Preparing for a Solo Journey

If you've never experienced a medium-to-large dose of a psychedelic before, you may feel intimidated, nervous, or unsure of even how to begin. Don't worry! This is completely normal. Even people who are used to altered states of consciousness tend to show psychedelics a bit more respect, because they're powerful and more affected by suggestion than other medicines.

This is commonly referred to as "set and setting".

  • Set: your mindset, your intentions, and your expectations
  • Setting: your physical environment, the people you're with, and the activities you're doing

Luckily for us, these are levers we can use to help guide our experience! Here are some tips to help you prepare for your journey.

Alone or together?

Most of the following tips will assume you are taking the medicine alone, with a trip sitter available if needed. This is what I recommend to really invite a deep spiritual connection.

Of course, that's not the only way to do it! If you want to have a group experience, I recommend a small group of people you trust completely. You might want to avoid public places and strangers, as they can be unpredictable and can introduce confusing energies into your experience.

Ultimately, you should do what feels right for you. Sitting with three friends in a park on a beautiful day might give you an amazing experience, regardless of how many people are around you.

Timing

A proper psychedelic experience takes 3 days: one day to prepare, one day for the experience, and one day to integrate the experience. If you can't find 3 full days with no obligations, you can spread out your preparation over a few evenings beforehand. But still take a full day for the experience and take it easy afterwards.

I recommend taking the medicine in the morning, with no plans for that evening. Mushrooms take around 4-6 hours from ingestion to being able to "do things", but don't underestimate how tired you'll feel afterwards. These experiences can take a lot out of you and you can get tired quickly after it's over, even if you felt energized during it.

Emotional and Mental Preparation

For larger doses (2.5g-5g of dried mushrooms, depending on the strain) it's a good idea to be in a stable state of mind. Ideally you're not in a time period of extreme stress or emotional turmoil. In the days leading up to the experience, you can ground yourself by taking walks in nature, meditating, or journaling. Remember your blessings and feel gratitude. Have humility, be honest, and identify your motivations for taking the medicine.

Of course, many people find great relief for depression, anxiety, and PTSD with mushrooms. These are very effective medicines, but a powerful healing experience can sometimes be quite challenging and uncomfortable. In these cases, it's best to seek a trained guide or therapist to oversee your treatment.

Physical Preparation

You know your body best! Still, these are some protocols that I have found to work well. If it resonates with you, take it! If not, leave it!

  • You should be well-rested! It's usually a good idea to taper down caffeine intake in the weeks leading up to the experience. The closer you can be to a zero-caffeine baseline, the better you'll be sleeping and the more stable you'll feel.
  • Fast. This can be just the day-of, or you can enter a fasted state in the days leading up to it. I would only recommend a longer water fast if you have some experience with them, but I believe it helps to raise the quality of the connection during the experience. Don't go overboard with this - if you still have a caffeine tolerance, don't skip the coffee. A headache during the trip is not worth it!
  • Hydrate. Just like every other day of your life, drink a bunch of water with electrolytes. Our bodies are powerful instruments if given what they need.

Setting an Intention

This is a powerful tool that can help guide your experience. After you've mulled over your motivations for taking the medicine, try to distill them into a concrete written message. This can be as simple as you want. Here are some snippets of inspiration:

  • Healing of any injury, trauma, or blockage
  • I invite the intervention of benevolent, spiritually evolved beings to aid me in the positive evolution of my consciousness
  • Growing in my capacity as a friend, partner, and parent
  • I invite the solution to my current problem with [specific problem]
  • I humbly ask for a gentle and positive experience

Note that if you intend to do creative problem-solving during the experience, or any socializing, you probably want to lower the dose slightly.

The Place

You should be in a place where you feel safe and comfortable. This can be your home, a friend's house, a beautiful outdoor setting, etc. All that matters is that you have privacy, a comfortable place to lie down, and a bathroom nearby. Your trip sitter should be easily available to provide you with anything you need, whether it's water, a blanket, or just a reassuring presence.

The Sitter

Trip-sitters and psychedelic guides are a whole other topic - and the two are quite different. In general, the more experience they have the better, but most of us don't have access to fully trained psychedelic guides. A friend or family member makes a great sitter as long as you trust them and they're sober. Make sure that you're on the same page with them, and that they won't try to guide your experience in a way they're not qualified for.

Psychedelics can cause confusion, and it's good to be prepared. Sitters are there to help in cases of emergency, but usually don't come into play until the end of the journey if you're doing it solo.

Taking the medicine

Wow ... after all that build-up, it can feel a little anticlimactic to actually sit down and munch on a mushroom.

Luckily, you don't have to! The "best" (for me!) way to take mushrooms is to make a tea. It tastes better, it's easier on your stomach, it comes on faster, and the whole experience is over in 4-5 hours. Just crush your dose into small pieces and steep in boiling water for 10 minutes. You can mix some ginger and lemon in there to help with the taste, and to avoid nausea.

Assemble your tools beforehand: the tea, a glass of water, a journal and pen, and any talismans of comfort or importance to you.

You should have an eyemask and headphones, with a long playlist preselected. I can personally vouch for these on Spotify:

Keep the eye mask on for as long as you can - ideally it should be the whole journey so you can go inward and have a true psychedelic experience. If at some point you feel that it's unnecessary, just take it off.

Music is one of the most powerful tools during the experience. If you're ever ovewhelmed or confused, try changing the song.

Finally, be open for blessings and trust that the medicine will work!