Tim Ferriss - 5-Bullet Friday — November 6, 2020

5-Bullet Friday

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Friday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.

What I’m reading —
Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. This book was first recommended to me by the phenom that is Safi Bahcall, a former physicist and founder of a publicly-traded biotech company, who also knows hypnotism and a dozen other fields inside and out. It took me more than a year to dig into Joyful Wisdom, as I was turned off by the title. I expected another rinse and repeat of the usual Buddhist bag o’ tricks, which have never quite clicked for me. Much to my surprise, I quickly found insights, analogies, and practices that *did* stick in the first 100 pages.

What I’m using twice a week —
Hand balance boards for handstands and hand balancing (here’s their site if Amazon sells out). I’ve been getting back into spending time upside down. Specifically, I’m working on hand balancing. For a glimpse of mutant abilities and inspiration, check out Andrii Bondarenko. For an easier starting point, or to save your wrists, check out the FeetUp trainer. Are you a pro? I’d love your top 2–3 training tips! Please let me know at @tferriss on Twitter and add #handstands so I can find you.

What I’m listening to —
“Syria” (YouTube, Spotify) by Unders (@undersmusic).

Science and big news that I’m thrilled about —
The very first psychedelic study I ever supported (psilocybin for moderate-to-severe depression) was published this week in JAMA Psychiatry (@JAMAPsych), and it doesn’t disappoint. ⁣Here are a few eye-opening highlights:⁣ ⁣

“The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market,” says Alan Davis, Ph.D.⁣

[...]⁣

For the entire group of 24 participants, 67% showed a more than 50% reduction in depression symptoms at the one-week follow-up and 71% at the four-week follow-up. Overall, four weeks post-treatment, 54% of participants were considered in remission – meaning they no longer qualified as being depressed.

Huge congratulations to the entire team at the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Center (@JHPsychedelics). I believe this study to be a critically important proof of concept for the medical approval of psilocybin for treatment of depression, a condition I have personally struggled with for decades.⁣

Special thanks to everyone who supported this study in the earliest stages, including Cody Swift (RiverStyx Foundation), Dave Morin (Sunrise Foundation), and all of the superstars who participated in the CrowdRise fundraiser (now GoFundMe) so long ago.

It’s been a huge week in psychedelic developments nationwide, especially in Oregon. Read more here:
Oregon becomes first state to legalize magic mushrooms as more states ease drug laws in ‘psychedelic renaissance’ (CNBC)
Oregon just voted to legalize magic mushrooms. Here’s what that actually means. (Popular Science)
Oregon Just Became the First State to Legalize Access to Magic Mushrooms (Mother Jones)

Kudos to all Oregonians who supported this, as well as early financial and strategic supporters, including David Bronner, his family, and Dr. Bronner’s; Graham Boyd and PSFC; and many others who played pivotal roles.

Poem I’m pondering —

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
— Mary Oliver
(Thank you to Jim Dethmer for bringing this poem back to my attention.)

And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Much love to you and yours,

Tim

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