Former NFL Player Eben Britton On His New Book, And The Tools He Used To Rebuild His Life (Including Psychedelics)
Former NFL offensive tackle Eben Britton has come a long way since the end of his football career in 2014. In his new book, The Eben Flow: Basic Tools To Transform Your Life, Britton takes readers on a journey through his mental, physical, and spiritual recovery, and offers them insights into the tools that helped get him there.
“At a very young age, I saw [football] as this vehicle to transcend the darkness of my childhood,” says Britton in a recent interview about his book with The Dales Report.
“In the process of achieving this dream of playing in the NFL, I viewed football as this opportunity to show the world how big and scary and to be feared I was, and in the process of proving that to the world, I destroyed myself.”
About The Book
The Eben Flow—not to be confused with Brittons’ podcast with the same name—begins with his life before football, details the state he found himself in after his career, and unpacks what it took to put his life back together “after a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, and a lot of darkness,” says the author.
Although the book covers seven concrete tools including things like breathwork, movement, healthy eating habits, and the use of plant medicine, Britton writes that “there is no magic pill or secret sauce, just ancient techniques distilled down to the nuts and bolts to help you optimize your life and live in your highest greatness.”
On Psychedelic Experiences
“Plant medicine has been such a profound healing modality for me in my life,” he says. “What’s really interesting about the athlete’s experience, especially if you’re an athlete engaging in a very physical sport… the day you step on the field, or you step into competition, is the day you stop emotionally developing.”
Britton says that psychedelic plant medicines including ayahuasca helped him come to terms with the “tidal wave” of his life that had been put on hold while football was the priority.
Another medicine he used was kambo, a poisonous secretion from a frog that causes an intense physical purge. Watch the interview above to hear how profound the experience was for Britton, and about the changes it set in motion.
