Professional rugby, plant medicine and The Hero's Journey with former Scotland international Rory Lamont

Welcome to episode 196 with Rory Lamont, who is a former professional Rugby Union player and the co-founder of CAIM, a health and wellness retreat centre in highland Scotland.

During his time as a professional rugby player, Rory played for Glasgow Warriors, Sale Sharks and Toulon.  He has 29 international caps for Scotland and has represented his country in two world cups.

Over the years he was plagued by various injuries and concussions and whilst playing against Wales in the 2012 Six Nations tournament, he suffered a career ending leg break.

The injury, the surgeries, medical drugs and loss of both his career and identity pushed Rory in a mental and spiritual crisis which took him to the brink of ending his own life.

The collapse of his physical and mental health forced Rory to confront himself and he travelled to Costa Rica where he experienced the transformational healing power of the plant medicine Iboga which helped him to identify the changes he needed to make and he began the journey of healing and inner work that would lead him to the work he does now.

In this episode Rory guides me through the highs and lows of his rugby career and the injuries that kickstarted the decline in his mental health.

We chat about his first experience with plant medicine and how it helped him and we chat about what we can learn from depression, about learning to let go and to be vulnerable, the importance of healing as part of a community and why this work needs to be made more accessible.

We also chat about how scary it is to do these things, why men need rites of passage and the role of the hero’s journey and we chat about some of the incredible things that Rory has witnessed while holding space and supporting others.

It was wonderful to hear Rory’s story and how he learned to navigate his struggles.  I can’t thank him enough for his openness.  The work he does now feels vital and I came away from this conversation feeling hopeful and inspired.

Follow Rory @rory_lamont and @welcometocaim

Learn more about his work at www.welcometocaim.com

You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

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Thanks for listening!