications

Discussion on the legal status of psilocybin and societal attitudes towards microdosing, with insights into how regulatory perspectives are evolving. Nicole Lapin: "The legality of psilocybin varies, reflecting broader shifts in how society views medicinal psychedelics."

4. Personal Experiences and Case Studies

Peggy shares personal anecdotes and case studies from the business world, highlighting the practical effects and challenges of microdosing in high-pressure environments. Peggy Van de Plassche: "Microdosing has transformed my approach to stress and productivity, making a noticeable difference in my professional and personal life."

Actionable Advice

  1. Start Small: If considering microdosing, begin with low doses to understand its effects on your body and mind.
  2. Consult Professionals: Before starting, consult with health professionals, especially if you have underlying health conditions.
  3. Combine with Other Practices: Integrate microdosing with mindfulness practices like meditation to enhance its benefits.
  4. Stay Informed on Legality: Keep updated on the legal status of psilocybin in your area to avoid legal issues.
  5. Monitor Your Response: Pay attention to how your body and mind respond to microdosing and adjust your regimen accordingly.

About This Episode

Elon Musk takes ketamine. Sergey Brin sometimes enjoys magic mushrooms. Steve Jobs was said to have partaken in psychedelics. The obvious next question is: Why? Peggy Van de Plassche has the answer. Peggy is a former banker and venture capitalist, who spent two decades in financial services, burned out, and then found success again through, yes, microdosing on mushrooms.

People

Peggy Van de Plassche, Nicole Lapin

Companies

None

Books

"The Microdose Diet" by Peggy Van de Plassche

Guest Name(s):

Peggy Van de Plassche

Content Warnings:

None

Transcript

Nicole Lapin
When I'm not hosting this podcast, I am writing books. But it is really hard for me to write when I'm at home. So I like to find remote cabins in the middle of nowhere to just hang out and write. But I hate the idea of my house just sitting empty, doing nothing but collecting dust and definitely not collecting checks. And that's why I'm an Airbnb host.

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I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert. You don't need a dictionary to understand it's time for some money rehab.

As promised, here is our second edition in a two part deep dive into some more unconventional money takes we don't cover every day here on money rehab. In this episode, I'm talking to Peggy van de plush about magic mushrooms. I'll explain. Peggy is a former banker and venture capitalist who spent two decades in financial services and then burned out and found success again. Yes, through micro dosing on mushrooms.

Now let me answer some questions you might be asking yourself. While Peggy's stance is that microdosing helps entrepreneurs in business, that's not what I am saying here necessarily. If you're a driver's ed teacher, for example, duh, you shouldn't be under the influence of anything when you're teaching kids. And even if you do have a less motor skills focused job, every substance affects people differently. Like, I can drink two cups of.

Coffee an hour until 02:00 p.m. And still sleep ish. And I have a friend who can't. Drink anything stronger than matcha. So my point is, talking to Peggy today is not to convince you that you need to add mushrooms to your morning routine.

I just find this trend, like the biohacking trend I talked about in my most recent episode with Neil Parekh to be super interesting. And it's a strong trend, especially in Silicon Valley. Elon Musk takes ketamine, Sergei Brin sometimes enjoys psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms. Steve Jobs was said to have partaken in psychedelics. So I don't know about you, but.

I want to know why. That's what Peggy can answer. Oh, and Peggy does have a beautiful accent for all my pals. Who needs speech accommodation? I've linked the transcript to our conversation in the show notes.

Nicole Lapin
So, ready for a trip? Here's Peggy. Peggy Vander Plas, welcome to money rehab. Thank you so much for having me. Nicole Lapin.

It's a pleasure to be here with you. If only all of our guests said it that way. I have had so many guests on the show talking about what they think the secret to professional success is. But no one has ever yet said microdosing. I guess today is the day.

Today is the day, yes. And I think actually we're going to connect the dots with many conversation you. Might have, but that might be the. Piece of the puzzle that was missing, actually. And why do you say microdosing is the key to success in our careers?

Peggy Van de Plassche
For many reasons. So when you microdose psilocybin, you are going to see three types of benefits. The first is performance related, the second. Is mental health related. And the third one is really consciousness related.

And all of that you really need to be successful. But I would say, more importantly, if you really use microblazing psilocybin in combination with a couple of tools like tapping, meditation and journaling, you're going to really be able to work on this limiting belief. For example, money is hard to come by, or people like me don't make. A lot of money, you're going to. Be able to work on your past emotional wounds.

Peggy Van de Plassche
So, for example, your parents had a. Bankruptcy money problem and it's something you. Have internalized, or you can also look. At some emotions you have when you think and you talk about money, that may be sadness, anger, shame, guilt. So all of that.

The point is to reprogram your brain and your body and your emotions. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Yes. We all have so much financial trauma. And when you say psilocybin, it's known as mutters.

Peggy Van de Plassche
It's magic mushroom. Exactly. Psilocybin is actually the active component. So it's a bit like saying LSD and acid, MDMA and Moly is just. What is the name?

That is the scientific name and what. Is the street name? But it's the same thing. Same thing. So if you're saying psilocybin, it's the same as saying magic mushrooms.

So let's help our listeners who are thinking right now, are you guys talking about taking drugs? How much are you talking about with microdosing? You're not suggesting that people go get super high wasted, like rave style? Absolutely not. Actually, that's the whole point of microdosing.

So you take extremely small quantity, 100 milligrams, which is tiny, for magic mushroom, every two or three days. So think about it almost as a supplement, what you would take with whatever supplements you might be taking every day. So you will not feel anything. It just walks in the background, but there is no physical effect. You will not feel I at all.

On the contrary, you will feel focus, you will feel increased memory, you will feel better attention. So it's exactly the opposite of being eye, actually. Is it comparable to having a glass of wine? If you've had a microdose or a little bit more than microdose, you can still drive yourself home, that type of thing? Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, you're not feeling anything. Actually, it's weird. Less than having a glass of wine. If I have a glass of wine, it's not a great idea for me to drive after. But if I have a micro dose, you know, I microdose this morning, I don't feel it.

Peggy Van de Plassche
I just take my day and that's that. I have a lot of friends in the business community who swear by microdosing. And they say, to your point, that it's really accelerated years and years of therapy. Is that what you've found? Or can you tell us a little bit more about the science behind that?

What I really, really like with microdosing is that it brings everything together. So microdosing by itself. And I really want people who are listening today to understand that it is not a magic pill. It's not okay, you microdose, and now suddenly, you know, everything is fine and all your limiting belief, emotional wounds, everything disappear. No, no, no.

But it accelerates your over practices. So, as I was mentioning, journaling, tapping, meditation. So I wrote a book called the Microdose Diet, which is a 90 day. Program, which is really, you're using micro. Dosing, but you're using other tools as well.

And because micro dosing lower your ego. Barriers it to your point, really increases. The impact of what you're doing. In addition, that. So it's one part of an overall mental health, physical health diet you suggest, and you specifically talk about burnout here.

My third book, as you might know, was focused all around burnout. This was an area that I didn't look into potentially there's a part two of it. But I do think that that's the next level of really focusing on taking care of your mental health, to optimize success in your career, to optimize success across your life. Tell me a little bit more about how specifically microdosing can help with burnout. How has it helped you?

You know, I used to be in finance, I did 20 years in finance and my last role was a venture capitalist. And I would say the pandemic, like. Many people, had a negative impact on me. And actually I probably always add a mental health issue. I just probably never realized that, to be honest.

Peggy Van de Plassche
And when you have high pressure jobs. You'Re just like, wow, that's part of. The territory is just what it is. And for me, starting microdosing really helped me with depression, anxiety and stress. So I used to have tremendous amount of neurosis and control, you know, like I would wake up in the middle.

Of the night doing meals, you know. Like I was at the level of anxiety from zero to ten at twelve. You know, and you know, right now I'm definitely in the normal range and. I'm actually way more productive. So that's the thing.

Sometimes, unfortunately, we think anxiety helps us perform and it's the other way around. But for many people there is this perspective that anxiety is keeping me protected. Because I'm always on the defense. But actually you're missing a lot of. Opportunities because you cannot be open for that.

You're just too stressed to your maximum capacity. Well, thank you for sharing that. I know that's very relatable, especially in. The business and finance community. And you say this isn't your own experience alone.

A lot of other top performing CEO's, VC's are indulging in this performance enhancer. If you can, can you tell me specifically who? No, I don't think I can disclose any name. But actually what's very interesting that if you read the Wall Street Journal two days ago there was an article published on women in high position who are micro losing psilocybin. So you can find names there of CEO's and of executives.

Peggy Van de Plassche
But I can tell you that all. The people I've been advising are all my former peers. So CEO's, exec, lawyers, a lot of tech funders. I mean, microdosing is not something that. We invented last year.

It's been like 2030 years in the Silicon Valley. People have been doing that. But there's been a huge resurgence in the last few years. And for me, the best comfort is. To know that moms actually microdose mushrooms.

That makes me feel better that, okay, if a mom is comfortable doing that, well, I think that's good for me, you know? Yeah. And you're right. It's been around for several decades, but I think in the last one, it's gained in popularity, especially in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley and those communities.

But beyond that, who would you say microdosing is for? I mean, yes, if monks can do it, I suppose it's for anyone. But I don't imagine people like airline pilots should be microdosing. Or should they? Actually, it's always the same thing that the challenge we have is with the legality of it.

So that's why we're saying we should or we shouldn't. But, you know, half of Wall street is on Adderall, you know, which is something that technically is legal and technically is healthy, or at least prescribed by health professionals. So we need to keep in mind that we've been, I would say, brainwashed. But we have very strong stigma from the war on drugs for the last 50 years. So if Nixon taken another direction, yes, airline pilots would probably microdose because it improves their focus and attention.

So that probably be a very good thing, if it would, to microdose. It's just we're looking at it with a very different paradigm. So we're coming from a place that. Is more fearful than if we had. Looked at it as the medicine that it is, which enhances each of us.

So it is not something that we. Should be afraid of, actually. So to be clear, psilocybin is not legal. It's not legal in the United States. Is it legal anywhere?

So in the United States, it's legal in Denver, it's legal in Oakland. So you have actually many countries, cities, states that are legalizing psilocybin. So it really depends where you are and when you are, because the cycle of decriminalizing and legalizing is really going at all speed. So, yes, in Oregon, you can microdose. And take mushrooms without any challenge.

So in Colorado and Oregon, I guess Oakland, you just go to the store and get psilocybin. Are we just talking a literal mushroom here? Capsules. Chocolate. Yeah, exactly.

So, for example, I live in Toronto. So in Canada, everywhere, it is not legal yet. But you have shops everywhere. So you just go and you buy whatever you want. So I have my own, my producing line.

Peggy Van de Plassche
I have a product I sell, actually. I ship as well to the US. I ship to Canada. And it's not Pablo Escobar. You know, you're not paying like ten kilos of error.

You're shipping a little bottle of 30 pills of 100 milligrams that people take. For their mental health. It's very different. That's the challenge, is that microdosing is very different from recreational and taking big dosage. And when you decided to start a business around this, what were some of the concerns you had, the legality concerns?

Well, you know, it started because I. Wrote a book, so there was no. Concern because I'm writing a book. No one can sue me because I wrote a book on how to mindfully microdose. And then I started doing public speaking, and then I launched a product, actually, with a clinic in Vancouver.

And I started being a bit nervous. To your point, because it's tolerated in. Some places, it's legal in some places. But in some places it is not legal, you know? But at this point, I'm looking also at it as civil disobedience, in the.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Sense that you cannot just wait for. Things to change in order to do something about it, you know? And for laws to change, you always had to have people what to push. The boundaries, whether it's for women to. Be able to vote, whether for segregationist laws, you want people what to push.

And it's not different with psilocybin. Many people are actually not just starting business, but also being very vocal because. They want to move a goalpost. They want to move the legal goalpost. They want to move toward legality.

I'd love to, Peggy, dig into the science and the health benefits a little bit more. Let's start with you like micro, and then, no pun intended, and then go macro. How often do you personally microdose? Yeah, so I microdose every three days, 100 milligrams. You have different modalities.

Some people are going to do every two days. Some people are going to take Monday to Friday, and that's as simple as that. There is nothing more complicated than this. You just take your microdose every three days, the same way you would take any type of supplements. I like to connect to my intention, you know, of why I'm taking it and why I'm doing that.

Peggy Van de Plassche
But otherwise, there is no more complexity. After the practice that I personally developed. Around, that is a growth practice. The goal is, as we said, having more success, having more passion, more happiness in your life. But some people just micro dose, you know?

And how did you figure out that cadence for yourself? Do you think of it as needed preventative? Are there some people microdosing every day to prevent stress or just doing it when they feel extra stressed. So I did a lot of research in order to really optimize the frequency. So some people do microdose more.

At the end of the day, it's not necessary. And your body actually, the more you take it, the less your body needs it. So I was microdosing more at the beginning, and I'm microdosing less and less. So it's actually the other way around than most medication that is constantly increasing your dosage. So some people just gonna take a.

Microdose, they're studying for an exam, for example. If they really want to focus, they. Don'T microdose all year round. They just microdose for one week of. Their preparation, of their exam.

I don't do that because, again, I do it in a very strategic and long term protocol approach. But some people just do that like. Okay, let's say you have something, as. You say, you're stressed about. Maybe you have a networking event, you don't want to go or something, I don't know, the holidays with your parents, or, well, maybe you're going to microdose the entire week just to be maybe also a bit more relaxed.

In that context, it's less about performance, it's more about mental health, less stress, less anxiety. And what are some of the common side effects? So the side effects, I would say, really depends on are you doing it properly or not? So if you start taking ten times. The dosage, the side effects gonna be.

Peggy Van de Plassche
You're gonna be high if you are. Pregnant, if you are breastfeeding, not a good idea, obviously, to take that. If you have very big mental health. Issue like schizophrenia, not a good idea to do that. So that's pretty much it.

There is not recorded side effects. You cannot get addicted, you cannot overdose. You know, I was in Oakland last. Week, and it's like zombie apocalypse between. Fentanyl and, you know, oxycotine and all that crap.

Peggy Van de Plassche
And this is absolutely not the same. Type of medicine in the sense, but you will never get into that type of state. And can you help us understand why that is scientifically? Well, because there is not that addictive component that you find in other drugs. I mean, why was OxyContin or even fetanyl?

That's why you find fetanyl nine in cocaine. Because the whole point is for you to be addicted. Mushrooms is a natural component. It is something that is, obviously, I don't forage in the forest, but it. Is a natural ingredient.

It has not been tampered with in order to make it addictive. So it's the other way around. It's the chemical products that have been put in these overproducts to make them addictive, not the overall one. What's different from magic mushrooms and normal mushrooms? Isn't there a chemical on it?

No, just this psilocybin, which is a specific component that's going to make it magic. So it's just a different breeds of mushrooms? Some of it, some don't. I have a friend who's actually a doctor, and she was growing them in her bathroom over the pandemic, and she was explaining to me the process. It sounded not that difficult, but I wasn't sure what the magic part was.

It's just the type of mushroom. So instead of growing a chantrelle or morel, she's growing magic mushroom. You know, the thing is that there's. Nothing easier than growing mushroom. You just need some level of humidity.

I mean, mushrooms, you find that everywhere. As long as you have the right. Spot, it's not very complicated. That's why you see many people who. Actually grow their own supply at home.

So they have quality and access constant. And that's one thing we should mention. Is that for people who are listening. Who are interested in microdosing, I would recommend two things. One, make sure that you have access to quality product.

Peggy Van de Plassche
And second is really follow a regimen. Again, you cannot be addicted, you cannot overdose, but follow regimen. So you get the most of it, do it intelligently. And I assume that just in the last five years, ten years, there's been a ton more research science behind the health benefits here. What's the most compelling that you've seen?

In 2018, the FDA tagged psilocybin as breakthrough therapy for depression. You see a lot of studies that have been happening with the Department of Veterans in the US for PTSD and addictions. You see it a lot for mental health. All the research you see is mainly for mental health, because it's in the context of a medicine. So it's not so much research for.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Performance, it is really research for the mental health. Some people are looking into it for inflammation, so arteries and things like that. So there are plenty of applications, actually, that are being researched right now. I would say mental health is number one. And why do you think more recently, too, it's become more resonant within the.

Business and tech communities? I've seen it just anecdotally. I think it's the mental health of people first has gone down dramatically. But it's also the fact that we're. Seeing the limits of antidepressants, anti anxiety and therapy.

So it's not as if people would. Have had tremendous results with what we've had today in terms of tools. So they did exactly like me. They looked at what are the tools that exist today? Some might abuse them, some might not.

And wow, doesn't work great. What else can I do? And that's simply a need that created that innovation, as always with innovation. And do you think that within the tech communities, there's more experimentation with the limits of what this and MDMA can do for mental health? No, I think you see that in every group.

You see that in finance a lot. You see that in media, entertainment. Yes. Technology may be slightly more in the sense that there is more this idea of innovation, bio hacking that culture, that. Is maybe a slightly more pioneering.

But you see that simply because people suffer in all the different industries. I mean, in finance, it's pretty bad. The level of addiction, alcoholism, people want. To deal with their stress, their anxiety. Their depression, the constant pressure to perform at work.

Peggy Van de Plassche
And now they're like, well, if I. Can do it in a way that. Is safer for me and more accessible. I hope people are going to transition more and more from what they're doing now to that. Actually, it's way safer for everyone else.

Nicole Lapin
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And now for some more money rehab. And if somebody doesn't know what biohacking is, can you define that? And would you consider microdosing part of biohacking? Oh, it's absolutely part of biohacking. Whether it's what you've seen with fasting, intermittent fasting, whether the supplements, whether everything that is supposed to improve your own physical and mental performance fall into that bio hacking bucket.

So microdosing is absolutely one element that. You would have in biohacking. I mean, my theory is that it's become more prevalent in the tech and business communities because so many of the leaders in those spaces have spent their health in their younger years getting wealth. And now that they got wealthy, they would do anything to get back their health. Yeah, I don't know, because you see all age groups microdosing.

I have a lady, she's in her. Eighties, and you have, obviously, people, you. Know, like Gen Z who are microdosing. So it's the entire spectrum, obviously, because. Gen X and the people I'm working with are of the same age group and the same type of position.

That's what I see, people between 35 and 55. But you see it above and below. You know, because people are desperate. Trust me. They don't get up one morning thinking.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Great, I'm going to take magic mushrooms, you know, because we're all still very. Afraid, as I said, with the stigma, you're doing bad because you want it. Because you need it. It's not just experimenting, you know, on a Saturday night with your friends in the basement. It's healing.

It's really for healing. And we can't ignore that stigma. I mean, I have to say, if one of my employees made a mistake at work, it would kind of hit different. Peggy, if I knew that they were making that mistake after taking any drugs, even microdosing, I would say, what would you say to someone who has this bias against microdosing? A bias is like any bias looking for why, the why.

And what's very interesting for me is that the bias we don't have towards alcohol, the bias we don't have towards prescribed drugs, the bias we don't have so much against tobacco, because these are legal. And I think, for me, it's just funny. So tomorrow it's legal. So, okay, so that's fine then. And tomorrow, alcohol is not legal.

Okay, so now it's bad. It's just a frame of mind. And I think that's really the way to look at it, which is okay. So, basically, I'm not making my own. Decisions is people who write the laws.

Who decided what is legal, what is not legal in the healthcare industry, as you understand, there is a lot of lobbying. So there is not a lot of interest in having solutions like that that. Are natural and cheap. You cannot patent a mushroom. So thats a lot of money that.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Could be lost by the healthcare industry. If now youre not taking Prozac or. Xanax and youre micro dosing psilocybin, we. Are saved, I would say, because veterans and first responders are suffering so much, politicians have no choice than to step in. And that's why you've seen so much.

Progress in the research and in the. Change of legal framework. If it wasn't for that, you would. Not, because the health care industry is. Pouring so much money in lobbying.

But you would never have seen that if the situation was not that bad. Where do you see the legality going in the next five years? Ten years? Unfortunately, I think it's going to be very piecemeal. For example, in the US, where you have, some places in the US is totally criminal to have even 100 milligrams and some places where you can buy.

Peggy Van de Plassche
5 grams and work with it. So it is the challenge of not having a federal framework, like the same frame you have with cannabis, where some places it's okay. So Canada is a bit different because, for example, cannabis, it's federally regulated and it's legal. Hopefully, it's going to happen with mushroom. Very soon, but it is going to.

Depend on the country and the geography. But thank God, because of mental health benefits, I think legislators will have no choice than to look at what is best for their citizens, starting with their. Veterans and their first responders, because really. It'S for people with mental health issues that are existing, treatment resistant. Well, yeah, you can say resistance in the sense that it doesn't work yet.

And where would you put this? Because, you know, I have a group of friends who are really, really into biohacking, and they're microdosing psilocybin. They're doing therapeutic MDMA. They're trying ketamine infusions and ayahuasca. And then there's a whole ayahuasca retreat that I was invited to in Costa Rica called rhythmia that was started by a CEO who made hundreds of millions of dollars but was unhappy.

So where would you put this in the group of those types of alternative medicines? It's one piece. So I've done journeys myself, and it. Does nothing to do with that. Yeah, you're using the same product, but it's very different.

It's the same that doing a wine testing with your friend and then going Florida, Mexico for spring break and doing, like, in your mouth. That's the simple. Obviously, the results are very different, but. You cannot compare the process of the results. And I think journeys are great, but journeys needs to be with professionals.

You know, you need to be guided with people who know what they're doing in very, very secure context. Here it's a do it yourself at home. So the power is to you, you know, and it's way cheaper as well. I mean, that's not everyone can afford that. And that's part of why I wanted to write more of the books, because all this stuff is really, really expensive.

And so I wanted to be the guinea pig to test it out and sort of give the cheat code around it. But when you say journey, you mean an ayahuasca journey or like a ketamine infusion journey. Exactly. So large dose. So, for example, I went to the.

Peggy Van de Plassche
West coast and for five days I. Was with shaman and I did a couple of journey, which means, you know, you take a large dose and for. Like 6810 hours, you're kind of journeying. And coming on the other side, you know, so very, very different experiences. And while there's a lot of work that's being done around PTSD and veterans and first responders, as you mentioned, it's still really expensive, which is another reason that probably the CEO founder type community is gravitating toward it.

Where do you think the linkages between money and these new practices that are popping up? Is it perhaps that money will not buy happiness? And so they're dealing with this even after a tremendous amount of success? Well, I think tremendous amount of linkage with psychedelic and money. But if we look just at this idea of people who are wealthy and trying to discover themselves are starting this.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Type of retreat, I think that's okay. You check the box of I'm supposed. To make a lot of money because I'm in the western society and that's what I was told was happiness and success. And when you get there, you realize. That, well, maybe that was not just.

That and you want to find more happiness, more fulfillment really in your life and hopefully leave the world a better place. There's a lot of the people you're. Mentioning, they build companies, not always companies that bring value to the world, let's be honest. And not always by playing nice either. So if you really look, they might.

Have made a lot of money, but their impact on the world is pretty negative. So now they're like, okay, well, maybe I can rebalance the spreadsheets by making. Myself a better person and helping others. Being a better person. I would think so.

I'm not in that position. But yeah, I mean, I've long said that money without meaning is just paper. And I think what I've seen anecdotally is just people getting to a point of having tons of money but lacking some of them meaning behind it. Well, and you know, we're going back a bit to the beginning of a conversation. And it's really about this belief, this wants related about money.

Why did you want that money? Is it because you felt you were less than? Is it because you wanted the security? Is it because you couldn't do the. School trip because your parents would not afford?

And all these reasons, they're working in back of your mind and maybe they. Give you drive to be successful but not necessarily fulfilled. And that's the thing that I believe is so important, is that I love money. Don't get me wrong, I want more of it. I'm absolutely not saying that money is banned.

Peggy Van de Plassche
That's not my point. I'm just saying that you want to understand why you want it and you want to get it and have it and manage it in a fulfilling and expensive way instead of coming from scarcity, grit, competition, you know, like that very patriarchal model. That's the way I look at it, yes. And you said expansive. Not expensive, expansive.

And going back to the beginning as well, you talk about this being part of many things that you should do to improve and sustain good mental health practices. You mentioned tapping as one of them. What is that? Oh, tapping. So it's about using the meridians on your body.

So the meridians is really linked with chinese medicine. When you tap, you tap on certain points and you connect, for example, to. An event that has been happening, I. Don'T know, this morning or ten years. Ago or whatever, that created negative emotion.

Anxiety or anger or, you know, again, you couldn't make the school trip and you still feel bad about it. And the beauty of taping is that it's gonna break the connection between your. Mind and body, between that emotion that. Is stuck probably in your body and. In your mind and the memory.

So basically, you're going to be able after to go through life without constantly having that weight of that problem that you might have. For some things that are extremely complicated, you're going to have to tap more than once and probably take it from many different angles. But the goal is really to remove. This emotional challenge related to some past events. That crop is always still there, even from the school trip.

I'm sure, you know, the body keeps score. It always comes back if you don't deal with it. But I assume that that's part of a technique to retrain neural pathways. I've done a bunch of EMDR that I've talked about on the show. Similar philosophy, I guess.

Exactly. It's all about rewiring your brain, but also calming your body. Because the challenge is that, of course. We know about the mind body connection. If you just work on the mind.

Peggy Van de Plassche
You know, the body keeps the score. But if you just work on your body, well, your mind keep the score as well. So you need to walk both concurrently. And you also need to understand that. One 8th of the mind is conscious, the rest is unconscious.

So I love all the mindset work. That's great. But it's basically working on 5% of. The entire problem, because your conscious mind and then your body and then your. Emotion override your conscious mind every time.

So I love writing positive affirmation and doing vision boards, but it's not going to bring you very far if you're. Not cleaning the crap first. I feel like this idea of microdosing or using other forms of alternative medicine, and I'm referring to ketamine or MDMA as therapeutic, in a therapeutic way, comes after you've done a lot of that cleaning of your side of the street type thing with talk therapy and these other modalities of journaling and tapping and other things that you've already started this process before skipping to using either psilocybin or something else. I think it's really a combination. If you're doing talk therapy, for example, or if you're doing journaling or tapping, as I mentioned, concurrently, microdosing is going to help you go deeper and faster.

So I really like the combination of both after, to your point, for someone who's looking into journey, so, you know, like maybe with ketamine clinic, big injection or ayurvedical retreat or all these things, then I agree with you. It's better if you've done already some work. Otherwise you're going there blind and you have no idea why are you even going there. You know, microdosing is very different. It's a day to day.

Peggy Van de Plassche
I won't say lifestyle, but it's people. Who are constantly working on themselves. And, I mean, if you're doing coaching, if you're doing therapy, anything you're doing to not just better yourself, but heal. Yourself, microzine is going to amplify that. Oh, sister.

It is a lifelong journey, but it's important, as you say, to find guides. It sounds like maybe microdosing is more diy, but I had a terrible experience where I did, like, a ketamine therapy without a guide, and it made things even worse. And so you gotta be really, really careful with this type of stuff and be really, really careful of where you go. I'm stating the obvious, of course. Well, and, you know, that's the challenge.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Of these big dose, you know, and. I have people telling me, oh, I'm. Doing like, a psilocybin trip in my. Basement, and my wife is going to watch over me, and I'm like, I don't know, it doesn't seem like a great idea to me, you know? But say, yeah, your wife's going to watch to make sure you're not wandering the street or whatever, but what's happening inside, no one is really here to help you, which is what happened to you with that ketamine journey.

Yeah, to process it. And if you want the therapeutic benefits. You need to focus on that. It's a totally different story than just. Having a good time, preparation and integration, and people just keep to the experience, and that's actually not the right approach.

Peggy Van de Plassche
Again, microdosing, very different animal, same substance. That's why people sometimes make the parallel, but nothing to do in terms of experience, in terms of danger as well. Let's be honest, that's not something you will see with my photos. Yeah. And I also like, you know, because I'm still a numbers person as much as I do play in a woo woo world, it's dosed.

You're not just taking a random amount that you don't know how much you're taking. Exactly. So the product I developed with that clinic in Vancouver. So you have 100 milligrams of psilocybin, but, you know, you have some lion's. Mane to help you with cognitive abilities.

You have some green tea extract to help you with your energy. So. And everything is packaged in the little cap, so you don't have to start thinking about it. So it's very handy versus growing it. In your bathroom and now.

Okay, you have to grow it, you have to take it, you have to dry it, you have to cut it, you have to wait and then gets. A bit more complicated to do it properly. Yeah, totally. I once had a friend who walked around with like, a whole basket of psilocybin, actual mushrooms, caps and stems and stuff, and she's just like, take. What is this?

You can't just randomly take it. Anyway, that's why I appreciate the microdosing and all of the science behind it. Peggy, you are a wealth of information around this. Thank you so much. We end our episodes by asking all of our guests for a tip that listeners can dig straight to the bank.

It can be anything. I know your background is in banking and the vc world. I'd love to hear one tip that listeners can use. Money tip in investing, saving, budgeting, anything slow and steady. Win the race.

So don't go for the silver bullet. Don't go for the exciting stuff, the meme stock, the bitcoin, whatever. Not a good idea. So maybe your neighbor is going to be happy and he's going to be lucky with his timing. But this is not repeatable and this is not scalable.

So keep with the trusted strategies if you want to have a good rate of return. Yeah, we like it boring. They like boring. You want a sexy, fun time? Go have a journey.

If you want a lot of money, keep it in index funds and chill. Exactly. Money rehab is a production of Money news Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lapin. Money rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie.

Nicole Lapin
Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions. Moneyrehaboneyoneyoneynewsnetwork.com.

To potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one on one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram on TikTokoneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.

Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.

Nicole Lapin
Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.