In this episode, Dr Simon Ruffell is joined by Rory Lamont, a former professional rugby union player who represented Scotland in two World Cups and earned 29 international caps, playing for Glasgow Warriors, Sale Sharks, and Toulon.
Rory’s story is one of profound rupture and transformation. After years of injuries and repeated concussions, he suffered a career-ending leg break during the 2012 Six Nations. The loss of his career and identity, alongside multiple surgeries and pharmaceutical interventions, precipitated a deep physical, psychological, and spiritual crisis that brought him to the brink.
What followed was a journey that took him far beyond the world of elite sport, including to Costa Rica, where he encountered the plant medicine Iboga. In this conversation, Rory speaks candidly about that experience: confronting his past, reckoning with the impact of his previous lifestyle, including the volume of pharmaceutical drugs inherent in being a professional rugby player, on his body and mind, and undergoing what he describes as a profound spiritual re-awakening.
Together, Simon and Rory explore themes of soul loss and retrieval; experiences that can echo what we might clinically call trauma or PTSD; and the possibility of healing when parts of ourselves feel too unsafe to remain. They discuss the contrasts and complementarities between Western medicine and Indigenous traditions, the role of diet and detoxification, and the importance of community in recovery.
Inspired by his own healing journey, Rory went on to co-found CAIM, a health and wellness retreat centre in the Scottish Highlands, offering breathwork, meditation, plant-based nutrition, and spaces for deep personal restoration.
This conversation celebrates how collapse can be followed by reconstruction, the recognition of identity beyond performance, and the growing dialogue between science and spirituality in our collective understanding of health.
Onaya is offering a 20% discount code on our Psychedelic Mentorship Training (next starting February 24th) to the CAIM community, which you can unlock at checkout with the code: CAIM20
Links
CAIM’s website
Life After Rugby (Rory’s Journey)
Instagram: @rory_lamont
