Psychedelics and self-care: two very hot topics in the media as of late. However, I believe the two to be intertwined. In this article, we will be looking at how you can use psychedelics as a self-care method. And how (in my opinion) psychedelic self-care may be the most powerful self-care practice of them all! Let’s start with the basics.
What are psychedelics?
Essentially, psychedelics are a class of substances. All hallucinogenic substances fall into this category. Within this category as countless chemical classes, from Tryptamines to Lysergamdies. Some which were developed strictly for research purposes, the pool of psychedelics is beyond deep. These drugs cause specific psychological and sensory changes, resulting in an altered state of consciousness. These substances are wildly potent, powerful and are not to be taken lightly.
You can expect not only your 5 senses to be heightened, but for them to be jumbled up, as well. For example, one may experience smelling colour or see music come to life in a physical form. It is hard to imagine these occurrences being possible due to our current understanding of reality but psychedelics push the boundaries of reality. In fact, psychedelics can completely shatter reality. This can either be blissful or utterly terrifying. You are essentially taking a gamble with the unknown.
I am not going to sit here and write this article and try to convince you that there is no risk to psychedelics. Many psychedelic advocates swear that everyone should do psychedelics… However, if you have any mental disorders or psychological disorders, psychedelics could be counter-productive and the possibility of making matters worse is there. This article is not meant to encourage those with a higher risk of complications to do psychedelics.
What is self-care?
Self-care is a growing practice that perhaps started spreading the most through social media. Essentially, it is the act of caring for one’s self, hence the self-explanatory term. On platforms like Instagram, self-care is typically portrayed by doing a face mask, having a bubble bath and drinking a glass of wine. While there is power in pampering yourself, there are many other ways to practice self-care. While having a glass of wine may be a very effective de-stressing method, perhaps having wine in the bath isn’t as effective as other methods.
For example, maybe it will do you more good to clean up your space than it will to have wine in the bath. Maybe even both are best! It is up to you, all I am saying is that caring for yourself runs deeper than a face mask.
Sometimes self-care can look like doing your dishes, calling a friend, going to the gym, reading a book, taking your supplements/eating a healthy dish, getting some fresh air, etc. And sometimes…. It looks like consuming psychedelics!
How are psychedelics self-care?
Psychedelics are an extremely powerful tool for self-awareness, self-reflection and self-discovery. Nothing will make you heal faster than a bag of magic mushrooms or a therapeutic trip to the DMT realm! But in all seriousness, psychedelics have been a vital tool for humans since ancient times. The history of humans using psychedelics goes way back. Not only did we use psychedelics to enhance our hunting skills in order to survive, but we also used them in traditional ceremonies for spiritual and mental health enhancements.
When it comes to psychedelic self-care, there are endless ways to go about it. Various substances to choose from with different effects. Many routes to take and choices of applications. Picking your dosage is another optimization part of this process. Sometimes, a macro-dose is in order while other times perhaps all that you are seeking out can be found in a micro-dose. Everything has it’s time and place. In both larger and small doses, a lot of positive impacts can occur. In fact, many individuals who have tried psychedelics before have claimed that doing psychedelics was ‘‘the single most impactful experience’’ of their lives! The proof is in the pudding, psychedelics are good for your mental health when taken with mindfulness and care. Of course, if you are just mindlessly consuming psychedelics without much thought behind it, you will not have the same results.
A big part of using psychedelics as a self-care method is making sure that you are using them for the right reasons. Intentions are everything. That being said, having a strong and positive intention before heading on a trip is always good practice. Additionally, taking the time and care to prepare for a trip is also necessary. While you cannot control (for the most part) whether you are going to have a bad trip or a good trip, there are definitely some steps that you can take to minimize the risks of things spiralling out of control!
Psychedelic self-care ideas
As I stated above, there are so many ways that you can go about it. Here is some inspiration and ideas for your next psychedelic self-care day.
Microdosing: Microdosing allows you to carry on with more complex tasks, while full doses can debilitate you from completing even the simplest of tasks.
If you have a microdose day, here are some ideas of things you can do to enhance the self-care effects of your microdose:
–Yoga
-Meditation
-Going for a walk in the woods
-Journaling
-Making art
-Dancing/Movement
-Work out/physical activity
-Clean your space
-Organise your space
-Make plans and set goals
-Make a healthy meal
-Call a friend, family member or loved one
Full-dose: After consuming a microdose, you will be able to carry out all of the tasks above. Perhaps, it will be even easier to carry out tasks on a microdose than on a regular day when considering the productivity and performance-boosting properties of microdosing! Having a full dose, on the other hand, means you will physically get a lot less done. On the contrary, you will get a lot more mentally done!
You can experience the following from a psychedelic trip on a full dose:
-Feelings of unconditional love
-Process past traumas and unfortunate past events
-Connect the dots and gain new perspectives
-Healthy grieving
-Deep and authentic acceptance
-The feeling of one-ness and belonging
-Purging of negative emotions
-Intense and life-changing realisations
-Feelings of bliss, unearthly sensations
Closing thoughts
Many psychedelic lovers are familiar with the powerful therapeutic effects of these sacred substances. There is no doubt that the biggest life lessons can be found in a blotter or a bag of magic mushrooms/truffles. If that isn’t self-care, I truly do not know what is! Psychedelics can leave an impact on you that can quite literally last the rest of your life. What did we do to deserve such magical compounds?
My conclusion is that psychedelics are the ultimate self-care tool.
