Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It's been coming home to understanding that this vessel that I'm in, that this energy that I am gifted with, this feminine energy, has really become my superpower.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Welcome to supernormalize, the podcast, where we challenge the conventional break boundaries and normalize the seemingly supernatural. Join me, CJ, as we explore less uncharted realms of existence and unravel the mysteries of life. Experience. My treasured listeners, if you have a life story or healing modality or unique knowledge that you'd love to share, reach out to me at supernormalized that supernormalized with a z at Proton me. Let's together embrace acceptance of the supernatural and unusual as what it really is. Completely normal. On this episode of Supernormalized, I'm excited to welcome Leslie Dreffen, a certified psychedelic guide and women's somatic coach.
And she actually dives into the fascinating world of microdosing psilocybin and does so with a view on menstrual health, which actually helped to heal her. And she does work work with others now to help heal them. So today we'll discuss that and her understanding of psychedelics and what that means to her and the world. So enjoy the show.
Welcome to super normalize Leslie Draffin. Leslie, we connected over an app that actually helps us to find people for podcasts. And on there you actually mentioned that you're a womb witch, which already got my attention. And also that you help people, menstruating women to reconnect with their wombs and to heal. And then that way they can get past all of their problems to do around that. And you do that with microdosing, which is quite odd and interesting at the same time.
So welcome to the show, Leslie. Can you tell us all about this? Can you tell us all about it?
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Sure.
So, like you said, my name is Leslie. I am a womb witch. I'm a somatic psychedelic guide, and in a former life, I was a tv news anchor. So I've had a very interesting life so far. Also the daughter of a preacher. And my healing really started and was born from this need to heal. Deep sexual shame that happened for me after I was diagnosed with herpes at age 18, just after losing my virginity. So my twenties were deeply me and an eating disorder, abusing alcohol and getting very addicted to hustling and achieving and proving how worthy I was of love based on this outward success. So I spent a good 15 years doing everything I possibly could to earn love. And what that left me with was a very outwardly successful looking life. But feeling deeply stuck, deeply ashamed, and using all of western medicine's tools to try to feel better. Therapy and a psychiatrist and medications at certain points, but still feeling like nothing was clicking until I started to reconnect with my cycle in 2020. And then eventually psychedelic mushrooms a couple of years later. And so that's sort of where I guess we could start. Is that. Yeah, I really found this healing through a lot of trial and error. And it wasn't until I really started to deprogram and deconstruct my deeply religious background that I figured out that I am a witch, that I really thrive by living in tune with my cycle and the moon. And that's really how I've been able to help a lot of women and men do the same thing.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Excellent. Excellent. I can relate to that story about the extreme shame around herpes and everything.
When I was in high school, we actually had sex education, which was traumatic, to put it plainly. So in our high school, they showed videos of all sorts of horrors and everything. And, like, we were still, like, really young, and so we come out of that just totally shocked. And for years, I was absolutely paranoid about everything to do with that. And so anything like, I discovered later on that even the fear of it can actually cause symptoms of it to arise.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Really? That's stress.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that's stress. That's stress. And turns out that that can turn into a psoriasis that looks like it, and it's like, what the hell? I didn't know that. For years. I thought I had herpes myself, but I didn't.
It was just the trauma of what I had been through in high school. So I understand that shame. I did a lot of research into it myself, and that actually helped me to really understand that most of it was a skin condition which was marketed by the pharmaceutical companies to make a lot of money.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, when I did a bunch of the research, too, because I was. I mean, we had sex ed, but it wasn't very in depth at all. It was basically just, don't have sex until you're married, because if you do, something bad will happen. So when something bad did happen to me, it was just a confirmation of, like, all of that guilt and that shame, that purity culture. But I actually got it from oral sex. Didn't even know that was a thing that could happen, you know? But this was 2005. The education was pretty shit. And now I do everything that I can to help people understand that. First of all, it's pretty normal. Like, talk about super normalized. Herpes. Very normal. The more we talk about it, the less taboo it is.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
So you're going through life you've gone through and worked through your trauma and everything, and then you discovered microdosing. Did that actually happen as a part of meeting somebody or anything like that? Or did you have a mushroom experience in a place that made you go, oh, wow, there's more to my life than I thought?
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Well, I didn't try any psychedelics until my thirties because I was so scared. I was such, like the dare just say no to drugs. Good girl. That I did not try anything, really until I was about 30 to 33. And so I had a couple of experiences with recreational mushrooms and MDMA. And then I heard on a podcast, a woman named Biju Finney, talk about how microdosing was really helping people with sex, with pleasure, and with shame. And so I immediately got her on my show and then hired her. The second that we hung up the call, I was like, okay. She just spoke straight to me. And so I really started microdosing with a guide to start, which I really credit with, one, my healing, and two, putting me on this path, because I think that if I had been trying to figure it out on my own, it probably would have taken a lot longer. But I sat with her and we worked together for about three or four months, first getting education around the mushrooms and then really going deeply in via visual meditations and sort of like talk therapy, where we would discuss things. But I would take a microdose beforehand, and it would really open up my consciousness a bit more so that the things coming forward that were stuck in my subconscious could be healed, really.
And since then, I've done several other trips with mushrooms and had incredibly healing experiences. But, yeah, I did try it a couple of times recreationally beforehand. And then as soon as I heard about it on a podcast, I went straight to the coaching realm because I'd already spent so much time and money trying to heal myself holistically. I just was sick of, like, waiting around at that point and wanted to dive right in.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: Do you think that, you know, throwing all that money at healing and holistic sort of healing and it didn't actually work for you, was because the trauma actually needed to be released in other ways?
[00:09:09] Speaker A: Yes, I think so. So when I started to work with my cycle, so my spiritual awakening happened in 2019, and that whole year, I really started to hear my intuition for the very first time.
And what it was telling me over and over and again was, you have to get off of birth control. You've got to get off of hormonal birth control. You're stifling your feminine energy. Like, you got to get off of this. When I did finally quit the pill in 2020, a lot of things started coming out that I had suppressed, things about feeling ashamed of being a woman, things around, like religious shame and religious trauma. And so for a couple of years, I had been working with a therapist and then with other types of coaches to pull out that trauma, but we were doing it more on, like, a cognitive talk therapy basis, not something that was really getting into the subconscious and also not really anything that was working with the soma, the body. So when I did start working with psilocybin in early 2022, I think pairing that with a lot of the practices I was learning on my own, as far as embodiment, as far as somatic resources and nervous system regulation, that I think really helped to finally break through some of the layers and open that door to my subconscious so that I could begin to really look at where the roots were of those deep feelings of shame, because I could very easily, in therapy, talk about my trauma and talk about my stories, and then I would be so confused about why I still felt so crappy after I left. And psilocybin really helped me to finally work it through my body so that it could finally be fully released.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Brilliant. Brilliant. So, your integrative, somatic coach focused on helping women come back home to their bodies through pleasure. Can you explain something around that?
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I really feel like pleasure, in this sense is sensuality. And I like to say pleasure because I think it's still, in a lot of ways, especially in certain parts of the states, a taboo word. People think pleasure is sinful, pleasure is bad. And so I I really say that when we look at pleasure as sensuality versus sexuality, it really can help us to tap into ourselves through the five senses. So looking at ways that you can bring more pleasure into your everyday life, that was the first thing I started to do after I quit the pill and lost my libido completely was to really just start to see how can I just, like, feel good in these little new ways. It really didn't have that much to do with sex at that point. It was okay sitting in the sun, sitting under the moon, really starting to enjoy foods, right? Like, I'd been suffering from eating disorders since the age of 15, so food was really a big trigger for me.
And what I work with when it comes to women is, again, helping them slow down enough because I work with a lot of high achieving, perfectionist type women who really are great at what they do and have a hard time getting out of their head. So I help them slow down to really understand how to connect to sensuality. And it's so simple for, it's simple to explain, but also kind of hard to sink into the body at times, right? So the slowness of breath, even something as simple as taking a bath versus a shower. And so what I found is, over time, when we do connect more with sensuality, we often can create more safety in our bodies.
And by creating that safety in ourselves, we can regulate our nervous systems, and in turn, that can help us to further heal trauma, especially the trauma that's locked in our bodies that's coming up and producing symptoms that might not seem like they make a lot of sense, but again, is really stuck within our tissue.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: It sounds like a mindfulness practice where you actually pretty much focus on how life is for you. Really?
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Yeah. It's very much a mindfulness practice that is based in sensation. And very early when I started this journey, I got certified as a mindfulness and meditation teacher.
And again, like I kind of said, I was very much in my head. And so guided meditation were really what I was guiding people through as I have shifted into this somatic based psychedelic coaching, helping people notice first in the body what's coming up for them before they start making a story out of it or start putting words to what those sensations are. And I think that's what psychedelics do so well, is to really help open us to the idea of these very minute, very subtle sensations that can really be a telltale sign of trauma. And yet we have no clue consciously.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: So these are all steps towards womb healing for women. And are there other techniques that you use besides microdosing and mindfulness?
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Sure. So one of the things that I have found to be incredibly helpful is going in and doing guided imagery journeys into the womb and also massage. So I'm not someone who is a hands on practitioner, meaning that I'm not going to put my hands on a client. I also usually work via Zoom virtually, but I teach people how to give themselves massages, just, you know, and it's just kind of like a loving touch. It's nothing like super extreme, but helping them get over the hump of touching their belly is often, like one of the first things we have to do, because women have a lot of trigger around what they look like, how that feels. But what's interesting is when we can really start to allow loving touch to come into play in that area of the body.
I think, one, it really helps to, again, foster that safety, helps to regulate the nervous system. And then when we pair that loving touch with a visualization where I like to guide people into the womb, usually it's through, like, a cave metaphor. We'll go there, and they, especially if they're microdosing, may see or hear something that can really start to pull out embedded trauma. Because the thing about the womb is, it is like our energetic junk drawer. It is a place within the body that is often empty. Right. Unless we are pregnant or unless we're right about to bleed and it's about to lose its menstrual blood. But it's kind of like this little empty space, so to speak. And we subconsciously love to stuff all the things we don't want to look at into that area. We also know that trauma is held in the hips and the pelvis itself. Of course, the womb is related to that.
In addition to this trauma that can sometimes be held there. Looks like sa, right? Like sexual trauma, obviously, but even just little tiny things like saying yes to sex when your body is not quite ready. I mean, I certainly have had that happen in my marriage. Like, I'm not really quite ready, but let's just go ahead and do it. Those little self betrayals. Also things like bullying, things like, uh, low self confidence, low body image. And what I found to be really fascinating was how the energy of past lovers can be stuck in the vaginal canal and in the womb.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Yeah, well, there is. There is a lot of importance to, um, you know, uh, cutting the ties. A lot of people don't know anything about those sort of, um, basic witchy techniques.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Right. And I, you know, I. If you're open, but I'll tell the story. Um, when I started to work again with massage, um, one of the things that I did right after coming off the pill was I started to do vulva massage and vaginal massage internally on myself. And I would use, um, there's actually a wonderful australian company called Yoni pleasure Palace. And they have, like, crystal dildos, basically. Um, and so I would use them to basically live myself. A pressure point massage in the vaginal canal while breathing, while, you know, meditating, maybe using a bit of sound as I exhaled to really get into the body.
And one of the first things that happened is I was massaging the upper right quadrant of my vaginal canal just a little bit inside. And I felt this pinch. It felt like pins and needles. And then all of a sudden I heard this guy's voice I had dated about six years earlier, who was a total narcissist. Say, you fat bitch, in my head, like, whoa, I have not thought of it without this guy for like half a decade. But that was there and it was like, wow, this is still contributing to the fact that I have this body image issue because he used to say these things to me and it was stuck inside. And so I continued to massage, of course, this point, I'm crying, breathing, and I really felt that release. Now, I did go ahead and do a cord cutting on him as well afterwards, but it was like this internal, like, fascia release that had like a voice that came through and that was, for me, just clarification and really confirmation that, one, this definitely is a thing. Like, it's not woo. It's really so deeply interconnected, the energy and the womb. And two, it was just a wonderful, like, aha. Moment for me to think, wow, like, no wonder you have all of these things going on. There's stuff stuck there and more work needs to be done.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Well, you can imagine the body's like a place for storing energy signatures. And by what you were doing, you were releasing those energy signatures that no longer served you.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So you help women reconnect with their womb and heal their aberrant cycles by doing this work. Do you have any other stories around that where you've had great success with women without actually identifying them?
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. So the very first client that I ever had when I was just a cyclical coach, so I started my career as an entrepreneur, as a menstrual cycle coach, specifically, this was before working with psychedelics. I worked with a woman who actually lived locally to where I live now in the States. And she had not had a bleed for over a year. And so the first couple of times we met, we really were focusing on, you know, the holistic foods based approach. She was an ultra marathoner, so there was no way I was going to get her to, like, lay off on certain exercises, but really starting to help her understand her cycle and honor the phases that she was in as much as she possibly could. She had a high stress job, and again, she was this athlete. She got her bleed back in like two months, which I was pretty shocked about, and it was pretty regular afterwards. But what also came forward for her, again, when we would do these meditations were some stories of essay, and she really started to know and notice how those were blocking not only the feminine energy flowing through her and her ability to access her feminine because she was a very woman, very much in her masculine.
But I was able to watch through what I was just kind of telling you about, like, visualization and breath and us talking about what was happening. Her really start to move through and heal from the things that she had experienced. The violence that had been done on her body. And her period came back and was pretty unproblematic almost immediately afterwards. And I thought that that was really interesting because that was the first time I really saw in someone other than myself how much trauma can block the cycle, right? How much something like even shame, even just feeling religious trauma, she also had some of that can really hurt and stifle the menstrual cycle. And so what I found afterwards in several other clients was the second that we started to place attention and intention into living in sync with the cycle. The cycle would, like, clean itself up. Problems would be less, pain would go down significantly.
And it was like all the cycle wanted us to do is say, we honor you and we see you, and you're not disgusting, and we want to live in tune with you. And it would be like, okay, like, all right, let's not give you so many problems. I saw that in children. So I worked with some teenage girls, same thing. We're not even working on anything related to sex or pleasure. But I had a ten year old I was working with who would have to stay home from school sometimes because her cramps were so bad. And again, with this attentive intention toward living in tune with the cycle, cramps were pretty much down from, like an eight or a nine to a three or a four in a couple of months.
So it's, for me, something that I feel, yes. When you start paying attention to what you're eating and the way that you're treating your body, um, that does a lot of work. But I really find that when you start to look at the taboo that you're placing on your cycle, either because of what you've been taught as a kid, what society has told you, or your own internalized, you know, misogyny around the cycle, when you really start to look at that and clean that up time and time again, I'm seeing period problems go away.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: Sounds like you're releasing ineffective contracts that don't actually service.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, and it's. And people don't even. And some of the young clients that I've worked with, like, they're not super spiritual. They. I don't come to them having these types of conversations, but just helping them remember that, like, when you can understand your cycle. It can become a superpower, and they feel empowered and they feel excited, and they don't, you know, dread it so much. I think that that really was a major reason why they started having fewer problems on, like, a truly physical level, like pain specifically.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Have you seen any other benefits of the microdosing for the women that you've worked with?
[00:24:02] Speaker A: Oh, of course. Yeah. I think. I think the biggest thing that I've seen microdosing do for the clients I've worked with is really help them feel more at home with themselves.
They. A lot of people will come to me, and they'll be very good at, like I said, doing the work. Maybe they've been doing the inner work for a while. I've been in therapy for a while, and oftentimes it's a woman who look outside of themselves for their answers.
And what I find that I am here to do is help them remember that the answers are within them. And psychedelics seem to really help aid in that remembrance. And so one of the folks I worked with last year came to me after leaving corporate world. She was starting her own business, and she was having meetings with all of these coaches and these other spiritual mentors and all of these spiritual modalities she was trying to use to get answers. And when we were done, she was like, what's so fascinating is now I know that I always had the answers within me, and I know now how to listen and understand what those words and that language is. The other things that I have found that have really been helpful is just help with mood. Right? Like help with mood and mood swings.
You know, life is stressful. We all know that.
And as women, especially those with menstrual cycles, there are certain times in the cycle where, you know, the bitchiness can come out. And what I've found with microdosing psilocybin in tune with your cycle is that it helps to give us more presence to really respond versus react in those little moments that beforehand we'd be snapping at our loved ones, yelling at our kids. And I think for most of the women I've worked with, that's probably the most long lasting thing that really feels like a big benefit, because it's just making life more peaceful.
[00:26:05] Speaker B: Being more conscious of where you are, where you're at, what's happening. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why do intentions matter when you are starting a microdosing practice?
[00:26:18] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, when we come to work with psychedelic medicine, certainly there are folks out there. And as it gets more popular, you'll see, like, the folks who want to use it for biohacking and. And all of these, like, body based things. And I'm happy that that's something that people are doing for me. I find that when we really want to work with psychedelics for deep inner healing, intentions are a way that one shows reverence and respect to the medicine. Because I see this really as, like a sentient teacher. The mushroom itself is like, it has its our best interest at heart. So when we come to that teacher with this energy of respect and sort of have a plan of what we hope to receive while also surrendering all preconceived notions, it really can help us to find the peace within ourselves and the presence within ourselves, to look deeply at the shit that it's going to bring up, because psychedelics will bring up your shit and also make actionable changes so that you do have long lasting positive effects in your life.
When we start microdosing and we start working with psilocybin on really any dose, right. Small, medium, or high dose journeys, problems can come up when we don't have a plan. And so an intention is really at the basis, a plan.
It's a goal.
And also I like to look at as a prayer and a mantra, especially with full dose journeys.
You know, challenges arise when you go into it without proper planning. And while microdosing is a lot less challenging for many people, although there can be challenges, again, I still really feel that it's important that we set aside some time to look at what it is that we're trying to accomplish, what we're inviting into our lives through setting intentions.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Right? Right. Yeah. Sometimes you can get the micro dose wrong, and it's a bit more than a microservice than you thought.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: So.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: It can become a bit of a surprise. You're walking through the shopping center, it's.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: Like, oh, okay, 100%.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: How can psychedelics ignite your sex life?
[00:28:41] Speaker A: So I think that the reason psychedelics and psilocybin specifically help with our sex life is because they help us with our own self intimacy. They allow us to know ourselves, which in turn allows us to know what we want. The other thing that I really noticed psilocybin helping with is connection to our needs, wants, and desires. And what I work with a lot of clients on is this idea of conscious communication, so that when they do understand what it is that they're desiring, they have the confidence to talk about that with a partner.
The other way that psilocybin works wonderfully to help with sex is by microdosing and then having sex or microdosing and doing a self pleasure practice. That was something that my coach gave me as homework two years ago and something that I still use to this day with myself, especially when I'm feeling a bit disconnected. And because psilocybin helps us get really present and be in the moment. For women who struggle with staying in their head, thinking about everything and nothing except, like, being in their body, psilocybin can really help to bring them back to themselves and allow them to really feel the full effects of that pleasure when that might be challenging. Right before, I used to be, that woman who thought about my to do list, what I'd watch on tv and when I was a news anchor, usually replayed the breaking news, which was generally horrible, while I was, like, also having sex. Right. Like, it was just so hard for me to be in the moment. And psilocybin, I have found, is incredibly helpful at allowing you to pause to be present. And in sexual situations, be it with someone else or just with yourself, really notice, like, the fine tuned details of, like, how good does this feel? What would feel better? Okay. I don't really like that. How can I change that? And, again, communicate that to a partner or just noticing within yourself.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Sounds like there's benefits all around there when it comes to microdosing. Definitely.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, I think there are. And. And I love to take this time, too, to also say, you know, psilocybin is incredibly safe, and it's also not something that I recommend for everybody. Um, the fact of the matter is, there are some medications that are contraindications with psilocybin. Usually those are things like lithium, tricyclics, Maois, heart medication. We know that psilocybin can slightly raise blood pressure, so you want to be aware about that. And then there are some mental challenges that are very expansive. Challenges like schizophrenia, mania, panic, and psychosis that psilocybin might make worse. Right. And so that's, I think, why it's important to, one, do your own research or talk to a guide. And then the last thing I want folks to know as well is because these are nonspecific expanders and amplifiers. If you're going through a time in your life that's really challenging, be it incredible grief. Again, like I mentioned, panic, even anxiety and depression, which can be really benefited with psilocybin. But if it's, like, an incredibly acute case of something going on, again, it's not something I would recommend at this point in your life. I've certainly turned some people down because they were going through acute crises. Um, and. And at that point, psilocybin might make things worse. So just be aware that while it is incredibly safe, it's also something that you want to respect and do your research on.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Definitely, definitely. Set setting is everything. And then also timing, you know? So if your life is actually going through challenging moments, then you don't want to actually magnify challenging moments.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Right, right. And even on a microdose. Right. I've seen folks have some challenges. Um, and the other thing is that I see this medicine as giving you what you need, not necessarily what you want. And so, yeah, I had a client who really wanted to reconnect with their body and then had a lot of body problems come up during microdosing. Okay, so it was one of those things they did. Yes, they did. And, yeah, and then we're diagnosed with some other things later on in the year after our sessions were done. But it was almost like the body needed the permission to be looked at so that they could really start to be.
Go to the doctor. Right. Like they had been, I guess. How would I explain this? Not necessarily ignoring symptoms, but it was almost as if the medicine brought some symptoms up so that they actually took the action to get to the doctor and look at what was happening.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: Sounds like the body actually had a voice to finally talk.
[00:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a great way to say it.
[00:33:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
Okay, so why is womb reconnection essential for every woman?
[00:33:47] Speaker A: You know, I think that what's really essential about it is that the womb is the seed of our power. It is the seat of the life force.
Our blood is the literal creation blood. And when we can come back to that space and honor our womb, we really can turn on this inner light within us. Within myself and in my own life, I really noticed that when I started to connect with my womb, I was more creative. I was channeling more ideas, especially during my period.
And I was just so much more deeply connected to the essence of who I was as a person, my purpose, and my life path. And so, like I said before, because we know that the womb holds on to a lot of our shit. When we can move through those things and really create this clear vessel that really helps to allow that energy area to flow more freely. And I really find that that is the source of power for anyone with a womb. And I've also really started to believe that even those who don't have a womb can benefit from at least connecting to the energy of the great cosmic womb, because we come from a womb, right? So this energy of, like, if you're feeling stuck and maybe you feel very untethered in life. I love a meditation where we go back into the womb. I have had some absolutely transformative, psychedelic experiences where I found myself in the womb and then with the great mother, and it was just wild. But I think that it's such an anchoring place for a lot of people, even those without actual wombs, that benefits can come regardless of who you are.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: Are there any messages do you have for guys out there supporting their women going through their womb connection?
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Yes. I'm so glad you asked this. I think that the first thing is be open and curious and be compassionate. Because when a woman or a menstruator learns to live in tune with her cycle and to connect with her womb, she's getting to know herself at, like, the most intimate level. And it can be tricky, it can be difficult, and it might be a little rocky to start, but just know that in the end, when. When they have connected and when they're living in tune with this part of themselves, your life's going to be way better.
My husband understands me so much more now that he's like, okay, what cycle phase are we in? What. What foods are we cooking? Um. Do you need space? Are we having sex? Do I need to not even look at you today? Like, he understands me so much more, which has made our relationship so much stronger. And I think the other thing is, especially if she's open and she wants to talk about this, ask questions in a loving way without being, you know, blaming or, like, accusatory. Right? Like, I think the worst thing is if she has a bad day and you're like, oh, you must be pmsing. Like, no, no, no. Like, that's. That's a surefire way to bring up a mood swing, right? So curiosity and compassion and. And having this openness to learn about it with her, because, again, like I said, my husband knows more about the menstrual cycle in the womb than. Than I ever thought he would. I made a little chart for him, like, all of the things. Um, and granted, like. Like I said, I'm an overachiever. Like, I was very much, like, wanting us to know all the things when I was going through this myself, but just be there to support her and go with the flow, because, again, your life is going to be so much better on the other side of this, when you both can build a relationship with her unique cycle blueprint.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: How can people take up the mantle and start actually learning more about what you do?
[00:37:46] Speaker A: You know, I think as far as learning more about what I do, you can certainly find me on instagram esliedraffin. But I really just want to encourage you to start talking more about this, to understand that things are only taboo because society decided that they were. And if we can talk about them and take away the shame, be it herpes, be it sex, be it psychedelics, it loses its power, right?
Thing that's hidden in the corner is no longer the big scary monster. And so looking at your own internalized taboos, be it around any of these topics or around something we haven't spoken about. And I think that that's the first step, right, for those folks who are listening and you want to learn more, I created something known as the cyclical microdosing method, which is the only cycle informed protocol to microdosing out there. And I have a wonderful free five day mini course I can send you or put it in the show notes if you'd like. That really explains how to work with this and how to work with your cycle to not only help alleviate period problems, but help you connect to your feminine energy. Because I think for me, as a woman who lived very much in her masculine, again, very addicted to success, very secretly unworthy, it's been coming home to understanding that this vessel that I'm in, that this energy that I am gifted with, this feminine energy, has really become my superpower.
And I really just hope that more and more people can feel activated and awakened to that, too.
[00:39:31] Speaker B: It sounds like a big path to self acceptance.
[00:39:36] Speaker A: 100%. Yes. Like true self acceptance, microdosing will help you see yourself with brand new eyes. And when you learn to live in tune with your cycle and work with your womb, you're finally going to know yourself on the most intimate level. So if you're someone who wants to really dig in there and know who you truly are, these are such powerful allies to help you open that door. And I like to say they hold you as you do the work to walk through it.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Has this worked for mothers as well?
[00:40:12] Speaker A: Yes, I work mostly with mothers. I am not a mother, but most of the people I've worked with have been mothers. Yes. And I think that the biggest benefit that they're seeing again is more patience, especially with little, little kids.
But there's this fascinating survey my mentor, Michaela Delameco, just ran, wrapped up where they asked a bunch of women and mothers to talk about their own journeys with mushrooms. Postpartum and what we're really seeing. And I can't wait for her to publish results. I think that's going to happen in the next six to eight weeks, is that the time after having a baby is incredibly difficult. Right. Be it the first few weeks or even the first few years. And psilocybin has been very helpful for a lot of these women in helping them navigate that phase of life.
Whereas the western medical model would want to put you on medicine, right, and pharmaceutical drugs are just masking the issue. It's not getting to the root. Psilocybin gets to the root, just like the mycelium network works underneath our earth and makes our world so much more fertile. When you can get underneath your own shit to figure out what's happening down there, you're going to be more fertile, more creative, more vibrant as well. And so, yeah, moms, more presence, less worry. Right. And more able to be in the moment with our kids. Some of my favorite stories are when they'll say, yeah, you know, this morning we sat down and we played, you know, such and such a game, and I felt so there. I felt like I didn't have to worry about everything else I needed to do that day. I could just be present with my kid. And I think it's also probably helping to heal their own inner child and their own generational and. And ancestral stuff and mother wounds so that they're able to be so much better parents.
[00:42:02] Speaker B: On a sort of, like, animist level.
It seems like the spirit of psilocybin seems to have an agenda. And what do you think that agenda is?
[00:42:15] Speaker A: I love this. I'm so glad you asked this question. The agenda, I think, is so that we take better care of the planet by taking better care of ourselves. I really think that there's, like, this little, you know, the secret amongst the psilocybin is, okay, if we help them heal theirselves, then they'll heal their community and the collective. Then they'll actually take better care of the earth where we're growing, so we can grow way more. They will find more of us and eat more, and it's just like, this beautiful relationship. But, yeah, I think that that might be the, like, secret mission.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: They have a vested interest.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Uh huh. I think so. Right. Like, if we take care of their environment, then they grow better, and then they're helping us take care of our internal environment.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: Makes a lot of sense to me.
Okay. So, Leslie, thank you so much for coming onto the show. Is there anything else that I should have asked that. I didn't ask.
[00:43:15] Speaker A: You know, I think we talked about so many different things.
Yeah. And I mean, other than just, I'm so happy to have these conversations. And I think, again, like a show like yours, where we're normalizing these things is so essential and important. I'm really an open book, so if you're listening and you have questions, you can always reach out. You can book a free call. I really just. I don't want to gatekip this information. I think that, like, you just mentioned. Right. Like, I want us to heal ourselves so that we heal the collective. And if the more people who are awakening to this, to their own power, the better. And if I can just be here to help shine that light, then I feel like I will have done my soul's purpose.
[00:43:57] Speaker B: Excellent, excellent. You're also a podcast host, is that correct?
[00:44:01] Speaker A: I am, yes. I have a podcast called the Light within.
It was born in 2021, when I was still a tv news anchor, and I really just wanted to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about while I could also cuss and talk about incredibly taboo things. So it's on everything, spirituality, sexuality, wellness, mysticism, and truly, it goes through little phases. So we've talked a lot about witchcraft, we've talked a lot about psychedelics, obviously a ton about the menstrual cycle manifestation. So you can find that on all podcast platforms. The light within.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Excellent, excellent. One more question before you go. You did mention that you are a bit of a.
What other witch work do you do?
[00:44:50] Speaker A: So mostly it's around the womb.
I do a lot of blood magic.
I do candle magic and sync a lot with the moon. So that's actually a really good thing to add, too.
When I started this journey, I didn't get my period back after I came off of the pill for about nine months. And it was at that same time that I recognized the fact that I was a witch and really started working with the moon really closely. And so if you're listening and maybe your cycle has some problems or you just want to connect more deeply with the natural rhythms of life. The moon is essential because its ebb and flow so closely mirrors the hormone cycle of people with periods. So male hormones are very much like the sun, female hormones very much like the moon. And so I really started to do moon rituals and moon gazing, moon bathing. But again, a lot of what I believe as far as being a witch is that the cycle is sacred. And that's why I call myself a womb witch. If you want to talk more about the blood magic I do, we can go into that too, but that's sort of where I'm at. So blood magic is like, I mean, of course, taboo. And it looks a lot differently depending on who you ask. For me, my blood rituals really have to do with when I'm menstruating. Right, obviously. So I will collect my blood and give it to the earth. I might make skincare masks with it. I may do some painting of sigils with it or anoint a candle with it.
And that's really sort of the basis of my magical practice. I don't do a ton of spell work. I've done a bit of it, but usually it's anoint a candle, depending on the phase of the moon that I'm bleeding in, because I tend to switch. Some folks bleed pretty regularly with the new moon, some with the full. I really migrate because my cycle is a bit longer.
So depending on where I am and where the moon is, maybe we're doing a new moon ritual or a full moon ritual, but anointing the candle, maybe with my blood. And also. Yeah, like, painting the sigils in my blood. If you want to start this, um, I know it's possibly sounding, like, completely wild to people. Um, you can just start to look at your blood, because that, for me, was where it started. Looking at the color of your blood is essential to know how healthy you are. Like, so there is, like, a. Like, an actual physical reason that we need to look at it. Um, and I've just kind of taken it to a whole new level. But my plants are thriving, the garden is fabulous, and it's because she's got a lot of period blood in her. Yeah.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: Deeply connected to it, then.
[00:47:39] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. I like to say if I had a religion, it would be my menstrual cycle.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Wow. That's cool. That's cool.
Thank you so much, Leslie, for sharing everything that you've shared on today's show.
It is a revealing one in some ways, and also very different in a lot of ways, too. And I appreciate everything that you've shared. So thank you so much for coming on.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: Of course, CJ, thanks for having me.
[00:48:02] Speaker B: All right, I'll say goodbye to the listeners.
Thanks to Leslie for coming on the show. And if you've enjoyed today's show, please reach out to Lesley if you want to know more about the ways that she works. And I'll provide all that information in the show notes down below. And if you've enjoyed today's show too, please like and subscribe if you're on YouTube, and if you're not and you're on a podcast app, get on the app and give us a five star rating and write up a review as well. That'd be very appreciated. So other people get to hear these conversations. And if you know somebody that actually could benefit from this conversation or be very interested, please share this show just to one person and be happy with that. That'd be really cool. All right, so thank you so much for listening. And until next episode. Bye for now.
