In a recent episode of the Wellness Pro Academy Podcast, I sat down with someone whose story stays with you long after the conversation ends: Neil Markey—former U.S. Army Special Ops captain and now CEO of Beckley Retreats, one of the most respected organizations advancing legal, research-backed psilocybin retreats.

Neil’s journey from combat trauma to meditation and psychedelic healing is not only compelling—it’s a window into the future of wellness, leadership, and emotional resilience.

This is the story of how someone trained for war found his way into the world of inner peace, psychedelics, and integrative wellness—and why his work is becoming increasingly relevant for anyone seeking real growth.

From the Military to Meditation

Neil describes his early post-military years as a period of unraveling. He was in graduate school at Columbia, surrounded by ambitious people who had no idea what it felt like to carry the weight of combat.

He tried the usual paths—sleep medications, anti-anxiety medication, strict discipline—but none of it helped him reconnect with himself. Then he stumbled into a mindfulness course, and something shifted. Meditation gave him a vocabulary for what he was feeling. It created space where there had only been pressure.

Soon after, he was invited into a professionally facilitated psychedelic experience. That experience didn’t replace meditation—it amplified it. It helped him feel what meditation had been trying to teach him. It accelerated the emotional integration he had been struggling to access.

In many ways, it brought him home to himself.

Building a Science-Backed, Soul-Led Retreat Model

Years later, Neil became CEO of Beckley Retreats, the applied arm of the Beckley Foundation—one of the world’s leading psychedelic research organizations. Rather than offering quick transformational weekends or isolated “journey work,” their approach is slow, considered, and grounded in both research and ancient wisdom.

Participants spend weeks preparing—learning meditation, breathwork, nervous system awareness, and intention-setting. By the time they arrive on the retreat land in Jamaica or the Netherlands, they already know their facilitators and the group they’ll be journeying with.

The retreat itself is immersive but gentle: time in nature, two psilocybin ceremonies, live music, mindful food, and group integration woven throughout. Neil is clear that the magic isn’t just in the medicine. It’s in the container. It’s in the community. It’s in the way people witness each other’s emotional truths.

Afterward, the integration process continues for six weeks—when the brain is especially open, pliable, and ready for new patterns. This is where meditation deepens, habits shift, and people begin living differently rather than simply feeling differently.

What the Research Is Finally Making Clear

The Beckley Foundation has spent decades pushing psychedelic research forward. And today, the findings are no longer surprising—they’re consistent.

Psilocybin appears to help the brain communicate in ways that support creativity, emotional balance, and cognitive flexibility. It reduces activity in the brain’s “default mode network,” which is responsible for rumination and self-judgment. It’s also shown promise in easing end-of-life anxiety, chronic pain, and long-term trauma.

But what struck me most is that these outcomes aren’t only for people who are suffering.

Over and over, Neil emphasized that these experiences can be profoundly valuable for people who are already doing well—people who want more presence, more meaning, more depth, more connection.

In a world where overstimulation has become normal, these tools help us remember how to feel again.

The Return to Primal Wisdom

A theme we kept returning to is one that’s deeply woven into yogic philosophy: the idea that we are born with self-wisdom, and that culture often conditions it out of us.

Psychedelics tend to reconnect people to intuition. They quiet the noise enough for someone to hear what their body has been saying all along. Many people return from a retreat and naturally stop drinking, change how they eat, or begin spending more time in nature—not because they were told to, but because their body wants it.

It’s a return to clarity. A return to pace. A return to inner authority.
In yoga, this is called svadhyaya—the wisdom of the Self.
And Neil sees this unfolding in his community every week.

Leadership in the New Paradigm

Neil’s personal transformation has shaped his views on leadership as well. Leading isn’t just about strategy or performance—it’s about coherence. A regulated nervous system. Emotional intelligence. The ability to empathize, listen, and connect.

This is where psychedelics and meditation overlap most powerfully: they help people expand the bandwidth of what they can hold. They help leaders face challenges without collapsing into fear or rigidity.

In a culture built on constant acceleration, this is becoming a critical skill.

Where This Movement Is Headed

The psychedelic space is evolving quickly. At the recent MAPS conference, Neil saw something he never expected years ago: bipartisan support, major universities running psychedelic research programs, and communities across the world integrating these experiences into everyday wellness.

The future is pointing toward responsible access, community-based healing, and a more relational approach to well-being. The “betterment of the well” is becoming just as important as healing trauma.

And as Neil said, the genie is not going back in the bottle.

Final Thoughts

My conversation with Neil Markey reminded me of something essential: healing and growth are collective experiences. Whether through meditation, psychedelics, or deep communal witnessing, transformation happens when we slow down enough to listen—to ourselves and to each other.

Neil’s work shows what can happen when science, tradition, and intention come together. It’s not about escaping life. It’s about returning to it with clarity, presence, and purpose.

For more conversations like this, tune into the Wellness Pro Academy Podcast. The future of wellness is deeper, more connected, and more human than ever.