PSYCHEDELIC integration TIPS
The way you integrate your psychedelic experience makes all the difference. Most of the beneficial effects of psychedelics find their roots in the weeks following a psychedelic experience. It’s the integration of new habits and thought patterns that ultimately lead to a sustained state of wellbeing. In this article, we’ll touch upon some best practices to help you effectively integrate your insights into your daily life.
Time for yourself
Allow yourself to dedicate extra time to yourself. To be with yourself means to be alone, without doing anything. Just be. Simply observe how your thoughts flow in and out of your awareness. Notice your feelings and emotions as if they are clouds drifting by. A good stroll in nature can be very helpful for this. Please remember that the most precious possession we’ll ever have is time. Allow yourself the luxury of devoting it to yourself. Your loved ones will thank you later.
Write
Putting pen to paper can bring clarity to what can feel like a clutter of thought. First of all, there is no goal or specific aim to achieve. Try not to rush it and don’t be disappointed when initially nothing appears. Writing is an exercise to slow down your train of thought and subsequently to discover what’s inside each wagon. It is also a great technique of converting something metaphysical into something physical. When you put words on paper, you won’t have to worry about keeping them in your mind. It cleans things up. When you write, don’t worry about your handwriting, or style, or organising it neatly on a page. Write as if you are talking to yourself.
Voice notes
If writing is not your thing, voice recording is another option and more suited if you just want to lay back comfortably and let your words flow. Most phones have an in-built feature to record your thoughts not only as you come down from a psychedelic experience, but it can be done anytime and anywhere. Another advantage of recording your voice is that it easily captures the emotional state you were in when you recorded your thoughts.
Sharing after your psychedelic integration
Pain shared is halved; joy shared is doubled, knowledge shared becomes wisdom. Sharing your experience can give you a new perspective and helps you see yourself from the outside. Speaking about your experience can help you find meaning in what you’ve experienced. It also creates more connections among various concepts or insights and helps commit it to memory. Involve a good friend into your experience or someone you feel closely connected to.
Music for your psychedelic integration
Music is a powerful ally in your process of integration. Music speaks to various parts of the brain simultaneously, which makes it easier to create memories. This means that when you listen to music you heard during your psychedelic journey, those memories and feelings can return and you can relive those experiences, but this time in a state of ordinary awareness. This revisiting of your psychedelic experience can be greatly inspiring and refreshing. It can also shed a new light on some of the insights from your journey.
For this reason, we have developed several unique music journeys, which are performed by world-class musicians and designed by pioneering sound engineers to complement our psychedelic ceremonies. You can also enjoy our music when you are planning on having a psychedelic experience at home.You can find a recording of a live performance of one of our music journeys right here. We invite you to dive into a soulful musical experience that lovingly takes you by the hand. Let the natural flow of our singers and musicians guide you. You can also find a series of music journeys in our educational app, and on Spotify.
Remember to remember
It’s easy to fall right back into the rhythm of ordinary life and get on with business as usual. But the more often you’re able to recall your experience, speak about it, or write about it, and refresh your memory by listening to music, the better the integration will turn out. Not just in the days after your psychedelic experience, but in the weeks following and even months later as well. You’ll see that your insights can deepen, shift and grow this way.
Slow down
It’s not often that we hear that slowing down is a good thing, while in general it’s actually one of the best things we can ever really do. So, I’ll repeat it for you right here. Slow down. Breathe slowly. Walk slowly. There is absolutely nothing to gain from trying to get somewhere fast. Look around. Be curious. Get lost. Take your time with everything.
Psychedelics are not a quick fix. Allow yourself to digest the experience and give yourself time to let things sink in and find clarity before taking radical decisions. Your fresh insights may need some time to rest before ripening to clear ideas. Many things can come up, but it’s important to keep your feet on the ground. You’ll see that when you take it slow, things will start to change by themselves.
A perpetual process
Eating consciously, sleeping well, and keeping your body healthy by being aware of other substances that can have a negative effect on your well-being, can truly support you in your integration process. Meditation can help you practice awareness in all aspects of your life.
Slow down, care for yourself, listen to yourself and trust in yourself.
And remember, you are the medicine.
