Tag Archive for: psychedelic

How To Best Prepare Yourself For A Psychedelic Journey

What’s the best way to prepare for a psychedelic experience?

When I ask this question, what I mean is: how can one prepare in a way that will maximise the positive benefits of an inner journey; the insights, increased awareness, a greater sense of connection and wellbeing, and all those other magical things you’ve probably heard that psychedelics can do.

In this post, I will outline some practices and techniques that I believe constitute a preparation that, if undertaken, considerably improves the chances of these benefits.

Prepare well for the journey, there is a long road ahead.

Preparing the ‘Set’

When it comes to shaping a psychedelic experience, there are two key words: set and setting. Set refers to mindset and setting means the environment. This post is not complete in this regard and will focus on the set; the inner state of the individual. It will focus on preparing the mind.

The practices and techniques covered here are:

Meditation
Journaling
The Photo Trip
Life Timeline
Forming An Intention
Clearing

Meditation

Familiarising yourself with mindfulness techniques and developing a meditation practice is always my number one recommendation for session prep.

The potential benefit of meditation is twofold.

The first is to relieve anxiety and approach the session from a more relaxed place. The second is to practice exploring your thoughts and feelings without avoidance, judgment, or resistance.

In this second way, meditation can get the psychedelic process going before taking any substances; exploring your inner world and cultivating introspective and reflective states. Getting comfortable facing your thoughts and feelings, including uncomfortable ones, will serve you well, and can be thought of as something of a psychedelic warm-up.

With all this in mind, meditation aids one in their ability to follow the ultimate tenet of psychedelic navigation: let go and surrender.

This basic rule of thumb follows the observation that difficulties occur in a session when one resists or fights the effects of the psychedelic. Thoughts like ‘this isn’t what I signed up for’ or ‘this isn’t what was supposed to happen, I don’t like this, get me out’, are more problematic than actually going into what we understand as negative feelings; sadness, grief etc. and prevent us from processing something that might’ve been stuffed down. Meditation gives one practice in being with these feelings, allowing them, and all the while, breathing.

Leary Metzner Alpert meditation quote ram dass

Janis Phelps’ referencing Leary & co in her talk at the Breaking Convention conference

If you are new to meditation, you’ll need some basic instruction and guidance to begin. Try finding a group or class near to where you live as some in person guidance with the support of a group is an excellent way to begin.

If that’s not possible there are many resources available online. The UCLA Mindful Awareness Center is a good place to start. Headspace and Waking Up are apps that both have a free run of short guided sessions and are a great introduction. Insight is another that has many guided meditations.

If you have the time and are serious about learning, a silent course is probably the best way to become well versed with meditation quickly. You can find donation based ones with Vipassana all around the world at dhamma.org

If you’d like to read more about psychedelics and meditation, I have written about how they’ve influenced each other on my personal journey

Journaling

If meditation is difficult for you, try keeping a journal.

Rather than recording what you’ve done each day as one might do in a diary, invite introspection. Focus on your inner world, writing about feelings and thoughts, and include more general reflections and ideas about life. As author and write-letters-to-yourself enthusiast Cal Newport has pointed out, composing thoughts in the structured form demanded by written prose can often help to gain clarity.

Journaling, like meditation, can help to increase awareness of your perceptions. However, it need not be one or the other, and journaling can be an excellent companion to a meditation practice. Though it’s not necessary to write on a regular schedule, some kind of minimum regularity, say once a week, will probably help to begin the practice.

Alternative Option: Audio Journaling
You might try audio journaling, opening a voice memo app and speaking your mind, if thats easier for you.

The Picture Trip

The ‘picture trip’ is a technique that was employed by a pioneer of psychedelic therapy, Leo Zeff. This description of the method is adapted from the book about Leo and his methods, The Secret Chief Revealed.

To do this exercise you will need to gather some photos before the trip. These photos will form a history of your life.

Pictures to Gather:

• Yourself, one at age two and one every two years thereafter through adolescence, up to adulthood.

• Two pictures each of your mother, father and any siblings; one when they were young but you can still remember them, and a recent one.

• Pictures of any other family members that are or were significant in your life.

• A picture of your husband/wife, or any woman or man who has had great significance in your life. Lovers, current or past. If you’re married, wedding pictures.

• If you have children, a picture of them when they were about two years old, and a recent one.

• Any other significant pictures. Any pictures with an emotional charge.

As you go through your photos to find these, spend some time looking through your photo collection. Spend a few moments with each photo, looking at it and seeing what you feel with each one. If any memories or feelings come up, sit with them and see where they go. When you come across a picture for the picture trip, put it aside. Try to do this no further away than a week before the trip, as close to the time of the trip as you can.

Leo Zeff was a pioneer in the modern psychedelic therapy movement

As a teaser to convince you of the potential of this method, I’d like to share this quote from Leo found in the book:

‘People will come to me who have already tripped who want to have my particular kind of way of tripping. One of them had tripped at least five hundred times on acid, others who have tripped three, four hundred times, down through the early Sixties, clear up to recent times. You know, plenty of trips their own way […] We talk about it, and [..] so I’d say, “Sure.” They would have their trip on acid. Invariably these people have said, “I’ve never had an acid trip before in my life! This is the first time I’ve ever really had an acid trip.”

Personally, I can also tell you that my first acid trip using this method was the one of the most significant events of my life. So, I can recommend!

Life Timeline

If you aren’t able to collect the photos for the picture trip, you can do the life timeline. The aim is the same; to explore your life story. If you feel up to it, you can do both.

• Begin with a wide piece of paper, approximately 1 metre in width. At least A3. It’s fine for you to stick or tape together smaller pieces if you don’t have one this size.

• Draw a long horizontal line across the length,.

• Mark your birth on one end and your current age on the other.

• Divide the line into segments that mark every five years of your life.

• Fill the timeline with people, happenings, decisions, events and anything which was significant. Use pictures and symbols, and you can write words, quotes or sentences. Anything which helps you to reconnect with these chapters and what you went through during these times of your life.

As you go through your life, spend some time thinking about and exploring feelings around the significant events. When you’ve finished, spend a few moments with each mark on your timeline, seeing what you feel with each one. As memories or feelings come up, sit with them and see where they go. Try to do this no further away than a week or two before, again ideally as close to the time as you can.

Formulate An Intention

Understanding your intention helps to give clarity and direction for a journey, so it’s worthwhile to consider.

Set aside some time to yourself and sit down with a journal or pad. At a park or somewhere in nature might appeal to you but anywhere without potential disturbance or distraction is fine.

Here are some questions to think about and make notes on.

Why are you doing this? What are you seeking?
What would it mean for this psychedelic journey to be ‘successful’?
Where are you now and where do you want to get, related to your motivation
What is working in your life? What isn’t?
What are you curious about? What would you like to learn more about?

As the journey approaches, try to have something of a clear intention for your journey. If it is wide ranging and incorporates many areas, try to sum it up so that it can be stated as one precise sentence by the day of the journey.

Some examples of how this might work:

“I intend to have a healthy life’ could be a sum of ‘I intend to quit smoking, I want improve my relationship with food, and understand how I can get into a good exercise regime”.
“To explore past traumas and to gain insight into my potential’ might be summed up as “To learn about myself”.
“To get outside of my mind, to experience a higher dimension, and to go beyond my normal consciousness” might be put together as ‘to explore spirituality’.

The intention is formulated to plant seeds in your mind and the process of refining it helps to get to the essence of what you are searching for. Though formulating an intention can be powerful, the process of formulating it is as important as the final result.

This is to say that it should not to be held on to too tightly during the session. You should be open and able to go with the experience as it unfolds. It is often said about psychedelic experiences that you don’t get what you want but that you get what you need. Clinging too tightly to a specific intention may mean that you miss something that offers insight in other areas, ones that actually are related to your intention, albeit in less obvious ways.

Having a clear intention can also help in that you have a clear motivation and it gives you an answer and some frame of reference for when you might think ‘Why am I doing this?”. This question can come up in difficult times and it can be very useful to have a clear answer ready, to aid you in letting go of resistance and moving in to the experience. In moments of your journey when you would like some direction, your intention can be called to mind.

Clearing

Clearing can be thought of as making space. Space for insight, space for discovery, space for expansion. If you like Chinese proverbs, another way to put this might be: “Empty Your Cup”.

Firstly the basics; clearing the day, the day after, and ideally day before of any obligations. Book them out so you can be offline and effectively disappear from the world.

Next, try to tidy up loose ends in your life to help clear some space in your mind and heart. Stuff that you might’ve been putting off, like difficult conversations and resolving any current difficulties in your relationships. If this isn’t possible, try journaling about it or writing a letter to the person even if you can’t send it to them.

This clearing process should also include physical and practical things, which can be done a little closer to the journey, like cleaning your room, paying overdue bills, sending certain emails and making phone calls you’ve been putting off. Even taking the trash out (a nice symbolic act).

Keep phone use and digital communication to an absolute minimum during the day of the journey, so take care of potential calls and emails in advance. If you think you might want to speak with someone like a close friend or family member soon after, its a good idea to notify them in advance so they will be available and ready for the conversation.

Prepare Well, and Journey Safely

The preparation one takes will significantly influence how a journey plays out and is the groundwork for a transformative experience. Put simply, the influence of a good preparation should not be underestimated. That said, it should not become a gruelling undertaking or huge burden. It should be done with enthusiasm and should help you, rather than stress you. So go, prepare well, and take care!

I wish you well with your preparations and on your journey.

Did I miss anything? What do you think are the best ways one can prepare for a deep and rewarding journey? Please share in the comments below!

17/02/2020/by John Robertson

Psychedelics, Tripsitting

What Makes A Good Psychedelic Guide?

What makes a good tripsitter? Is it being caring and kind? Or is it more important for a psychedelic guide to be knowledgable and trustworthy? Today I will introduce and look at others’ work on the topic, drawing from 6 resources, and finish with a few thoughts of my own. This will be a broad overview rather than an in depth exploration, and I hope that you’ll be stimulated and inspired to learn more.

Two tripsitters and a journeyer in a research setting at Johns Hopkins.

The resources featured in this post:

1. Six Competencies Of A Psychedelic Therapist – Janis Phelps
2. Suggestions For The Guide – The Guild Of Guides
3. The Psychedelic Experience – Leary, Metzner, Alpert
4. Manual For Psychedelic Guides – Mark Haden
5. LSD Psychotherapy – Stanislav Grof
6. Tripsitting Workshop – Marc Aixala

Use Of Terms | Guide Vs. Facilitator Vs. Therapist

A small clarification before I begin. The title of this post uses the word guide and this term is often used interchangeably with facilitator, space holder, tripsitter and even therapist. With the field of psychedelic therapy growing, the word therapist is being used increasingly and there is dispute about how and when it can or should be used. While the role of a psychedelic facilitator can be very different to that of a clinical therapist, I’m not going to explore that difference today – that’s another post for another day. This piece is to stimulate ideas and develop discussion.

OK so let’s take a look.

Six Competencies Of A Psychedelic Therapist – Janis Phelps

Janis Phelps is a clinical psychologist and the founder and director of the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). In her paper Developing Guidelines and Competencies for the Training of Psychedelic Therapists (Journal Of Humanistic Psychology, 2017), Janis Phelps outlines six competencies:

1: Empathetic Abiding Presence
2: Trust Enhancement
3: Spiritual Intelligence
4: Knowledge of the Physical and Psychological Effects of Psychedelics
5: Therapist Self-Awareness and Ethical Integrity
6: Proficiency in Complementary Techniques

This paper is an excellent resource and must read for any psychedelic therapist in training. You can read the paper online here:
Developing Guidelines and Competencies for the Training of Psychedelic Therapists

You can also watch her talk on youtube:
‘Training The Next Generation Of Psychedelic Therapists‘

Suggestions For The Guide – The Guild Of Guides

Early on in James Fadiman’s classic book, The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide, there is a section attributed to The Guild Of Guides titled Suggestions For The Guide.

It states the essential prerequisites are:

Compassion
Intuition
Loving kindness

In addition to those qualities, it is valuable to have basic knowledge in:

the range of possible effects
the basic principles of various spiritual traditions
a sense of how and when to share useful ideas and concepts

The importance of remaining centered is also highlighted.

Remaining Centered:

“The more centered you are as a guide, the more effective you will be. The more you know about yourself and whomever you are guiding, the more likely you are to be able to stay centered and tranquil throughout the session. When you yourself are more comfortable, it will be easier for the voyager to transition from one state of awareness to another. After reviewing hundreds of sessions in different settings, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) concluded, in most situations, that a voyager became distressed when the guide had become unsettled, uncertain or upset.”

The Psychedelic Experience – Leary, Metzner, Alpert

In their own classic, The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based On The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, Leary, Metzner and Alpert have a section on The Psychedelic Guide.

Here they mention a couple of key factors:

Ability to turn off own ego and social games; particularly to muffle his/her own power needs and fears.

Considerable experience in psychedelic sessions himself and in guiding others.

They even go on to say that it is unethical and dangerous to administer psychedelics without personal experience.

It is also stated that the guide should be;

Relaxed
Solid
Accepting
Secure

“The guide must remain passively sensitive and intuitively relaxed for several hours. maintaining a state of alert quietism in which he is poised with ready flexibility. The guide must never be bored, talkative, intellectualizing. He must remain calm during the long periods of swirling mindlessness.”

A useful analogy is also used, likening the guide to ground control.

“He is the ground control in the airport tower. Always there to receive messages and queries from high-flying aircraft. Always ready to help navigate their course, to help them reach their destination. An airport-tower operator who imposes his own personality, his own games upon the pilot is unheard of. The pilots have their own flight plan, their own goals, and ground control is there, ever waiting to be of service. The pilot is reassured to know that an expert who has guided thousands of flights is down there, available for help. But suppose the flier has reason to suspect that ground control is harboring his own motives and might be manipulating the plane toward selfish goals. The bond of security and confidence would crumble.”

Manual For Psychedelic Guides – Mark Haden

The Manual For Psychedelic Guides is a newer manual and the first draft surfaced online earlier this year. As a newer manual, it’s up to date and looks at important concepts in the field of psychedelic therapy such as inner healing intelligence and the non-directive approach. It references other works that have been mentioned here and is one of the best resources I’ve seen. There is a lot in there so I’ll just include a few things here.

Presence

“Your full presence is instrumental during preparatory meetings, on the day the participant ingests the medicine, during the integration follow-up meeting, and beyond the study sessions.”

Haden emphasizes the importance of being present and describes it as a skill that can be practiced, developed, and further cultivated. The section Skills Of Being A Psychedelic Guide is included to help the reader grow in their ability to be present through the range of experiences that both the guide and participant may encounter.

“When you are fully present, you consciously and compassionately share the present moment with another; and you believe in and affirm this person’s potential for wholeness, wherever they are in those moments.”

Qualities Of Guides

In the section Qualities of Guides, adapted from Karen Coopers’ Guide Manual, many qualities and types of knowledge are listed.

A Knowledgable, Skilled and Wise guide:

Knows when not to intervene, and knows when and how to assist the process.
Has a full appreciation for being alive, lives a meaningful life, understands that we are all “wounded healers”, knows some of the agonies and ecstasies of human existence.
Has an understanding of the pharmacology and expected or possible effects of the medicine.
Trusts both the psychedelic medicine and the participant’s internal healer to find the process of healing for the participant.
Has the ability to stay relaxed and grounded in the presence of intense anxiety and other emotions that may be expressed emotionally or physically.

Experiential Knowledge:

Has appreciation for the mystery of their own being.
Has awareness of content beyond the ego.
Understands awe/respect toward transcendence.
Understands that encounters with transcendence can be meaningful, significant and life-transforming.
Maintains the ability to remain objective; uses discernment rather than judgment.
Is able to avoid using labels such as “psychosis” or “freaking out”, and is able to respond mindfully to observed behaviours and perceptions.
Has an ability to shift between mode of scientist and mode of poet and compassionate presence, drawing on each as appropriate.
Appreciates that sessions are like a piece of art created in collaboration with the participant.

The following are also included and have their own short sections:

Knowledge of the Human Mind When Seen Through the Lens of Psychedelics
Knowledge of the Power and Importance of Human Relationships
Appreciation for Human Suffering

An updated version of the manual will be published soon and I will update this post with a link as soon when it is. Until then you can find the draft online here.

LSD Psychotherapy – Stanislav Grof

Czech psychiatrist Stan Grof is one of the most influential figures in psychedelic therapy. In the chapter Critical Variables in LSD Therapy, Grof includes sections on pharmacological effects, the personality of the subject, and set and setting. There is also a section on the personality of the therapist or guide where he lists important factors in successful LSD therapy.

Important factors of the therapist:

Human and professional interest
Clinical experience and therapeutic skill
Personal security
Freedom from anxiety
Current physical and mental condition

It is also noted that it is absolutely essential, prior to the administration of LSD, that the therapist:

examine his or her own motivation and attitudes toward the subject
try to establish a good working relationship
clarify the transference / counter-transference situation

Transference / Countertransference

Having an awareness of transference and counter-transference and how to respond to that is a key part of a therapist’s job. You can find a useful introduction to these concepts in a post here:

Transference vs. Countertransference: What’s the big deal? – Therapist Development Center

Other important themes in Grof’s work:

Trust

“Probably the single most important element determining the nature of an LSD experience is the feeling of safety and trust on the part of the experient. This is […] critically dependent on the presence or absence of the guide, his or her personal characteristics, and the nature of the relationship between the subject and this person.”

He continues:

“Trust is essential to the participant letting go of their defenses and surrendering to the psychedelic process. The ability to establish trust is naturally an important attribute for a guide.”

Personal experience [with psychedelics] Is Imperative

‘[…] the therapist has to have special training that involves personal experiences with the drug. […] It is impossible for the future LSD therapist to acquire deeper understanding of the process without first hand exposure. Reading about psychedelic experiences, attending seminars and lectures, or even witnessing sessions of other people can only convey a superficial and inadequate knowledge”

Grof explains how personal sessions have another important function:

“… they offer an opportunity to work through one’s own areas of conflict and problems on various levels. Some of the crucial issues that a future LSD therapist has to confront remain essentially untouched in most forms of conventional therapy. Fear of death, total loss of control, and the specter of insanity can be mentioned here as salient examples.”

You can buy the book here.

Tripsitting Workshop – Marc Aixalà

In 2017, I attended a tripsitting workshop by Marc Aixalà, a health psychologist who coordinates support and integration services at ICEERS and who subsequently went on to provide training to the research team at Imperial College London.

As has been mentioned in many of the other guides, Marc emphasized that one’s approach as a caring and supportive human being is more important to the outcome of the experience than any techniques employed. Effective sitting requires:

Intuition
Compassion
Self-awareness

He is another who has highlighted the importance of presence. Marc also shared desirable attributes for a care giver during a session:

At the workshop, and also echoed in an article on integration on chacruna, Marc underlined the importance of facilitators having worked on their own power, money, and sex issues.

5 Things I Learnt From A Tripsitting Workshop

Final Thoughts

It is my belief that anyone aspiring to become a psychedelic guide should first look deeply at their motivations for wanting to do so. After that, I believe that for anyone wishing to carry out this meaningful work, a certain level of dedication to personal and professional development should be employed. When dealing with people in such sensitive and vulnerable states, I think this is work beyond that of a hobbyist or amateur.

Gaining Experience

I hope this post has been useful and has given some ideas for further reading. In the end, however, knowledge should be coupled with practice and experience. Whilst I do believe that theoretical frameworks and certain specified knowledge provide a good foundation, they should be used as a ground for establishing a practice or course of applied learning. I mention this to say that I don’t believe it is enough to read all the resources here and listen to talks and then believe you can be a psychedelic facilitator. I encourage any hopeful facilitators to seek out development through a personal practice and relevant experience working with others where one can cultivate the qualities and characteristics mentioned in the works here.

Meditation As A Practice

In my personal experience, I have found a meditation practice to have been a huge help in cultivating presence, calmness, patience and acceptance; attributes that seem to come up again and again as beneficial to have as a facilitator. The ability to remain calm yet attentive is something that has been directly applicable and useful in sitting for psychedelic sessions.

To finish, I’d like to share a relevant quote from psychedelic researcher and Buddhist practitioner Rick Strassman from his chapter in the excellent Zig Zag Zen.

“Supervising sessions is called “sitting,” usually believed to come from “baby-sitting” people in a highly dependent and, at times, confused and vulnerable state. But, in our minds, Buddhist practice is as relevant a source for the term. Our research nurse and I did our best to practice meditation while with our volunteers: watching the breath, being alert, eyes open, ready to respond, keeping a bright attitude, and getting out of the way of the volunteer’s experience. This method is very similar to what Freud called “evenly suspended attention,” performed by a trained psychoanalyst who provided support by a mostly silent but present sitting by one’s side. I experienced this type of listening and watching as similar to Zen meditation.”
Rick Strassman | Psychedelic Researcher | “DMT Dharma” – Zig Zag Zen.

Share Your Thoughts

What do you think makes a good psychedelic facilitator? What practices and experience do you think can help cultivate the qualities that make a good psychedelic guide? How much personal experience with psychedelics is necessary? Do you know of any other good resources on the topic that I missed? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

24/12/2019/by John Robertson

Guides, Microdosing, Most Popular, Psilocybin, Psychedelics

Explorer’s Guide: Microdosing Psilocybin Magic Truffles

Interested in microdosing with psilocybin truffles? Want to know more about it? This is a guide covering all the basics you need to begin your exploration.

What is A Microdose?

A microdose is a sub perceptual amount of a psychedelic substance. This means that the effects are very subtle and barely noticeable, if at all. Generally a microdose is approximately 1/10 – 1/20th of a medium dose, so you won’t see any walls melting.

Benefits Of Microdosing

As well as a generally improved sense of wellbeing, there are many reasons why people are microdosing psychedelics and, despite my concerns on the trend, the list of benefits people are reporting is impressive and includes:

Improved mood, alleviation of anxiety and depression, enhanced creativity, productivity, problem solving, improved energy levels, quitting nicotine and other addictions.

Negative Effects

There is the other side of the coin too, and negative effects reported include: increased anxiety, impaired focus, and cognitive interference.

Below is an image from a survey study by The Conversation which asked microdosers about their main benefits and challenges that gives a good general overview at a glance. Visit their summary article on the study here.

Note: If you drink coffee and experience anxiety, try stopping or at least reducing your coffee intake. Combining coffee with microdosing seems to increase chances of anxiety.

Short & Long Term Effects

The benefits of microdosing are reported over two time spans: short and long term. Short term is seeing an improvement or benefit directly and immediately; on the days one microdoses and maybe a residual effect on the day after. Long term is seeing a general improvement over time, a cumulative effect after weeks and months of regular dosing.

Psilocybin vs. LSD

A survey study found that people microdosing psilocybin (magic mushrooms or truffles) were less likely to report anxiety and other unwanted side effects than those on LSD. The same study found that those who microdosed LSD were much more likely to report cognitive enhancement and effects such as focus and creativity.

You can see a presentation of the study on youtube here.

Microdosing Psilocybin

Psilocybin truffles, AKA magic truffles, are legal in the Netherlands and you can walk into a store and buy a pack or order them online. There are now even special packs with pre-measured microdoses.

psychedelic microdosing pack psilocybin magic truffles

Smartshop Zamnesia sell a ‘psychedelic microdosing pack’ with pre-measured doses. Click on picture to visit their site.

For more info on psilocybin truffles:
Explorers Guide: Taking Magic Truffles in Amsterdam

How Much Is A Microdose?

Generally, a microdose of magic truffles will be:
0.5 -1.5 gram fresh truffles
0.1- 0.5 gram dried

Finding Your Sweet Spot

As everyone is different, I’d recommend trying different amounts over a trial period to find your personal sweet spot.

For example, trying doses at various weights within the scale, for example:

0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1.1, 1.3, 1.5 grams.

It’s probably wise to try higher microdoses on days when you have no professional obligations or can work from home.

Compliment With a Journaling Practice

Keeping a simple journal during this period will help to track the effects and find your personal sweet spot. It will also enable you to compare microdose days with non microdose days.

Take 5-10 minutes each day to check in with yourself, writing down, without judgement, feelings and thoughts (rather than simply what you’ve done each day). Similarly to meditation, this practice can be of great help in increasing awareness of your internal state. Its not exclusive, and can be an excellent companion to a meditation practice alongside your microdosing protocol.

You could do this 1-3 hours after taking the microdose, or if easier, as an end of day review.

You could also include some simple data collection, depending on how much you’d like to track. Some ideas for simple measures you could give a 1-5 score on are: mood, tranquility, focus, creativity, presence. If you are hoping to quit something, such as nicotine or sugar, you could also rate the strength of your cravings, or if starting a new habit, the level of ease in which you were able to do it e.g. sit down to meditate. These will make it easier to review the effects at a glance. Keep it simple so it doesn’t become a chore.

If you’d like to take part in a self blinding microdose study, read more at the bottom of this post or visit the site here

What Is A Good Microdose Schedule To Follow?

There are differing opinions on this so I’ll share a few.

Fadiman Protocol: 1 Day On, 2 Days Off

James Fadiman, the current grandaddy of microdosing and author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide (which includes a chapter on microdosing), recommends a schedule of one day on, two days off. Something like this:

fadiman microdosing magic psilocybin truffles

The following week would then begin with 2 days off.

You can see Fadiman and his colleague Sophia Korb’s talk on youtube: Microdosing – The Phenomenon, Research Results & Startling Surprises

Stamets Stack: 5 Days On, 2 Days Off

Mushroom maestro Paul Stamets has spoke of a heavier approach; 5 days on a 2 days off. However, the microdose of psilocybin he recommends has a lower bottom dose (something equivalent to 0.03g fresh truffles) and his protocol isn’t exclusively with psilocybin; it also includes lion’s mane mushroom and niacin.

paul stamets psilocybin nootropic vitamin stack

Stamets calls it a nootropic vitamin complex

You can watch a video from James Jesso about his experience on this protocol here: My Experience On The Paul Stamets Microdosing Nootropic Stack

Alternate Days: 1 Day On, 1 Day Off

There are also many people microdosing one day on, one day off.

Initially I would recommend to try microdosing one or two days a week with days off in between so you can track your progress and compare how dose days compare with normal days. It is generally recommended to try a microdose schedule for a period of a few months and then taking a break.

Tolerance Buildup?

Generally with the ingestion of psilocybin there is a tolerance buildup on consecutive use within a two week period. This means that taking it on consecutive days will give you less effect from the same amount. However, it seems to be the case that tolerance buildup is more pronounced with larger doses. With microdoses, there isn’t really much, if any, tolerance buildup. When using psilocybin as a supplement with an eye on long term wellbeing benefits rather than psychedelic effects, tolerance buildup seems less relevant.

When & How?

I’d recommend to microdose first thing in the morning or with your breakfast. Chewing will mean you digest them more easily. Or you can weigh them out beforehand and even encapsulate them. One option would be to pre-weigh them and put them in a capsule box. Then you can chuck them down with your morning coffee like you would any other supplement.

Drying & Storing Truffles

If you have a box of truffles but are microdosing them over a long period, its a good idea to dry them for storage. You can find out how here.
Bonus tip: Place packs of silica gel near to your drying truffles to help speed up the process.

Self Blinding Study

A great way to prepare and track a microdosing period complete with schedule would be to do a microdosing protocol via the Imperial College Study. Though it takes a little time to set up, once set up, you’ll have a full protocol ready to go, and you’ll be contributing to science whilst getting honest data for yourself.

Find out more by visiting selfblinding-microdose.org

Best wishes on your microdosing explorations! 🙂

07/11/2019/by John Robertson

Blog, Meditation, Psychedelics

The Next Step In My Evolving Purpose: Creating New Moon Psychedelic Retreats

2019, three quarters through and so far, what a year. This blog has been quiet, falling behind my average snail’s pace of one post a month, but I have good excuses. My year has been jam packed with a healthy blend of projects along with the usual and ongoing quest to simultaneously find and create myself in an ever changing world.

I’ll get to some of the other stuff in other posts as I take stock to digest and process in this final quarter but today I’m writing about the entity that has by far and away received the most of my time, energy and focus this year:
New Moon Psychedelic Retreats.

New Moon Retreats is the culmination of my journey over the last decade; a psychedelic retreat integrating meditation and mindfulness practices.

My first psychedelic experiences, almost a decade ago, made me more creative and curious, and encouraged me to adventure and explore the world. They also kickstarted my meditation practice. Because of how much I felt I’d benefitted, I was inspired to create this blog in an effort, amongst other things, to share information and make the experience more accessible to others.

I see New Moon as a natural extension of what I aimed to do with Maps Of The Mind; making psychedelic experiences accessible, but more than by means of information: by directly offering physical spaces and in person guidance.

Finding My Way

Two years ago I had an experience that was itself a culmination of my journey to that point – a fruit of my travels inner and outer, readings and writings, studies and practices; a peak experience that I felt profoundly grateful to have had. It gave my path a new direction and clearer purpose, and a vision crystallised.

That vision was a centre where people can go to learn meditation and have deep psychedelic experiences. A place where anyone can go and have the opportunity to dive deep within, to develop understanding of themselves and others. Not everyone has access (yet), but creating New Moon Retreats has been a significant step towards that vision.

The venue we host New Moon Retreats

With direction and fresh inspiration, I committed more fully to my path and began going to trainings, workshops and conferences. I began to facilitate privately in the therapeutic model of using headphones and eyeshades, and was fortunate enough to spend time and work on retreat with Myco Meditations in Jamaica, where I learnt a tremendous amount about psilocybin mushrooms and group retreats. After moving to Berlin, I completed a mindfulness coaching course and began a meditation meet up. Through it all, my personal practice has remained fundamental, and I’ve continued to write about my learnings to consolidate them, journal my thoughts to reflect on them, and continued to make an effort to develop and evolve my personal meditation practice.

Finding The Others

On my way I met the others who currently make up the rest of New Moon. During my year travelling through Latin America – when I documented my explorations with ayahusaca in the amazon, San Pedro in Peru, peyote and DMT in the Mexican desert, and mushrooms in the mountains of Oaxaca – I met Tuk whilst staying at a hostel Buenos Aires. He was in the continent to explore psychedelics too and our shared interest provided fertile ground for a budding friendship. After exploring the capital together we reconnected in Peru and remained in touch after our American travels.

Whilst visiting Tuk in Copenhagen, I met his mother Ulla at the Psychedelic Symposium, and then a couple months later volunteered alongside Maria at Altered Conference in Berlin. A year later, whilst at Beyond Psychedelics, I decided to move to Berlin, where, finding myself two weeks later, I reconnected with Maria and together we began to organise psychedelic integration events at her studio. When the seeds for New Moon began sprouting, the team was already connected.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls”
Joseph Campbell

What Is Different About The Retreats?

Meditation
Our retreats place the psilocybin sessions amidst meditation and mindfulness practice because I understand this to be the perfect container for deep and rewarding psychedelic sessions. I haven’t seen meditation as an integral part of the program on other psychedelic retreats and is something I wanted to offer. Our program includes an accessible course of meditation practice with guided meditations and mindfulness exercises.

Small groups & high ratio of facilitators to participants
We have 4 facilitators for each group of 8 participants. This is so that we can give each person due attention and care, allows us time for one to ones with everyone, and aims to enable a deeper level of connection and intimacy with each group.

Option of 1 or 2 psilocybin sessions
We currently have two retreat formats: a 3 night and a 5 night. The 3 night format is with one psilocybin session and the 5 night format is with two. The five night is for people who want to explore psilocybin more deeply and includes further integration activities and awareness practices. Having multiple sessions on a retreat is something I felt was excellent about Myco Meditations as it allows people to go deeper.

A New Moon Dawns

The garden at the retreat venue

On the New Moon of the 1st August, we commenced our first retreat, and over the next 11 days guided 11 participants through two retreats: a 4 day with 1 psilocybin session, and a 6 day with 2. We had two groups of people who came with honest and earnest intentions to learn and grow, and we were fortunate that everyone who came was understanding and accommodating in that it was our first retreats.

Working with people so intimately over these 11 days was humbling, heart opening, inspiring, and ultimately, meaningful. Spending time in a small community in nature surrounded by people who are making an honest effort to work on themselves, in an environment where everyone is encouraged to open up and share themselves, was hugely enriching.

Reviewing The First Retreats

So how did the retreats go? Overall, I’d say they went as well as we could’ve hoped for. Though I don’t believe psychedelics are a panacea or cure all, they certainly can facilitate potent and powerful experiences capable of triggering significant shifts. And our participants did have powerful experiences. From their end, the feedback we have received has been good and of the 8 people who’ve completed our anonymous feedback form, all have given us a final 5/5. That is something I wish to maintain.

Psychedelic truffles used on the retreats

Our initial aim was to do 2 retreats this year as pilots and then to assess if we’re doing a good thing and should continue. The first wave of feedback has been enough to affirm this and has supported my belief that this is the most impactful way I can have a positive influence on a world on which I feel significant and drastic change is needed.

Though the retreats have given me confidence and courage to go on creating these spaces and offering this experience, I feel now more than ever the importance of developing as a facilitator, a leader, and a person. The feeling has only become more certain and one of my favourite adages, that ‘there is always room for improvement’, remains as true as ever. In a new field that is directly involved with people’s mental wellbeing but that has no cultural container or tradition in the West, I feel a growing sense of responsibility and the requirement to live with integrity and be accountable for my actions. I realise too that the people I want to work and surround myself with are also those who won’t rest on their laurels or get caught up patting themselves on the back, but who seek continued growth.

Moving Forward

With the encouragement from our first groups, New Moon will move forward and we have booked our next retreat for the end of November. Moving on, I would like to develop the mindfulness part of the program and, after being inspired by seeing Vanja Palmers talk recently, feel more drive than ever to make it happen. I have some exciting ideas to integrate these schools and look forward to implementing them.

The integration, follow up and aftercare is also an area I would like to develop. Specifically, I’d like a focus on community, empowering people to find and create communities where they can find support and accountability on their path. I’d also like to introduce aspects of habit formation psychology that I’ve found hugely beneficial, and some means of loosening the grip of digital addiction, something I want to continue working on myself and which I honestly see as a major epidemic contributing to much of the mental health problems in the world today.

As for a longer term vision, we would ultimately like to make the experience more financially accessible. As I’ve mentioned before, something like vipassana system where anyone can go for free and make an optional and anonymous donation at the end would be ideal. That is something we can only do once we are financially stable, but in the shorter term, having a free spot per retreat or a donation based retreat a year might be a good stepping stone.

Much to do and plenty to be getting on with then. But, one thing at a time, and as we go, let’s try to enjoy the ride.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you on retreat soon.

30/09/2019/by John Robertson

Psychedelics

Be Part Of Psychedelic Research

If you’d like to help out psychedelic science but don’t qualify for one of the trials or have the cash to donate to MAPS, you can still contribute to psychedelic research by completing a survey online at psychedelicsurvey.com.

About The Psychedelic Survey

The Psychedelic Research Group from Imperial College London teamed up with Danish software architect Kenneth Jønck at the end of 2016 to create the prospective study and by October last year 1400 participants from all around the world had participated in the study and analysis of the data began.

psychedelic survey results slide conference

Just this last weekend I saw a presentation with some of the findings at Insight conference in Berlin and found the results not only interesting, but also very useful and practical. This encouraged me to make my re-entry to the blogging world (I’m back!) with this post to nudge you psychonauts to contribute to the movement and help us better understand these substances and how the effects and outcomes are influenced by other factors. I’m sure filling in a questionnaire will help you learn something about your own psychedelic use too.

microdose lsd acid psilocybin mushrooms self blinding

From the video demo on self-blinding

You can find out more on their website, which also has an easy to use search engine for psychedelic research papers. Go, be part of psychedelic science!

10/09/2019/by John Robertson