The Psycho-Somatic Science Behind the Cultural Detox Process

ByRamKrishan ~ Joshua

The aim of the cultural detox work is to shift the “matrix” from which the individual is operating from – from cultural values and sense of “right and wrong” to a set of authentic, self defined values that gives the individual an internal framework of sovereignty and connection with all of life.

Our sense of morality is an integral part of our decision making process. The executive center of the brain weighs every decision we make with the values of the culture. These values are instilled within the individual during early development, from observation the behaviors of parents / caregivers. Before the child has even learned language, the child has observed patterns and internalized as societal values. These values form a framework for behavior and also a perceptual backdrop for understanding our environments and relationships.

The primary intention for each of the 7 different 40 day modules is to crystallize a different core value of what it means to be human. The first module, which we just finished, was Health – the second is Authenticity, the third will be Service… In the yogic science it is said that it takes 40 days (6 weeks) to create psycho-somatic changes that stick – so we have 40 day programs that include a conceptual / educational piece and an experiential piece, taking a top down and bottom up approach to shift not just the perception / cognition but also create a felt sense of change physiologically. That’s the primary importance of the physical detoxification piece and all the health protocols, those physical changes really help in the experience of releasing the old and stepping into the new and helps deepen the multi-layered process. Value by value, replacing the old default behavioral operating network.  Each of the 7 modules are very different in their focus and layer by layer the individual is freed from conditioning to be more themselves.

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Every individual has some degree of trauma just by living in the culture. There is an “original” trauma that is a result of the perpetuation of the trauma passed on by the culture. This original trauma catylzes defence mechanisms like control, avoidance and addiction which become the new “sense of self” and forms a psycho-somatic baseline which the brain / nervous system constantly maintains as “normal”.  This conditioned “normal” / “sense of self” keeps the individual from experiencing anything beyond a conditioned window of tolerance – creating and strengthening a sense of limitation. The defense mechanisms get super sophisticated and efficient at avoiding the wholeness of this moment – it’s all just a conditioned trauma response regulated by psycho-somatic conditioning that the brain is literally wired to maintain. 

Cultural Detox’s approach for creating lasting change includes shifting the baseline for what is “normal”. In the jungle the environment helps create a sense of safety and softness and allows us to naturally start to re-integrate the fragmented parts. We rest deeply and heal on many levels. We aren’t constantly bombarded by electromagnetic fields or stimulation at all of our senses – we are literally carried back to an environmental homeostasis in harmony with the environment – the Schumann resonance and all of life. When doing this work in the city / within the culture we need to constantly consciously remedy every imbalance and toxic condition that is part of our environment and consciously change our behaviors so that our internal operating network isn’t perpetuating unhealthy / inauthentic / selfish behaviors which just strengthens the sense of separation between us and all of life. For this we need to 1) become aware / learn the ways in which things are toxic or harmful and 2) practical behaviors which promote health, authenticity and selfless service towards something outside of ourselves. 

  • Top down and bottom up process
  • 40 days
  • Reset the baseline
  • Crystalize new core value
  • Experience a reality shift
  • Have awareness of whats toxic
  • Have new behaviors to replace old / maintain harmony
  • Support from online community, guest presenters and from RamKrishan
  • Every season go deeper into this process with a different module
  • Culminating in a 40 day ultimate process in the Peruvian Amazon in 2022

All this is based on Yogic Science, Buddhist Insight, Shamanic Arts, Plant Spirit Medicine, Functional Medicine, Neuroscience and orchestrated & guided by the plants / spirit of nature itself. 

The orbital frontal cortex / executive center of the brain develops from a young age by observing patterns in the environment and deciphering what is culturally / socially acceptable. Then every decision is weighed against the cultural acceptability… When behaviors are in alignment with the cultural acceptability the reward center of the brain is triggered and we get a sense of satisfaction or achievement just by doing what’s societally acceptable – when we are acknowledged we get an even greater sense of reward…

Addiction is a direct result of trauma. Trauma creates a subtle / not so subtle, inner schism which disconnects the individual’s sense of self and awareness from themselves in order to avoid deeply intense psycho-emotional experience. As a coping mechanism the executive center gets hijacked with the objectives of obtaining the stimulation of the reward center due to XYZ of the culture (could be drugs or could be social media, or stimulation of any sort). Then the person is not operating from any real value system at all and certainly not in their highest interest. The person is in a sense “broken” they arent a functioning unit of society – nor a unit of planetary service – they are serving most often destructive self stimulating objectives…Its behavior like a cancer cell or parasite. But thats a result of the brokenness of the culture, the original trauma creating a sense of not knowing oneself and the constant perpetual trauma caused by being in a highly stimulating environments and receiving societal demands that disregard personal wellbeing. The person is just avoiding the pain that they feel as a result of the culture – and the fact that there is no “sanctuary” inside – neither the experience of the authentic infinite self nor a value system that puts life experience into context and serves as an internal navigation system.  

So we create a protocol that the person can follow, which step by step protects the individual from falling into destructive behaviors and guide the individual in positive behaviors that lead to enhanced functionality and wellbeing. It step by step lifts a person up to greater freedom of choice, disengages the person from the default behavioral matrix and crystallizes new values which are like the presence of the soul in time and space – reframing the mode of operation in the world.
I see the Cultural Detox process goes as far as the individual is willing to trust in the guide(s), the protocol, and the community… BECAUSE a person will face their edge at some point in the 40 days. They will face their limit and they must choose to go beyond it… I believe, with the right resources a person will be able to go beyond – but it will be very challenging and unless they trust the guide, the protocol and the community more than they trust their own internal conditioning which is going to do everything it can to get the individual to stay within the window of tolerance / safety / comfort zone. Its certainly a challenge, but its possible. 

In the jungle the individual does not have a choice, the process carries them beyond their comfort zones and there is the opportunity for deep change every moment. In the individual’s home environment there is easy access to comfort, to behave in ways that are self limiting / self defeating / self reinforcing… Whats to stop a person? I suppose personal discipline serves a role – but I see that alignment with something greater than oneself is more important… And thats what this whole Cultural Detox thing is – its a transmission of a universal science – its an intelligent alive energy field – and I believe its magnetic. I believe it calls the individuals whose souls yearn to be Actualized. It shifts the very matrix from which the person operates… Just by coming into contact with it. How deeply an individual wants to enter into the portal is up to them. Thats what this work is here for at this time – to re-member who we are, re-align with our infinite selves that are truly connected with all of life – yet sovereign and free to be our authentic selves.

Ram Krishan Singh is a lifelong student and teacher of traditions of universal wisdom and the pathless presence of living from the Heart. For more than 15 years he has traveled the world immersing himself in different cultures and traditions to more deeply understand himself and uncover a thread of unity that runs through all of life. He shares in this spirit of unity through his life work which he calls the science of Cultural Detox and the Way of the Radiant Heart.