🫠 Psychonaut POV

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that can’t carry a tune (sorry, text only) or hold space (your inbox is full). But at least we can lift your spirits. 🪽

Howard Lipp leaned on his book smarts for decades as a computer scientist. But when addiction led him to a plant medicine ceremony at age 40, he discovered some things are only learned through direct experience. 20 years later, he’s trained hundreds of integration coaches to guide clients toward wisdom that can’t be found in a textbook.

We asked Howard how his engineering background influences his approach to psychedelic integration, why ceremonial music is such a powerful force for healing, and what qualities all great integration coaches have in common.

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Before studying metaphysics and finding plant medicines, you were a computer scientist. Does your engineering background still influence your work today?

It sure does. I take a scientific approach to everything. I’m methodical and meticulous; it's just part of my nature. I've always had this desire to know how things worked, and when it came to the physical world, that was easy. Science has done a lot of great research in that area. But when it came to the landscape of the mind, of thinking, of human struggles, that was a completely foreign field for me.

It wasn't until plant medicine came along that I found a completely new area of discovery that was unknown and not as scientific, but a lot more exciting. I’ve always liked the scientific method because it's based on evidence. When it comes to psychedelics, though, a lot of the evidence is anecdotal. I’m okay with that because experience is so much more powerful than a textbook.

Psychedelics are the lab for psychology, without a doubt. It's like when you go to college and get an engineering degree. Then you go work for a company, and they say, "Okay kid, now it's time to find out how the stuff you learned on a chalkboard works in the real world." That's what psychedelics did for me with psychology.

What makes your approach to psychedelic integration different from other methods out there?

One thing that makes our approach different is 20 years of experience working with people before, during, and after a journey experience. But it's also based on what we've learned from the plants themselves, contextualizing it within modern psychology, and cross-referencing it against ancient and indigenous wisdom. Just because it wasn't done in a laboratory with people in white coats and clipboards doesn't mean there isn't great scientific value and wisdom in the experience.

What I think makes our work different is that we've been through this walk ourselves. There are many people talking about integration in a textbook kind of fashion. They’re not wrong, but experience is a far greater teacher than a textbook. We reference Jung because his dream interpretation theory works perfectly for psychedelic vision interpretation. We're really hacking the right brain, the nonverbal part where the subconscious lies. We also use Terence McKenna's approach to archetypes and Peter Levine's somatic experiencing work.

Practically, it comes down to this: if I'm not the voice in my head, then who am I? I'm the one that notices the voice in my head. Psychedelics quiet the default mode network so we can actually reside in the truth of our divine spark. Our approach is to learn to become very present to one’s emotional center, to one’s reactivity, because that's how one transcends the mind. It's a practice of meditation, mindfulness, and connection to bodily experience. It can be as simple as paying attention to the sound of your breath or the sensations of your feet on the floor.

You and your wife Ena create ceremonial music together. How does music fit into the integration process?

The music comes from our own ceremonial experiences, and for me, the inspiration goes all the way back to my childhood. I grew up in the synagogue singing Hebrew songs, and those melodies were woven into the fabric of my identity. The reason music is useful for integration, as Ena and I see it, is that it’s one of the most powerful tools we have for becoming present.

When we create music, we're mindful of the specific frequencies we use to create a desired effect. For example, different frequencies can reach different places in the body. We can select frequencies or pairings of frequencies to target areas that are stuck, congested, or constricted. I also trained in Acutonics, which teaches that certain frequencies correspond to various influences in our life, including the frequency of the Earth itself.

Frequencies have been used for thousands of years by indigenous peoples in places like India, China, and Tibet. I’m particularly interested in the combination of different frequencies to produce distinct qualities and effects. A common example is the harmony of a fourth or a fifth. That's why power chords in rock and roll are so powerful; they open you up. We use these techniques to help people feel the truth of who they are.

With experience in so many different wisdom traditions, how do you help people find their own authentic path rather than just adopting others' beliefs?

The key is recognizing that beliefs are still just beliefs. What matters most is experience. We help people have direct experiences, so they can find their own answers. All these wisdom traditions intersect at some pretty simple and basic things. You can study the scriptures and memorize the mythology, but when I go back to the great mystery, what I see is an abundant wellspring of giving that continues to create life.

We suggest elements from lots of different wisdom traditions because ultimately where they intersect is the truth. Getting stuck in any one belief system can actually be counterproductive if it limits what you’re able or willing to experience. Experientially, you'll find beyond belief what you know to be true.

We're not suggesting anything other than to step back and reframe what you think is true. That opportunity might reveal some of the blocks or blindspots that have prevented you from seeing a bigger picture. We offer these belief systems like you might offer paints to an artist. I'm not saying it's yellow; I'm handing you the palette and asking what you see.

After training hundreds of coaches, what's the most important quality you look for or try to cultivate in someone who wants to help others integrate psychedelic experiences?

There are a few key qualities. One is empathy. It's important to be a good listener. Another is patience. You have to step out of the need to make it make sense for someone else. There's such a craving for answers in our culture, and candidly, that's my challenge, too. I want quick, simple, solid answers. So the biggest challenge for people is learning to be with the question or be with the person who has the question, letting them grapple with it rather than feeding them the answer.

Integration coaches empower the person they’re working with to come to the truth for themselves, because every time they do, they become more self aware and self guided. That's the power of embodiment, which I think is the most critical piece of integration. All these great insights and awarenesses come in, but if we don't embody them, they just become fleeting thoughts. Fleeting thoughts don't change our nature and don't change the world.

The most important thing is to slow down and recognize that we're not looking to get to a finish line. Integration is a lifelong process of unpacking, uncovering, discovering, and discarding all the ways we are misguided. As a coach, it’s about releasing the need to “fix” the person, because they're not broken. Sometimes the best thing you can do is be an empathetic witness to their suffering, pain, or confusion.

Want more from Howard?

Learn about certification through The Integration Institute of Psychedelics & Consciousness, or stream Ena and Howard’s ceremonial music.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.