aaron rodgers psychedelics

NFL Star Aaron Rodgers Used Ayahuasca Before Dual MVP Seasons

Sports stars are our icons, heroes, and role models. We look to them because we feel they can do the impossible. So, when the star quarterback of Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers credits ayahuasca for winning back-to-back MVP awards, you can be sure we listened. You may be wondering how true this is or if this is just clickbait, not to worry a full scope will convince you.

Aaron Rodgers and his Ayahuasca experience

The month of August opened up a new chapter for the popularity of psychedelics as Rodgers made the revelation public this week. The star quarterback shared how he traveled to South America to take ayahuasca and how this related to his success as the MVP of the league for two seasons. Rodgers credits the psychedelic concoction with helping him to change his mindset as well as improving his mental health. He shared all of this during an expository interview on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast.

The successive wins as MVP gave Rodgers his third and fourth award in 2020 and 2021. In his words, Rodgers stated that the knew after the ayahuasca experience that he will not be the same again. He believes the psychedelic drug was instrumental in him finding self-love and mental wellness. He was quoted by USA Today stating that the drug gave him a deep and meaningful appreciation of life.

When asked to comment on the experience, Rodgers explained that he went into the experience with a particular intention. This was to feel what pure love feels like and that was what he gained on his first night. He expressed the feeling as a magical sensation backed with a special unique sensation. He likened this sensation to having over a hundred different hands on his body imparting essence into it. He further explained that this essence felt like an impartation of a blessing of love, forgiveness, and gratitude for him.

What is Ayahuasca?

For those that do not know, we will give a brief overview of what this psychedelic brew is. Ayahuasca is a special psychedelic brew native to the South American Amazon basin. The brew consists of different leaves and vines and is used for social and shamanic ceremonies. The potent psychedelic drug present in the brew is dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is known to have a strong effect on causing vivid hallucinations and intense sensations. The popularity of ayahuasca is just gaining traction as a psychedelic brew compared to popular psychedelics like psilocybin also known as magic mushrooms.

A recent study was carried out by Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris from the Centre Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. The study published in 2019 examined the psychedelic effect of the brew. The result of the study showed an effect on the brainwaves caused by the brew. Researchers believed that the brew stimulated the brainwaves to give a sense of dreaming while awake. Much of this effect is tagged to the effect of DMT which remains a very intriguing psychedelic. Carhart-Harris described the experience of DMT as a near-death experience or dreaming while awake. A high dose of DMT is also known to produce intense visual vividness and depth of immersion. Reports also have these effects to be higher than those recorded with psilocybin which is a more popular psychedelic.

How did Ayahuasca give Rodgers his best season?

Rodgers shared all as he explained deeply the effect the experience with ayahuasca had on him and his career. In his own words, the experience set him back on course and allowed him to focus on his job and gain perspective. This ultimately translated into how he approached things before him. He became freer to be the best he can be at work, at home, as a lover, as a friend, and as a teammate. This is why he attributes much of his success in 2020 to the effect of the encounter he had with ayahuasca.

When asked if the perceived relationship might be a result of a coincidence, Rodgers stated that he doesn’t believe that it is. He stated that he chooses not to ascribe things to coincidences. Instead, he chose to describe the feeling as the universe’s way of bringing things to happen as they are supposed to happen. Rodgers explains that the signs are always there around us waiting to see if we are conscious enough to notice them and listen to them. He explained that it is more like the intuition is peaking to use and hammering it that this is what you are meant to be doing.

Rodgers explained that he was comfortable going to experience ayahuasca thanks to his previous experience with psychedelic drugs. He had also stated personally to the interviewer that one of the best days of his life came after an experience with psychedelic mushrooms. He stated that the experience occurred while on a beach and he felt himself merge with the ocean that day.

Rodgers believes that too much emphasis is being placed on some of the possible side effects of ayahuasca. Examples of some of these common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and hallucinations. Instead, he believes attention should also be placed on the deep effects of promoting self-love and healing. Rodgers explains that this self-love prompted by ayahuasca was key to his mental health journey. He explains that ayahuasca helped him see how to love himself unconditionally and this is the first step to helping him love others around him unconditionally as well.

Bottom line

From the testimony of NFL star Aaron Rodgers, we can tell that there is something special in ayahuasca that needs attention. There is limited scientific knowledge about the psychedelic brew presently but all that is bound to change with such testimonies. Till then we can only remain happy for Aaron Rodgers and be grateful that he had the experience he had with ayahuasca. Hopefully, this same effect will be translated to some other sports stars as they aim for greatness.