Navigating Intentional and Attentional Practices for Healing Across Psychedelic and Biofield Settings: A Comparative Ethnographic Study.
Journal of integrative and complementary medicine May 28, 2025 Nida Paracha
Intention and attention are conceptually and temporally distinct embodied phenomena, not merely mental acts, and understanding their differences requires interdisciplinary dialogue between psychedelic and biofield therapies. Based on two years of ethnographic research at psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats in the Netherlands and Mexico and biofield settings in the United States and Europe, including practices like Reiki and substances such as ayahuasca and psilocybin, the study highlights that these distinctions have divergent healing effects. The findings suggest that scientists studying these therapies should account for these differences to more accurately understand healing mechanisms across both forms of therapy.