The Green Bay Packers quarterback talked about his use of psychedelic drugs on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast
Aaron Rodgers is opening up about how his use of psychedelic drugs helped his personal mental health journey.
During an interview on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast, Rodgers — the longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback — said ayahuasca, a plant-based psychedelic, helped him “unconditionally love” others.
“To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is that self-love,” Rodgers told host Aubrey Marcus, who also founded the supplement company, Onnit. “That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself.”
“It’s only in that unconditional self-love, that then I’m able to truly be able to unconditionally love others,” he added. “And what better way to work on my mental health than to have an experience like that?”
The 38-year-old former Super Bowl champion said the effect of the drug also helped his relationship with the Packers.
“The greatest gift I can give my teammates, in my opinion, is to be able to show up and to be someone who can model unconditional love to them,” he explained. “I mean obviously it’s important I play well, and show up and lead and all that stuff. They won’t care about what you say until they know how much you care.”
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, ayahuasca is drunk as a liquid and can affect a person’s thinking, sense of time, and emotions.
While Rodgers said he didn’t recommend ayahuasca to others, he said it had a profound impact on his life.
“I laid there afterwards on my mat and then opened my eyes and it felt like I was opening my eyes for the first time,” Rodgers told Marcus of one of his experiences.
“I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career,” he continued.
Ayahuasca contains the active ingredient N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which is a banned Schedule I drug, according to Double Blind.
In February, Rodgers was named the Most Valuable Player for the 2021-2022 NFL Season. It was the second time in two seasons that he won the honor.
Rodgers was also a point of controversy after he revealed he did not receive a COVID-19 vaccination after previously telling reporters he was “immunized.”
After his admission, Rodgers was fined for violating the league’s COVID protocols, including not wearing a mask during his news conferences and going maskless in the team’s facility.
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