What Psychedelics Feel Like
5:47 minutes
Psychedelic medicine doesn’t feel like any other altered state experience you’ve had before, if you are new to psychedelics.
Each persons’ journey is unique AND each individual journey is unique. Meaning that your experience is guaranteed to be different from that of your sibling, your partner, your friend, and even YOUR last journey. That begin said, there are a few themes that emerge for the psychedelics we have mentioned, excluding MDMA which we’ll cover separately.
People may have any number of combinations of the following experiences:
Visual Alterations:
People may see vivid, colorful geometric patterns, especially when the eyes closed or an eye mask is on. These patterns are typically symmetrical, like mandalas, or have imagery contained within them.
They may see objects in the space expanding and contracting in slow, rhythmic motion, almost like they are breathing. Colors in a painting on the wall might move and swirl somewhat.
Some people go to another time or place, almost as if they are watching a movie. Some people perceive that they are seeing themselves in other lives as a human, or they may become a plant or something completely different and non-physical.
Others may see symbolic imagery or universal archetypes.
Personal Insights
Some people gain clarity on personal feelings and experiences both in the past and in current situations. These may have to do with relationship, views of self, past and current actions, personal callings, etc.
Ego Dissolution & Unity
Some individuals describe feeling a sense of unity with the world around them, where they feel like they are a part of the cosmos or nature. Sometimes this is just a feeling and other times it includes imagery.
Ego dissolution is slightly different than what I just described, because in addition to feeling deeply connected, the sense of self can dissolve and merge into something larger.
Synesthesia
This is when the senses become blended. For example, people might “see” sounds as colors and shapes, or “hear” colors.
Time Distortion
The individual’s perception of time may either speed up, slow down, become nonexistent, or become nonlinear.
Physical Movement and Emotional Release:
A need to dance, cry, laugh, shake, or move the body in a particular way may be felt.
For San Pedro, Peyote, and Ayahuasca, there are often more somatic side effects as well, called “purging”. This can look like vomiting, diarrhea, or more intense physical movement or shaking.
Psilocybin, ketamine, LSD, and 5-MeO-DMT may cause mild nausea, but actual vomiting is extremely rare.
There is also the potential that you will not have any of the experiences I just described, and will just feel comfortable and relaxed for a period of time. There is no scientific explanation for why or who this happens for, but it seems that for some folks, it can take a few journeys for the body and mind to fully let go into the experience.
Depending on who you are, what I just shared might sound exciting or terrifying. People typically experience both joy and challenge on their journeys, with the outcome afterwards being generally positive, when properly prepared for and done intentionally. It can be hard to not know what you will get on a journey, but that is part of the process, too: letting go of knowing what will happen or being attached to receiving a specific outcome or experience.
Now onto MDMA.
MDMA is different than the other psychedelics listed above. It rarely brings on any visual alterations and does not cause a loss of self. If anything, it allows people to be themselves in a fully unfiltered, unprotected way. The combination of hormones and neurotransmitters released helps the self to feel safe enough to see what has been bothering them or how they really feel, or process old traumatic memories in a safe environment.
MDMA doesn’t typically cause nausea when ingested, but it can make people feel cold, clench their jaw, and it seems to use more of the body’s physical energy, requiring a solid day of physical rest afterwards.
Next up, we’ll talk about what it takes to create a container for a safe, beneficial, introspective journey with psychedelics.
