In this season 2 opening episode of The Trip Lab, I return from maternity leave with a deeply personal exploration of how psychedelic experiences mirror one of the most profound transitions in a woman’s life: motherhood.

From the sudden crash of postpartum hormones to the full dissolution of identity and the slow reconstruction of self, I reflect on how becoming a mother felt strikingly similar to a psychedelic journey — raw, disorienting, expansive, and sacred.

We dive into the neuroscience of hormonal transitions, ego death, and neuroplasticity — exploring how estrogen, the Default Mode Network, and maternal brain remodeling all connect to the psychedelic experience. We also examine the often-overlooked wisdom of the menstrual cycle, the energetic sensitivity of pregnancy, and why the womb may be one of the most powerful maps for understanding transformation and healing.

This episode is for anyone curious about the intersection of psychedelics and the feminine — whether you’ve given birth, are hoping to one day, or simply want to understand how cycles, hormones, and identity shifts can open portals into deeper layers of self.

Topics include:

• Postpartum as ego death and rebirth
• Estrogen, neuroplasticity, and the psychedelic brain
• Psychedelics and the Default Mode Network in women
• Hormonal cycles and their influence on medicine journeys
• Ancestral wisdom, womb intelligence, and the sacred feminine

Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a hands on diagnostic and treatment modality that DOs learn in medical school. You may have seen the DO (rather than MD) after your doctor's name and never really understood what that meant. We dive into the difference between MDs and DOs and talk all about what osteopathic medicine is in this episode.

Many OMT treatments actually mirror what a yoga practice can do for you as well. Whether we are talking about the poses (or asanas) creating simultaneous activation and relaxation... or even the connection to the breath the augment healing... there are connections everywhere.

This podcast is also available in written form (with supplemental pictures and diagrams) at www.drmaryellawood.com.

In this episode we will take a deep dive into one of the leading causes of the global burden of disease-- hypertension, or high blood pressure. We will go over the pathophysiology, learn how hypertension develops and why it is so bad for the body.

After understanding the root causes, we can then better understand how our traditional pharmaceuticals, lifestyle interventions, and holistic integrative therapies work to treat this disease. ... and SPOILER! Holistic approaches turn out to be MORE effective than drugs to treat this one.

If you want to see another disease or disorder in this series, shoot me an email at thetriplabpodcast@gmail.com.