A new Netflix documentary takes a deep dive into Aaron Rodgers' psychedelic use.
“Aaron Rodgers: Enigma'' details how the Jets quarterback overcame his perfectionism and discomfort with his upbringing's religious beliefs through an ayahuasca retreat.
The documentary features footage of Rodgers' trip to Costa Rica last offseason, which included Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer and Poyer's family.
Mr. Poyer believed that Mr. Rogers' introduction to ayahuasca through his podcast appearances helped him overcome marital strife and alcoholism.
Rogers said she has done ayahuasca nine times on four different trips.
“This is the most difficult drug I've tried,” Rogers said. “It's a very intense spiritual journey.”
This particular trip was about “hope” for recovery from the devastating Achilles injury suffered in his 2023 Jets debut against the Bills.
He emphasized to other members of the retreat that they should “let go” and “take a leap of faith,” striving to achieve “deep healing of self, ego, and past trauma.”
“You have to go deep into your own shadow,” Rogers said.
The documentary showed many of the rituals, including Rogers and other participants falling into a deep psychedelic stupor.
After the Packers won the Super Bowl in 2011, Rodgers said he began to feel insecure about his identity and didn't feel the fulfillment he expected from achieving a lifelong dream.
“When you're a perfectionist, you end up constantly wallowing in self-loathing because nothing is ever good enough. So it was eating away at me like, 'Is this the only thing I'm going to accomplish in life?' . So I was trying to find something to rectify those feelings,” Rogers said.
He grew up attending what he described as a strict church and had an aversion to organized religion.
“I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church that didn't serve me very well. It was a very rigid structure. I'm not a rigid person. Shame, guilt, judgment.” said Rogers.
“It was as if we had the truth, our roads, our highways. Our road is heaven, but your road is hell. Even talking to my parents, it wasn't so black and white. Someone has to be wrong and someone has to be right. I was cut off from that in high school.”
From 2011 to 2014, Rogers began following the work of spiritual leader Rob Bell. Rob Bell said in the documentary that Rogers spread his faith with “a more inclusive love for all people” than he experienced in his childhood.
“He was a huge help in fully unraveling the religion of my youth,” Rogers said.
Rogers said he pored over other sources on faith and self-help and found voices that questioned the system.
Eventually, Rogers discovered ayahuasca.
“I think when you use other psychedelics, you start out thinking, “This is going to be a good time. I just kind of cringed and said, 'Okay, this is going to be a big deal,'” Rogers said. spoke.
When asked how he got into drugs, Mr. Rogers replied: My life was viewed through the lens of organized religion. So I asked myself, 'Where in life are people finding deeper peace, centeredness, and presence outside of what I knew?' ” I think. ”
Eventually, the drug gave him permission to love himself.
