Dave Romanelli’s “Magic Mushrooms”

Check out Yeah Dave’s adventures with psychedelic mushrooms, and how what started as a fun afternoon ended with a lesson in strength – but first, please read the disclaimer below:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Magic mushrooms can be very dangerous to an unstable mind and I do not condone their use unless you are in a controlled, safe environment, or at an Allman Brothers/Widespread Panic concert taking place this summer.

I was hangin’ with this cool dude who came on my yoga retreat to Tulum, Mexico way back in 2001. We decided to enjoy some magic mushrooms and headed over to the beach. It absolutely had all the makings for a perfect afternoon. I grabbed a few beers and was trying to figure out where the cool dude put our stuff, when I hear, “Dave over here!”

I look beyond the beachgoers and into the ocean where the cool dude was motioning for me to join him. There must have been fifty beachgoers between us and all fifty of them looked toward me. Their expressions said it all.

A punkish woman with black fingernail polish looked at me with an expression which said, “Gay people are rad!”

An older woman with her grandchildren looked at me with an expression which said, “What do your parents think?

An athletic frat guy with his buddies looked at me with an expression which said, “Dude your beach is 500 yards that way!”

Why the strange reactions?

The “cool dude” from the yoga retreat was wearing a bright orange, super slinky, skin tight, Speedo bathing suit otherwise known as a banana hammock.

“Dave come on in! It feels great,” he screamed motioning for me to hurry into the water.

I looked at the beachgoers staring at me. I looked back at the “cool dude” in the ocean. I again looked at the beachgoers, then at the “cool dude” in the ocean.

A million thoughts raced through my mind. “Should I ignore him and walk away?” “The shrooms are kicking in.” “Did I turn off the heat before going to the airport?” “Why is this happening to me?” “Maybe chicks like Speedos?” “I could never get away with it, especially not in cold water.”

I lay down on the sand and stared at the blazing tropical sun. I did not want to shroom wallowing in the water with a man in orange Speedos. Eventually the guy left the water and came to lie down next to me on the beach. Even worse. I did not want to spend my afternoon bathing in the sun with a man in orange Speedos.

I felt trapped in the moment; just as the shrooms kicked in. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Sometimes we have to clean out the pipes, wipe the slate clean, restart the mind. In indigenous cultures, they often use plants, vines, and mushrooms with hallucinogenic effects. There’s something about such indigenous ceremonies that sounds wonderful, exciting, authentic. But all too often upon eating magic mushrooms, I end up bad tripping. If you’ve never had such an experience, it feels like you lose control and are trapped whether by a man in orange speedos or by the shadows in your depths.

But really, the hallucinogens magnify your relationship with the world. Some of us go through life feeling trapped. Are you such a person? There’s one simple question to ask yourself. Be honest.

Are you stronger than your problems? Or are your problems stronger than you?

I recently read of a holocaust survivor who said, “I’m not a strong woman. But I’m a woman of strength.” My translation: a life in service to the mind is a kaleidoscope of men in orange speedos. But wipe the slate clean and we realize, a life in service to spirit is one-pointed, one struggle, one solution, one moment at a time.

This is a guy you want to spend more time with, right? Click here to learn how you can spend Halloween weekend with the man himself in Ojai, CA... and for a listing of Dave’s other upcoming events, click here.

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1. MN: Dave Romanelli is headed to the Yoga Center of Minneapolis! 8/27 – 8/29
2. Anchorage, AK: Spend your Weekend with Dave Romanelli
3. Dave Romanelli – 3 Delicious Workshops in Tennessee this Weekend
4. Dave Romanelli: The Schtick (Yoga Teachers who Smoke)
5. Dave Romanelli – 3 days in Houston, TX – Yoga Rasa + Joy Yoga 9/24- 9/26