The Key To Self-Improvement With Psychedelics
Don’t go on your next Ayahuasca, LSD, or psilocybin retreat before reading this:
Every once in a while one of my clients approaches me saying that while they enjoy the psychedelic trips they go on they don’t feel like they are growing from the experience. Taking the lessons and insights that occurred during the voyage and applying them in normal life is more challenging than it sounds. The biggest misconception psychonauts carry with them (even seasoned ones) is that the benefits of the psychedelic experience happen during the ceremony. This is not the case.
Self-improvement with psychedelics is more than simply experiencing the effects of the substance. Growing from your trip involves engagement, reflection, and willingness to change for the better. It could take months or even years for a mystical journey to fully sink in. The more significant and long-lasting benefits of going on a trip are going to become apparent only weeks after the day of the ceremony, in the process of integration.
Integration means to become complete. Psychedelic integration is the process that is triggered by a psychedelic experience and it extends itself indefinitely. At the core of integration is a process of self-discovery and acceptance where the participant is invited to confront long-suppressed emotions and memories and to accept themselves and others how they are. This practice of integration requires active engagement from the participant.
Setting Intentions for Your Ceremony
The number one technique that I can recommend for beginners and experienced trippers alike is to set your intentions and bring them with you throughout your psychedelic retreat all the way to the integration.
In itself, taking some time every day leading up to the experience, to sit without distractions and reflect on what you aim to achieve by going on the psychedelic journey is already a great exercise of self-discovery. Keeping a journal can help you keep track of your progress in your journey of self-improvement with psychedelics and also helps you organize your ideas in a logical way.
Just before the ceremony, it is important to remind yourself to declare your intentions out loud. This will help you guide yourself during the trip and to center your mind during the most challenging parts of the ceremony.
Having clear intentions and keeping them with you serves as a compass that guides you to the positive changes you want to see in your life. When your intentions are clear in your mind, bad habits that are hard to kick start stand out like a sore thumb and this is a better position to deal with harmful habits we nurtured during our lives but now serve no purpose for our vision of who are or want to be.
If you want to know more about setting your intentions and other techniques to boost your process of growing with (or without) the responsible use of psychedelics, check our website and our YouTube channel!
Thanks very much for reading and have a great journey!
Cabbanis Psychedelic Magazine Vol. 1 (It is free!)
Play chess and uses psychedelic medicine? Participate in our study!
Shop fantastic herbs and other products here!