Feelings of being removed from everyday life and feelings of being connected to it are both central to what makes a place therapeutic. This paper explores where those feelings come from, using detailed observations from Buddhist meditation retreats, walking groups, and conservation volunteering groups. The findings show that both removal and connection are tied to people's ordinary lives, identities, and backgrounds, and that these feelings occur together, not separately.
The word 'psychedelic' entered English in 1957 from an asylum superintendent in a Saskatchewan mental hospital. During the 1950s, researchers in this isolated Canadian province engaged in political and psychiatric reforms that drew international attention. This article examines how location influenced the development of a medical theory that challenged prevailing ideas about mental illness and addiction. Drawing on history, political science, sociology, and geography, the case study explores the historical meanings of region and place, combining older political definitions of region with cultural geography concepts to analyze psychedelic research after World War II.