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Consciousness & Medicine

Ian Gardner alleges dark retreats trigger pineal DMT after three days

Third Wave Podcast · Inside the World of Dark Retreats | Ian Gardner · August 4, 2026
Ian Gardner alleges dark retreats trigger pineal DMT after three days
Third Wave Podcast
Third Wave Podcast
Inside the World of Dark Retreats | Ian Gardner
""And then on day three or four depending on how your biochemistry works and this is the interesting analog to the psychedelic experience. Your pineal gland starts to produce DMT indogenous.""
Ian Gardner alleges that by the third or fourth day of a dark retreat, the pineal gland starts producing endogenous DMT. He argues this makes “inner worlds” more accessible in a way he likens to psychedelic experiences, but offers no evidence for the biological mechanism.
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Third Wave Podcast
Third Wave Podcast

Inside the World of Dark Retreats | Ian Gardner

August 4, 2026 · 50m · 5 Egleze moments
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