Hello everyone, and welcome back to my discussion on psychedelics. If you are here and haven’t read the previous blog I wrote on my experience with psychedelics, I recommend you check that blog out first before reading this!

Here We Are 🙂

Life works in mysterious ways. In February, I was like a spring chicken, or perhaps a rooster, yearning to spread the positive message of psychoactive drugs, specifically psilocybin and LSD. At that point, my experiences with them were incredibly powerful and positive. Maybe it was my enthusiasm that got the best of me because speaking to you now I have been hospitalized twice since that blog.

I knew that this blog needed to be written but I was not sure exactly what to say. My issue is that the experiences I have had with psilocybin and LSD have been some of the most positive and impactful experiences of my life. If I had to do it again, would I do things differently? Yes. Before I get into the specific stories, I want to say a word about my thoughts on psychoactive drug use.

Importance of Mindset and Setting

I touched on the importance of this in my last blog post about psychedelics. But I want to again emphasize the impact of mindset and setting in the outcome of your experience with psychedelics.

Mindset

Psychedelics create a deeply amplified sensory experience, and it truly is a journey that is created. Because of this, your mental state has a significant impact on what the outcome will be. If you are not feeling safe or secure, content, or prepared, this will hinder your mind’s ability to accept and enjoy the present moment you are in. Some of you may respond by saying “How could I feel prepared if this is my first time experiencing these drugs?” There are a number of ways to feel prepared, some of which I have completely ignored as a part of my process.

Setting

As I mentioned earlier, psychedelic journeys amplify the senses. Your location in time and space, therefore, has a major impact on your experience. What do you want to get out of the experience? Typically, these substances have the unique power to allow access for people to go inward. It allows us to open our hearts, feel, touch, taste, and truly be ourselves in the present moment. I would argue this journey inward brings us closer to spiritual awakenings if desired, a journey towards a heightened state of consciousness. Because of the power of these substances, it is equally important to curate a safe space for true exploration.

Ideally, it is somewhere where you can be immersed in nature. By that I mean you are exposed to natural sunlight, wind, beauty, sounds, tastes, etc. Additionally, you don’t want to overstimulate the senses, especially with people or activities. Often, people use a guide to take care of their body and mind, exposing them to just the right amount of sensory experience so they can fully enjoy your journey.

Trip Sitter – The Guide

Having a “trip sitter” is something I would insist on for first-time travelers. A trip sitter is the caretaker of your trip. They are a sober guide that is there to tether you to reality when you need a grounding resource. Honestly, I have never had a trip sitter when I have engaged in psychedelic journeys, which has led to more dangerous experiences. Ideally, your trip sitter is some form of plant medicine shaman, someone who has been trained in administering these ceremonial substances and can properly guide you through your journey.

My Journey

I am describing my deeper experiences here in order to give more context to the full range of possibilities with psychedelic and psychoactive substance use so that they may provide guidance and others can learn the same lessons that I had to learn the hard way.

Music Festival Madness

This past March, less than a month after I wrote my first blog about psychedelics, I went to Okeechobee Music Festival in Florida. It was the first music festival experience I had as a solo traveler. Tame Impala, my favorite artist at the time, was on the lineup, among many other favorites. I was so excited! If you have never traveled solo, I can not recommend it enough. Just make sure you are being safe.

My plan and intention for the festival were to meet new people, and experience the atmosphere and community focused on mutual interest in wonderful music. I was also looking to find myself. I have rarely been single in my life, and I was hoping to take time to go inward, and just observe how I act and make decisions with nobody pulling the strings but me.

With regard to psychedelic substance use, I intended on using MDMA (Molly/ecstasy), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and acid (LSD). I wanted to experience each of these on separate days, fully experiencing the music and the environment with these substances enhancing my sensory experience.

Swept in Flow

Before the first night was over, I was approached by a beautiful woman who essentially swept me off my feet in terms of immersing me in the festival experience. Perhaps I was desperate for a connection. I wanted a new tribe, a feeling of security and comfort, or a completely wild experience, but I was at her mercy.

Throughout the course of the festival experience, we spent most of our evenings together and with her crew. More importantly, we agreed to be tied together for this festival. At 5 pm we would meet at our meeting spot, and plan the night out together. This also meant that we were sharing our experiences together, including substance use. Honestly, I embraced the moment.

Outcome

I’m skipping to the end of the story. I will provide some takeaways after this, but I want to describe briefly what happened. On the final day, we both took her gel tabs of liquid LSD. I had never tried gel tabs, but I had trusted her the last few days by taking her molly, her mushrooms.

Quick PSA: DO NOT DO STRANGER’S DRUGS, ESPECIALLY IN A FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT WHEN YOU ARE TRAVELLING ALONE 🙂

I had a beautiful and profound experience, but it took over my mind a bit. I started feeling like I had powers. Looking back, it was a bit of a God complex. I was tapped into a higher state of consciousness and realized the interconnected oneness that is. I felt that immense beauty and power and lost touch with my present reality. That moment of consciousness I experienced, I tried to carry with me, and because I didn’t have someone grounding me in that reality, I became a bit lost. My friend I had met was not able to really help me, as she was going through her own journey. What I truly needed was a trip sitter guide that I trusted. It also would have been nice if I was not at a music festival during the experience.

I ended up going in and out of deep hallucinations and dream-like states. The med team eventually took me to get fluids and rest, and eventually, I was transferred to the hospital and rested there until my mom came and helped me return home. I was not always resting though. When I woke up in the hospital, I had no recollection that I had been transferred. The last place I remember being was in the medical tent on the festival grounds, but even that memory was not clear. According to the nurses, I tried to escape when I realized I had no idea where I was. They also mentioned that I broke one of their hospital beds, and it took approximately seven staff members to safely detain me. It was not the experience I wanted. But I came away with a lot of lessons learned.

Takeaways / Lessons Learned

Safety

Practicing safety with psychedelics can mean a lot of things. Make sure to have a trip sitter or guide. Recognize the importance of a healthy mindset and setting. Choose people and places that give you a healthy mindset and setting. Make sure that you ease into your experience. Do not take a large dose without getting more comfortable with psychedelics. Conduct your own research (ideally peer-reviewed) on psychedelics and consult others with experience. Begin your experience with a microdose schedule.

Stay Grounded in the Body

I have learned that psychedelics activate different receptors and chemistry in the brain, but they are not always intended to be analyzed deeply. These substances facilitate a deepened sensory experience. It is important then, to stay in the body and to stay grounded in your experience. This is easier said than done, especially when these substances can provide the environment for an “out-of-body experience”. Without the proper mindset and setting, and a trained shaman or trip sitter, you can lose touch with reality. It is best to stay in a grounded place.

Slow Integration

These experiences brought me closer to the spiritual realm. However, I do not think I grasped the true essence of what these medicines were here to teach me. Perhaps I needed to go through what I went through in order to understand that I am meant to learn at a slower pace. Some can take on a heavy dose of life and integrate it quickly. I have learned that I move slowly, but always in the direction of growth.

Despite my needs, my inner child’s excitement sometimes cannot be contained! I am always searching for a new epiphany or realization that may change my life forever. My mind was ready for a transcendental experience. I dove headfirst into this experience, hoping for a beautiful download of spiritual information. My body felt betrayed and resisted. I learned to trust my body so much more through this experience.

Love and Gratitude

I already had so much love for myself and others before these experiences, and I need to emphasize that. I am a positive person and always have been. These experiences brought me closer to my family and friends, with an immense sense of gratitude.

During the experiences, I also felt an immense sense of love and gratitude for all beings, not just on Earth, but in the entire universe. I feel more and more love for myself and gratitude for the gift of life. These experiences bring a level of understanding of the oneness, and the connected nature of the universe. How lucky are we, to be conscious of this beautiful universe! I am so grateful for this experience.

The Body’s Intelligence

Your body has a wealth of spiritual knowledge waiting to be recognized. It can teach you what is right and what is wrong for you. When you need to make a decision, it is always whispering to you. From deep within, it speaks always for your benefit.

However, there are forces that are working against your intuitive body. Our society is constantly bombarding our bodies with messages and over-simulating our senses. By going slow, we can find ourselves. You also don’t have to go slow. I use that term because, when I slow things down (the body and the mind) it allows me the time and space to go inward. When I go inward, I can use my senses the way they were intended to.

Some Findings from Going Inward

I could write an entire blog post solely on my findings from going inward. It is also worth mentioning that there are many ways to go inward. Here are some that I utilize:

• Meditation / Yoga
• Exercise
• Writing / Journaling
• Listening to Music
• Being in Nature (Walking, Hiking, Camping)
• Meditative Activities (Driving, Walking, Cooking, Cleaning, Doing Chores)

Each of these activities is different and evokes a different feeling. For example, listening to music is a way for me to synchronize my emotional state. When I want to embrace a certain emotional state, music helps me channel that and brings me there. The music fully brings my body into that emotional state, and I can then fully feel what I need and want to feel.

When I take a walk in nature, I synchronize my body with my surroundings. Just as being in a bustling city gets your heart racing and stimulates your senses, being in nature slows down your body and allows you to feel what your body might be whispering to you.

These practices have put me more in tune with my body. I now have a greater sense of myself, and can trust my own intuition and intelligence. When I need clarity, I can go inward and I will find the answers I am looking for.

Thank You

This experience has left a lasting impact on me. It will forever influence and enhance who I am. I understand my predisposition to dive deep within my imagination and often “blast off to another world”, leaving my body and my present reality behind.

I now know that I need to be careful with how I interact with psychedelics, and how important the health and safety of my body are. It has taken me all this time to learn the value of insight gained from the body. My body contains powerful intelligence. The more I can tune into my senses, the more I can act in alignment and be myself!

Thank you all for listening. I hope this serves as a counterbalancing blog for my other blog on psychedelics. As Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Please reach out with questions or comments! You can find me at tmm13827@gmail.com.