You may already know - the most important part of a psychedelic journey that really makes a difference is what happens after the actual experience.
The word "integration" has its origins in the Latin language. It comes from the Latin verb "integrare," which means "to make whole" or "to renew." The term "integration" itself is derived from the Latin word "integratio," which refers to the action of making something complete or whole. The concept of bringing together parts to form a unified whole is at the core of the meaning of integration, and this idea has been adapted and used in various contexts across different disciplines and languages.
So, in the weeks after your ceremony or experience, a dedicated integration process can support you in best benefiting from the deep encounters you have made throughout your journey. It will allow you to connect deeper with the concept of wholeness and bringing together the parts that might have been opened up throughout your ceremony. Now, during integration, the focus lies on embodying and deeply rooting new habits and thought patterns which will in the end support your long-term state of well-being and your feeling of wholeness.
This article will share some tips and impulses on how to effectively integrate the insights into your personal life and maybe life in general that you have gained throughout your journey within.
So, you've had an experience that may have revealed things previously unknown to you. Perhaps you discovered something about yourself in a new light or unearthed a long-lost childhood memory. Maybe you encountered something that turned your entire perspective on life and the universe upside down. Now what? How do you navigate your life with these fresh perspectives, insights, thoughts, and feelings?
After your experience, you might find yourself mentally more flexible, ready to implement practical, positive changes into your day-to-day life.
Integration is an opportunity.
It's a chance for you to recognize and connect with the profound authenticity within you, unveiled by psychedelic journeys. Your integration process is an opportunity to become the person you aspire to be and create the life you envision. Integration is an act of self-love, self-compassion, and fully embracing the spectacle of life.
1. Practice self-compassion
Whatever came up during your experience, give yourself time and space for it to make sense and sink in. Although many people wish it was, a psychedelic journey is not a magical experience that suddenly removes all burdens and brings immediate clarity to your life. It takes time to put the puzzle pieces together and find meaning in the plethora of insights you've gained.
We're all still human. It's normal that things don't immediately make sense, that you might catch yourself behaving in a way you no longer desire, or that you feel a little lost with a new perspective on life.
Give yourself time. A psychedelic journey is like a deep dive within, compressed into a relatively short period. Adapting to it naturally takes time. Imagine after years of walking down route A, you're now standing on route B, trying to navigate it daily. Be compassionate with yourself, just as you would with any close friend trying something new. It takes time. And that's okay.
2. Take time for yourself
a) Alone time
Firstly, moments of stillness allow our systems to integrate. Continuously moving from one busy moment to another doesn't provide the calm needed for deeper reflection. Imagine your inner world as a snow globe. Shaking it continuously exhausts you, but a pause lets the snow settle, revealing new patterns for fresh interpretation. Treat yourself to moments of solitude for introspection.
b) Mindfulness
Initiate a meditation practice to strengthen your muscle of noticing how thoughts are always just arising and passing. A solitary nature walk is a self-love gesture. Observe your surroundings, feel your feet on the ground, and experience one moment at a time. Engage your senses mindfully.
c) Connect with Nature
In our modern world, Nature's everpresence often fades from awareness. Now, your experience with plant medicine might have shown you to some extend the interconnectedness of all. Connect with Nature; discover for yourself which elements or surroundings call you, be it the calming sounds of water or the moist ground of your local forest. Observe local surroundings, embracing the opportunity to slow down and simply be. Maybe you even rediscover patterns you have seen throughout your journey within.
3. Journal your thoughts and dreams
a) Journal on your own recording
If you have the chance, my advice would be to immediately record yourself post-ceremony, with voice recordings on your phone. That way, you can stay in your heart before the analytical mind takes over. Capture your emotions in this very moment, allowing future reflection.
Some prompts for later when listening to (parts of) the audio:
What emotions arise while listening to myself?
If I had to give a color, shape, texture, size, sound to my experience, they would be ...
This person who is speaking in the voice note - how does he/she look at life? How do they walk, talk, interact? What is important to them?
The journey within reminded me that I really value ... because ...
A really unexpected moment during my journey was when ...
They experienced showed me that I no longer want to ...
If a dear friend had made this experience, I would share with them the advice that ...
b) Free Journaling
Free writing will allow you to slow down the busy train of thought and hence allows you to see what is inside of the wagons of this train. Without overthinking it, put your pen on paper without any specific goal or aim to achieve. Don't put much focus on your handwriting.
c) Journaling on your dreams
The subconscious processes that started during your journey might continue in your dreams. If you don't do so already, put a journal next to your bed so that you can take notes even when being half asleep between to dreams. That way, you can start a log, pick them up the next day to reflect on them, find patterns and deeper meaning over the course of time and maybe some answers that were not yet obvious to you.
3. Get artsy and creative
If writing is not your thing, or even if it's not your forte, creative expression is a beautiful way to give form to what you have experienced during your journey. Whether it's with colors, clay, through movement and dance, or using objects to create collages or altars, feel into what you have felt and seen, and then bring it to paper or into form. Similar to free writing, creative activities will get you out of the analytical mind and reconnect you with the emotional being you discovered during your journey.
4. Follow your excitement
For many people, psychedelic experiences can alter the way they look at life and might shift their views towards spirituality. It might be that big existential questions arise around the meaning of life, the origin of all, and the interconnectedness of everything.
The best way to integrate these experiences is to follow your excitement. Allow yourself to find out which directions, schools of thought, cultures, and traditions spark your inner flame of excitement.
You might want to dive into:
An introduction to Buddhism and it's perspective on suffereing and elightenment
The harmonious relationship with the universe as in Taoism
The personal story of Ram Dass, who was involved in the first LSD studies in the 60's and then turned toward Yogic philosophies and teachings
Testing the app Waking Up for free, deep dive into their 30-day meditation course and listen to talks by Alan Watts and other philosophers, researchers, neuroscientists and more
An introduction to quantum mechanics
Hinduism which is multiple dieties to express the states of the human mind
5. Breathwork
Our breath is a powerful tool for our health, which was neglected in Western research and medicine for a long time.
Different breathing techniques will lead to different effects on your body.
a) Breathwork for Reducing Stress and Anxiety
You might want to reclaim your power over stressors on the outside after your psychedelic experience. Deep, calm breathing techniques can support this. One of my favorites is the 4 - 7 - 8 method. Breathe in for 4, hold for 7, and breathe out for 8. Another one is box breathing, where you breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, and hold for 4. In general, play around with extending your exhale, as this will ground your nervous system.
b) Breathwork to create similar altered states of consciousness
There are types of breathwork that can create similar states of consciousness as you experienced during your psychedelic journey. Now, it is advisable to give your recent journey all the space it deserves for the new insights to sink down and land deeply within your system. Nevertheless, breathing allows you to bring such magical, transformative experiences into your daily life and to further deepen the insights you gained during your psychedelic journey. If you're interested, contact me for details on solo or group breathwork ceremonies.
6. Speak to people of trust
Similar to writing, speaking brings clarity to the cloud of thoughts in your mind. Sharing your experience in a safe container allows you to gain a new perspective on it, to look at it from the outside, and to connect it with other concepts and insights. Furthermore, speaking and therefore repeating what you have seen or felt support committing it to your memory.
Open up to a trustworthy friend, or contact me if you are interested in a guided integration coaching session.
Also, group sharing circles provide a safe container to share your story, be witnessed by others, and find connection through the stories that others share. In indigenous traditions, it is very common to have deep experiences together for bonding and also to ask elders for vision quests afterwards for discussion and support. If you are interested in an integration group online or in Munich, send me a message.
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